The Queen's Handmaid by Tracy L. Higley

★★★★★
Goodreads | Amazon

A jealous Egyptian queen. A lascivious Galilean governor. A beautiful servant girl. Theirs is a story of prophecy, self-discovery, and revelation.

The year is 39 BC. All of Alexandria awaits the arrival of Herod, the Galilean governor with his eye on the Judean kingship. The handmaid of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, receives a troubling visit from her aging mentor.

An orphan since birth, Lydia lives in the palace at the demand of Cleopatra and her royal child, the son of Julius Caesar. But Lydia has a growing problem on her hands: her beauty is becoming a liability to the aging queen, and the visiting Herod’s undisguised interest only makes matters worse.

When Lydia’s mentor is murdered, the handmaid inherits a daunting task. An ancient set of sealed scrolls, the secret writings of the prophet Daniel, must be returned to Jerusalem – before those who killed her mentor destroy the scrolls as well. The future of the Israelites depends on it. So Lydia leaves the palace to serve as lady’s maid to Herod’s wife in the Holy City.

As Lydia is absorbed into the machinations of Herod’s household, her mission – and her people’s hope of a Messianic King – are endangered at every turn. Can Lydia avoid the adulterous intentions of Herod? Can she deliver the scrolls to the mysterious man on the steps of the Temple? Will the true King of Israel ever rise?

Lured by my enjoyment of So Shines the Night, I eagerly journeyed once more into the past via Tracy L. Higley’s The Queen’s Handmaid. This time exploring the era just a few decades before the birth of Christ, Higley brings infamously well-known characters – Herod the Great, Cleopatra, Marc Antony among many others – to life vibrantly among the pages of this well-researched yet imaginative narrative. These appalling and fascinating depictions mix with political intrigue, forbidden romance, heartbreaking tragedy, a search for worth and belonging, and moments of lighthearted humor to create a thoroughly engaging work of historical fiction. Unable to stop reading, I turned page after page with bated breath until I knew with certainty how Lydia fared amongst the consuming and corrupting politics and its figureheads of the time. This novel is a definite recommendation to anyone with an interest in historical, biblical fiction.  I cannot help but thank Thomas Nelson and BookLook Bloggers for providing me with a free copy of this book and the opportunity to honestly review it. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own. (I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”)

A Broken Kind of Beautiful by Katie Ganshert

★★★★★
Begin reading chapter one here.
Goodreads | Amazon

“‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.’” –Isaiah 43:1

Sometimes everything you ever learned about yourself is wrong.
 
Fashion is a fickle industry, a frightening fact for twenty-four year old model Ivy Clark. Ten years in and she’s learned a sacred truth – appearance is everything. Nobody cares about her broken past as long as she looks beautiful for the camera. This is the only life Ivy knows – so when it starts to unravel, she’ll do anything to hold on. Even if that means moving to the quaint island town of Greenbrier, South Carolina, to be the new face of her stepmother’s bridal wear line – an irony too rich for words, since Ivy is far from the pure bride in white. 

If only her tenuous future didn’t rest in the hands of Davis Knight, her mysterious new photographer. Not only did he walk away from the kind of success Ivy longs for to work maintenance at a local church, he treats her differently than any man ever has. Somehow, Davis sees through the façade she works so hard to maintain. He, along with a cast of other characters, challenges everything Ivy has come to believe about beauty and worth. Is it possible that God sees her – a woman stained and broken by the world – yet wants her still? Can Isaiah’s words possibly be true, even for her?

Katie Ganshert’s A Broken Kind of Beautiful is absolutely beautiful. Honestly, hauntingly, hopefully beautiful. A novel filled with authentic, vulnerable characters and raw, intense emotions that refuse to remain solely within its pages, it expresses a poignantly-truthful spiritual journey without blatant, unnecessary sermonizing. With her vividly mellifluous and tender storytelling, Ganshert captures the romance of redemption, the essence of God’s endless pursuit to restore our broken hearts. A Broken Kind of Beautiful is another novel with my wholehearted recommendation, definitely well-worth a read. What a privilege it was to receive a copy of this novel from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, with the opportunity to read and honestly review it.

A Stillness of Chimes by Meg Moseley

★★★★★
Begin with chapter one here.
Goodreads | Amazon

What if the pain of the past revealed an unknown sacrifice that changes everything?
 
When teacher Laura Gantt comes home to Prospect, Georgia to settle her recently-deceased mother’s household, the last thing she expects to encounter is a swirl of rumors about the father she lost to the lake twelve years ago – that he has reportedly been seen around town. Elliott Gantt’s body was never found and he was presumed dead. 
 
Reeling from the sharp loss of a parent, Laura must now grapple with painful memories surrounding her father’s disappearance and the sense of abandonment she experienced after his death. Life-long friend and former beau Sean Halloran wants nothing more than to protect Laura from the far-fetched stories of Elliott’s resurrection and to care for her, but he has his own reasons, troubling echoes from his childhood, to put Elliott’s disappearance to rest.
 
