Book Recommendation - Silent Shadows

One of my go-to authors for romantic suspense novels is Natalie Walters. She is currently releasing into the world book 3 of her Harbored Secrets series, which brings the series to a close. Fans of the series will be glad to be back in the small town of Walton, GA and will get to see some familiar faces. Fans of romantic suspense who think this one looks fabulous and haven't read the others yet, no worries - other than a couple of minor spots, you won't be missing any information. This one is fine to read on its own!This had all the fine qualities I've come to expect from Ms. Walters, including great characters, twists and turns, some serious suspense, a swoony romance, a solid faith thread, and of course, Marvel movie references (don't worry - you won't be lost if you haven't seen those either). This book follows Pecca Gallegos, a nurse at Home for Heroes and Captain Colton Crawford, who has been discharged from the army due to a diagnosis of PMD (which I'd never heard of prior to this book). There's a good bit about overcoming obstacles and looking past people's handicaps.

As part of the launch team for this book, I had the pleasure of being able to ask the author some questions and here's how she responded:

1. Did you have a favorite character in this book? Who and why? Gosh, this is such a hard question because I have been waiting to write this book for a while and dreaming of the characters. If I had to absolutely choose it’d probably be Pecca. And now I’m second-guessing myself and thinking, Colton. Okay, I’ll stick with Pecca. I love her because she’s faced some adversity in her life, loves to see the best in everyone, has made some mistakes in her life that she’s learned from, and she’s feisty!! 2. Who was your favorite in the series? Now this is really not fair!! I can’t choose. I love each of them for different reasons and to pick one out of them all…I just can’t. Sorry! 3. Where did you get Pecca's name from (I love the explanation of its meaning!) I was a member of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) in El Paso, Texas about twenty years ago and had a friend named Pecca. She explained how she got it and I fell in love with the story behind it and for some reason never forgot. Pecca is named after her and the explanation is how it happened.  4. PMD (the disorder Colton has) is not something I've heard of before. How did you decide to use that and what type of research did that entail? PMD is something my family became intimately aware of when my daughter began having tremors in her arm. After numerous appointments with specialists and every test in the world, they were throwing every possible explanation at us and one was Psychogenic Movement Disorder (PMD), which can happen when the body experiences extreme trauma. The doctors eventually ruled this out for my daughter but the idea that our body would respond in such a dramatic and debilitating manner stuck with me. There’s not a lot of information out there about movement disorders but they are crippling to the person experiencing them, I wanted to write this story to share the struggle. 5. Did anything in the story change or surprise you as you were writing? I had begun dreaming about this story while I was writing my second book so I had a lot of the story line ready (in my head) but I’d say the new secondary characters who kept showing up in scenes were a delightful surprise. 6. What was your inspiration for the story line? Colton’s medical condition. Experiencing my daughter’s struggle as her body failed her was heart-breaking for a mom but for her…it was devastating. I wanted this story to represent how God can use our setbacks (whatever they might be) to bring us right where we need to be and that it might be better than we could’ve ever hoped for. 7. What do you hope readers will glean from this book? I feel like this story has a couple of great messages. I hope readers finish this book believing that their pasts do not define them and that our setbacks can be beautiful and promising if we trust them to the Lord. 8. What's coming next and when? Can you tell us a little bit about it? Oh, I am SO excited about what’s coming next!! I have the privilege of writing another 3-book series for Revell about a private agency based in Washington, D.C. The Strategic Neutralization and Protection Agency ensures America that what they don’t know, won’t hurt them. This series has a great team of specialists that I think readers will enjoy getting to know and the suspense will be on a more national and global scale, which I think is going to be a lot of fun!!

