RCR: Every Word Unsaid by Kimberly Duffy

RCR: Every Word Unsaid by Kimberly Duffy

by | Feb 28, 2022 | Book Reviews, Reading Challenge

We’ve finished the first month of the Unlocking the Past 2022 Reading Challenge: Around the World. This month we traveled to Asia, and my choice of story was Every Word Unsaid by Kimberly Duffy. Once you read my review, don’t forget to comment to be entered for your chance to win a copy.

*Want more interaction and/or suggestions each month? Join the Facebook Group. Want a bookmark with the monthly themes? Fill out this Google Form. Need a reminder on the details of the challenge? Go to the Unlocking the Past Reading Challenge page.*

Every Word Unsaid

by Kimberly Duffy

This month I had the incredible privilege of listening to Every Word Unsaid by Kimberly Duffy. She’d long been an author on my TBR pile and I was determined to use this reading challenge as an excuse to force me to pick it up. Oh my goodness! I ADORE Gussie and the whole cast of characters. Gussie is a free-spirited woman who struggles with the confines of her parents’ and society’s expectations of what a woman should be and do. She runs from place to place, taking photographs and travel articles for Ladies Weekly as means of trying to satisfy this deep longing for something more.

When scandal forces her out of the country, she escapes to India for experiences, photographs, and articles. What she finds, is a personal growth experience that transforms her into the fullness of her herself and God’s plan for her. She is forced to confront the pain of rejection for others and finds acceptance in a people in place that speaks to her soul. It is an incredibly beautiful story with a swoony hero who is atypical, but rock steady and exactly what Gussie needs in her life. While necessarily a romance story, there is plenty of romance to knock your socks off. But at the core of this story is a woman discovering who she is and accepting the fact that she is enough despite what others say about her.

I highly recommend this story to those seeking to experience other lands, real characters who also seem larger than life, love heroines and heroes who don’t quite fit the mold of expectation, and are looking for stories that go beyond entertaining to speak to your soul.

Genre: Historical, 1897, New York and India

Plot Overview:

Augusta Travers has spent the last three years avoiding the stifling expectations of New York society and her family’s constant disappointment. As the nation’s most fearless–and reviled–columnist, Gussie travels the country with her Kodak camera and spins stories for women unable to leave hearth and home. But when her adventurous nature lands her in the middle of a scandal, an opportunity to leave America offers the perfect escape.

Arriving in India, she expects only a nice visit with childhood friends, siblings Catherine and Gabriel, and escapades that will further her career. Instead, she finds herself facing a plague epidemic, confusion over Gabriel’s sudden appeal, and the realization that what she wants from life is changing. But slowing down means facing all the hurts of her past that she’s long been trying to outrun. And that may be an undertaking too great even for her.

What I loved: Gussie’s whole story just pulled me along on an adventure and eye-opening experience of a world not my own. Her personality, struggles, and experiences just left me desperate to not put the book down. Or in my case, get out of the car.

Favorite Character and Why: This book has a full cast of characters that I love, but Gussie remains firm as my favorite. She is unapologetically who she is on the outside, but inside she struggles and hurts like so many of us in unseen ways. She is beautiful soul, and I loved walking her story with her.

Who would like this? I highly recommend this story to those seeking to experience other lands, real characters who also seem larger than life, love heroines and heroes who don’t quite fit the mold of expectation, and are looking for stories that go beyond entertaining to speak to your soul.

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon     Baker Bookhouse       Barnes & Noble      Books-a-Million      Book Depository      Bookshop.org      Christianbook.com     Indiebound.org

Giveaway

For your chance to win a print copy, comment with what book YOU read for this month and you will also be entered into the year-end Grand Prize Reader Basket. Use the Rafflecopter below for extra entries and to mark that you left a comment. Entries end on March 7th at midnight EST, and the winner will be drawn sometime that week and notified by email. The winner will be announced don’t the Rafflecopter widget. *Open to all residents of the contiguous USA, legally able to enter, and an e-book format or Amazon Gift Card will be awarded to those outside that range who are legally able to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What did you read for February’s Challenge? What do you hope to read in March?

