Posts Tagged: Christian Fiction

Miracle of the Christmas Star Blog Tour

29 Nov, 2011 by in Susan Dean Elzey Leave a comment

Miracle of the Christmas Star
by Susan Dean Elzey
Paperback, 176 pages
Published September 8, 2011
by Bonneville Books
ISBN  1599558629
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 stars
Hannah died the night she was born. The new star’s light brought her back to life, but left her stricken with palsy. Sariah, Hannah’s mother, believes Hannah can be healed, if only she can find the Savior. Miracle of the Christmas Star is a tender story of love, faith and endurance that will touch your heart and remind you why miracles happen.
Such a heartbreaking and uplifting story of love, sacrifice and miracles. Sariah is a woman of faith who sacrifices for her little family. Her daughter, Hannah, is miraculously saved when the light of the new star shines on her after being born dead.  But her life is not a normal one. She is stricken with palsy and cannot do anything for herself. She is never able to walk on her own and must be spoon fed. Sariah’s husband, Joshua is a wonderful support and they have a true, strong love for both each other and their daughter. Sariah and Joshua hear of a Savior who was born on the same night their sweet Hannah was born, and they believe that he can heal their daughter. Sariah begins a decades long search for for the savior. 
Sariah’s faith is an inspiration to me. I struggle daily to do the things that I need to for my family, who are all well and whole (for the most part). The challenges that I deal with on a daily basis seem so big at times, but then I read stories of faith like this one (even though it is fictional) and I am inspired to try a little harder; to put more faith in God. 
If you are looking for a book to inspire you this Christmas Season, this is a great selection. (Warning, read this book with a package of tissues by your side, you are certain to need them).

Thanks so much to Cedar Fort Books for including us in the Miracle of the Christmas Star Virtual Blog Tour! Learn more about the book at http://www.miracleofthechristmasstar.com/. And be sure to read our exclusive guest post below with author Susan Dean Elzey.

A Reluctant Queen: The Love Story of Esther by Joan Wolf Review

29 Sep, 2011 by in Uncategorized 1 comment

A Reluctant Queen: The Love Story of Esther
by Joan Wolf
Published July 5th, 2011
by Thomas Nelson
Book Source: publisher
ISBN 1595548769
4 Stars

An inspired re-imagining of the tale of Esther, a young Jewish woman thrust from a life of obscurity into a life of power, wealth, intrigue . . . and tender love.

See the story of Esther in an entirely new way-with all the political intrigue and tension you remember, but told as a passionate and tender love story between a young man and woman. Misunderstood by many, King Xerxes was a powerful but lonely man. Esther’s beauty caught the eye of the young king, but it was her spirit that captured his heart.

Imagine anew the story of Esther, one of our faith’s great heroines, destined to play a key role in the history of Christianity.

I enjoyed this sweet romance set in the time of Esther. The author has made some changes to the original bible story (she does not have the King Xerxes ruling, but a King by name of Ahasuerus who is the brother of Xerxes in the story, but there is no historical evidence of his existence). Some of these changes were out of necessity to lengthen the tale, some were artistic changes in order to forward the story.

Esther is conflicted. She has come to love her husband, and fears that he will discover that she is a Jew and cast her off. She knows that he loves her too, but he is led by honesty and despises lies. When a declaration is made, by Haman in the name of the King, that would lead to the extermination of all Jews, Esther must act on faith and reveal herself as a Jew and plead for the lives of her people.

The plot runs smoothly throughout. It was truly an enjoyable story.

Content: clean, mention of concubines, etc

I received a copy of this book in order to write this review. No further compensation was received. Summary and cover image from Goodreads.