For more information, here are some good links:
Natalie Walters' website: www.nataliewalterswriter.com
Natalie Walters' Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Natalie-Walters-Writer-147854518601519/
Silent Shadows Pintrest page: https://www.pinterest.com/nakeliwalters/silent-shadows-harbored-secrets-book-3/?fbclid=IwAR21eZi5edCISeU_59HvH3XD3XUHiny8xbuofcLJoWNljcoEvpKcoow_83Q
My full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2865298234?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Book Recommendation - Before I Called You Mine

 One of the things I love about authors that I follow and help is that they lead me to other fantastic authors. Such was the case with my discovery of Nicole Deese. Another author that I follow and was helping with a launch put out a plea for fans of hers to help launch Nicole's latest, Before I Called You Mine. I read the cover blurb, saw it was about adoption (which is so close to my heart) and knew I wanted to read this one! So, I signed up for the launch team, and the rest is history. I SO totally loved this book. It is easily one of my favorites for 2020. There was a lot of laughter and more than a few tears. Those are the proofs of a good book!

Here's the synopsis:

Lauren Bailey may be a romantic at heart, but after a decade of matchmaking schemes gone wrong, there’s only one match she’s committed to now—the one that will make her a mother. Lauren is a dedicated first grade teacher in Idaho, and her love for children has led her to the path of international adoption. To satisfy her adoption agency’s requirements, she gladly agreed to remain single for the foreseeable future; however, just as her long wait comes to an end, Lauren is blindsided by a complication she never saw coming: Joshua Avery.

Joshua may be a substitute teacher by day, but Lauren finds his passion for creating educational technology as fascinating as his antics in the classroom. Though she does her best to downplay the undeniable connection between them, his relentless pursuit of her heart puts her commitment to stay unattached to the test and causes her once-firm conviction to waver.

With an impossible decision looming, Lauren might very well find herself choosing between the two deepest desires of her heart . . . even if saying yes to one means letting go of the other.

Being part of the launch team, I was made aware of the "story behind the story":
In the summer of 2017, my little family of four - my husband of 16 years and our two pre-teen sons - became a family of five when we adopted a six-and-a-half-year-old girl from an orphanage in Beijing, China. Our lives, and our daughter's life, was forever changed that day. Over the next year, as I took time off from writing deadlines and publishing contracts to bond with our daughter, Lucy Mei, God began to weave a new storyline in my writer's heart.

While we'd been in China, I met several single mothers who'd made the incredible trek overseas to adopt their son or daughter during the same time we adopted our Lucy Mei. Their journeys were not only courageous, but their obedience to pursue a life-altering call despite the cost, stigma, and sacrifice, left me teary-eyed and inspired. The rules are clear - you can either adopt as a woman who has been married for two years or longer, or as a single, unattached woman. No exceptions. Basically, if you start the process to adopt as a single woman, get matched with your future child, and then accidentally meet and fall in love with Mr. Right during that same timeline.... you are going to have some hard decisions to make.

It was this rule that began a series of "what if" questions in my writer brain: What if there's a single woman in her thirties who loves children and feels called to adopt an orphan overseas? What if that same woman is "matched" to a child with a real face and a real history? What if only a short while after she's matched with her future child, she meets the man she's prayed for all her life? And what if she's forced to make an impossible decision between the two deepest desires of her heart, even when walking through one door will mean closing the other?

"Before I Called You Mine" is a contemporary romance that colors outside the lines of a traditional romantic fairytale but highlights the undeniable connection of two hearts meant to beat as one. While there are many playful interactions and humorous scenes throughout Lauren and Joshua's story, there are also raw and vulnerable moments that I pray will stir your soul and paint a lasting, more vibrant picture of all that love can be with the turn of every page.

Since Nicole is new to my blog, here's a little bit more about her:

Nicole Deese’s eight humorous, heartfelt, and hope-filled novels include the 2017 Carol Award Winning A Season to Love. Her 2018 release, A New Shade of Summer, was a finalist in the RITA Awards, Carol Awards, and Inspy Awards. Both these books are from her best-selling Love in Lenox Series. Her newest contemporary romance, Before I Called You Mine, from Bethany House Publishers has recently received a starred review from Booklist.