February 2022 Reading Challenge Suggestions

February 2022 Reading Challenge Suggestions

by | Feb 1, 2022 | Reading Challenge

Welcome to the second month of the Unlocking the Past 2022 Reading Challenge: Around the World. This month focuses on books that take place in Asia. While I will generally focus on Historical Fiction novels, I have included plenty of contemporary options as well. The majority of recommendations come from https://inspirationalhistoricalfiction.com/, other readers, or other authors. Especially don’t forget to check out my partner’s website, http://amongthereads.net/. The books aren’t broken down by country, but you can find all sorts of wonderful reads. If none of these suggestions appeal to you, I highly recommend joining the Avid Readers Facebook Group and asking for their recommendations. They are AMAZING and your TBR pile will never be the same.

Add your suggestions in the comments, and/or tell me what you are reading. Have you read any of these below?

Monthly Reminders:

*If you read a book for January, don’t forget to go to yesterday’s post to comment and get your name entered for your chance to win a print copy. (You’ll also earn your entry for the end of the year giveaway.)

*You can also join the Facebook Group. for more interaction and suggestions, or if you’d like a bookmark to remind you of the monthly challenges, fill out this Google Form.

Captured by Moonlight by Christine Lindsay

capturedbymoonlight1921 – India

Prisoners to their own broken dreams… After a daring rescue goes awry, Laine Harkness and her friend Eshana flee to the tropical south of India…and headlong into their respective pasts. Laine takes a nursing position at a plantation in the jungle, only to discover that her former fiancé is the owner…but fun-loving Laine refuses to let Adam crush her heart like he had years ago. Eshana, captured by her traditional uncle and forced once more into the harsh Hindu customs of mourning, doubts freedom will ever be hers again, much less the forbidden love that had begun to flower. Amid cyclones, epidemics, and clashing faiths, will the love of the True Master give hope to these searching hearts?

Every Word Unsaid by Kimberly Duffy

everywordunsaid1897 – Traveling/India

Augusta Travers has spent the last three years avoiding the stifling expectations of New York society and her family’s constant disappointment. As the nation’s most fearless–and reviled–columnist, Gussie travels the country with her Kodak camera and spins stories for women unable to leave hearth and home. But when her adventurous nature lands her in the middle of a scandal, an opportunity to leave America offers the perfect escape.

Arriving in India, she expects only a nice visit with childhood friends, siblings Catherine and Gabriel, and escapades that will further her career. Instead, she finds herself facing a plague epidemic, confusion over Gabriel’s sudden appeal, and the realization that what she wants from life is changing. But slowing down means facing all the hurts of her past that she’s long been trying to outrun. And that may be an undertaking too great even for her.

eye of the god by Ariel Allison

eyeofgod17th Century India/present day Brazil

eye of the god  takes the fascinating history surrounding the Hope Diamond and weaves it together with a present-day plot to steal the jewel from the Smithsonian Institute.

We follow Alex and Isaac Weld, the most lucrative jewel thieves in the world, in their quest to steal the gem, which according to legend was once the eye of a Hindu idol named Rama Sita. When it was stolen in the 17th century, it is said that the idol cursed all those who would possess it. That won’t stop the brilliant and ruthless Weld brothers.

However, they are not prepared for Dr. Abigail Mitchell, the beautiful Smithsonian Director, who has her own connection to the Hope Diamond and a deadly secret to keep. Abby committed long ago that she would not serve a god made with human hands, and the “eye of the god” is no exception. Her desire is not for wealth, but for wisdom. She seeks not power, but restoration.

When the dust settles over the last great adventure of the Hope Diamond, readers will understand the “curse” that has haunted its legacy is nothing more than the greed of evil men who bring destruction upon themselves. No god chiseled from stone can direct the fates of humankind, nor can it change the course of God’s story.

