Harvest of Gold by Tessa Afshar

★★★★★
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A hidden message, treachery, opposition, and a God-given success, will lead to an unlikely bounty.

The scribe, Sarah married Darius, and at times she feels as if she has married the Persian aristocracy, too. There is another point she did not count on in her marriage - Sarah has grown to love her husband. Sarah has wealth, property, honor, and power, but her husband's love still seems unattainable.

Although his mother was an Israelite, Darius remains skeptical that his Jewish wife is the right choice for him, particularly when she conspires with her cousin Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Ordered to assist in the effort, the couple begins a journey to the homeland of his mother's people. Will the road filled with danger, conflict, and surprising memories, help Darius to see the hand of God at work in his life - and even in his marriage?

Oh my goodness. What a beautiful read… I absolutely loved it. Recently, I have not been in the mood for multi-book series containing the same main characters (generally I opt instead for fresh characters with excitingly new locations), but Tessa Afshar’s follow-up to Harvest of Rubies, Harvest of Gold, is well-worth the return trip to Sarah and Darius in ancient Persia. In this novel, Afshar explores the perspectives of Darius and Nehemiah, in addition to Sarah’s. This variety of perspective alone helps to uniquely distinguish Harvest of Gold from the previous novel, allowing readers to gain an even more intimate understanding of these now beloved characters, and sucked me right in from the very first page. Add in the expected imaginative depictions of history and setting, thought-provoking spiritual ruminations and gripping storylines – Afshar’s Harvest of Gold is a compelling and worthwhile read. Again, I found myself debating late into the night between reading and sleeping. Such a difficult decision… I definitely recommend this novel, (However, I do not recommend reading this novel without reading Harvest of Rubies first.) and I cannot wait to read more enticing novels from Tessa Afshar. Thanks to Moody Publishers, I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.