Setting: Shiloh, Shechem and Kedesh, Israel
Time Period: 1367 BC

“Of course,” I said. “I am nothing if not loyal to my commander.” Although my commander’s name is Othniel, and he has been raised by Yahweh to reclaim our Land from your slimy hands. – Liyam, page 181

And so, the above quote gives a glimpse into the passion, danger and determination of a mercenary hero and a female spy to do all they can to weaken Israel’s oppressors in Connilyn Cossette’s brand new novel, “Like Flames In The Night.” When I first heard that Cossette was going to extend her “Cities of Refuge” series to four books, I couldn’t wait for the release of Flames. Now that it’s here, I feel like I could read this novel again and again and get something new out of it every time.

To readers of the series, we’ve met Tirzah before. She’s the daughter of Moriyah and Derrek, the love birds from book one. When we meet up with her again to see where life will take her, I never imagined the twists and turns the author would take or what kind of man she would marry after being a barren widow. All I can say was that it’s so good! Every time I thought the story couldn’t get any better, something happened to take it to the next level.

Then there’s the hero, Liyam. I loved how the author gave his burly character a different point of view from anything we’ve seen in the series so far. We’ve been with characters that were manslayers – soldiers – runaways – but now, we’re given someone who’s an avenger of blood. *insert oooing and awwwing here* With this in mind, you can guess that forgiveness is a big part of this novel and I really appreciated how the author showed Liyam’s struggles and emotions over the loss of his daughter.

Conclusion: You know how sometimes you read a series and every book seems to have the same plot and the heroes are always doing the same things and after a while, each book seems the same? Well, you won’t feel this way with the “Cities of Refuge” series! I don’t know how Cossette does it, but every book in this series has unique characters, different plots and stories that will stay with you forever. I adored the beautiful tapestry the author wove with this family through the years covered in this series. In book one, the heroine is a manslayer fleeing for life itself and in book four, her daughter is a widow/spy seeking freedom from Israel’s oppressors. I can’t put into words how elegant and powerful “Like Flames In The Night” is. Though I highly recommend reading the whole series, you can read this book as a stand alone and still know what’s going on. (Though you’ll miss the backstory on the supporting characters and the beauty of those relationships.) But, if you can’t read the whole series, it’s amazing and can stand on its own two feet. Don’t miss out on this book! You won’t regret it!