My Review:

Genre: Biblical fiction.

My Rating: 5 stars! (I’ve found some good books this week!)

My Recommendation: 13 to 16 up depending on how readers like romance. . . Warnings below, too.

My Favorite Character: Though she made mistakes and was at first a somewhat spoiled character she soon grew into a wonderful woman who fits perfectly with this

My Verse for Rivkah is Mark 5:34
And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. (King James Version.) (Plague in this verse has to do with Rivkah’s sins.)

My Thoughts: This Biblical fiction, was actually Biblical fiction — set during Bible times but not changing a book of the Bible. There isn’t much that people know about the time this novel was set in but Cossette showed what I imagine life was like during the time. She did amazing with the setting and stayed true to the time without taking away from the enjoyment of fiction. I loved this book and I don’t often say that about the Biblical fiction I read.

Warnings: A man drugs a woman, slavery, some drinking, mentions of being unfaithful, (not true.), characters die . . . They are at war sometimes so, yeah, all that and stuff.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review — all the thoughts are my own.

It definitely took me a little bit to get into this one, Rivkah was just SO unlikeable for so long! But, I pressed on and it turned out to be one of my very favorite stories. I anticipated the very big thing at the very end and it had me in tears.

With each of these Cities of Refuge stories, I've had the same thought. I can't imagine how the truly repentant people in the refuge cities were torn, knowing that their freedom required the death of the high priest. ...and the burden that put on the heart of the high priest! Knowing that so many were estranged from loved ones and living in fear, waiting for your death. YHWH was merciful in creating these refuge cities---how heartbreaking, though, to experience it all. ( )

A prodigal daughter story featuring childhood-enemies-to-lovers!

After Rivkah’s husband dies, her father arranges her marriage to her husband’s brother according to Torah law, so that his lineage can live on through their firstborn son. But Rivkah has no interest in marrying the boy who teased her incessantly as a child, so when her game of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days fails to convince Malakhi to break off their betrothal, Rivkah runs away.

Her plans to support herself as a scribe completely fall apart after a disastrous night in the city of Laish, and she is forced to sell herself as an indentured servant in order to survive. But her father refuses to give up hope that she will one day return home, and Malakhi, no longer merely a boy with a crush, will risk everything to bring her back safely.

I don’t know what else to say about it other than I loved it as much as all her other books! I think Shelter is still my favourite, but it’s a close call. ( )

In Until the Mountains Fall, Connilyn Cossette gives us a fresh look at the account of the prodigal son, only in her book, the prodigal is a woman.

We journey with Rivkah as she discovers a world outside the one that chafed her as a young woman and follow Malakhi as he matures from an impetuous teen and betrothed groom into a wise, battle-scarred warrior. Their love story is beautiful, Malakhi's heart for her an example of Christ's love for us, but just as beautiful is the love Rivkah's father carries for her as he never gives up hope that she will return to him.

The characterization is jaw-dropping, and the prose so poetic, the reader can't help but be transported with each page. There are many twists and turns in the plot, each one ratcheting up the stakes and keeping the story tension above the boiling point.
This is the book I'd been waiting for all year. It's been a while since a story took me so far and demanded so much of me, leaving my perspectives changed--or at least giving me a broader perspective on things I already believed to be true. I'm convinced I can't do the book justice with this review. Having started at the beginning of the series, re-reading the first and second titles straight through to the newest, there are no words for some of the emotions provoked by this story.

Thrilled to revisit familiar characters from previous books, I'm amazed at just how interconnected these characters really are, going all the way back into the Out From Egypt Series. (Is there a chart of family trees, please!) It's been some time since I've enjoyed a series as much as I have these books.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and have stated my honest opinion in this voluntary review. ( )

Have ever selfishly wanted more? Have you ever been immature enough to reject the love and support from your family and to throw away all the blessings in your life for something else? Then one day, you look around and find yourself in bondage; enslaved to what you thought you wanted. And then you realize that the very things you ran from, were the good things in your life- the blessed things in your life.

Can you ever go back? Can you escape the prison of your own choosing? Are you willing to fight your way back to the freedom you once had but carelessly threw away?

Until the Mountains Fall is the third installment of the Cities of Refuge Series by Connilyn Cossette. This beautiful story is loosely based on the parable of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15. The author has taken the theme of forgiveness and mercy and fashioned an exciting yet heartfelt novel. I am very much looking forward to the fourth and final book in this series.

Thank you Netgalley and Bethany House Publishers for providing me with a free copy of this book for my honest opinion. ( )