"The Queen's Handmaid" by Tracy L. Higley

Each new release from Tracy Higley is a much-anticipated event for this reader! In "The Queen's Handmaid," we travel back to the time in between the Old and New Testaments, into the palaces of Egypt, Rome, and Judea, where one servant girl guards precious scrolls written by the prophet Daniel many years ago in Babylon.

Raised as a servant in Cleopatra's home, Lydia is a responsible and skilled young lady. A fellow servant, a Hebrew named Samuel, has instilled in Lydia a respect for the One True God. As Samuel is dying, he entrusts Lydia with the care of the sacred scrolls which his family has kept hidden for many generations. He instructs Lydia that when she is able, she is to take the scrolls to the Temple on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, to meet a man wearing a specific prayer shawl. On that one day a year a stranger will be waiting and watching for her. At the time of Samuel's death, a young and ambitious Herod is visiting Cleopatra and looking to form an alliance in order to be supported in his quest to take the throne in Judea. Lydia captures his eye, and he takes her to be a maid for his fiancee. The One God is leading her towards her mission objective!

Lydia is excited to see a new land and serve a new mistress. Her personality tends to draw everyone to her so that they find her indispensable, but she's guarded in letting people in. While making a few friends along the way, she also catches the eye of Herod's evil sister, who is interested in foreign gods and their dark power. Danger lurks in more than one way, as the political situation is ever shifting, and there are those who are hunting the scrolls for their own purposes.

There are two handy family trees at the beginning of this book to help us keep track of the history of leadership in Jerusalem. With so many men and women who shared similar names, I referenced the family tree often to help me keep things straight. Herod's page also extends many years past the end of our story, to document his descendants who were mentioned in the New Testament.

This story was very captivating, and I had a hard time putting it down. I wanted to see Lydia safely through her quest, and I cared about what happened to her. Her life was more than it seemed, and even as the secrets of her past unfolded, I feared they would take her away from being able to fulfill her calling and find happiness. I can't tell you how the story unfolded, but I can urge you to check it out if you enjoy historical fiction!

I received my copy of the book from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.


Tracy L. Higley is celebrating the release of The Queen's Handmaid with a fun giveaway.

Retailers + Resources gave it this glowing review: "Rich in historic detail, Higley’s vivid writing brings to life the plots and intrigues that swirled through the ancient world as alliances were built and broken on the calculated schemes of power-mad monarchs."

• A Kindle Fire HDX


• The Queen's Handmaid by Tracy L. Higley

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on April 19th. Winner will be announced April 21st on Tracy's blog.

Don't miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to stop by Tracy's blog on April 21st to see if you won.