I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by NetGalley. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
Until the Mountains Fall by Connilyn Cossette Series: Cities of Refuge #3
Published by Baker Publishing Group on July 2, 2019
Genres: Ancient World, Christian, Fiction, Historical, Romance
Pages: 352
Source: NetGalley
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Recently widowed, Rivkah refuses to submit to the Torah law compelling her to marry her husband's brother and instead flees Kedesh, hoping to use her talents as a scribe to support herself. Without the protections of her father, Kedesh's head priest, and the safety of the city of refuge, Rivkah soon discovers that the cost of recklessness is her own freedom.
Malakhi has secretly loved Rivkah for years, but he never imagined his older brother's death would mean wedding her himself. After her disappearance, he throws himself into the ongoing fight against the Canaanites instead of dwelling on all he has lost. But with impending war looming over Israel, Rivkah's father comes to Malakhi with an impossible request.
As the enemies that Rivkah and Malakhi face from without and within Israel grow more threatening each day, is it too late for the restoration their wounded souls seek?
I am going to tell you a story that has absolutely nothing to do with my review of this book but yet has absolutely everything to do with my review of this book. I have read every single book that Connilyn Cossette has published. I’ve been a huge fan hooked on her way with words from the beginning. Once upon a time I was blessed to be part of her launch team. . .and then Facebook happened. If you aren’t in that loop I’ll make a post about it some day but suffice it to say someone reported my name (please people, more people in my life know me as Fizzy than as my given name!) and I’m just stubborn enough to refuse to change it! With the loss of Facebook came the loss of my launch teams, my author pages, basically all the bookish circles I revolve in on a daily basis. I was devastated to say the least and floundered for a hot minute or ninety. I had to get my bookish mojo back and it’s happening but then with this book coming out I had to get it, launch team or no it’s Connilyn people!
‘Until the Mountain Falls’ is the third book in the Cities of Refuge series. Oh the lengths I’ll go to ensure I don’t miss a word! We get to watch as Moriyah’s family grows up and expands. We get to watch as her family comes into their own. This book is all about Malakhi, sorta. It’s also about Rivkah, mostly. Malakhi is a son of Moriyah and Darek, brother of Eitan. Rivkah is the daughter of the high priest of Kedesh was married to Malakhi’s older brother Gidah. Shortly after their marriage he passes away from a snake bite. You can get all this and more (like the levirate marriage that was aranged between Malakhi and Rivkah and build up to the good stuff) but here’s what you aren’t going to read about. . .without spoilers as much as possible. The back cover doesn’t tell you about the depth of Rivkah’s dissatisfaction with this marriage arrangement. I mean Malakhi made her growing up years absolutely miserable with the teasing. She is so in shatters about losing her husband of four months, whom she did care for, to being tossed into a betrothal to the bane of her existence a month later that she is willing to risk everything she knows to escape. And by everything I mean that once she left and made some sketchy choices she bound herself into an indentured contract instead of going home. I mean who does that? Sells themself into slavery because they can’t bear to go home? Apparently Rivkah does.
Meanwhile poor Malakhi is beside himself. He’s finally going to get to marry the woman he has loved since he was a mere child, the woman he has placed on a pedestal so high he can’t see the real her. When she leaves he is devastated and throws himself into his carpentry and his military service. After going to try to find her of course. He refuses to consider any other marriage despite his families attempts to hook him up so to speak. Needless to say there’s a lot that happens to both of them in their separateness and a lot that happens to ultimately bring them back into contact. What they do with that contact is up to them. Connilyn talks a lot about the parallels to the prodigal son in reference to this book. I totally get that. Here’s something else to consider. No matter how much you think you know someone until you invest in really getting to know their motives, the essence of who they are, you only know them how you filter them into your life. There’s a little Malakhi in each of us, that person who does things with the best of intentions but they aren’t viewed in the way they are intended. We also have a lot of Rivkah in us, that person who filters the world down to just our view without stepping back to truly examine intentions. Honestly though, at the end of the day what I loved about this book is watching these two grow. Watching them find their true selves whether it’s in bound to a master you can’t respect or searching for a love that wasn’t returned. Watching these two people re-find each other in a timing that can only be orchestrated by God. I can’t say too much without giving too much away but trust me. . . you can’t miss this book. And with the huge cliffhanger at the end book 4 ‘Like Flames in the Night’ is already on the waiting impatiently list!
About Connilyn Cossette
Connilyn Cossette is the CBA-Bestselling author of the Out from Egypt Series from Bethany House Publishers. There is not much she likes better than digging into the rich, ancient world of the Bible, discovering new gems of grace that point to Jesus, and weaving them into an immersive fiction experience.
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