Posts with the custom taxonomy term Countries that No Longer Exist

The Hidden Prince by Tessa Afshar

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 500s BC – Babylon

From the bestselling author of Jewel of the Nile comes the thrilling tale of a woman who feels she has no future but soon discovers the fate of nations may rest in her hands.

The beloved daughter of Jewish captives in Babylon, Keren is sold into Daniel’s household to help her family survive. She becomes Daniel’s most trusted scribe, while taking lessons and swordsmanship training alongside Daniel’s sons and their best friend, Jared.

But after a tragic accident changes the course of her life, Keren finds herself in a foreign country, charged with a mysterious task: teaching a shepherd boy how to become a lord. When she overhears whispers that hint at his true identity, she realizes she must protect him from the schemes of a bloodthirsty king.

Jared cannot forgive Keren. Still, he finds himself traveling over mountains to fetch her back to the safety of home. When he discovers the secret identity of Keren’s pupil, Jared knows he must help protect him. Love battles bitterness as they flee from the king’s agents, trying to save the boy who could one day deliver their people from captivity.

Star of Persia by Jill Eileen Smith

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495 BC – Persia

In an effort to complete a war his father had planned to win, King Xerxes calls every governor, satrap, and official in his vast kingdom to his palace in Susa to strategize and feast. When they finally leave, he decides on one more week of frivolity, which ends in the banishment of his favorite wife, something he never intended to do. But when he discovers Esther, Xerxes is sure he has a second chance at happiness.

In her wildest dreams, Esther could never have imagined that she would end up as queen of Persia. Yet she knows better than to become complacent. Another of Xerxes’s wives is vying for position, and his closest advisor has a deep and dangerous grudge against Esther’s adoptive father. Caught in the middle of palace politics, Esther will find herself in an impossible position: risk her life or consign her people to annihilation.

With her impeccable research and her imaginative flair, Jill Eileen Smith brings to life the romantic, suspenseful, and beloved story of Esther, queen of Persia.

Hope Unchained by Carol Ashby

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106 – Dacia ( Romania)

Can the deepest loss bring the greatest gain?

Rome’s conquering army took Ariana’s family and freedom, but nothing can take her faith in Jesus. When she rescues a tribune’s wife from certain death, her reward is freedom and a chance to free her brother and sister. But first she must catch up with the slave caravan before they vanish forever, and tracking them from Dacia to the coast seems impossible for one woman alone.

Discharged from the legion with a hand crippled by a Dacian knife, Donatus faces a future without hope. When the tribune asks him to escort Ariana on her quest, it’s the only work he can find. It means four weeks with a Dacian woman and a gladiator bodyguard, but it takes money to eat. A man without options must take what he can get.

But a lot can happen in four weeks. Even battle-hardened men can be touched by love and forgiveness, and it’s easier to face an enemy with a sword than to face the truth. When his moment of truth comes, what will Donatus choose, and what will that mean for both of them?

Hereafter by Jody Hedlund

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Medieval 820s – Mercia (England)

The third lost princess. The final key to the treasure. And a battle for the throne.

Growing up deep in the forest as a poor charcoal burner’s daughter, Emmeline has always known her identity as a princess of Mercia, and she lives in fear of being caught and killed. When her adopted father returns from town with news regarding the imminence of war, Emmeline has no wish to join the rebellion against King Ethelwulf.

Prince Ethelrex, the strongest warrior in the land, has done everything he can to prove his loyalty to his father, including searching for the last lost princess. When Ethelrex finally captures Emmeline, the king commands his son to marry the princess in order to win the support of the people and undermine the rebellion.

Forced into marriage, Emmeline has one goal—to escape. But Ethelrex takes his marriage vows seriously, including his promise to love and cherish his wife, and has no intention of letting Emmeline get away. As the battle for the throne rages, will the prince be able to win the battle for Emmeline’s heart?

Foremost by Jody Hedlund

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Medieval 820s – Mercia (England)

A second princess. Another key to the treasure. And a cruel king desperate to squelch the growing rebellion.

Raised in an isolated abbey, Lady Maribel desires nothing more than to become a nun and continue practicing her healing arts. She’s carefree and happy with her life…until a visitor comes to the abbey and reveals her true identity as one of the lost princesses.

When he was a young boy, Edmund Chambers helplessly watched King Ethelwulf murder his family. Edmund escaped and has lived in the abbey ever since, uniquely trained to work with wild animals. Secretly, he loves Maribel and desperately hopes she doesn’t complete her holy order vows.

When King Ethelwulf’s army arrives at the abbey to capture Maribel, she flees with Edmund across the desolate Highlands in an attempt to reach Adelaide’s rebel army. Edmund can no longer hide his love, but can Maribel give up her dreams of becoming a nun to love him in return?

Evermore by Jody Hedlund

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Medieval 820s – Mercia (England)

An ancient key. A secret treasure. And a princess destined to use them both to fight evil and restore peace.

Raised by a noble family, Lady Adelaide has always known she’s an orphan. Little does she realize she’s one of the lost princesses and the true heir to Mercia’s throne…until a visitor arrives at her family estate, reveals her birthright as queen, and thrusts her into a quest for the throne whether she’s ready or not.

Unable to tolerate King Ethelwulf’s cruelty and lawlessness, Christopher Langley left Mercia years earlier, training a group of rebels in neighboring Norland. When he returns home after his mother’s death, he discovers that not only is Adelaide all grown up, but she’s also the rightful queen of Mercia.

When King Ethelwulf discovers Adelaide’s location, he’ll stop at nothing to capture her and the key she holds to the ancient treasure. Christopher is just as determined to protect Adelaide so she can lead the growing rebellion. When feelings ignite between the two old friends, forces threaten to destroy their love and rip them apart forever.