The Hope of Shridula by Kay Marshall Strom

thehopeofshridula1946 – India

The Blessing in India series is a saga set in India’s heartbreaking history and breathtaking present that points toward a future of hope.  Along the way, name-only Christianity collides with Hinduism, and then is confronted by an entirely new understanding of the call to follow Christ.

India: 1946. For forty-eight years, Ashish and his family toiled as slaves in the fields of the high-caste Lal family, and all because of one small debt. At fifty-four, Ashish was old and worn out. Every day was a struggle to survive for his family including his only daughter.

His wife had named the girl Shridula—Blessings. “Perhaps the name will bring you more fortune than it brought me,” Ashish told his daughter. His words proved to be prophetic in ways he could never have imagined. And when the flames of revolt brought independence to India, they seared change into the family of Ashish.

Ismeni by Tosca Lee

ismeni989 BC – Middle East/Yemen

A mysterious beauty, a destiny set in the stars. Born under an inauspicious sign, young Ismeni is feared by her own people. The single thing she prays for: to live an invisible life. But that is not to be for the young woman who has captured the attention of the king’s youngest son. A story of love, passion, and twists of fate through the eyes of the woman who will one day give birth to the legendary Queen of Sheba.

 

Kingscote by Linda Chaikin

1800 – India

A Web of Treacherous Deceit, and a Silk Heiress Determined to Find Love in the Land She Calls Home.

JACE BUCKLEY, the dashing British officer, has promised to report to Kingscote, bringing with him news of Coral Kendall’s missing adopted son. Coral is overjoyed, but her first priority is a mission school for the untouchables on the silk plantation—and the handsome Dr. Ethan Boswell has committed to fulfill Coral’s dream.

Coral has long delayed choosing between two very different men, but her impending decision is overshadowed by mysterious threats against her and the school Ethan has struggled to build. When the precious Hindi scripture portions given to her by William Carey are found in ashes on the floor of her room, Coral realizes that she must somehow bridge the cultural dissension—before it destroys Kingscote.

Danger follows Jace in his search for Coral’s abducted son, and the boy’s mysterious roots leave Jace entangled in a web of treacherous deceit. Will Jace return to Kingscote in time to claim the woman he loves? Or will the flames of hate destroy all in its path?

The Mulberry Leaf Whispers by Linda Thompson

1587/1942 – Japan

A WWII Japanese naval officer. The teenage daughter of a legendary Christian samurai. Three centuries separate them, but a crucial question binds their destinies together.

1587. Bartered off in a peace agreement to the ancient enemies of her illustrious house, is Sono a war prize, a hostage, or a bride? One hope sustains her. If she can provide an heir to the dashing husband she just met, she’ll ensure decades of peace for the beloved family she was forced to leave behind. But when a dark secret threatens her desperate bid to purchase their security, she must rise to a battle she never dreamed she’d fight.

1942. Akira Matsuura’s naval vessel explodes under enemy fire. Everything he has lived for disappears in flames with it. His command, his crew, his future—all lost. Worse, his honor is eternally decimated. A prisoner’s life is of value to no one. Least of all to himself. But a stunning twist reveals his family’s secret shame. Can a long-buried truth provide the vital spark that reignites his will to live?

Thrill to two poignant journeys of courage, duty, and sacrifice, deftly woven through the centuries to inspire with dynamic faith that conquers despair.

The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner

1975 – Michigan

In 1975, three thousand children were airlifted out of Saigon to be adopted into Western homes. When Mindy, one of those children, announces her plans to return to Vietnam to find her birth mother, her loving adopted family is suddenly thrown back to the events surrounding her unconventional arrival in their lives.

Though her father supports Mindy’s desire to meet her family of origin, he struggles privately with an unsettling fear that he’ll lose the daughter he’s poured his heart into. Mindy’s mother undergoes the emotional rollercoaster inherent in the adoption of a child from a war-torn country, discovering the joy hidden amid the difficulties. And Mindy’s sister helps her sort through relics that whisper of the effect the trauma of war has had on their family–but also speak of the beauty of overcoming.

