March of Books - Acts of Faith

I know that March is almost half over, but I've really wanted to join the March of Books on YLCF, so I thought I'd jump in now. =)

The first books I'm going to review are the Acts of Faith series by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke. I just read these and I *loved* them!

The Centurion's Wife
     I had seen this book at Barnes and Noble several times, but I just shrugged it off. It really didn't interest me. One of my favorite books, The Robe by Lloyd Douglas, was set around the same events. Why bother reading another book that could in no way match up? Warped thinking, I know. But that's the way I felt.

     Then one of my favorite people in the world told me I should read it. That she would bring it to church for me. And that I must hurry with it because other people wanted to borrow it from her. I didn't want to hurt her feelings and say, "Not interested!" So I took the book and started it. And finished it. And wanted more.

     I loved the historical information. I loved the characters. I loved everything about the book. So off to the library I went to find the sequel...

The Hidden Flame

When I first started this book I was somewhat afraid that I wouldn't like  it. The focus is shifted to new characters. But in the end, I still loved it! In fact, I think that the character shift was a great idea! I "got to know" some of the people better through the change in perspective, but everyone I loved from The Centurion's Wife was still there. 

This book also inspired me to begin reading through the book of Acts in my Bible. I wanted to check and see just how much was being made up and how much was really scripture. Characters such as Ananias and Sapphira, Stephen, and Peter, are given time in this book. I wanted to make sure that they didn't get fixed in my mind the wrong way. =D 

After reading The Hidden Flame, I decided that I'd better get on paperback swap and put the whole series on a list of books I want. I went to my library's website and requested the third book...

The Damascus Way

     I went to the library soon after finishing The Hidden Flame, so I was able to get The Damascus Way right away. Several days and many many books had passed between The Centurion's Wife and The Hidden Flame, so the former isn't as firm in my mind right now... But I'm pretty sure that The Damascus Way is my favorite of the three books. 

     The characters were still great. The history was still so much fun. I had expected the series to start to take a down turn as many series tend to do. I'm thrilled to say that there was definitely no down turn. At all. I'd recommend this series to anyone without hesitation, though I would also recommend reading your Bible alongside. 

I've heard conflicting reports on whether this is the last in the series or not, so I'm going to try and find a reliable source to tell me. =)

Go here to join the March of Books.