Keepers of the Covenant

When God brought the Israelites through the desert out of Egypt and eventually into the Promised Land, filled with milk and honey, He made a covenant with them. To abide and obey by His laws, the 10 Commandments and to live according to the ways He established for them. As long as they lived as He wanted them, they would receive God's blessings over their land and their lives. But if they failed and went back on their vow to God and instead began to worship the gods of their forefathers, God would lift His hand of protection from them and they would receive His judgment instead. Like their forefathers, the Israelite failed and instead took up the practices of worshiping the false gods and left their one true God. Now that judgment came to their lands and Babylon took possession of their promised land, the people have been exiled in Babylon.

When King Cyrus allowed for them to return to their homeland in Jerusalem, many instead decided to stay and instead continued in their practices of the worshiping of false gods and adhering to the ways of the Babylonian people. This is precisely where Keepers of the Covenant by author Lynn Austin begins. It is the second novel in the Restoration Chronicles and now follows the life of the prophet Ezra at the height of the Jewish people's planned execution by Hamon, the advisor the for King. A decree has been issued to eliminate the entire race of people and once the decree has been issued bearing the King's seal, it cannot be repealed.

Now Ezra is being asked to lead the Jewish people to find an answer for God in how they can survive the coming execution with little less than a year remaining before that happens. While Ezra attempts to search the ancient Torah scrolls for answers, the people begin to wonder just what they can do to ensure their survival. It will truly be a race war between the Jews and the Gentiles as both sides begin to prepare for a one day battle that will pit them against one another unless God, Himself, intervenes and remembers the promise of the covenant He created when He left a remnant of His people behind.

I received Keepers of the Covenant by Lynn Austin compliments of Bethany House Publishers and Litfuse Publicity for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions contained here are strictly my own. This is such an exceptional book that follows the biblical books of Esther, Ezra, Jeremiah and Nehemiah in breathing life into the struggles that befell the Jewish people that were stuck in exile in Babylon when they refused to leave the first time. It takes you ground level into what it must have felt like on both side as Lynn creates characters to enable you to see things from their point of view, from Devorah and Ezra, Jewish people who love the law of God, and Amina, a crippled Gentile who struggles with finding a place in the city being cast aside by her own family and accepted by an elderly Jewish women Hodaya, who can relate to her in more ways than one. This takes those books of the Bible and expands on them as if you were literally there when it all happened. That is what makes this novel so amazing to read for me. It's historically accurate following the biblical outlines provide from the Bible and casting a set of characters for us to support and follow all the way to the end. Easily a flawless 5 out of 5 stars.

For more information about Keepers of the Covenant, Lynn Austin or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Keepers of the Covenant by Lynn Austin

You can find Lynn Austin on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Keepers of the Covenant, please visit Litfuse Publicity's book tour page.


Lynn Austin is back with the next book in The Restoration Chronicles series, Keepers of the Covenant. Austin weaves together the struggles and stories of both Jews and Gentiles, creating a tapestry of faith and doubt, love and loss. Here, the Old Testament comes to life, demonstrating the everlasting hope displayed in God's unwavering love for His people.

Lynn is celebrating with a Kindle HDX giveaway and a live author chat webcast on October 21st.

One winner will receive:

• A Kindle HDX
• Keepers of the Covenant by Lynn Austin

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on October 21st. Winner will be announced at the Keepers of the Covenant LIVE webcast event on October 21st. Connect with Lynn for a fascinating evening centered around God's unwavering love for His people. She'll be hosting a Biblical fiction book club discussion, giving away prizes, answering your questions, offering an exclusive peek at the next book in The Restoration Chronicles, and much more!

So grab your copy of Keepers of the Covenant and join Lynn and friends on the evening of October 21st for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the book, don't let that stop you from coming!)

Don't miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today by signing up for a reminder. Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 21st!

Harvest of Rubies

Some of the most amazing things I've discovered through Christian Historical Fiction, is the author's talent to weave a story about someone from the Bible in a whole new way through their fictional novel. In fact, sometimes it's so well written it sounds as if we were a part of that story and the character is someone we got to know through their words.

That is just what you, as a reader, will find when you open the cover of Harvest of Rubies by Tessa Afshar. Here you are immediately drawn back into 457 BC to the home of Sarah, Nehemiah's cousin, where we find she struggles to find the attention of her father. Now that Sarah has taught herself to read, something forbidden for women, her father is more than pleased at her new found abilities and offers to help her learn more. However, her Aunt Leah, confronts her father and explains how this might get them all in trouble if anyone finds out. When he isn't willing to give up helping Sarah, Leah confronts Nehemiah who works in the palace as a way of convincing them both of their foolish ways.