Told through three strong voices in three compelling timelines, The Nature of Small Birds is a hopeful story that explores the meaning of family far beyond genetic code.

A Second Chance by Walt Mussell

Time Travel 1500s – Japan

Kira Sakamichi is a career-driven woman, trying to achieve success before her mother’s constant interference sentences her to a relationship. But when a grudging drive to meet her mother’s latest “selection” ends in a lake accident, Kira wakes up lost in the past, the concubine of a 16th century samurai, and mother to his six-year-old son. When actions in battle lead to the samurai’s condemnation, Kira learns that she and her son will share the samurai’s fate. Only by understanding the importance of duty and family in both time periods can they survive.

Two Autumns, One Spring by Elizabeth Ann Boyles

1861 – Japan

A deceitful mother-in-law, Nagasaki’s vengeful official, conflicting beliefs–all work against a near-perfect marriage in 1861 Japan. In the Dragonfly Trilogy’s third story, three months of bliss dissolve into threats of ruin. Sumi Taguchi Cardiff could lose her husband, disgrace her family, and be arrested for following Jesus, her new Liege.

John Cardiff, the first American consul in Nagasaki, never imagines his mother would try to destroy his marriage to the woman he adores.

Chief Inspector Sato blames Westerners, especially John, for his family’s tragedy. He vows to prosecute any Japanese followers of the foreigners’ evil religion.

What will happen to Sumi and John’s faith and marriage in the depths of adversity? The outcome will resound in your heart long after you read this story’s last page.

Uzura Seki: Black Sand by Murray Pura

1945 – Japan

The year was 1945. The war against Japan was over. Three men, best friends who had survived the horrors of combat, returned home and began to live another life, a better life. What had happened on the green islands of the South Pacific was forgotten or pushed away so far it could never come back to haunt them.

Except the war wouldn’t go away. It couldn’t be forgotten. It could never be pushed far enough away. The men awoke each morning to fight their battles over and over again. Now we call it PTSD. In the past, it was shell shock or combat fatigue. The three friends could not shake the darkness. It would take the women who loved them to bring the healing that would make the men whole again and bring them into the beautiful light of day.

Yesterday’s Tomorrow by Catherine West

yesterdaystomorrow1967 – Vietnam

She’s after the story that might get her the Pulitzer. He’s determined to keep his secrets to himself.

Independent, career-driven journalist Kristin Taylor wants two things: to honor her father’s memory by becoming an award-winning overseas correspondent, and to keep tabs on her only brother, Teddy, who signed up for the war against their mother’s wishes.
Brilliant photographer Luke Maddox, silent and brooding, exudes mystery. Kristin is convinced he’s hiding something.

Willing to risk it all for what they believe in, Kristin and Luke engage in their own tumultuous battle until, in an unexpected twist, they’re forced to work together. Ambushed by love, they must decide whether or not to set aside their own private agendas for the hope of tomorrow that has captured their hearts.

What suggestions do you have? What are you going to read this month?

RCR: Jewel of the Nile by Tessa Afshar

RCR: Jewel of the Nile by Tessa Afshar

by | Jan 31, 2022 | Book Reviews, Reading Challenge

We’ve finished the first month of the Unlocking the Past 2022 Reading Challenge: Around the World. This month we traveled to Africa, and my choice of story was Jewel of the Nile by Tessa Afshar. Once you read my review, don’t forget to comment to be entered for your chance to win a copy.

*Want more interaction and/or suggestions each month? Join the Facebook Group. Want a bookmark with the monthly themes? Fill out this Google Form. Need a reminder on the details of the challenge? Go to the Unlocking the Past Reading Challenge page.*

Jewel of the Nile

by Tessa Afshar

This month’s review is a combination of my review (section below the line) and Phyllis’s from AmongtheReads.net as we both read the same book. You can see not only Among the Read’s Full Review HERE, but you can also take a look through some beautiful graphics of her favorite quotes. I highly recommend it! 