 

Always by Jody Hedlund

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Medieval 820s – Mercia (England)

A fierce elite guard. A loyal lady in waiting. They must work together to save three princesses from certain death.

On the verge of dying after giving birth to twins, the queen of Mercia pleads with Lady Felicia to save her infant daughters. With the castle overrun by King Ethelwulf’s invading army, Lady Felicia vows to do whatever she can to take the newborn princesses and their three-year old sister to safety, even though it means sacrificing everything she holds dear, possibly her own life.

Gravely wounded in battle and knowing all is lost to his enemy, the king of Mercia tasks Lance, one of his fiercest elite guards, to protect his family along with keys to an ancient treasure. As Lance makes plans to sneak the princesses out of the capital city, he doesn’t need or want Lady Felicia’s help.

With the dark enemy in pursuit, Lance and Felicia must put aside their differences to outrun King Ethelwulf and prevent him from killing the princesses. In a desperate attempt to hide the young girls, Lance and Felicia agree to a marriage of convenience, a decision that will change their lives—and hearts—forever.

The Moon in the Mango Tree by Pamela Binnings Ewen

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1919 – Siam (Thailand)

Can she have it all–or does she have to choose?
And when you choose between two things you love
Must one be forever lose?

It is the dazzling decade, the 1920’s, and a beautiful young singer is torn between her fierce desire for independence–to create something of her own, for meaning and purpose–and a deep abiding love for her husband, a medical missionary who will become royal physician to the court of Siam. Based on a true story, one young woman will travel from Philadelphia of the Roaring Twenties to the jungles of the Orient, to pre-war Paris and Rome, in the struggle to find her place in the world.

 

 

 

Legend of the Emerald Rose by Linda Wichman

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456 AD – Britannia

King Arthur and his queen are dead and Merlin has vanished. Bound by Divine Providence but divided by distrust, Shadoe and Rayn must find a way to save the Isle of Might and themselves from the threatening evil. A tantilizing brew of fantasy, action, and romance.

Unashamed by Francine Rivers

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1573 BC – Canaan

She was a woman with a past to whom God gave a future.

Meet Rahab, one of the five women in the lineage of Christ. Exploited by men who saw only her beauty, she held fast to her faith in an all-powerful God and was rewarded by being grafted into the family tree of the Messiah. In Rahab’s compelling story, discover the overwhelming truth that God seeks and finds those whose hearts are tender toward Him, no matter how far away they are.

Behind the Veil by Linda Chaikin

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1097 – Byzantine Empire (Ancient Turkey)

Confident in Helena Lysander’s safety, Norman warrior Tancred Redwan sends Helena to his family’s castle, while he prepares to travel on to Antioch in search of his Moorish cousin Mosul, assassin of Tancred’s brother. But the unexpected arrival of Helena’s bodyguard reveals that her entourage was overtaken and she never reached the safety of the castle. Held captive by the corrupt Bishop Basel, Helena now faces marriage to a Moslem prince, arranged months earlier by her scheming aunt, Lady Irene Lysander.

As the crusaders race to overtake Moslem-controlled Antioch, Tancred plots Helena’s rescue. Betrayal and intrigue precede him, but the obstacles give way to courage, leading Tancred to the most important battle of his life—one that will determine his future, both for his honor and for his love of Helena.

A FINAL SHOWDOWN WILL DECIDE THE FATE OF THE NOBLE WARRIOR, HIS MORTAL ENEMY, AND HIS BELOVED….

Golden Palaces by Linda Chaikin

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1097 – Byzantine Empire (Ancient Turkey)

CLOTHED WITH THE PROMISE OF SALVATION, THE KNIGHTS OF THE FIRST CRUSADE FIGHT GALLANTLY TO RECLAIM THE HOLY LAND…BUT ONLY THEIR COURAGE CAN SAVE THEM FROM THE INFIDELS.

Helena of the Nobility has long resigned herself to the control of her aunt Lady Irene, a woman for whom betrayal is commonplace. Having banished Helena’s mother from Constantinople, Irene is now intent on securing Helena’s hand in marriage to a Muslim prince. Betrayed and heartbroken Helena has no other choice but to turn to the rebel Tancred Redwan, a man in whose heart she fears, and in whose honor she finds safety.

WHEN WAR AND TREACHERY THREATEN TEAR THEM APART, ONLY HIS SWORD OFFERS A WAY OF ESCAPE….

Swords and Scimitars by Linda Chaikin

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1095 – Byzantine Empire (Ancient Turkey)

WOVEN TOGETHER, THE COURAGE OF THE NORMAN KNIGHTS AND THE STRENGTH OF THE PEASANT HEART BROUGHT AGONY AND GLORY TO THE FIRST CRUSADE…

FRAMED FOR A MURDER he didn’t commit, Tancred Redwan is a knight torn between his father’s Norman blood and the Moorish blood of his mother. Forced to flee for his life, Tancred journeys from the golden hills of Palermo, Sicily to the seven jeweled hills of the Byzantine capitol, Constantinople. As both scholar and warrior, Tancred is caught up in the turbulent events surrounding the First Crusade, until he is suddenly forced to choose which path to follow as Christian Europe arms for the First Crusade to rescue Jerusalem and the Holy Lands from the Muslim infidels.

Helena of the Greek Nobility holds the key to his decision. Ensnared in a web of intrigue and political maneuvering within the Emperor’s Sacred Palace, Helena is proud and vulnerable—a woman Tancred longs to both rescue and win.

CLAIMING HONOR AS HIS ARMOR AND FAITH AS HIS SHIELD, TANCRED REDWAN WIELDS HIS SWORD AND SCIMITAR IN THE NAME OF JUSTICE. BUT WILL HE ESCAPE THE SCIMITAR OF HIS MOORISH COUSIN AWAITING HIM ON THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM