2021 The Christy Award Finalists: Connilyn Cossette & Like Flames in the Night

Happy Tuesday! Continuing until October 28th (culminating with a list of winners), I have the privilege of featuring all of the 2021 The Christy Award Finalists! Today I’m featuring Connilyn Cossette and her historical Christy Award finalist book Like Flames in the Night! You can check out a list of all the finalists HERE.

LIKE FLAMES IN THE NIGHT
SERIES: Cities of Refuge #4
GENRE: Inspirational Historical/Biblical Romance
PUBLISHER: Bethany House
RELEASE DATE: March 3, 2020
PAGES: 380

Strong-willed Tirzah wants to join her people in driving the enemy from the land of Israel and undergoes training for a secret mission inside the stronghold of Shechem. But soon after she has infiltrated the ruthless Aramean commander’s kitchen, she makes a reckless decision that puts her and her allies in grave danger.

Fresh off the battlefield, Liyam returns home to discover his beloved daughter is dead. After his vow to hunt down her killer leads to months of fruitless pursuit, his last hope is in a family connection that comes with strings attached. Strings that force him to pose as a mercenary and rescue an infuriating woman who refuses to leave her mission uncompleted.

When an opportunity to pave a path to a Hebrew victory arises, can Tirzah convince Liyam to fight alongside her in the refuge city of her birth? Or will Liyam’s thirst for vengeance outweigh his duty to his people, his God, and the woman he’s come to love?

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I asked the author for a peek inside…

I’d heard many tales of secret missions among the enemy from my father and Baz, and I’d seen Malakhi and Eitan spar and practice with weapons, but I’d never seen these four men actually engaged in a fight. They were as nimble as dancers and swift as wildcats as they subjugated the Arameans without even speaking a word to one another. It did not matter that my father and Baz were grandfathers now, their beards laced with silver; they were just as skillful as they’d been as young men fighting for the Land of Promise.

I was left stunned, in awe, and wholly frustrated by my own inability to defend myself. King Kushan’s forces had swept into this land with unparalleled cruelty during his quest to build an empire to rival his Akkadian ancestors, horror after horror causing the tribes of Israel to bow far too easily to his yoke. They’d stolen our land and our wealth, violated our women, slaughtered our children, and aimed to break both our bodies and our spirits with forced labor. Yet the majority of us had been too cowardly, too complacent, or like I had been at fifteen years old, incapable of fighting back when they viciously drove us from our home.

But I was no longer a girl. In fact, I’d weathered so much loss and heartache since we’d left Kedesh that it seemed I’d aged far beyond my actual years. And I was part of a family who’d never given up the fight against the enemy, even if their efforts had gone from lauded among our people to clandestine. I could not lift a sword in battle, but there had to be something I could do, some way I could be useful in the struggle. I felt certain that I’d been made for more than the desolate and dependent existence of a childless widow.

My heart began to pound, but no longer with fear. Instead, a heady rush of anticipation flowed through my limbs as I vowed that I would never again be so helpless, so weak. I would arm myself with skill and knowledge and become integral in the fight for my people and our land. My husband may have died for nothing, but I refused to ever again surrender.

Like Flames in the Night • Connilyn Cossette
Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group © 2020 used by permission

Connilyn Cossette is a Christy Award and Carol Award winning author whose books have been found on both ECPA and CBA bestseller lists. When she is not engulfed in the happy chaos of homeschooling two teenagers, devouring books whole, or avoiding housework, she can be found digging into the rich ancient world of the Bible to discover gems of grace that point to Jesus and weaving them into an immersive fiction experience. Although she and her husband have lived all over the country in their twenty-plus years of marriage, they currently call a little town south of Dallas, Texas their home.

Connect with her at www.ConnilynCossette.com

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What about you? What makes you want to read the historical Christy Award finalist Like Flames in the Night by Connilyn Cossette? Or, if you’ve read it already, what did you love about it?