Such a touching story! A Distant Shore deals with human trafficking in a tasteful way if that is possible. Jack is a teenager when he rescues a young girl off the coast in Belize. Jack's younger brother attempts to help and drowns. Jack becomes a great FBI agent because he doesn't care what happens to him. The young girl, Eliza, is held a prisoner at her father's "Palace" where he runs a human trafficking ring. Circumstances bring Eliza and Jack together to take down more rings. They learn to accept God's forgiveness. A Distant Shore is one of Karen Kingsbury's best books! I received a complimentary e-book through NetGalley. This is my honest opinion.

A gripping story that I raced through to completion to see how it all turned out.

It was one of those stories that you know pretty much how the ending will be: the boy and the girl will live happily ever after. But yet, you are not sure what that happily ever after is going to look like for sure and how all the pieces will fall into place.

It's sad to me that a book like this would ever need to be written or that it could potentially be based on true events. I don't know all the statistics of human trafficking, but I can only imagine that there are pieces of this story that could be real life living for some young ladies and that is incredibly sad and angering.

Telling the story of Eliza and her journey from a happy, carefree childhood into the depths of human trafficking and back out again, Karen tries to be discreet and she does a good job of it. And yet you are left to imagine the horrors that many young girls experienced.

It was also interesting to see the FBI side of it as well as Jack works to bring down human trafficking rings. Again, it is a fictional story, but I also think Karen did her research and tried to portray it as accurately as you can.

The book is also one of hope and restoration, of seeing how God can restore the brokenness and use it for His honor and glory.

I do think the book over-simplified Eliza's journey to freedom. I think there would have been a lot more for her to work through than the book portrayed. I also would consider this a triggering story and would exercise caution in just blithely recommending it to anyone. It is a good story and it totally captured my attention.

I received this book from Atria Books via Net Galley and was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Such a great read. Could not put the book down it was so good!! Loved the characters and the string faith of Lizzie.

I've read several books by this author and have always enjoyed everything I've read, so I was looking forward to reading this book. I must say it didn't disappoint. This book was easy to read and fast paced and kept me wanting to read more. I highly recommend this book.

A Distant Shore
A Novel
by Karen Kingsbury
Atria Books
Christian | Romance
Pub Date 27 Apr 2021



Eliza was a child who has been caught in a riptide on the Caribbean Sea. Jack Ryder was a teenager from the East Coast on vacation with his family. He dove in to save her, and that single terrifying moment changed both their lives forever.


A decade later Jack Ryder is a daring secret agent with the FBI and Eliza Lawrence still lives on that pristine island. She’s an untainted princess in a kingdom of darkness and evil, on the brink of a forced marriage with a dangerous neighboring drug lord, a marriage arranged by her father.


When they meet the second time Jack and Eliza have a connection neither of them can explain. Both their lives are on the line, and once again, the stakes are deadly high. Can they join forces in a complicated and dangerous mission, pretending to have a breathtaking love…without really falling?


There are some miracles that happen not once, but twice…along a distant shore.


I give A Distant Shore five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

Karen Kingsbury is one of my go to authors, especially when I am looking a good story with redemption. All of her novels are faith based and every one I have read just makes me feel good. A Distant Shore was a departure for Karen Kingsbury... The story itself was fantastic, but it was a hard subject to read. It was definitely well researched and though the subject was hard, there was still redemption and this story benefited from that.

Eliza lives in a palace with many other girls. All of these girls are taken care of by her father. But it is not a good environment...all of these girls are there because they have been chosen. Human trafficking happens everywhere and Karen Kingsbury chose to tell this story in a way that wasn't too graphic, but also let the reader know just how awful these girls lives were.

I won't give away the plot, I will just say, read this book. 4⭐

Thank you to Netgalley, Atria Books and Karen Kingsbury for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A Distant Shore by Karen Kingsbury is a stand alone novel that is grittier than most of her well known Baxter series books. The novel starts off with a teenage boy rescuing a little girl drowning in the ocean on the coast of Belize. The story takes some incredible twists and turns a spotlight on sex trafficking and things people would rather not think about but should. It was well worth the read!

Karen Kingsbury changed things up this time and let me tell you- I am here👏🏻for👏🏻it👏🏻!

