Skip to main content

The Peasant King by Tessa Afshar: A Book Review

The Peasant King
Author: Tessa Afshar

Genre: Historical Fiction, Christian, Biblical Fiction, Romance 

Publisher: Tyndale House Publishing 

Release Date: 2023

Pages: 376

Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

Synopsis: Jemmah has always thought of herself as perfectly ordinary . . . until she faces extraordinary circumstances.


    When her mother, the Persian king’s famous senior scribe, is kidnapped, Jemmah and her sister must sneak undetected into enemy territory to rescue her. But infiltrating their adversary’s lands proves easier than escaping them. Fleeing through dangerous mountain passes, their survival depends on the skills of a stranger they free from prison: a mysterious prince named Asher.


     Asher is not who the world believes he is. Despite his royal blood, he has had to climb his way out of poverty to forge success from nothing. A manufacturer of some of the best weaponry in the East, Asher has only one goal: to destroy his father. But following his escape from prison, Asher is irresistibly drawn to Jemmah, unaware that she guards her own secret.


     Jemmah must convince Asher to give up everything he has worked for, all for the sake of a higher purpose he’s not sure he believes in. The fate of the Persian empire—and possibly the Judean people—hang in the balance and in the persuasive power of one ordinary woman.


           My Review: The Peasant King is the sequel to The Hidden Prince. The Peasant King focuses on Jared and Keren’s daughter, Jemmah. When Keren is kidnapped, Jemmah undergoes a dangerous mission to rescue her mother. Once she frees her, she also frees the Median prince, Asher. Jemmah realizes that Asher is the key to help give Cyrus the victory he needs against his father.


    Jemmah was a very lovable character. I found her to be very fun and humorous. I admired her sacrifice for saving those she loves. Jemmah is a very loyal woman, and her faithfulness wins the heart of Asher. I adored her romance with Asher.


    Asher is a fascinating love interest. He is deeply conflicted. He thirsts deeply for revenge against his father. Once he meets Jemmah, he must make a difficult choice to give up revenge for love. I like how he cares for Jemmah and how he will do anything to keep her safe. Thus, Jemmah and Asher’s relationship was very cute and was the best aspect of The Peasant King.


     Overall, The Peasant King is about forgiveness, sacrifice, and belonging. The message of this novel is that God has a plan for each of us. I love all of the characters in The Peasant King, especially Jemma’s foster sister, Zarina. I also like how we get to revisit a few characters from The Hidden Prince like Daniel, Keren, and Jared. I like how King Cyrus the Great plays an important role in the novel! I love how Mrs. Afshar made ancient Babylon come alive! The Peasant King was a delightful and fast-paced novel that is full of adventure, romance, and political intrigue! I had a hard time putting it down, and I read it in one sitting! I recommend The Peasant King for fans of Angela Elwell Hunt, Tracy L. Higley, and Mary Ellen Boyd!


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Theodora: Actress, Empress, Saint (Women in Antiquity) by David Potter: A Book Review

Theodora: Actress, Empress, Saint (Women in Antiquity) Author: David Potter Genre: Nonfiction, Biography, History Publisher: Oxford University Press Release Date: November 4, 2015 Pages: 288 Source: Publisher/Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Two of the most famous mosaics from the ancient world, in the church of San Vitale in Ravenna, depict the sixth-century emperor Justinian and, on the wall facing him, his wife, Theodora (497-548). This majestic portrait gives no inkling of Theodora's very humble beginnings or her improbable rise to fame and power. Raised in a family of circus performers near Constantinople's Hippodrome, she abandoned a successful acting career in her late teens to follow a lover whom she was legally forbidden to marry. When he left her, she was a single mother who built a new life for herself as a secret agent, in which role she met the heir to the throne. To the shock of the ruling elite, the two were married, and when Justinian...

Jezebel: The Untold Story of the Bible's Harlot Queen by Lesley Hazelton: A Book Review

Jezebel: The Untold Story of the Bible's Harlot Queen Author: Hazelton, Lesley Genre: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Religion Release Date: 2007 Pages: 272 Publisher: Doubleday Source: Personal Collection Synopsis:  There is no woman with a worse reputation than Jezebel, the ancient qeen who corrupted a nation and met one of the most gruesome fates in the Bible. But what if this version of her story is merely one her enemies wanted us to believe? What if Jezebel, far from being a conniving harlot was, in fact, framed?      In this remarkable biography, Lesley Hazelton shows exactly how the proud and courageous queen of Israel was vilified and made into the very embodiment of wanton wickedness by her political and religious enemies. The epic and ultimately tragic confrontation between sophisticated mentalism, and is, without exaggeration, the original story of the unholy marriage of sex, politics, and religion.       ...

Harvest of Gold (Harvest of Rubies #2) by Tessa Afshar: A Book Review

Harvest of Gold (Harvest of Rubies #2) Author: Tessa Afshar Genre: Historical Fiction, Christian, Biblical Fiction, Romance Publisher: River North Release Date: 2013 Pages: 368 Source: My State Public Library Synopsis : A hidden message, treachery, opposition, and a God-given success will lead to an unlikely bounty.     In Harvest of Gold (Book 2) , the scribe Sarah married Darius, and at times she feels as if she has married the Persian aristocracy, too. There is another point she did not count on in her marriage—Sarah has grown to love her husband. Sarah has wealth, property, honor, and power, but her husband’s love still seems unattainable.      Although his mother was an Israelite, Darius remains skeptical that his Jewish wife is the right choice for him, particularly when she conspires with her cousin Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Ordered to assist in the effort, the couple begins a journey to the homeland of his mother’s p...