From Among the Reads:

When I first saw this title, I thought it was from a much earlier time period and a different country. Which wouldn’t have mattered, I really enjoy Tessa Afshar’s writing and would have read it regardless. Intrigued by the synopsis, I was eager to learn more.

I was transported to another time and place from the very start. And fascinated by the plight of Gemina and her husband, who were introduced in the prologue. I quickly became fully invested in the characters and knew that I had to follow their story to its conclusion!

I struggled a little with reading the name Chariline at first. Then I realized that her name was Greek and therefore assumed the “ch” would be pronounced like “k” as in charis – therefore read it as “Caroline”. It made the rest of the reading much easier!

Chariline had such a sad background! My heart went out to the orphan who was despised by her grandfather due to her mixed heritage and the rebellion she represented to him and merely tolerated by the aunt who raised her. When she discovered that her father was still living, I didn’t blame her at all for wanting to discover his identity and was impressed by the bold way she continued to search for him.

As much as I admired Chariline, I adored Theo! He was so fascinating. When he discovered her as a stowaway on his ship, he was so kind to her and possessed the servant heart Jesus desires from His followers!

One of my favorite less-known New Testament characters played a minor, though significant, role and I loved reading the author’s depiction of him! The conjecture the author made about his backstory was interesting and unexpected. I was fascinated to learn more about the plight of the God-fearers desiring to worship and yet were forbidden access to the temple. The circumstances that led him to feel insignificant were very moving.

A level of suspense and mystery filled the pages as Chariline’s search took place and Theo had to protect her from an unexpected threat. And as both learned to find their value in Christ alone.

I thoroughly enjoyed this well-researched story. And as it contained characters from other books by Tessa Afshar also set during this time period, including Theo, it made me want to go back and re-read The Thief of Corinth and Daughter of Rome! It is not necessary to read them all together but it certainly would enhance the reading experience to do so.

Genre: Biblical Fiction, Roman Empire, Africa

Plot Overview:

Whispered secrets about her parents’ past take on new urgency for Chariline as she pays one last visit to the land of her forefathers, the ancient kingdom of Cush.
Raised as an orphan by her aunt, Chariline has only been told a few pieces of her parents’ tragic love story. Her beautiful dark skin is proof that her father was Cushite, but she knows nothing else. While visiting her grandfather before his retirement as the Roman official in the queen’s court, Chariline overhears that her father is still alive, and discovering his identity becomes her obsession. Both her grandfather and the queen have reasons for keeping this secret, however, and forbid her quest. So when her only clues lead to Rome, Chariline sneaks on the ship of a merchant trusted by friends.

Theo is shocked to discover a stowaway on board his vessel and determines to be rid of her as soon as possible. But drawn in by Chariline’s story, he feels honor-bound to see her safely to shore, especially when it appears someone may be willing to kill for the truth she seeks.

In this transformative tale of historical fiction, bestselling author Tessa Afshar brings to life the kingdom of Cush and the Roman Empire, introducing readers to a fascinating world filled with gripping adventure, touching romance, and a host of lovable characters—including some they may recognize from the biblical book of Acts.

Crystal’s Opinons

I am NOT a huge Biblical fiction reader. To the point I really really really put it off. However, once I started reading, the story never let go of me. The story, characters, mystery, danger, spiritual thread, and way of describing things have made me a Tess Afshar fan for life. I actually look forward to reading her other books.

What I loved: The plotline what not just a retelling or reimagining of some Biblical story, but a story that held merits of its own but was enhanced by the connections to real Biblical characters. 

Favorite Character and Why: Arkamani was a fun little boy who makes lots of appearances in the story and adds levity to stressful scenes. I loved all the characters, but I especially looked forward to his appearances on the page.

