Book Recommendation - Shelter of The Most High

If you enjoy Biblical Historical fiction, then chances are, you have heard of Connilyn Cossette. Her debut novel, Counted With The Stars, was an amazing re-telling of the Exodus, told from the viewpoint of an Egyptian slave, who joined the group of Hebrews leaving Egypt in order to save her brother, a first-born. There were 2 more books after that one in the "Out of Egypt" series that brought the Bible to life in telling of the time in the wilderness and the battle at Jericho. Her current Series, the "Cities of Refuge" series is a continuation of her first series and takes place after the Israelites have settled into the promised land. This time-frame, and these cities, are only briefly mentioned in scripture. So, the fact that Ms. Cossette is still able to bring them to life in a story-telling, but true to history and scripture as can be done, is nothing short of amazing. Shelter of the Most High is the 2nd book in this series and I was blessed to be on the launch team for this book.

This book is a beautiful story of love and mercy, told from alternating points of view of Sofea, a foreigner, and Eitan (who you might remember as as child from book 1, A Light on the Hill). Sofea is the daughter of a high priest in Sicily and one decision one day turns her whole world upside-down. She finds herself (and her cousin with her) in a strange land where the people speak a strange language that she does not understand. Eitan knows the moment that he sees this blue-eyed beauty that he wants to get to know her better, but is not sure how to communicate when she doesn't understand his words. Due to Sofea's experiences and inability to understand, she misinterprets many of the behaviors of this strange people, and it takes awhile for her to understand that the One God of the Hebrews is nothing at all like the gods of Sicily. Similarly, their priests are nothing alike. As she learns that she does not need to fear, she also learns that Yahweh has drawn her here with a purpose and is shown such love and mercy. There are many quotable passages in this book. The one below is one of my favorites. 

Being on the launch team for this book, I had the opportunity to ask the author a few questions of my own, and these really brought out the heart of this book.

Do you relate particularly well to any one of the characters in this book? Why or why not?

I always find little ways I relate to many of my characters but in Shelter of the Most High I think perhaps I connected the most with Eitan’s struggle with recurring self-condemnation. In order to avoid spoilers I won’t say exactly how he handles these issues but I think for me, and for many other followers of Jesus, I have a habit of bringing up my past sins and beating myself over the head with them, even though His grace is sufficient and I have no need to wallow in condemnation any more. If we are in Covenant with Jesus through his blood then we have been freely forgiven, so we must stop letting the Enemy whisper in our ear that we are not worthy. Eitan goes through the process of trying to “earn” forgiveness for something he had already been given grace for and I am guilty of doing the same thing at times. His journey was a great reminder to me that I am already free, so I need to stop acting like a slave to my past!

Was there anything interesting that happened during the writing of this book (or that made its way into the writing of this book) that the average reader wouldn't pick up on?

The biggest change for me was traveling to Israel. I went from having to rely on the internet and Google Earth for my experiences of the Land to getting the opportunity to see and feel and taste and touch and smell those places for myself. It shifted my understanding of the “smallness” of the country and how close everything in the Bible is in relation to one another and gave me a wealth of sensory detail to layer into my stories. I’d already written Shelter of the Most High when I went there but during editing I was able to tweak and expand due to my firsthand experiences. It was life-changing in many ways.

Is there any particular message (that isn't obvious) that you would like your readers to get out of this book?

As I began writing the Cities of Refuge Series I came to the realization that the places God set up as sanctuaries for those convicted of manslaughter (Joshua 20) were a wonderful picture of the Body of Christ and how the Church should relate to the world. Our congregations should be a haven for the hurting, a place of safety and provision for those who are suffering, a place where the teaching of the Word (Torah) is central, a gathering of redeemed people who appreciate the grace and mercy they’ve been given, and a light on the hill to the weary and heavy laden. Throughout the series you’ll see cities of refuge like Kedesh where these principles are upheld and valued and others that have became more focused on wealth, power, self-righteousness or have slidden into idolatry and compromise. History shows us that these cities of refuge were kind of a blip on the timeline, in fact scholar think that many of the 48 cities designated for the Levites by Moses were never even settled. If the Church wants to have an impact on the culture around us, instead of the other way around, we would do well to pattern our congregations after these places of perfectly balanced justice and mercy.

How did you come up with the topic for this story?

Well, in the beginning it was an off-hand comment by my husband’s best friend that I actually laughed off at first and then began to realize was a completely cool premise! But I can’t really tell you what that comment was because it’s a major spoiler! But I also did some research about the Bronze Age and found out there was a real problem with pirates back then and knew I had to weave them in too. The original plot idea was very different and involved more pirates and even some ancient drug trade (yes, there was such a thing) and ended up being a tangled mess that didn’t make much logical sense, so I am really pleased with how it all came together…eventually.

Is Sofea and Eitan’s story finished, or will we see more of them?

The next book, Until the Mountains Fall, opens about 8 years after Shelter of the Most High, so you will definitely see what Eitan and Sofea are up to. I won’t spoil anything about their appearances but I will say that it made me so happy to revisit them and to “see” their love story through the eyes of a grown-up Malakhi (the hero of UTMF).

Until The Mountains Fall is scheduled to come out next summer, which seems an eternity to wait to see what happens next. If you enjoy Biblical Historical fiction, or simply want to bring this mostly unknown portion of the Bible to life, I would strongly recommend this one! Shelter of the Most High is out on October 2, 2018.

Link to my review is below.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2294209409

Book Recommendation -- Hidden Among the Stars

I've seen a great deal of buzz for Melanie Dobson's books, particularly her latest, Hidden Among The Stars. So, when I had a chance to get a copy of it, I knew I needed to check it out. I was immediately drawn in to the story. This was a dual timeline story, which is fast becoming a favorite genre of mine. It combines both history and contemporary (hence the dual timeline), both mystery and romance, and often finds a resolution from the earlier timeline in the modern one, so there's almost always closure in the story of these books. This book did not disappoint on this level. Ms. Dobson is a very talented author, making the book flow both lyrically and between the timelines. The modern timeline was written in 1st person whereas the past timeline was written in 3rd. That actually helped the flow of the book and made it easy to remember which timeline you're in, which is sometimes difficult in this genre.

This book starts in Vienna, Austria in 1938. Annika Knopf has grown up in the shadow of a castle that her father is the paid caretaker of. The castle is owned by the wealthy Dornbach family. Their son, Max is a few years older than Annika, but she is completely smitten with him. Because of that, she is willing to keep his secrets and help him with anything. As Annika grows through the duration of the book, her love for Max is fully demonstrated. Max is in love with Luzia Weiss, who is a Jewish musician. The past timeline shadows the lives of these 3 individuals. The modern timeline follows the life of Callie Randall, who owns a bookstore along with her sister Brie in Mt. Vernon, OH. For her birthday, Brie gets Callie an original German copy of the book "Bambi" and Annika's name is written in the front cover. Callie begins to search for Annika or her descendants to get the story behind the odd added script contained within the pages of the antique volume. As she seeks the story behind the book, the timelines intertwine and Ms. Dobson does an excellent job of drawing the 2 story lines together. This book brought me to tears and really brought to life the plight of the Jews during Hitler's reign. There was also a good bit of character development and growth in both timelines.

The author came across the idea for this novel 15 years ago. She and her husband went back-packing across Europe for their 5th anniversary and one of their favorite spots on the trip was a small town in Austria - Hallstatt. The alpine lakes and the mountains, with the ancient feel of the buildings made Melanie and her husband want to learn more about the history. They learned that near the end of WWII, as the Nazis were fleeing south, they stashed their treasures in nearby lakes, mines, and forests. This was excellent fodder for Ms. Dobson's book. What most captured her imagination, though, was the abandoned castle on the lake shore. As time has passed and information has become more readily available on the internet, she dug further into this mysterious castle and learned that it was used during the war as a Hitler Youth camp. She filled in some of the before and after gaps and built her story around this estate.

A few personal tidbits that made this book particularly interesting to me - the lead character in the modern timeline shares a maiden name with me. We attended the same college and her cat's name was a mix of my dog's and my sister's dog's names. She shares a middle name with my younger sister, and her first name sounds eerily similar. After only a chapter in, I began to wonder if the author had been stalking me! However, it made it much more fun and relateable. I was able to picture exactly where Callie's bookstore was and during the scene where she took a bike ride to clear her head, I could see all of those streets well as I've traveled them myself.

This is a book I would strongly recommend regardless of your genre of choice! Link to my review is below.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2509459129

Book Recommendation - A Secret to Die For

Lisa Harris's most recent novel was one of my most anticipated suspense novels this season. I was super excited to be selected as an influencer for this book. One of the aspects that had me intrigued was that the main character was a psychologist. For those that don't know, my undergrad degree is in Psychology, so I always find it fascinating to see things from their perspective. Ms. Harris did an excellent job of portraying her role. 

Psychologist Grace Callahan has no idea that she has a secret--one worth killing for. But when she finds out one of her clients has been murdered, she quickly realizes that the computer security specialist wasn't simply suffering from paranoia.
Detective Nate Quinn has just been cleared for active duty after a bombing killed eighteen people, including his partner, and left him dealing with PTSD. His first case back on the job involves the murder of Stephen Shaw, and his only lead turns out to be an old friend, Grace Callahan--and her life is in grave danger. Someone believes Shaw gave his psychologist information before he died. Information they are willing to kill for.
With her signature pulse-pounding suspense, Lisa Harris takes readers deep into the heart of fear in this race against the clock.

This book hit the ground running and did not let up in the action. I was drawn in from the get-go and did not know who the "bad guy" was till the very end. The plot-line was scary in its realism and I never knew what was going to happen next. The romance ended up very sweet (though at times felt a bit trite). The spiritual aspect was not overly religious, but addressed the question of where is God when life is hard? At one point Nate is talking to the police chaplain, asking where God is and the response is "Right where he's always been. It doesn't matter what is happening around you. He is here." Both of the main characters struggle with and grown in their faith throughout the book. 

I wanted to conduct an interview for my blog with Ms. Harris, but due to current circumstances (though she is a missionary in Africa, she is currently stateside, caring for her mother after a fall - if you are  praying person, please pray with me for Lisa Harris and her mother), I felt it best not to contact her. However, her publisher, Revell books, offered me their press release interview and I wanted to share a few of those questions here.

What was your inspiration for A Secret to Die For?

As with a lot of my stories, my inspiration started off with a random idea for a heroine, who quickly became Grace Callahan. She was a psychologist, but more than that, she had her own personal giants that she was facing in her life. After I began to flesh out her character, I brought in the hero who was also dealing with loss, and the ideas for the plot line started to come together—both for them personally and for the greater danger they were facing. 

Detective Nate Quinn struggles with PTSD. How did his disorder come in to play in A Secret to Die For? 

At the beginning of the story, Nate has just gone back to work after an explosion took the lives of his partner and several co-workers. And while he wants to be back on the job—even needs to be back—he’s not a hundred percent sure he’s ready. He encounters a number of triggers and begins to realize how his life has changed. He also has to deal with the guilt of being a survivor, which is something very real for those who have gone through trauma and lost people they care about. Grace becomes the perfect person to help him heal, which I love watching play out in the book. 

Was there any part of this book that really surprised you once you began writing it? 

As with a lot of the stories I write, I’m usually not sure who the villain is until the end of the book, and that was definitely true for this story. On the positive side, I’ve decided that if I’m not sure until the end who did it, then hopefully the reader won’t figure it out either!

What do you hope readers gain from reading your book? 

While I definitely want my readers to be entertained—and maybe a bit (okay, a lot) scared—while reading my books, I also want them to discover how God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things for him. People like you and me have the chance to allow God to use us in spite of all our fears and insecurities. I see the spiritual thread in my stories as a part of my characters’ reactions to life. How they react and deal with things on a spiritual level is crucial. Just like in my own life, I don’t want my faith to be simply tacked on but an intricate part of who I am. 

What’s next on your writing to-do list? 

Next up is another stand-alone novel for Revell that I’m super excited about as it takes my hero on a treacherous path I’ve never taken them on before. (Sorry, no spoilers!) 

How can readers connect with you? 

I’d love to hear from you! 

Website: www.lisaharriswrites.com 

Blog: myblogintheheartofafrica.blogspot.com 

Facebook Author: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLisaHarris 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/heartofafrica 

Pinterest: https://za.pinterest.com/lharriswrites/

You can purchase this book from  your favorite retailer:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2KICneB

Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/2lQjUPs

Christianbook.com:

 https://bit.ly/2KEWj2f

Check out my review here:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2378778088