I am part of an amazing group on Facebook called Avid Readers of Christian Fiction. Quite often, authors will open up applications to their Book Launch Teams. If you are selected, you receive an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in exchange for your honest review of their book. I recently applied for Tricia Goyer’s team for her newest release, Trust the Stars. (Side note: What is funny about this is it wasn’t until I started the process that I realized Tricia is the one who started and runs the Facebook group I mentioned above. I have read so so so many great books because of this group!)
Synopsis: Olivia Garza, a woman committed to making a difference in the world, thrives in her unconventional, service-oriented life. By day, she helps troubled teens in inner-city Little Rock… by night, she unwittingly creates a viral web-video series when she tries to better understand her mother’s desperate decisions by retracing her steps with a camera. So far, Olivia has always been the anonymous narrator, but she’s promised to reveal herself in the last stop on her documentary: Kenya.
Prince Louis is the heir to the throne of the small European kingdom of Alloria, in Kenya to run away from a broken heart—and the media circus that comes with it. When he meets Olivia, he recognizes her voice right away from the docu-series that has stirred his heart. Though they share a magical day on safari, any dreams of happily ever after come crashing down with the flash of the paparazzi cameras, when Olivia realizes that he represents everything she most despises in the world.
In World War II Rome, another royal, however, has her own life-changing choices to make. Princess Alessandra Appiani could have chosen quiet safety within the walls of the Vatican, but instead she risks her life—and her family—to save the Jewish children so in need of someone to show them the love of God.
When Olivia is hired to help create a documentary about Alessandra, learning about the sacrifice of a royal who goes from palace to prison forces her to face the hardest questions of all: Should she continue on the path she’s carved for herself…or trust God to give her the future she never thought she wanted?
My Review: I was thrilled to discover this book was my favorite genre, Historical Fiction! The book reminded me a bit of Christmas Prince, yet other parts of it reminded me of Corrie ten Boom. The book has three storylines in one, so throughout, you will travel back to 1943 to WWII; and then to modern day, in both Little Rock, Arkansas and in another country, Alloria. While the title may be a little misleading, there is no trusting in stars in this book, but a strong trust in Jesus by all three main characters. The idea is that light shines in darkness-stars in the night. As Christ-followers, we are to have such a trust in God that we are different than the world. When circumstances come our way that are not to our liking, we can choose to trust God in the midst. Princess Alessandra trusted God from a horrible prison during WWII as she was mourning the separation from her husband and children, and facing death by the Nazis. Prince Louis trusted God as he had just been jilted by the woman he thought he was going to marry, and was weighed down with the demands everyone had on his life as a prince. Finally, the main character, Olivia, had to trust God with painful memories of her childhood, stemming from poverty and her mother’s continual poor choices in men and circumstances, ultimately leading to her mother’s suicide, leaving Olivia with even more scars. In all three of them, we see that it is possible to choose to follow God and His path through real life and crushing circumstances; and to truly find peace and joy in His will in the midst. Definitely take time to read this book! You can get it by clicking here!
Thriving in the Fishbowl 