When Nicole’s not sorting out characters and plots of her own, she can usually be found reading near a window overlooking the inspiring beauty of the Pacific Northwest (most often while sipping on a sparkling water). She lives in small-town, Idaho with her happily-ever-after hubby, two towering-over-her teen sons, and her princess daughter with the heart of a warrior.

You can find out more about her here:

Website: https://www.nicoledeese.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicoledeeseauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicoledeeseauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nicoledeese

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6878628.Nicole_Deese

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/nicole-deese

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Nicole-Deese/e/B00BMRQOD2

Please check out my full 5 star review of this one!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3188144846?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Book Recommendation - Like Flames in the Night

When it comes to Biblical historical fiction, Connilyn Cossette is one of my go-to authors. Fortunately, I discovered her pretty early-on in her writing career and have really enjoyed being along for the ride ever since. Her upcoming release, Like Flames in the Night, is the last in her Cities of Refuge series, and is my absolute favorite of hers so far. This book follows Tirzah, the youngest daughter of Moriyah and Derek (fans of this series will be intimately familiar with them) and Liyam, whose parents will also be a blast from the past for fans of Ms. Cossette. One of the things I loved most about this book was Tirzah's character. As a woman who'd grown up amidst the best spies in the land, she found a way to use her feminity to help  obtain information in a way that no man could. Her ingenuity, strength and willingness to serve were fantastic and not at all unrealistic as I've seen some Biblical novels try to do with women.

I also loved how the title came about, using the Bible's theme of light piercing the darkness and the need for community (you'll just have to read it see how those things relate). As part of her launch team, I was invited to participate in an author Q&A. Here's how that went:

Who was your favorite character (or the one you most resonate with) and why?

In regards to the entire series, I would have to say Moriyah because I got to know her as a young girl and was able to follow her journey all the way through becoming a great-grandmother. She has been the foundation of all of the stories within the cities of refuge and she will just always be one of my very favorites. Don’t tell the others. For Like Flames in the Night, I’d have to say Liyam because he was just a blast to write, such fun to put through the wringer, and I just loved how his character arc developed!

Did anything surprise you in this story as you were writing?

I have to say that the length of the story was what most surprised me. There were no plans for it to be longer than the others but just due to the nature of the plot and also because I wanted to make sure that all the loose ends from the entire series were tied up in a satisfying way it ended up having a few chapters more. However, I hope that readers will be so absorbed in Tirzah and Liyam that they won’t even notice! (For the record, I didn't notice!)

What are you hoping readers will glean from this story?

Tirzah’s story is one of standing up courageously for her people, her family, and her God. My hope is that readers will be inspired to shine their lights boldly for Jesus and to not be afraid of anything—be it human or spirit—because Yahweh is our champion and when we are out of strength and frightened and feeling alone the Word says that He will fight for us! Nothing can stand against our great big God. Also, I want readers to be reminded through Liyam's Journey how truly powerful grace is.

Any fun bits of trivia you want to share with readers?

I guess I would have to say that the first thing is that I never planned on writing this book at all. The original Cities of Refuge was a three-book series but when I got to the end of Until the Mountains Fall I felt like there was more story to be told within the time period and with this family. So I proposed the idea to Bethany House and thankfully they went for it! Also, the book discusses an altar that’s at the top of Mount Ebal in Israel and that altar has actually been found on top of that mountain. It’s most likely a later rebuild of the original altar and from what I read it looks like beneath the altar there are possible remnants of the altar that Joshua built when he and the entire congregation of Israel re-confirmed the covenant before he died. So that’s pretty cool! Someday I would really love to walk up that mountain and see that altar for myself.

Has your relationship with God changed at all through writing these stories? If so, could you share an example?

I would say that my faith is so much more real now. All the study of history and culture and archaeology that I have done has given me such confirmation that His hand has worked through history in such an intimate way, tying all the billions of threads together from Genesis to Revelation. The fact that he has led me on such a personal path of discovery just reminds me how much he wants me to love him with my heart, my soul, AND my mind. And the Cities of Refuge series, in particular, has illuminated his grace so clearly in my own life, especially looking backward and seeing how he led me lovingly to himself, even when I was so rebellious and self-centered that I could not look past my own nose, and called me to write stories that glorify his Name.

