a book review of Connilyn Cossette’s latest release, To Dwell Among Cedars. With it, she launches a new series: The Covenant House.

I was so excited when I came across this novel; I have really enjoyed Cossette’s previous novels–I’ve read all of them–and looked forward to diving in to this one. To Dwell Among Cedars is set during the time that Samuel is a prophet/judge before the nation of Israel has a king. This is moving right along from her first novel, set during the exodus out of Egypt.

This follows the story of a Philistine girl who travels to Israel after the Ark of the Covenant was captured by her people and subsequently returned to the Israelites, and intersects with the Levitical priests who take care of the Ark upon its return.

Maybe it was because it is setting up an entire series, or because of the transitional time period in which is was set, but this particular story didn’t grab onto me like others by Cossette. I was confused by a lot of the events in the first part of the book; it seemed as if 3-5 chapters went by before I could even figure out what the main character’s name was. The connection between the Philistine girl and the Israelite who first meets her was hard to follow for me, and I found myself confused as to what was happening, where it was happening, when it was happening, and who was there for many scenes of the book. The chemistry between the characters didn’t pop for me, and overall this novel just left me scratching my head.

However, based on all the other novels I’ve read from this author, I fully intend to read more of this series and whatever else she may write! It’s just this particular story that didn’t make sense to me, and I still highly recommend this author.

Thank you to Bethany House publishers and Net Galley for providing me with an electronic copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own and were not required to be positive.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention/review it on my blog. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion – which I’ve done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*