Author: Janice Broyles

Blog Book Tour | the sequel to “The Secret Heir’ takes us further into the back-story of King David in the pages of “The Runaway Heir” (Book Two: of the Saga of David and Secret Heir series) by Janice Broyles

Posted Tuesday, 14 January, 2020 by jorielov , , 0 Comments

Book Review banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours whereupon I am thankful to have been able to host such a diverse breadth of stories, authors and wonderful guest features since I became a hostess! HFVBTs is one of the very first touring companies I started working with as a 1st Year Book Blogger – uniting my love and passion with Historical Fiction and the lovely sub-genres inside which I love devouring. Whether I am reading selections from Indie Authors & publishers to Major Trade and either from mainstream or INSPY markets – I am finding myself happily residing in the Historical past each year I am a blogger.

What I have been thankful for all these years since 2013 is the beautiful blessing of discovering new areas of Historical History to explore through realistically compelling Historical narratives which put me on the front-lines of where History and human interest stories interconnect. It has also allowed me to dive deeper into the historic past and root out new decades, centuries and millenniums to explore. For this and the stories themselves which are part of the memories I cherish most as a book blogger I am grateful to be a part of the #HFVBTBlogTours blogger team.

I received a complimentary of “The Runsaway Heir” direct from the author Janice Broyles in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

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What I enjoyed from the first installment of this trilogy:

I found the first meeting between David and Michal to be a humbling one – David hadn’t been granted instruction on what his role to the King (ie. King Saul) was meant to look like nor was he given any encouraging words of advice except to play his music. It is here where Broyles shared a passage from Psalms (and I admit, I love Psalms!) which related to the musical interlude. To his credit, David has a lot of strength and courage in his young heart – he is used to being shrugged off and mistreated by his family, to find his bravery at court amongst the King felt like he was truly embracing the gift he had received from on High; as he wasn’t rationally reasoning his visit here – he was choosing to go with the flow and to embrace whatever came his way.

Curiously there appeared to be a disconnect between David and his father – of how the son was trying to grow into a measure of worth befitting a man who was anointed with an important position in the future whereas the father used that secreted honour as a rite of fuell to dismantle his son’s spirit if he could break him with his fist. Why his father was so aggrieved against David from the beginning is unknown (at least at this junction) and what was hard to accept in the context of his story is how without his fellow shepherds he would have been cast out completely alone.

One of the areas of the novel I enjoyed the most were the nuanced moments between the events – where Broyles gives us a glimpse into the ordinary hours each of her characters might have lived and thereby extending the situations we might have read about through the Scriptures (of the Bible). These little tucked in moments give more breadth to whom we’re reading about – seeing Michal trying to round out her knowledge of the lyre (the instrument David plays), the vexations of her sister Merab not willing to ‘let go’ of the idea of love and the cunningly discouraging way their mother tried to continue to scheme and plan behind the sisters’ back; all showed how their lives were not as you’d have hoped and their trials were wide and deep.

You can understand how Michal and David fell in love with each other – they were both facing circumstances outside their control with parents who cared little about their individual needs and more about what they could leverage out of them. This sparked a connection between them where they each forged a bond with someone who was walking the same life and felt equally as miserable for the experience. It was here where Broyles knits the story closer to your heart because you can feel the emotional tidalwaves within each of them – they are torn between duty, honour and loyalty against what in their world is considered the weaker option of voicing their own mind. They were taught to obey and never to question their orders and yet, here they were given the chance to break through those structured barriers most of their age were living behind and had the opportunity to see each other on equal ground. Fittingly because Michal drew a connection with David, you saw for the first time she was starting to understand her sister Merab and the choices she was making in her own life.

Sadly for David – there were people conspiring against him and with the King’s own suspicious mind already in play, he barely had a chance to carve out his own life to live before everything fell at his feet in regards to the trust and loyalty he had previously secured. David in this installment of the trilogy is learning the harder lessons about supposition and rumour; how someone can turn against a person as quickly as they can be ordered to be killed. David’s truer strength is his faith in God and how he felt he was being led into the battles of his life. He drew strength out of prayer and song; giving himself to the hope of what his faith would yield in moments of intensive adversity where mercy was warranted. And, yet – there are those other moments where your heart nearly breaks for how futile his actions were to prove his worth and he was against a King who had already gone insane.

Throughout this first novel, we get to sneak into David, Merab and Michal’s lives – we get to get a more intimate portrait of what was going on at the time of the events History has been recorded to peer closer to the choices they were each facing given out by people who had control over them. It wasn’t a life of free choice and personal freedoms but it was a life they each fought to live – on their own terms but within a system which was organised against their will. Where the drama bridges the gap between what you previously knew about these people and what can become better inferred through this novel is where Broyles excelled at giving us a living portrait of life during the century where fate, love and enduring hope collided with destined prophecy.

-quoted from my review of The Secret Heir

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Blog Book Tour | the sequel to “The Secret Heir’ takes us further into the back-story of King David in the pages of “The Runaway Heir” (Book Two: of the Saga of David and Secret Heir series) by Janice BroylesThe Runaway Heir
Subtitle: Sequel to The Secret Heir
by Janice Broyles
Source: Author via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

In Ancient Palestine, Michal, a young Israeli princess, marries the man she loves, but it comes with a high price. She must spy on him and report back to her father, the notorious King Saul. Michal hopes her father will forget his animosity toward the giant-killing David, and that she and David can finally live a life of peace together.

Unfortunately, her father comes to collect on Michal’s promise, and she is forced to choose between betraying her father or her husband. Her decision launches her life on a path she never expected. Michal and David are ripped apart for eight years. One is forced into a loveless second marriage, the other is forced to run for his life. If they can survive the vengeful King Saul, they may have a chance at restoring their love. But a lot can change in eight years, and Michal and David are not the same as they once were.

Genres: Biblical Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1734100808

Also by this author: Guest Post | Janice Broyles, The Secret Heir

Also in this series: The Secret Heir


Published by Late November Literary

on 1st October, 2019

Format: Trade Paperback

Pages: 333

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

The Saga of David and Secret Heir series series:

The Secret Heir by Janice BroylesThe Runaway Heir by Janice Broyles

The Secret Heir (book one) | see also Review

The Runaway Heir (book two)

→ The Anointed Heir (book three) *forthcoming release!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Published by: Late November Literary

Converse via: #HistFic or #HistNov; #KingDavid
+ #Biblical #HistoricalFictionand  #HFVBTBlogTours

Available Formats: Trade paperback and Ebook

About Janice Broyles

Janice Broyles

Janice Broyles is an award-winning author. She resides in Winston Salem, North Carolina, where she teaches at a local college. She spends the majority of her free time researching history and retelling fantastical stories. Luckily her husband and two sons understand her passion for history and making stories come alive.

When not researching or writing, Janice Broyles enjoys spending time with her family and hanging out with her close circle of friends. The Runaway Heir is the second book to her David saga. The Secret Heir, released in 2018, is the first novel of the series.The Anointed Heir, the third book in the series, is set to be released by the end of 2020. Janice enjoys spending time with her husband of 23 years and their two sons and one dog.

Read More

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Divider

Posted Tuesday, 14 January, 2020 by jorielov in 1020s BC, 11th Century BC, 2nd Millennium BC, Ancient Civilisation, Ancient Israel, Biblical Fiction, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Blog Tour Host, Father-Daughter Relationships, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, History, Important Figures of Ancient Times, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, King Saul, Military Fiction

#HistoricalMondays Book Review | “The Secret Heir (Book One: of the Saga of David and Secret Heir series) by Janice Broyles

Posted Monday, 13 January, 2020 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

#HistoricalMondays blog banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours whereupon I am thankful to have been able to host such a diverse breadth of stories, authors and wonderful guest features since I became a hostess! HFVBTs is one of the very first touring companies I started working with as a 1st Year Book Blogger – uniting my love and passion with Historical Fiction and the lovely sub-genres inside which I love devouring. Whether I am reading selections from Indie Authors & publishers to Major Trade and either from mainstream or INSPY markets – I am finding myself happily residing in the Historical past each year I am a blogger.

What I have been thankful for all these years since 2013 is the beautiful blessing of discovering new areas of Historical History to explore through realistically compelling Historical narratives which put me on the front-lines of where History and human interest stories interconnect. It has also allowed me to dive deeper into the historic past and root out new decades, centuries and millenniums to explore. For this and the stories themselves which are part of the memories I cherish most as a book blogger I am grateful to be a part of the #HFVBTBlogTours blogger team.