 Why Cities of Refuge? Why not another story?

The easy answer is that because I was just fascinated. Once I started to do some reading about the cities of refuge, which I really didn’t know much about, I saw the beautiful way that they foreshadowed Jesus our Messiah who is the perfect balance of grace and justice for his people and I just wanted to delve into those characteristics of God so I thought that the cities of refuge was a perfect vehicle to do so! Besides, I’d just fallen in love with Moryiah in Wings of the Wind and felt she needed a story too. Who knew what would come of it all when I was struggling over whether to brand that poor girl’s face!

What inspired the idea for this story?

When I was in Israel a couple of years ago we went to a place called the Ayalon Institute. It was actually a kibbutz (like a co-op farm) that contained an entire underground bullet factory hidden from the British and the Arabs before the 1948 war. They secretly crawled down ladders beneath a commercial laundry room because it was noisy and could cover up the sound of the bullet making machines and many of the people who lived and worked on the kibbutz had no idea what was going on under their feet! Over a number of years, this group of young people managed to make thousands and thousands of bullets and ship them out through covert means, like in milk trucks. Without their sacrifice and ingenuity, the nation of Israel might have been lost when the Arabs attacked en masse. I was enthralled by the stories of miracles that happened during this time and how these young people, men AND women stood up for their people so courageously. I was inspired by this short visit to the underground bunker to write about brave men and women who put their lives on the line for the nation of Israel, both in ancient times and in modern ones. So as you will see as you read, there are a number of places where I talk about covert operations and secret weapons-making and those were directly inspired by that tour of the Ayalon Institute. Malakhi and Eitan would have loved everything about it. Look it up, it’s fascinating! 

How does it feel saying goodbye to characters you’ve been with for so long?

It is really so bittersweet because I feel like these people are part of my family and I know them inside and out. So it kind of feels like I’m abandoning them in some way. But they’re always there waiting for me and maybe someday I’ll have a chance to come back and revisit them. And then again I’m also really excited to find new characters and discover their journeys and now that I’m writing this new series I’m having a great time creating a whole new set of people, discovering what makes them tick, and finding all sorts of disastrous and dangerous situations to put them into peril and complicated situations to mess with their heads. I’m kinda evil like that ;) 

What do you have coming up next? Tell us a little bit about it and when we can expect it.

I will be coming out with a new series this winter which is called the Covenant House series. We are skipping forward a few hundred years to First Samuel in a time when Israel was in a fierce struggle against the Philistines, a foreign people that had arrived on the shores of Israel from the island of Crete hundreds of years before. This is a duology, based on the lives of a Philistine sister and brother who are adopted into an Israelite family and begins with the theft of the Ark of the Covenant. The first book is called To Dwell Among Cedars and will be releasing December 1 of this year.

I know that I, for one, am super excited to read To Dwell Among Cedards later this year!

Like Flames in the Night is available March 3, 2020 at your favorite book retailer. Check out my full 5-star review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2816131086?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

You can learn more about the author on her website: https://www.connilyncossette.com/ or her facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ConnilynCossette/

Welcome to Isaiah’s Legacy Blog Hop – Stop # 24

1 Week ~ 24 Blogs ~ 3 Incredible Prizes!

Learn a little about Isaiah’s Legacy and enter multiple giveaways while picking up CLUES at each stop. Compile all the clues, submit the final PHRASE at the last stop, and you’ll be entered to win one of 3 Grand Prizes!

What are the prizes? They’re completely unique to the winners!

Mesu will contact each winner personally to chat about what they would most like to see in Israel, and then she’ll SHOP for just the right gift while touring Israel, March 6-19! She’ll then purchase a personal and memorable gift specifically chosen for each of those three winners and ship them to each one when she returns. How fun is that?!

 

How does the Scavenger Hunt & Blog Tour Work?