Working together, Laura and Sean begin to uncover the truth, one mired in the wooded peaks and deep waters of the Blue Ridge Mountains surrounding Prospect. Can they fathom how many secrets the steep hills hold? With surprising facts revealed, will Laura be able to understand the sacrificial choices made that forever changed her life? And can love and a peace with God be rekindled in her heart after so much time has passed?

Intrigued from the start by the enigmatic combination of title and cover, Meg Moseley’s A Stillness of Chimes held me captive with the same spellbinding storytelling I found in Gone South. Painting a vivid and entrancing small-town Georgia setting, Moseley creates another tale with a desperate pursuit of truth and redemption, exposing the twists and turns of Laura’s relationships against the background of discovering her father’s mysterious fate. Drawn by the quirky, relatable characters and the creative interactions, I was kept questioning and conjecturing until the book’s final, explosive pages – a both heart-wrenching and heartwarming conclusion to be sure. Moseley’s A Stillness of Chimes is well-worth a read and I would have no problem recommending it wholeheartedly. I am very grateful I received a copy of this novel from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, with the opportunity to read and honestly review it.

A March Bride by Rachel Hauck

★★★★★
Goodreads | Amazon

Susanna has found her true prince, and their happily ever after is just around the corner. But when Nate asks her to give up something precious to her, Susanna can’t help but wonder if it’s a sign that their love is not meant to be.

Susanna Truitt is three weeks from royalty. She’ll soon marry King Nathaniel II of Brighton Kingdom. But when the government insists she renounce her American citizenship before the wedding, coupled with the lack of involvement by family and friends, Susanna’s heart begins to doubt whether this marriage is God's plan for her.

Nathaniel would do anything for his bride-to-be. But he knows his position requires that she give up a lot to be with him. Her life will never be her own – right down to her very identity. When she travels home to St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, right before the wedding, Nathaniel fears she won’t return. Gathering his courage, he devises a plan to win his bride all over again, and together they seek out a kingdom to treasure above all.

The fourth installment in A Year of Weddings, Rachel Hauck’s “A March Bride” provides a follow-up to the heartfelt romance of Once Upon a Prince. Of course I jumped at the opportunity to once again be swept away in Susanna’s modern-day fairytale. I could not wait to see how Susanna and Nathaniel reached the altar. Though Susanna’s doubt and Nathaniel’s determination, Hauck revives her characters with realistic – and heart-aching – conflicts and swiftly brings them to life-altering, reassuring conclusions on identity and sacrifice. To completely understand this challenging and growing relationship between Susanna and Nathaniel, I would recommend reading Once Upon a Prince prior to “A March Bride.” However, I believe it would function as a quick and heartwarming read for anyone with an interest in inspiration romance and a few free hours. And once again, I cannot conclude my review until I thank BookLook Bloggers for providing me with a free copy of this book and the opportunity to honestly review it. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own. (I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”)

Dancing With Fireflies by Denise Hunter

★★★★★
Goodreads | Amazon

Jade returns home to Chapel Springs after years of protecting her fragile heart. Then along comes Daniel, making her long to dance again.

Creative and complicated, Jade McKinley felt like a weed in a rose garden growing up in Chapel Springs. When she left, she thought she’d never look back. But now, pregnant, alone, and broke, she has no other choice but to return.

The mayor of Chapel Springs, Daniel Dawson, has been an honorary member of the McKinley family for years. While his own home life was almost non-existent, Daniel fit right into the boisterous McKinley family. He’s loved Jade for years, but she always saw him as a big brother. Now that she’s back, his feelings are stronger than ever.

As Jade attempts to settle in, nothing feels right. God seems far away, she’s hiding secrets from her family, and she’s strangely attracted to the man who’s always called her “squirt." Finding her way home may prove more difficult than she imagined.

After reading Denise Hunter’s “A December Bride,” I couldn’t resist the opportunity to return to Chapel Springs in Dancing With Fireflies, hoping for just as much heartwarming romance. Page by page, I fell in love with the characters of Jade and Daniel, hopefully anxious for their happily-ever-after. But their journey is by no means as simple as “heartwarming.” In her novel, Hunter addresses several emotionally wrenching and challenging situations, and my heart broke again and again for these characters. I simply could not put this book down until I knew how it ended. Though it is the second novel in the Chapel Springs series and some of the characters’ backstory (I’m assuming) is found in Barefoot Summer, I found the plot of this novel understandable on its own – I would not have a problem recommending this novel to anyone with an interest in inspirational romance. And once again, I thank BookLook Bloggers for providing me with a free copy of this book and the opportunity to honestly review it. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own. (I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”)