Who would like this? Those who like stories written in beautiful language and imagery that pull you wholy and completely into the setting. Also, those who loves stories of intrigue, danger, and romance with spiritual arcs that feel genuine and natural and even personal. I’d even recommend this book to those who are hesitant to try Biblical fiction.

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon     Baker Bookhouse       Barnes & Noble      Books-a-Million      Book Depository      Bookshop.org      Christianbook.com     Indiebound.org

Giveaway

For your chance to win a print copy, comment with what book YOU read for this month and you will also be entered into the year-end Grand Prize Reader Basket. Use the Rafflecopter below for extra entries and to mark that you left a comment. Entries end on February 7th at midnight EST, and the winner will be drawn sometime that week and notified by email. The winner will be announced don’t the Rafflecopter widget. *Open to all residents of the contiguous USA, legally able to enter, and an e-book format or Amazon Gift Card will be awarded to those outside that range who are legally able to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What did you read for January’s Challenge? What do you hope to read in February?

January Reading Challenge Suggestions

January Reading Challenge Suggestions

by | Jan 1, 2022 | Reading Challenge

Welcome to the FIRST month of the Unlocking the Past 2022 Reading Challenge: Around the World. This month focuses on books that take place in Africa. While I will generally focus on Historical Fiction novels, I have included plenty of contemporary options as well. The majority of recommendations come from https://inspirationalhistoricalfiction.com/, other readers, or other authors. Especially don’t forget to check out my partner’s website, http://amongthereads.net/. The books aren’t broken down by country, but you can find all sorts of wonderful reads. If none of these suggestions appeal to you, I highly recommend joining the Avid Readers Facebook Group and asking for their recommendations. They are AMAZING and your TBR pile will never be the same.

Add your suggestions in the comments, and/or tell me what you are reading. Have you read any of these below?

Also, if a title has (read and reviewed), clicking on that takes you to a review I’ve written on that book. Just in case you are interested in learning more.

Monthly Reminders:

*If you read a book for December, don’t forget to go to yesterday’s post to comment and get your name entered for your chance to win a print copy. (You’ll also earn your entry for the end of the year giveaway.)

*You can also join the Facebook Group. for more interaction and suggestions, or if you’d like a bookmark to remind you of the monthly challenges, fill out this Google Form.

Memories of Glass by Melanie Dobson

memoriesofglass1942 – Holland

As war rips through the heart of Holland, childhood friends Josie van Rees and Eliese Linden partner with a few daring citizens to rescue Eliese’s son and hundreds of other Jewish children who await deportation in a converted theater in Amsterdam. But amid their resistance work, Josie and Eliese’s dangerous secrets could derail their friendship and their entire mission. When the enemy finds these women, only one will escape.

Seventy-five years later, Ava Drake begins to suspect that her great-grandfather William Kingston was not the World War II hero he claimed to be. Her work as director of the prestigious Kingston Family Foundation leads her to Landon West’s Ugandan coffee plantation, and Ava and Landon soon discover a connection between their families. As Landon’s great-grandmother shares the broken pieces of her story, Ava must confront the greatest loss in her own life―and powerful members of the Kingston family who will do anything to keep the truth buried.

Illuminating the story and strength of these women, award-winning author Melanie Dobson transports readers through time and place, from World War II Holland to contemporary Uganda, in this rich and inspiring novel.

The Entrepreneur’s Nurse by Rose Fresquez

The Entrepreneur's Nurse: A Sweet Opposites Attract Romance (BWWM) (The Caregivers Book 2) by [Rose Fresquez]His trip to Africa is strictly business. Her attraction to a tourist is a prescription for heartbreak.

As a successful entrepreneur, Brady Sharp is all about profit. His trip to Uganda is to strike a deal and get back to his life in New York. But when he falls off a motorcycle taxi and misses the meeting and his flight, the only thing he’s grateful for is the nurse who comes to his rescue.