•        Begin at Stop #1. At the end, you’ll find a CLUE and a link to the next stop. Progress to each stop IN ORDER.
•       Collect all the clues—in order—and submit the full phrase at the last blog stop in the Rafflecopter form. Every stop has a clue, so be sure not to skip any along the way!
•          You may enter the final giveaway only once and win only one grand prize.
•       The Hunt begins 2/19/20 at noon EDT. Deadline for entries is Tuesday, 02/25 at midnight Eastern.
•       For best results, hunt through our list using Chrome or Firefox as your browser (not Explorer).

There is NO RUSH to complete the hunt—you have a whole week! As you visit each blog, it’s our hope that you get to know Mesu’s BFF team and discover the heart behind Isaiah’s Legacy.

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Erin Laramore. I've read all of Mesu's books, but I've only been on her BFF team to promote 3 of them, including Isaiah's Legacy. I love the depth of research and character development she always includes! This one required extra prayer due to some of the dark subject matter and I'm so glad she had it! That made this one extra powerful. See my full 5-star review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2890591970?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Sign up for Mesu’s newsletter and get Adnah’s Legacy, the prequel novella to Isaiah’s Legacy: https://mesuandrews.com/

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to write down your CLUE before clicking to the next stop.

Here’s the Stop #24 Stuff!

Clue to write down: Isaiah's

Link to STOP #25 -  She Lives to Read

Bookmark STOP #1 so you can check the tour schedule and get back on track if at any point you get lost or find a broken link.

 

Enjoy the hunt!

How laundry relates to Sanctification

In our house, Thursday nights are cleaning and laundry nights. That way, we can start the weekend with a clean slate (or house in this instance). Last night, as per usual, I started a load of laundry shortly after getting home from work and then set about my chores. When cleaning was done,  I started working on dinner and while I was waiting for water to boil, I pulled out the checkbook and started paying bills. About this point, I realize I don't hear the washer anymore, so once I pour in my pasta and turn down the burner, I go to check on it since the goal is always to get 2 loads done on a Thursday. As I'm moving clothes from the washer to the dryer, I notice the washtub is still half full. Frustrated because I don't want to stick my hand in the icky water and then have to finish fixing dinner but realizing I have to so I can get the 2nd load of laundry started, I pull out the crumb cup strainer (thanks to Kent for looking up what that was called - basically the little thing in the drain that keeps the big pieces from going down the drain, but still lets the water through) and clear that out, I see that while some of the water has gone down, not all of it has. So, I stick my hand in further and clear out a bit more "gunk" than I wanted to touch that evening until the sink clears and then contact a friend about snaking the drain. Ugh. Just what I needed. After washing my hands 4-5 times, I finished fixing dinner and paying bills and went about my evening.



As I was laying in bed last night, thinking about the gunky drain and the need to clear it out, the Lover of my Soul spoke to me and said "that's what I need to do with you". See, a long time ago, I invited Jesus into my heart and asked Him to save me from my sins. Since that time, I've plugged the drain in my own life with my own crumb cup strainer - I attend church every Sunday. Read my Bible and devotions daily. Pray regularly, including before every meal. Only listen to Christian music and only read Christian books. But in the end, that's not enough. There's a little bit of gunk from being out in this world that still skims past that little strainer I've got and clogs my drain. And I need to get it completely cleaned out. So as I'm heading towards sleep, my heart cries out to the God who knows me better than I know myself, asking Him to clean out all the gunk that's found its way in. And you know what? He did it!

Book Recommendation - The Traitor's Pawn

The most recent romantic suspense that I've read is Lisa Harris's upcoming release The Traitor's Pawn. This was a fantastic book that hit the ground running, had some great characters, an adrenaline-spiking plot-line, a good romance and of course a spiritual life lesson. Both of the main characters in this book were people of faith, but there was a great struggle with forgiving one who has wronged you severly. That was addressed very well as many struggle with this issue!