I received a complimentary of “The Secret Heir” direct from the author Janice Broyles in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Why I wanted to read “The Secret Heir”:

I’ve had an interest in seeking out more Biblical Historical Fiction for the past few years – as each of us walks a life of faith and were raised in Protestant Christianity approach how we read the Bible differently. For me, I had hoped there were more ‘stories’ of the people in the Bible, more background on their lives & their everyday worlds; a more intimate portrait truly of how they lived not only reflected their character but of the ongoing changes in society and the world which was evolving forward from where it first began. There was a lot of change in Biblical times – especially when it came to power & to how those in power used theirs to manipulate events and/or cause harm rather than good.

This is why I’ve been seeking out either INSPY Non-Fiction which seeks to give you an easier way to digest the ‘biographical’ histories of the people of the Bible or INSPY Historical Fiction which in of itself is a beautiful new niche of joy for me because all the reasons I enjoy seeking out mainstream #HistFic are lovingly transferred over into the INSPY side of the ledger! This is where you can draw a more interpersonal view of the people you have heard about by name but perhaps never fully connected with previously? Similar to why you might feel curiously inclined to read any other Historical narrative – to step through the threshold of time and recapture a bit of the essence of not just the timestamp on the time machine but also the people who lived through those eras & generations.

Although I’ve known about King David, I can’t say I felt close to his story or to Michal. When I first read the premise of this novel, I did feel a bit cautious about reading it as I was worried about the levels of intensity when it comes to the more graphic way ‘some writers’ of Biblical Historical Fiction & mainstream Historical narratives take the reader back into a world which was a bit more brutal than any of us really realised.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

I elected to reach out to the author via HFVBTs
and asked a particular question regarding the content of the novel/series:

I know it’s Christian Historical Fiction but I’ve sometimes become burnt on this anyway – is this considered violently graphic or does she round off the harder edges of the violence and/or is it just suggested but never truly depicted? I wanted to ask this because as said sometimes I get burnt on what I am reading.

Broyles responded:

Yes, it is a clean read, but yes, there is violence. The books are retellings of David, and he was often at war or in battles, so there are scenes where that is depicted. Everything connects with the Bible though (and there’s a lot of violence in Scripture). I try not to go overboard, but there is some in there. The books are clean, as in there is no swearing, sex, or anything close to it. I’ve had a lot of conservative readers write great reviews.
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With this kind response, I felt I could handle the content within the context of the story and moved forward to host the blog tour. I am grateful I had the opportunity to begin this series from the beginning within “The Secret Heir” as I wanted to truly understand where we find David in the series and how his life leading up to his anointment was affecting the future we know of him better.

I decided to share this Q&A with my readers in case you had similar concerns about what you might find within the novel. I like to be transparent about how I make my own choices in literature & if something I’ve learnt can help another reader make better choices in their readerly lives, I feel better for the transparency. As otherwise, how would any of us know what we can handle or not handle!? This is why I love the book blogosphere and other bloggers who are being openly honest about the stories their reading & the content that either is agreeable for them as a reader or has some triggering effects which ought to be noted in case other readers shared the same response.

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#HistoricalMondays Book Review | “The Secret Heir (Book One: of the Saga of David and Secret Heir series) by Janice BroylesThe Secret Heir
Subtitle: A young man - anointed to be King - must first survive the king already on the throne.
by Janice Broyles
Source: Author via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

Years before, he was anointed future king of Israel. Now if the sitting king learns of his secret, it will mean death for David and everyone in his family. David’s secret destiny becomes more complicated when he falls in love with King Saul’s daughter, Michal. He will do whatever it takes to secure her heart, provided she doesn’t find out that David is the rumored rival to her father’s throne.

Now that Michal is of age, the Queen determines her daughter must be married as soon as possible. Michal resigns herself to a pre-arranged marriage with a man she does not love. Then by fate or God’s providence she meets the handsome, young lyre player standing outside her father’s chambers.

One lives in a palace; the other sleeps under the stars. Though they come from vastly different worlds, Michal and David are drawn together. When King Saul uncovers David’s secret and vows to kill him, Michal is torn between her love for her father and feelings for David. Two kings, two men she deeply loves but for different reasons — one heart broken in two.

