Daughter of Rome

Interesting to see characters such as Priscilla, Aquila and Paul brought to life. Other fictional characters added (the author clarifies at the end which parts were drawn from the Bible and which parts from her imagination). Grew my empathy for the joys and struggles non-Jewish people may have had when integrating into the early church with Jewish people and what mentoring relationships and multicultural romantic relationships may have looked like. The message of grace, forgiveness of sin, showing kindness to strangers and enemies, and God's love through Jesus is repeated throughout, making it better than a typical young adult romance book. Not recommended for high school students due to sex scenes between a married couple and references to a past adulterous relationship. Not too explicit, but I would've preferred cleaner content.

I’ve always loved historical fiction by Francine Rivers but needed a new author to read now that I’ve read them all! Tessa Afshar was a fluke find and now I’ve worked my way through most of her existing books.

Daughter of Rome was the first I read and it sucked me straight in. Now that I’ve read others as well, I’ve noticed that Tessa often brings some of the story lines from previous books into other books. Not huge spoilers but it may be worth reading them in publishing order.

This book is so good!!! I really enjoyed reading it. I loved how it showed how God can bring two people together and I really enjoyed the storyline and characters. It includes romance, suspense and is very captivating. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone interested as I'm sure anyone would enjoy it as much as I did!