As a member of the author's influencer team, I got to interview Ms. Harris about the book. Here's how it went:

1. Did you have a favorite character in this book, or one that you resonated with a bit more? If so, who and why?

I loved writing Aubrey’s character. As a detective for the Houston Police Department, she’s strong, but she’s also vulnerable at the same time. And because what is happening around her is so personal, I was able to really explore these two sides of her.

2. Did anything happen during the writing of this book to change the trajectory of the story?

This story started forming in the back of my head for a couple years before I actually sat down and wrote it. And yes, it did change trajectory quite substantially from the first nuggets of inspiration. Originally, I was looking at a storyline about someone being coerced to stop a piece of legislation, and the heroine was being held for ransom in exchange for the right vote. I obviously took quite a detour to the final story that deals with the selling of government secrets. :-)

3. As you were writing, did anything in the story end up surprising you?

My husband always laughs at me when something surprises me. He can’t understand how I didn’t know. :-) I would say the identity of the bad guy in this story surprised me. Sometimes the characters end up forcing their way onto the pages and doing the unexpected!! 

4. What was your inspiration for the story line?

Originally, I had this scene in my head that I couldn’t shake about a hunting trip gone wrong. Eventually I was able to pull the rest of the story out and onto the page!

5. What is something that you hope readers will glean from this story?

I never know the spiritual message of my story when I start. Instead, I try to let it develop naturally, depending on what is happening. Jack and Aubrey have to wrestle with the fact that God never intended this world to be free from suffering or that justice would be served for every crime committed. A great example is Job. Even though God is good and what He created is good, bad things still happen. God reminded Job that he wasn’t big enough to see the whole picture. Just like we aren’t. I believe God never gets frustrated at our trying to get to know him better. Even when it involves questioning what He allows to happen.

6. Any other fun tidbits about this one that you'd like to share?

Later in the book, my hero and heroine have to drive to from Corpus Christi to San Antonio, a city I’ve visited a number of times. I wanted a chase scene and what better place than the River Walk in the heart of San Antonio. For those of you who haven’t been there, the river walk is a shady network of walkways that follows the banks of the San Antonio River and is lined with shops and restaurants. It’s been referred to at times as the American Venice. There aren’t any gondolas, but you can take a boat down the river, and even eat a meal on a river barge.

Last fall, I spent a week there with my friend and fellow author, Lynne Gentry, and we had an intense week-long writing retreat. It was the perfect setting for writing sprints and brainstorming. When we weren’t writing, we spent time on the Riverwalk where we ate Mexican food, and enjoyed the perfect weather before heading back to our hotel and starting the writing process all over again.

While I missed it this past year, one of the most beautiful times to visit the River Walk is during its annual Christmas lighting display. And in case you wondered, yes, people have fallen into the river—including someone in my story. The depth of the river ranges from about two feet to twenty-four feet, and each year when they drain and clean the river, they find everything from silverware to sunglasses to furniture!

7. What do you have coming out next? Can you tell us a bit about it and when we can expect it?

I’m working on several things right now, actually. Hostage Rescue, book three in my O’Callaghan Brothers series with LIS (Love Inspired Suspense for those not "in the know") comes out in May. In the meantime, I’m working on a band new US Marshal series—debuting the end of this year, and a second medical thriller that will be out in a few weeks.

Thank you so much for having me on your blog!!

To learn more about the author and her books, visit her in the following places:
www.lisaharriswrites.com

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

Or join her Facebook fan group, Adrenaline-Fueled Fiction: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/lisaharrisreadergroup/

The Traitor's Pawn releases on  March 31,2020, but is available for pre-order at your favorite book or ebook retaler.