When Nehemiah shows up, he reminds them all of Queen Esther's gifts of saving God's people through her beauty, and tells Sarah to continue to pursue her love of reading because no one knows just how God will chose to use her gifts in the future. Now she is able to read Persian, read and write Akkadian, another complicated language practiced only by royal scribes for the keeping of important administrative records but also Aramaic as well. Becoming a proficient keeper of records in an empire that relied on its administrative skill to prosper made Sarah a valuable commodity to her father. By the time she was twenty, she was more scribe than woman. Yet the God that Nehemiah spoke so highly of, was one Sarah now couldn't believe in. He was the one she blamed for her mother's death, believing that he was simply too busy to bother with their daily needs. It was Nehemiah that made certain that Sarah learned Hebrew after discovering her discouragement with God. Once Nehemiah is satisfied that Sarah has learned proficiently enough, he informs her and her father, that she shall now serve as the Queen's senior scribe and live at the palace for such a post.

It is here that Sarah's life will be forever changed and where the book Harvest of Rubies begins the adventure to live in a palace - to be surrounded by beauty and culture and new wonders. To occupy such a high position - one rarely enjoyed by a woman, no less. To have her abilities acknowledged in such a public fashion. Her life will serve a purpose she could never have conceived. This is a door that the Lord has opened for Sarah. God who has called her will also equip her. Everything she lacks will be provided. Now if she can only get over her fear of failure.

I have had the delight to read a previous novel by Tessa Afshar, Pearl in the Sand, and she truly does possess a beautiful gift for words in taking your typical Bible story and weaving a completely different light on it, while still capturing the essence of the Bible. For this reason, I know if you love great Historical Bible Fiction, then you will absolutely LOVE Harvest of Rubies. I received this book compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and have to give this one a 5 out of 5 stars. Here's even more information on this book, the author and even a sneak peek into the first chapter:

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Harvest of Rubies River North; New Edition edition (May 1, 2012) by Tessa Afshar



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

TESSA AFSHAR was voted "New Author of the Year" by the Family Fiction sponsored Reader's Choice Award 2011 for her novel Pearl in the Sand. She was born in Iran, and lived there for the first fourteen years of her life. She moved to England where she survived boarding school for girls and fell in love with Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, before moving to the United States permanently. Her conversion to Christianity in her twenties changed the course of her life forever. Tessa holds an MDiv from Yale University where she served as co-chair of the Evangelical Fellowship at the Divinity School. She has spent the last thirteen years in full-time Christian work.


ABOUT THE BOOK

Remarkable Talent Threatens to Cloud a Life



The prophet Nehemiah’s cousin can speak several languages, keep complex accounts, write on tablets of clay, and solve mysteries. Her accomplishments catapult her into the center of the Persian court – working long hours, rubbing elbows with royalty, and becoming the queen’s favorite scribe.

Not bad for a woman living in a man’s world: so why does Sarah feel like a failure?

A devastating past has left Sarah with two conclusions: that God does not love her, and that her achievements are the measure of her worth – a measure she can never quite live up to.

Darius Pasargadae is accustomed to having his way. A wealthy and admired aristocrat, the last thing he expects is a wife who scorns him.

Can two such different people help one another overcome the idols that bind them?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Harvest of Rubies, go HERE.

Wayward Son

For centuries it seems the devil has been using our own personal guilt to keep us bound in our own prisons. Things we have done in our past serve as countless reminders he uses to keep us from the forgiveness and freedom that is ours to enjoy.

In the novel, Wayward Son, by Tom Pollack along with Jim Alves and John Loftus, the three will take the reader into an unexpected journey through the history of time. Beginning with Amanda Jones, who is a gifted linguist who works for the Getty Museum having a huge history in archeological digs, she finds herself at the disposal of Juan Carlos once more. He has requested her presence in Italy at what is slated to be the biggest find since the Dead Sea Scrolls. Apparently a recent earthquake has created a crack in the earth surfaces that has revealed a set of bronze doors that only she can reach and decode with her knowledge of ancient languages.

What she isn't expecting is to gain the ultimate lesson in history since the beginning of time by unlocking the doors long buried since the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Now Amanda will journey through the biblical history with a discovery that she has found Cain, the reported child of Adam and Eve in the Genesis chapter of the Bible. Seeing history through his eyes, she gets an idea of what lies hidden behind the doors and just who will stop at nothing to make sure that she doesn't get out of the chamber alive.

I received Wayward Son compliments of Glass Road Public Relations for my honest review and LOVED it. Being a huge fan of not only biblical history but also world history, this book chroniciles the history of Cain's murder of his brother Abel and the guilt that has followed him and the curse he felt God has placed on his head since he was discovered. It was such a fantastic journey through history, I forgot I was reading a novel and was so completely immersed in the story as seen through the eyes of Cain. This is by far one of the most exceptional books I have had the pleasure to review and thus think it truly deserves 5 out of 5 stars. For anyone who loves biblical or world history, this is the perfect novel for you with a bit of Indiana Jones suspense action thrown in to keep you reading til the final page.

For more information about this book, the author, a sneak peek into the book itself and where to pick up a copy of this book, please click on the link below:

Wayward Son by Tom Pollack, Jim Alves and John Loftus