Being the sole owner of the only clinic in a Kampala suburb, Ruth runs a tight shift. After she stitches an incoherent tourist she rescues from the roadside, she doesn’t expect to see the white man again, until he shows up to her clinic to ask her out on a date—too bad, she has patients to treat in the village.

As they work side by side in a small African village, Ruth’s selflessness makes Brady question everything he believed important. Each day spent with her creates a deeper attraction—a threat to his long-term goals of becoming the next billionaire.

Can Brady and Ruth pursue a long-distance relationship? At some point, they must make a conflicting choice: pursue their careers or take a chance on love.

Healer of Carthage by Lynne Gentry

healerofcarthage250s/Time Travel – Texas/Ancient Carthage

A twenty-first-century doctor. A third-century plague. A love out of time.

First-year resident Dr. Lisbeth Hastings is too busy to take her father’s bizarre summons seriously. But when a tragic mistake puts her career in jeopardy, answering her father’s call seems her only hope of redeeming the devastating failure that her life has become. While exploring the haunting cave at her father’s archaeological dig, Lisbeth falls through a hidden hole, awakening to find herself the object of a slave auction and the ruins of Roman Carthage inexplicably restored to a thriving metropolis. Is it possible that she’s traveled back in time, and, if so, how can she find her way back home? Cyprian Thascius believes God called him to rescue the mysterious woman from the slave trader’s cell. What he doesn’t understand is why saving the church of his newfound faith requires him to love a woman whose peculiar ways could get him killed. But who is he to question God? As their different worlds collide, it sparks an intense attraction that unites Lisbeth and Cyprian in a battle against a deadly epidemic. Even as they confront persecution, uncover buried secrets, and ignite the beginnings of a medical revolution, Roman wrath threatens to separate them forever. Can they find their way to each other through all these obstacles? Or are the eighteen hundred years between them too far of a leap?

An Ocean Away by Lisa Harris

anoceanaway1921 – Africa

Dateline: 1921—Northern Rhodesia and New York, New York. Lizzie MacTavis is determined to remain with the people with whom God called her to work along the banks of the rugged Zambezi River in southern Africa. Andrew Styles, an anthropologist and explorer, has been commissioned to bring Lizzie back to New York City at any cost. With a fortune at stake, Lizzie is caught between two worlds when she is finally forced
to return to the United States and discovers her life is in danger. Will Andrew turn out to be Lizzie’s nemesis or hero?

 

Child of the River by Irma Joubert

childoftheriver1938 – South Africa

Persomi is young, white, and poor, born the middle child of illiterate sharecroppers on the prosperous Fourie farm in the South African Bushveld. Persomi’s world is extraordinarily small. She has never been to the local village and spends her days absorbed in the rhythms of the natural world around her, escaping the brutality and squalor of her family home through the newspapers and books passed down to her from the main house and through her walks in the nearby mountains.

Persomi’s close relationship with her older brother Gerbrand and her fragile friendship with Boelie Fourie—heir to the Fourie farm and fortune—are her lifeline and her only connection to the outside world. When Gerbrand leaves the farm to fight on the side of the Anglos in WWII and Boelie joins an underground network of Boer nationalists, Persomi’s isolated world is blown wide open. But as her very small world falls apart, bigger dreams become open to her—dreams of an education, a profession, a native country that values justice and equality, and of love. As Persomi navigates the changing world around her—the tragedies of war and the devastating racial strife of her homeland—she finally discovers who she truly is, where she belongs, and why her life—and every life—matters.

The Doctor’s Mission by Debbie Kaufman

doctorsmission1918 – Africa

A woman doctor! Missionary William Mayweather can’t hide his disappointment. The Nynabo mission in Liberia, Africa, desperately needs help, but he’s vowed not to put another female in jeopardy. Too bad flame-haired Dr. Mary O’Hara refuses to turn back—and he cannot allow her to go into the jungle alone.
Medicine or marriage? For Mary, the choice was clear. Far away from the patriarchal medical community, she resolves to be of real service. She’ll willingly go head-to-head with the handsome, opinionated missionary, even in the face of deadly danger. Yet the greatest tests lie in trusting God’s plan—for the mission, and her future happiness in this untamed, beautiful land….

