Cody Gunner Books In Order

Publication Order of Cody Gunner Books

Cody Gunner by Karen Kingsbury is a series of novels by America’s best-selling inspirational author. Karen Kingsbury is a Christian novelist from Fairfax Virginia who has written more than 30 inspirational novels and currently has more than 5 million of her novels in print. She has also co-written more than 100 short stories and novel in different genres that have topped bestseller lists such as USA Today and the New York Times. She has been described as the Queen of Christian Fiction by Time Magazine. Some of her novels such as “Maggie’s Christmas Miracle”, “A Time To Dance”, “The Bridge” and “Gideon’s Gift” are currently being developed into major motion pictures. Her very popular “Baxter Family” series is also set to be developed into a TV series.

Kingsbury was born to Ted and Anne Kingsbury in 1963. Given her father’s job with IBM, the family moved around a lot during her childhood before settling down in the San Fernando Valley when she was ten. She got her Journalism degree from California State University in 1986 and started out as a sports writer writing for the Los Angeles Daily News and the Los Angeles Times. Her first novel was a crime story Missy’s Murder that was first published in 1991. In 1989 she got married to Don Russell with whom she has three children of her own and three adapted from Haiti. She runs the Karen Kingsbury Center for Creative Writing at the Kingsbury, Liberty University, where students can minor in a Creative Writing course taught by Kingsbury. She also does public speaking and her events have reach more than 100,000 people annually.

The lead in the Cody Gunner Series is Cody Gunner, a man who has lived a difficult life after being abandoned by his father. He was only eight when his ex-professional football player left the family since he was embarrassed that Cody’s younger brother had Downs Syndrome. Cody thinks he has no use for love until he meets Ali Daniels. They have an attraction so strong that he falls in love and marries her only for her to of Cystic Fibrosis. In the second novel, he is still coming to terms with the death of Ali and has no intention of ever loving again but then he meets Elle his brother’s teacher. He goes on a journey of faith as he deals with his brother’s Downs Syndrome. Then he starts getting feelings he never thought he would ever feel again. The lead in the last novel of the Cody Gunner Series “This side of Heaven” is Josh Warren, a tow truck driver who is injured on the job and now has back pain that makes it impossible for him to work. While he waits for the insurance settlement he is trying to find a way to rekindle his relationship with his daughter and find his faith. He has never met his child given that the mother is stricken with wanderlust and only wants him to give her money that he does not have.

“A Thousand Tomorrows”, the first novel of the Cody Gunner series is an intense narrative of two young people that are dealing with different personal problems. Cody Gunner has lived a difficult life having never had anyone to call father for most of his life. Deciding to leave all that his father was, he vows to never touch a football and instead becomes a bull rider, where he can unleash all the pent up rage he had built up over the decades. Then he meets one of the best barrel racers in the circuit, a woman named Ali Daniels who has personal problems just like him. While she sometimes finds her personal situation overwhelming, she is determined to attain her dream of winning a national championship despite the risks to her life. The two meet at the rodeo and soon realize that they have so much in common. It is not long before they are fast friends and are sharing their struggles. With each passing day, they continue to fall more in love until Ali’s life is threatened by a secret. Cody now needs to make a heart-wrenching decision: continue competing in the hope that Ali will get better or quit to help save the life of the woman that means the world to him.

“Just Beyond the Clouds”, the second novel in the Cody Gunner series introduces us to a Cody Gunner that is now an announcer for the rodeo. It has been two years since he lost his wife Ali Daniels to cystic fibrosis but he can still see her everywhere he looks. Thinking he needs a change of scenery, he packs his bags and goes back home to find Carl Joseph his brother energetic and happy. It turns out that Carl had been attending an independent living center which is responsible for the change. Cody thinks it is crazy for someone to make his brother and parents believe someone with Down syndrome could ever live an independent life. He heads to the center to confront Elle his brother’s teacher who she thinks must be responsible. Elle believes almost anyone can be trained to live an independent life and she has taught many to go on and live life on their own terms. Cody thought he would give her a piece of his mind, instead, she convinces him of the efficacy of her methods. But then he starts getting feelings he thought he had banished to the past with the death of Ali. Could Ellie be the woman who will teach him to love again? Could he reconnect with a woman and rebuild his relationship with God, letting him unearth the tender parts of his heart he had buried for so long.

In “This Side of Heaven” the third novel of the series, we are introduced to Josh Warren, a man who never had things go his way. After his girlfriend Becky told him their relationship was over he had quit school to become a tow truck driver with dreams of one day operating his own tow truck business. Life throws him a curveball when he discovers that the wild week he had in Vegas a year past had made him a father to a little girl. The mother is claiming child support, which Josh cannot afford and so she cuts him off leaving him pining for his child. A few years later, he is involved in a work accident that leaves him with a severe back injury that makes it impossible to work. He is now seeking a settlement from insurance and he is hoping that the settlement money would be enough to have surgery, go find his seven-year-old daughter and start his business. He has also just rededicated his life back to Christ which has given him new hope. His parents especially his mom have always been disappointed in him as they never understood why anyone would want to drive tow trucks instead of going to college. But now that he has a child, will his mother get over her disappointment and help reunite him with his daughter.