Genres: Biblical Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781946016539

Also by this author: Guest Post | Janice Broyles, The Runaway Heir

Also in this series: The Runaway Heir


Published by Heritage Beacon Fiction

on 11th July, 2018

Format: Trade Paperback

Pages: 286

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

The Saga of David and Secret Heir series series:

The Secret Heir by Janice BroylesThe Runaway Heir by Janice Broyles

The Secret Heir (book one)

The Runaway Heir (book two)

→ The Anointed Heir (book three) *forthcoming release!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Published by: Heritage Beacon Fiction (@heritagefiction)
an imprint of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas (@LPCTweets)

Converse via: #HistFic or #HistNov; #KingDavid
+ #Biblical #HistoricalFictionand  #HFVBTBlogTours

Available Formats: Trade paperback and Ebook

About Janice Broyles

Janice Broyles

Janice Broyles is an award-winning author. She resides in Winston Salem, North Carolina, where she teaches at a local college. She spends the majority of her free time researching history and retelling fantastical stories. Luckily her husband and two sons understand her passion for history and making stories come alive.

When not researching or writing, Janice Broyles enjoys spending time with her family and hanging out with her close circle of friends. The Runaway Heir is the second book to her David saga. The Secret Heir, released in 2018, is the first novel of the series.The Anointed Heir, the third book in the series, is set to be released by the end of 2020. Janice enjoys spending time with her husband of 23 years and their two sons and one dog.

Read More

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Divider

Posted Monday, 13 January, 2020 by jorielov in 1020s BC, 11th Century BC, 2nd Millennium BC, Ancient Civilisation, Ancient Israel, Biblical Fiction, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Blog Tour Host, Father-Daughter Relationships, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, History, Important Figures of Ancient Times, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, King Saul, Military Fiction

Author Guest Post | From Sting to Success: Using Rejection to Improve Writing by the author of the Biblical Historical Fiction saga about King David – Janice Broyles!

Posted Sunday, 12 January, 2020 by jorielov , , , 3 Comments

Guest Contributor and/or Reviewer of JLAS banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

Happy New Year, for those who are just returning to visiting book bloggers and blog tours this January! It has been a unique beginning to 2020 I must admit – as the tides of current of events took its toll on my reading life these past few weeks of the New Year. It was hard to see a lot of positivity in the mix when you had so much weighing on all our minds & hearts each time we tried to see if anything new had emerged – especially in regards to the weather patterns affecting America right now or the bushfires affecting all areas of life in Australia.

I’ve been returning to blogging at a bit of a slower pace this month – selecting the stories I want to be reading, sorting out topics to explore during #TopTenTuesday and launching my chat @SatBookChat this weekend as well – kicking off the start of our sixth year chatting about books & finding ways to unite the reading & writing community of Twitter.

When it came time to select a topic for this blog tour – I inadvertently sorted out the topic a bit too late to turn in and was thankfully blessed by a topic of interest provided by the author herself. I think all of us who are writers have this topic come up in our hearts time after time – especially as the journey towards publication & the journey towards better self-confidence in our own writings can be a longer journey than most people realise.

Broyles shares an honest glimpse into how this series reached publication & the ways in which she used those months & years ahead of seeing her stories in print. We are each given our own trials to transition through – none of us are free of dreams being placed on hold or having to take a harder road to see them realised. The beauty of the post she’s given me to share today is how uplifting & encouraging it is to read for anyone who is seeking to turn their writings into a publishing career.

I hope this topic encourages your writerly pursuits inasmuch as it let’s you take a second look at what goes into writing the stories you enjoy reading.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

The Saga of David and Secret Heir series series:

The Secret Heir by Janice BroylesThe Runaway Heir by Janice Broyles

The Secret Heir (book one)

The Runaway Heir (book two)

→ The Anointed Heir (book three) *forthcoming release!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Published by: Heritage Beacon Fiction (@heritagefiction)
an imprint of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas (@LPCTweets)

Converse via: #HistFic or #HistNov; #KingDavid
+ #Biblical #HistoricalFictionand  #HFVBTBlogTours

Available Formats: Trade paperback and Ebook

Read More

Divider

Posted Sunday, 12 January, 2020 by jorielov in Author Guest Post (their topic), Blog Tour Host, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, History