When Surrender Meets God's Best

A Whole New Plan

Series: Best-laid Plans, Book 4

Written by Denise M. Colby

Published by Scrivenings Press LLC

Release Date: 05.26.26

Genre: Christian Historical Fiction, Christian Historical Romance

5 Stars!

The title of this book says so much. A whole new plan. That sounds exciting until it is your plan being interrupted.

Lydia Spencer understands that. She comes to Washton, California, as the new schoolteacher, but the schoolroom is only one part of her life. She is also a Pinkerton detective, and the assignment that brought her west is dangerous, personal, and tied to people she wants desperately to protect.

I cared about Lydia because she felt real to me. She is brave and capable, but she is also guarded for reasons that make sense. Her strength is not loud or showy. It comes through in the way she keeps moving, keeps thinking, keeps protecting, and keeps doing the next necessary thing even when her heart is carrying more than anyone around her knows.

And then there is Will Baker. I loved Will’s steady pastoral heart. He is a man of truth, but Denise M. Colby gives him room to be a man who is still learning too. I appreciated that so much. He loves the Lord. He cares for people. He wants to do what is right. Still, his carefully ordered life is challenged by Lydia in ways he never expected. That made the romance mean more to me.

Lydia and Will are not simply two people who are attracted to each other while mystery unfolds around them. They are two people whose lives press against each other in complicated ways. Her secrets matter. His commitment to truth matters. The danger matters. The choices they make matter. Most of all, their need to trust God matters.

I loved the clearly Christian content in this story. Faith is part of the characters’ decisions, conversations, convictions, and growth. The Lord is not treated as someone to consult only when every human plan fails. Every part of life belongs before Him. Courage belongs before Him. Fear belongs before Him. Love belongs before Him. The future belongs before Him.

That is what made Lydia’s story meaningful to me. Her strength does not make her independent from God. It shows how deeply every step needs His grace.

The western setting had so much life. I enjoyed the small-town community, the tension of the mystery, the danger creeping closer, and the way ordinary places could suddenly feel uncertain. Denise M. Colby gave the story warmth and movement without losing the deeper spiritual questions underneath it all.

What do we do when the plan changes? What do we do when obedience costs more than we expected? What do we do when trusting God means telling the truth, opening our hands, or letting someone see what we would rather keep hidden?

This is a heartfelt Christian historical romance with danger, tenderness, mystery, and hope. I loved the writing, the setting, the characters, the depth, and the faith. And I especially loved the reminder that we do not have to see the whole road to be held by the One who does. A Whole New Plan reminded me that God’s best plan is always better than mine, even when I cannot see why the road is turning.

Sometimes the new plan feels inconvenient. Sometimes it feels frightening. Sometimes it asks for more trust than I wanted to give. But when the plan belongs to the Lord, the road is not random. The waiting is not wasted. The surrender is not empty.

I received a digital ARC of this book from the author via JustRead Publicity Tours, LLC. I was not required to write a positive review and was not compensated in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own and reflect my honest evaluation of the writing, content, and narration.