Trade got struck while a family is on vacation; and no one would ever guess that the same two people become involved as adults.

A secret agent, a prostitution ring, and a missing Mennonite family wrap up this novel in a warm cocoon of holistic goodness,:

Take a chance on this book- you won’t regret it;

I have read and enjoyed several of Karen Kingsbury's stories. This one is quite different in many ways, and though I found it enjoyable, it fell a little flat for me. I think it tried to be both an FBI romantic suspense story as well as a story about good overcoming evil and finding one's faith. I liked the characters Jack and LIzzie, and I found the mission to stop human trafficking to be well done. The timeline felt forced and jumped from one time to another, I felt this story was missing some flow that is usually found in Kingsbury's books. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

A gripping, heart wrenching story! As a long time fan of Karen Kingsbury, this is by far my favorite book even more than the Baxter series. She stepped out of her comfort zone to tackle the difficult subject of sex trafficking with integrity but also bringing awareness. At least for myself, I feel I was naive about this subject and it has certainly brought awareness to me.

Lizzie James is a young girl living in her small Mennonite community with her mother and little brother after her father left them. When their “aunt” comes to take them to her father in Belize, Lizzie life is completely upended. Her life becomes one of fear, intimidation, and surrounded by evil.

FBI agent Jack Ryder is being sent back on a mission to Belize where his life changed forever. His heroic effort to save a little girl from drowning cost him his little brother, Shane, setting a much different course for his life.

Jack & Lizzie, now Eliza, cross paths once again without realizing he is the one who saved her as a little girl. As they navigate the evil world of sex trafficking, they learn much about themselves and each other.

This book is one that will stay with me for a long time. It is eye opening and piercing with the knowledge of the evil in the world but also God’s relentless love for us.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are completely my own.

Karen Kingsbury, in A Distant Shore, tells the story of an FBI agent working undercover to stop sex trafficking. This young man was involved in a tragedy at a young age when his brother drowned as they both swam to save a young female child from the undertow of the ocean. He returns to the site with the young child, now a young woman who was rescued by the agent from a sex trafficking mob. As they work together to negatively impact trafficking around the world they slowly become friends and perhaps more. Both are scarred from their pasts and romance seems out of reach as they travel the country and the world in their fight against crime. Christian witnessing and otherworldly encounters intervene in their lives at various times. Are they meant to be? An interesting book with a Christian theme makes this a good read for those who love that genre. Thanks to #NetGalley#ADistantShore for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Karen Kingsbury brings a harsh and overlooked reality to light. This book was dark and hit on deep emotions that most people don’t want to feel but it was done in such an beautiful and enlightening way. I love her books and this one did not disappoint.

A Distant Shore is not a "Baxter" family book that Karen kingsbury is so loved for. This book has grit. I wasn't sure it would be my " cup of tea" but I like it. I am glad I read it. And recommend it. I was given a complimentary copy if this book through netgalley. The opinions are my own.

Karen Kingsbury has just released an intriguing novel in A Distant Shore. This emotionally packed, gritty story features a young women caught in a sex trafficking ring. But after encountering an FBI agent set on rescue, her own reality becomes a whirlwind as she seeks to come to grips with her past and her present.

The content of this novel is not for those intent on a light read. Unfortunately, the topic is all too prevalent in our world today. I was thrilled that Kingsbury sought to address this horrific issue. Yet I don’t feel one book can truly bring justice to the immense abuse – psychological, sexual, physical, and emotional – that victims of this industry face. But perhaps that is work for another day. The dimensions of this issue are very complex and not easily solved, which made the quick, happy ending somewhat too unreal. Yet I do admire the work done to bring parts of the sex trafficking crime to light.

This was a story I enjoyed and had a difficult time putting down. Kingsbury is a fantastic storyteller!
I received this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

The latest book by Karen Kingsbury is by far one of her best works ever. I came to love Karen Kingsbury through her books about the Baxter family and trust me there are a lot of books about the Baxter family.

However, A Distant Shore is such a nice change from what Karen Kingsbury’s previous works. She manages to take a real world issue of sex trafficking and turns it into an awesome book about a young woman Eliza who is taken into the world of sex trafficking only to be saved from an FBI agent Jack Ryder, not once but twice.

