The Heart of a King

I am a person who normally doesn’t read biblical history, but after reading Smith’s release When Life Doesn’t Match Your Dreams: Hope for Today from 12 Women of the Bible I was truly fascinated with her portrayal. So, when this book was offered I decided to read it.
I loved this book. The author has a way of truly conveying the characters. She shows the strengths, weaknesses, and the deep, raw emotions of each. She vividly explains the historical details which brought the story to life for me. I found myself thinking differently about King Solomon. Instead of seeing him from a biblical story I began viewing him as a man. I found myself liking him immensely. He reminds me that sometimes when things seem to be going so great is when we need God the most. I think reaffirmed my faith that we constantly need God, on good days and bad.
This is a book I would recommend to anyone.
*I received this book from the author via the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have always been intrigued by King Solomon’s story and have always questioned myself how can a man so loved and gifted by God and life itself could have erred so deeply in his ways. So when I read the title of this book by Jill Eileen Smith, I knew I had to read it. She has some ebooks of each of the most important women is Solomon’s life, but I hadn’t read them. This is a compilation and improved story of this women. I like that the book is written from Solomon and the women’s point of view.
So this is the story of Solomon and the four women he most loved. The Bible doesn’t give much details about them, so this is a work of fiction. But it seemed to me that it is very well researched and it totally transports you to ancient Israel and the traditions of the jewish people and the other cultures that interacted with the jewish.
The woman were: Namaah, the desert princess, Abishag, the shepherdess, Siti, the daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh, and Nicaula, the Queen of Sheeba. These are four women, but we know Solomon had a very ample harem, although these ladies are the most important.
This is not a Hallmark movie with its happily ever after. This is a true story, and a sad one at that. But there is so much to learn behind Solomon’s atittude. From the start you can see he’s obsessed with being designed his father’s –King David- Co-Regent. It’s understandable to be afraid of what would happen if one of his jealous brothers would get to the throne, but still he was too focused on gaining power. It was evident he cared for his women, but he was too much distracted with his personal issues to be a good husband and think of them instead of him.
He was a true King that worried and cared for his country and people and apparently “wanted” to honor God. But he always found excuses for doing just what God had advised him not to, maybe trying to please others and to gain other Kings graces. At the end, he didn’t have the strength and sincerity to listen to God’s Word in his heart and follow Him, even if that meant some kind of earthly loss. He was probably given one of the biggest gifts on eart, the godly wisdom, but he seemed to use it wisely in everything except his personal life. I think this is a great lesson of what doing God’s will sometimes entails. It entails doing different than what your desires might dictate. But in the end, doing God’s will is what will make you happy and full inside. Having all those riches and women strayed Solomon away from God, instead of honoring Him by doing what he knew would please Him. He focused on the gift, but lost the vision of the Creator of his gift. I think this can help us be grateful with what God has given us, and try to always acknowledge that it is His gift, not our merit, and due to His Mercy. And also, to never stop giving thanks to Him, in good times, as well as the bad. Because it is in those bad times where we learn the most and to focus on what’s truly important: Loving God and others.
I liked the book, in spite that I’m usually attracted to books that I know that end well and have a happy ending. I still think God loved Solomon so much, that He forgave his sins because he really repented. But there is so much to learn. And from the women’s perspective too. I especially liked Nicaula’s story. The Queen of Sheba has always been a mystery to me and it was so interesting to know about her, even if fictional. I think this is the woman that impacted Solomon the most.
In spite of Solomon being a womanizer, this is a clean novel, nothing graphic there.
I totally recommend this book, especially if you love historicals and are a Christian. But it is a great book for non christians as well. Solomon is a very well known character in world wide history. A legendary character, but a real one. We’ll only get to know his true story in Heaven.
The storyline, the dialogues, scenery and the writing style grabbed my attention from the beggining.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the Publisher and the author. This is my own and honest opinion.

I enjoyed this fictional account of Solomon and 4 of his wives. I haven’t read much if any Biblical fiction to date and this was a fantastic start to my introduction to this type of fiction. Jill weaves the story in an easy to read format and it was hard to put down when life intervened. Before reading this book, i had no idea that Solomon had that many wives and concubines! Definitely mind blowing. Getting to “know” Solomon and the wives featured in this book was interesting and eye opening to say the least. It definitely makes me want to go and read the actual Biblical account in Samuel and Kings. So I love the fact that it is increasing my wanting to read the Bible(which I struggle with if I am honest)! I am adding more of Jill’s books to my to read pile-especially “Redeeming Grace” which features Ruth.

I received this book from the Author and was not required to post a positive review. All thoughts are my own.