After waiting half a year for the final installment of The Covenant House duology, Connilyn Cossette once again showcases why she is one of the best Biblical Fiction authors with the release of Between the Wild Branches! A true artist, Connilyn takes readers on a spiritual journey, bringing the Old Testament to life and highlighting a truth that impacts not only her main characters but everyone who reads her novels! Each book is more than a form of entertainment; they’re a testimony of faith that shines the glory of our incredible Creator on every page!
Between the Wild Branches begins ten years after the events of To Dwell Among Cedars. Lukio, Eliora’s brother, is all grown up and, with the help of his crafty cousin, has become the revered fighting champion of Ashdod. With bitterness and resentment still boiling within him, Lukio has spent the last decade building a prosperous life for himself, embracing his Philistine heritage in attempts to shed any influence the Hebrews had on him. However, just as he’s about to receive everything he’s worked hard to achieve, someone from Lukio’s past re-enters his life, throwing all he thought he knew in disarray and setting him on a path he never thought he’d cross again. What will Lukio choose when he is forced to decide between the home he fled from and the one he ran to?
Captured by the Philistines, Shoshana is enslaved in Ashdod with any hope of seeing her children again only possible in her dreams. Determined to survive, Shoshana does her best to stay in the shadows. However, when her mistress becomes betrothed to the notorious fighter, Demon Eyes, Shoshana will have to navigate her way through the tangled web of secrets and past regrets when she comes face-to-face with the boy she once loved. Is Lukio still the same dual-color-eyed boy she used to sneak into the woods in Kiryat-Yearim to see, or has the last decade destroyed any chance of reconciliation?
From the opening scene, I knew Between the Wild Branches would be unlike anything Connilyn Cossette has written. Taken on an emotional rollercoaster (the good kind), I laughed, cried, gasped, and swooned my way through this book. Lukio and Shoshana’s stories captured my heart, making me feel like I was experiencing everything they were. Surprised at every turn, I had no idea how Connilyn would tie everything together; it all seemed impossible, but the ending did not disappoint! (Cue the tears😭)
Set primarily in Philistine territory, readers get an in-depth perspective of what it was like to live amongst the pagan, blood-thirsty people of Philistia. Full of suspense, action, love, and forgiveness, Between the Wild Branches will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end! None of us think we deserve unconditional love, but there comes a moment in our lives when we will learn where our true home lies. Can we let go of the past to move into a brighter future, or will we harden our hearts and remain in the prison we didn’t realize we’d created? Between the Wild Branches explores all of this and more in this epic tale that will stay in your mind for weeks to come!
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a pre-release copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are entirely my own!*
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[yasr_multiset setid=0] Ages: 15+
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- “I’d claimed countless victories since I returned to Ashdod as a fifteen-year-old boy with my hopes crushed and my blood boiling with betrayal, and yet each one seemed to matter less than the last.”
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- “The collision of our gazes felt like two ships ramming each other at full speed, and the shimmer of grief in her hazel eyes stripped me to the bone.”
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- “There was nothing between us now but regret and bittersweet memories.”
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- “Nothing can replace all the years the locusts have consumed between then and now. And nothing can change the fact that I am a slave to your soon-to-be wife.”
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- “My lust for power and wealth, along with my determination to free myself from Mataro’s clutches, had only ensnared me in servitude to another master.”
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- “He is nothing if not loyal. It is his greatest strength but also his greatest weakness, I think.”
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- “His smile was nearly as brilliant as the flaring sunset over the sea just outside the window.”
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- “If I had the ability to escape this palace right now, I would already be gone. Dragging my shredded heart behind me in the dirt.”
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- “It was only a moment that our gazes connected, yet it felt as though a thousand words passed between us before I was forced to turn away from the woman whom I’d thought I would marry to the one who would soon be my wife; something that was become more difficult with every brief encounter.”
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