 

In Search of a Prince by Toni Shiloh

In Search of a Prince by [Toni Shiloh] It seems like a dream come true . . . until it forces her to question everything.

Brielle Adebayo is fully content teaching at a New York City public school and taking annual summer vacations with her mother to Martha’s Vineyard. But everything changes when her mom drops a bombshell–Brielle is really a princess in the island kingdom of Ọlọrọ Ilé, off the coast of Africa, and she must immediately assume her royal position, since the health of her grandfather, the king, is failing.

Distraught by all the secrets her mother kept, Brielle is further left spinning when the Ọlọrọ Ilé Royal Council brings up an old edict that states she must marry before her coronation, or the crown will pass to another. Brielle is uncertain if she even wants the throne, and with her world totally shaken, where will she find the courage to take a chance on love and brave the perils a wrong decision may bring?

*This one releases February 1st but should be available via NetGalley for early reading.

The Other You by Marion Ueckermann

The Other You (Heart of Africa) by [Marion Ueckermann]

Who am I? The question has Taylor Cassidy journeying from one side of America to the other seeking an answer. Almost five years brings her no closer to the truth. Now an award-winning photojournalist for Wines & Vines, Taylor is sent on assignment to South Africa to discover the inspiration behind Aimee Amour, the DeBois estate’s flagship wine. Mystery has enshrouded the story of the woman for whom the wine is named.

South African winegrower Armand DeBois’s world is shattered when a car accident leaves him in a coma for three weeks, and his young wife dead. The road of recovery and mourning is dark, and Armand teeters between falling away from God and falling into His comforting arms.

When Armand and Taylor meet, questions arise for them both. While the country and the winegrower hold a strange attraction for Taylor, Armand struggles with the uncertainty of whether he’s falling in love with his past or his future.

Congo Dawn by Jeanette Windle

The smallest flame shines brightest against the darkest night.

If absolute power breeds absolute corruption, what happens when a multinational corporation with unlimited funds hires on a private military company with unbridled power, especially in a war-torn African nation where any governmental accountability is for sale at only too cheap a price?

While former Marine lieutenant Robin Duncan is no stranger to corruption or conspiracy, she has always been able to tell the good guys from the bad. At first, her current assignment is no different: working on behalf of an international corporation to insurgent killer. But as a ruthless global conspiracy begins to surface, run by powerful men who can’t afford to leave witnesses, Robin doesn’t know who to trust. Nor can she see any way to save the Ituri rainforest villagers she has sworn to protect. Why is God silent amid all the pain and injustice? And how do these people of faith continue to rejoice in their suffering?

The Confessions of X by Suzanne M. Wolfe

theconfessionsofx300s – Carthage

Before he became a father of the Christian Church, Augustine of Hippo loved a woman whose name has been lost to history. This is her story.

She met Augustine in Carthage when she was seventeen. She was the poor daughter of a mosaic-layer; he was a promising student and with a great career in the Roman Empire ahead of him. His brilliance and passion intoxicated her, but his social class would be forever beyond her reach.  She became his concubine, and by the time he was forced to leave her, she was thirty years old and the mother of his son. And his Confessions show us that he never forgot her. She was the only woman he ever loved.

In a society in which classes rarely mingled on equal terms, and an unwed mother could lose her son to the burgeoning career of her ambitious lover, this anonymous woman was a first-hand witness to Augustine of Hippos’s anguished spiritual journey from religious cultist to the celebrated Christian saint and thinker.

Giving voice to one of history’s most mysterious women, The Confessions of X tells the story of Augustine of Hippo’s nameless lover, their relationship before his famous conversion, and her life after his rise to fame. A tale of womanhood, faith, and class at the end of antiquity, The Confessions of X is more than historical fiction . . . it is a timeless story of love and loss in the shadow of a theological giant.

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