The first time that Eliza and Jack met was when they were children and Eliza had just been taken into the sex trafficking ring and Jack and his family were on vacation. Jack and his brother Shane were playing football when they seen Eliza drowning. Jack makes the decision between saving his brother Shane and saving Eliza and he chose to save Eliza. So after the death of his brother Jack’s parents died a few years later when he was a senior in high school only for Jack to turn around and become an FBI agent instead of becoming a Navy SEAL that his brother Shane had wanted to become.

So basically 10 years had passed from when Jack first saved Eliza from drowning to when the FBI decided to send him on a mission to take out the sex trafficking ring that Eliza was apart of. Eliza was spared from any of the sexual activities because her “father” was saving her for someone special. The father basically wanted to marry Eliza off to the son of a mob/drug dealer person. So the FBI had Jack pose as the son in order to get info and conduct the raid.

After Jack had saved Eliza and the other girls from the Palace (this is where Eliza and the other girls had lived), Eliza and Jack did a mission together to help stop another sex trafficking ring. They were posing as a married couple and Eliza was having some trouble with it because she didn’t like how Jack had lied to her in order to save her and the others from the Palace. But they were actually starting to fall in love with each other though they didn’t want to admit to it. But after their mission, Eliza had asked to go into high schools to stop the drug and sex rings going on there.

For a couple of years Eliza and Jack had done their own separate missions till one day, after a mission, Eliza calls Jack. They met up and decided to finally admit that they love each other. Eliza had about a year left with the FBI to finish up before they would let her go and pardon her for what she had done at the Palace, even though she was a victim, she still helped lure in the younger ones and make sure that they felt calm and stuff. So Jack and Eliza decided to meet up in that year time. When the time came, Eliza finishes her work with the FBI and the FBI had a party for her which Jack wasn’t apart of because he was finishing up on his last mission, however Jack did send a note for Eliza to come and meet him in Belize.

Once there, Jack surprised Eliza with her mother and brother Daniel whom she thought was dead. Jack then also surprised Eliza with a wedding. Jack and Eliza get married and move to where Jack is a professor and teaches criminal justice and has two children, a boy and a girl.

This is one book I couldn’t put down. I haven’t been like this for one of Karen Kingsbury’s books in such a long time. I love how Kingsbury manages to take this sex/human trafficking issue and puts a Christian viewpoint to it. I only wish there were more real world issue books like this with a Christian viewpoint to them.

*Note this is a review for netgallery.com. I had gotten an advance copy of the book in order to review it for others on netgallery.com and also for my blog.

Karen Kingsbury is known for her Christian based books. A Distant Shore has a nice blend of faith and romance. Kingsbury tackles a current crisis our world is facing with a realistic storyline.

While this book was a change from Karen Kingsbury's typical genre, it was still full of her great storytelling and her faith. However I have to admit that it wasn't a favorite for me. It's heavy on sappy romance and very unrealistic, more like a fairy tale. I'm sure others will really enjoy it, it just wasn't for me.

YES!!! This story is about love and forgiveness, where God is woven in beautifully. You will fall in love with each character and will want to keep reading until you know what happens. I absolutely loved this story! Clean romantic fiction! Kingsbury has outdone herself again. Superb!

Has Kingsbury ever written a book that did not pull on the heart strings? No, I think not. Be warned that this book is about a very difficult subject and also one that is very prevalent. She handles this subject with grace and love. She takes us into the life and home of a very evil man that deals in drugs and sex trafficking. He is the father of a lovely daughter who is cared for and untouched by the evil until.........She was kept for a purpose, innocent until the day she would be used to further his greed of wealth. The first chapter starts out with a bang of excitement as I like for all suspense novels to do and you hold onto your seat until the last paragraph. This book will stir up all kinds of emotions in you. Anger that sex trafficking can and does happen and compassion for all those who have suffered through this evilness.....If you are a Kingsbury fan, I know you will want this book and if you have never read one of her books, I highly recommend this one..... I would like to thank Karen Kingsbury and Simon and Schuster for allowing me to read this book.

What a powerful novel! And seemed so different from others I have read by this author, but who did such an incredible job of depicting the horrors of trafficking without being graphic. And then wove in a beautiful love story between Jack and Lizzie. I loved it! And I highly recommend it and I think even a teenager could read this to learn how vulnerable they can be to traffickers. I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.