For my full 5-star review of this book, please see below!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2933302773?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Book Recommendation - Daughter of Rome

One genre I've really come to love within Christian Fiction is Biblical Historical fiction. While I love my Bible, the stories over the years start to become a bit "dry". We're missing a lot of the cultural details and innuendos the original hearers of the Word understood and we therefore miss a lot of the cues we should get and misinterpret many of the others. And so I love that when Biblical Historical authors write the stories from the Bible, they've researched the culture and the context and bring greater understanding to a familiar tale. The best of these authors stay true to the Scriptures and caution the readers to understand that many of the "filler" details are fiction, but are good possibilities based on their research of the time and culture. Tessa Afshar is one of the best in this genre and her stories always bring the Bible to life for me. Her upcoming release, Daughter of Rome, is about Priscilla and Aquilla - a couple that helped Paul launch the first century church. A few of the things that Ms. Afshar noted about this couple:
1. Priscilla's name often comes first when they are mentioned, which was unusual for a woman to be acknowledged before her husband in that culture. It's possible then that she was more involved in the teaching and discipling of the church that met in their home.
2. They are mentioned frequently by Paul and are noted to have been involved in the churches in 3 different cities. We also know that they saved Paul's life once (that is speculated upon in the book) and that they were fellow tentmakers.
3. They are never mentioned without each other. Priscilla and Aquilla are always mentioned together. This spoke to their marital bond and partnership in ministry.

Here is the back-cover blurb for the story in order to whet your appetite:

When the daughter of a prominent Roman general meets a disinherited Jewish immigrant, neither one can dream of God’s plan to transform them into the most influential couple of the early church. Nor can they anticipate the mountains that will threaten to bury them.Their courtship unwittingly shadowed by murder and betrayal, Priscilla and Aquila slowly work to build a community of believers, while their lives grow increasingly complicated thanks to a shaggy dog, a mysterious runaway, and a ruthless foe desperate for love. But when they’re banished from their home by a capricious emperor, they must join forces with an unusual rabbi named Paul and fight to turn treachery into redemption.With impeccable research and vivid detail, Daughter of Rome is both an emotive love story and an immersive journey through first-century Rome and Corinth, reminding readers once again why Debbie Macomber has said that “no one brings the Bible to life like Tessa Afshar.”

Normally during a launch, I do an author interview, but another launch team member posted her interview blog a few weeks ago. Since she asked many of the same questions I would have (and then some), I'm posting her blog here with her permission.

https://www.jarmdelboccio.com/blog/the-heart-and-soul-of-an-author-tessa-afshar?fbclid=IwAR09PLspkz1H6sQXTLk47lDs3kKFtUqm3BdA_NYuSI5RydbF_pcc0F9REVo

This book was utterly fantastic. The characters were endearing, the plot-line was good. I loved the dialogue and descriptions and was simply transported back to the early church in Rome and in Corinth. Given cultural context, certain scriptures were better interpreted for me through this novel. Spiritually rich, this book delved into the spirit of the early church and made me long for that faith and passion. Directly quoted from the book, I loved this take on prayer:

"With the ease of long familiarity, they slipped into the hallowed in-between place which is prayer, one foot firmly in the world, and another on a higher plane. The spoke to God, they walked with Yeshua (Jesus), they heard from the Spirit. They were filled, once more, with the wonder of the Father, who loved them and rejoiced over them."

I would definitely recommend this one to fans of Biblical fiction and those wanting to learn more about the early church in general. Musings by Erin received a book to facilitate this review. The views and opinions expressed here are 100% honest and my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC's 16 CFR, part 255 Guidelines, concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in advertising.

About the author:
Tessa Afshar is an award-winning author of biblical and historical fiction. Her books have won the Christy and INSPY Awards and been voted by the Library Journal as one of top five Christian fiction titles of the year. Her first Bible Study and DVD, The Way Home, based on the book of Ruth, will be released from Moody Publishers in June 2020. Born in the Middle East, Tessa moved to England in her teens where she attended boarding school for girls before moving to the United States permanently. Her conversion to Christianity in her twenties changed the course of her life forever. Tessa holds a Master of Divinity from Yale University, where she served as co-chair of the Evangelical Fellowship for one year. She worked in women and prayer ministries for twenty years before becoming a full-time writer and speaker.

https://tessaafshar.com/
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTessaAfshar/

For my complete 5 star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2866251580?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Please also join us for a launch party on release day - February 4th. You can join via Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/events/789315711516940/