Biblical fiction that almost makes you forget the “Biblical” part. I got so caught up in the lives of Iddo, Dinah, Zaki and Yael I felt like they were friends, not simply characters from long ago. The storyline is captivating. Even if we know the eventual outcome for the remnant returning to Jerusalem from Babylon, we want to know more about the personal stories of these people. You can hear the ripping of hearts as families separate, feel the excruciating pain of betrayal, agonize over decisions to be made and become a cheerleader as God’s love turns vagrant hearts from their sin. Drama, romance, disaster and forgiveness roll from Lynn Austin’s pen into an unforgettable story that will guide us, encourage us and show us that the Biblical characters we read about in scripture are not so very different from our own lives.
Fall in love with Yael. Hold steadfast in trial and opposition along with Iddo. Search for your life’s meaning and purpose with Zaki. Share heartbreak and heart transformation with Dinah. No matter what you relate to, every reader will find something personal and meaningful in the pages of Return to Me. The reality behind the fictionalization is poignant and moving. These people really lived, made their mark in history and claimed a place in scripture that we all might follow their example. Perhaps their names were different, their personal stories unknown, but their fears and emotions are the same as ours as we turn to the same Source for our comfort and hope.
Lynn Austin has created a treasure of Biblical fiction that will remain in the hearts and minds of readers long after the final page has been turned. I received this book from bookfun.org in exchange for my honest opinion.
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In Return to Me Lynn Austin returns to writing in the genre--biblical fiction--where I first met her. This story is set in the time of the exile and follows the priest Iddo and his son Zacharias as their family returns to a ravished Jersualem with the intention of rebuilding the temple.

The book is peopled by believable characters who go through the kinds of things you'd expect returning exiles to go through. Iddo's wife, Dinah, pines for her children and grandchildren that never made the trek back and struggles to be content in her primitive Jerusalem home.

Zachariah's best friend Yael feels the strong pull of astrology as she seeks to discover whether her sick mother will live. The star charts she gets from the Babylonian seer Parthia become a snare to her as she befriends a Samaritan family.

Main character Zacharias often misses his parents but believes that God has him in Jerusalem for a reason--if only He would make it clear.

It's a story that takes place over a generation and gives life to an interesting and dramatic era of Israel's history. However I found it slow-moving in parts, and a tad long. Perhaps this is because the author attempts to stay close to the Bible's story line where there are years without too much happening.

Lovers of Bible fiction and students of Jewish history will want to add this book to their collections.

I received Return to Me as a gift from the publisher, Bethany House. As usual, my Kindle edition from NetGalley was full of weird spacing and missing 'ff's. ( )

I was really intrigued by the storyline of this book and once I started reading I really didn't want to put it down.

Lana and Tristan meet in a parallel world, both after a traumatic event which has left them hurt and confused. When Lana dies in her world and wakes up in Tristan's, she is understandably feeling less than enthusiastic towards the people around her. She sees her husband Frank but is told his name is Tristan. As she begins to meet familiar people she realises that while they may look the same and have the same names, they are living different lives. They each have ties to the other world but after certain events, their lives have taken different paths.

When Tristan goes to see his wife at the hospital after her car accident he is shocked to be told she has amnesia and can't remember him. He is wary though as he and his wife Allanah have had a strained relationship and he is not quite sure he believes her.

As Lana struggles to understand what has happened to her and assimilate to her new world, she discovers that while the people around her seem to have taken different paths in their lives, the lessons to be learned are the same. She doesn't immediately come clean with Tristan as she fears how he will take the news that she really isn't his Allanah, when she doesn't fully understand it herself and what follows is a heartbreaking story of forgiveness and redemption, of lies and deception on both sides, of learning to love and trust someone completely, of living for today.
"Each day was precious and to be savored because tomorrow was not a certainty........to love and embrace that love knowing what pain would follow, or to walk away and feel the pain of an unfulfilled love as it withered?"

This story wasn't only about Lana's growth as a character it was also about Tristan and I loved how Tristan grew and learned how to trust and love another unconditionally. He had some pretty serious secrets and the way their relationship dealt with those secrets, illustrated that trust and love.

Although mostly written from Lana's point of view, at times we are given Tristan's point of view and I really appreciated that. I felt that the story flowed well and once I was familiar with the names and the relationship connections, I followed the storyline easily. I loved seeing the growth and strength emerge in Lana's character. For a while she kept looking at Tristan trying to find Frank in him but she realised that while they had their similarities Tristan was his own man. Lana decides to embrace the world she is now living in and take her destiny into her own hands.
"She realised it was up to her. Was she going to wait around for something to happen or was she going to decide on a destination?"

Overall I really enjoyed this book and will be looking forward to reading more from Mae Archer.

copy kindly provided by publisher

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I enjoyed the previous series (Chronicles of the Kings). This is new series focused on the return of some of the Israelites after their captivity. The primary characters are the prophet Zeckariah, his grandfather Iddo, and a young wayward girl.
Looking forward to the continuation of the story. ( )

Although I like all of Lynn Austin's novels, I really think that her biblical novels are her best niche. In this one, I felt I was walking beside Zaki throughout the story, seeing both Babylon and Jerusalem through his eyes, and with his thoughts and feelings. I have always felt that the story of the Isrealites parallels a Christian's life from being in captivity (in our case to sin) to wandering in the wilderness and eventually arriving the Promised Land. As such, I could see that the distractions the Jewish people faced after they left Babylon to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem are only slightly different in nature to ours today. And as patient and loving as God was then, not forsaking them even when they did not obey (is not slow obedience is no obedience at all?) He will wait for us today.
Well written, as all of Lynn Austin”s novels are, and definitely worth your time. Not a suspense story, yet I kept turning the pages to see how Zaki would respond to the challenges facing him.
This story resonated with me and I found a new appreciation for Biblical novels, God's love for me and for the Jewish nation.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group." ( )