Heart of the King: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (The Lords of Alekka Book 4)

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Although I cannot say I agree with all of the author’s creative licenses, I believe she did a masterful job of weaving a fascinating story of “what might have been” in the life of the wisest man who ever lived. The heart of a king is well written. It seem to be about the life of King Solomon. We see it though the view of the his wives. This is what I got though reading the book. It seem like book that tell the story of the king. If you like Biblical Fiction this is a well researched story of one of the best known kings in the Bible. I believe you will enjoy this view of Solomon and 4 of his wives. In the 2013 Time magazine profile that grew into her book about Prince Charles, Catherine Mayer assured readers, “Much of what you think you know about the prince is wrong.” Perhaps. Her greatly expanded portrait suggests that a whole lot more of what we think – or fear – we know about our future king is entirely correct, not invariably in a bad way. The subject matter here is a little mature, in my opinion, for younger teens. While entirely clean, there are numerous preludes to lights-out liasions.

These descriptions bothered me as Solomon did not reveal himself as a man in love, rather he sounded like a sexual predator, manipulating his most current victim. While I understand many readers may not interpret Solomon's words and characters in this way, I could not shake the feeling that Solomon was a master manipulator. My favorite aspect of the story is the way the author pulled so in much of the Old Testament. I loved Solomon and David's excitement as they planned the temple and the descriptions of the temple and the sacrifices once it was built. Bits of wisdom from Proverbs and portions of the Song of Solomon were sprinkled through the book as were portions of Ecclesiastes. This was done quite well. I appreciated the uniqueness of each woman’s story, and how they intertwined, not only with King Solomon, but also with each other throughout their lives. The Old Testament is full of profound stories of people still iconically remembered today through novel and movie retellings. My excitement is always piqued by those retellings, and I try to read or watch as many as I can. When the chance came for me to review Jill Eileen Smith’s latest novel, The Heart Of A King, I happily dived in.Solomon woos several of his wives with the same poems and sayings, including calling each of them "my dove" and a passage describing Solomon holding and kissing intimately them prior to marriage, resulting in a sexual rise from the lady, only to say "we must wait until love awakens"as he walks away. The book is fictional with some liberties taken to give readers a glimpse of what it may have looked and sounded like as King Solomon ruled. There isn’t much in the Bible about his wives, but with the authors gifted artistic way she lets us imagine what they may have said . I was captured by King Solomon’s story and basked in the beauty of how the author paints a masterpiece in words. Each chapter becomes more involved and let’s us see the heart of a King.

Four wives are central in this story: Naamah, Abishag, Siti and Nicaula. All four different types of women. All four captured his heart in some way. Siti was the third wife and daughter of the pharaoh. I did not like her at all. I didn't care for her attitude and how she tried so hard to turn Solomon from God. She annoyed me with how sneaky she was -- like a serpent. She planned so much to get Solomon's attention. She had no real respect for him as her husband. She was a spoiled brat. I didn't care for her at all. She was the only wife who did not seek to learn and get to know about God. Each wife portrayed had a different personality and experience with Solomon, as would be expected. Seeing things from the viewpoint of his Egyptian wife was interesting, especially considering she is the one who had a palace built for her outside Jerusalem. As a result, we learned the author's speculation on how this came about to be mentioned in the Bible. While I didn't much like the personalities of the women, I very much enjoyedntheir stories.Here we find no heart and stomach, and no interesting play on the Queen’s femininity or sex. This has led some historians to wonder if Sharp’s later recording of the words is unreliable and inauthentic. Not all of the wives are believers. The contrast between the four wives adds interest in the book. I particularly enjoyed the dissonance between Siti and Nicaula. My first book by this author but not my last. A well written Biblical Fiction that was easy to read and easy to keep up with the characters. I love the way she described Solomon’s love and the sacrifice he did for God. This story of Solomon and four of his wives were enlightening. I never thought about the king taking a wife or more wives just to form alliances with another country. Of course it’s no secret that Solomon let his wives and women turn his faith away from the one true God. I think the author did a great job describing and showing us the personalities of each wife and Solomon. To be the wisest man ever lived he sure let women turn his head. To me this shows even more that darkness should have no part of our lives if we are trying to live for God. And that no matter how close we think we are to God “things” will pull us away if we are not careful. This is what I like about Christian Fiction. If you let it, it will speak to you in some form, confirming the Word of God. So all this being said I love the way this book is written, the description of the homes and the gardens, it made me want to sit out on the bench outside that magnificent palace. Solomon is a whiny crown prince and comes off as incredibly selfish throughout the book, although the selfishness does lessen toward the end.

To those who have tasted what is forbidden only to find it meaningless. May Solomon's wisdom and the love he craved show you a better way. ~Jill Eileen Smith And by way of a somewhat ungallant coup, she discloses that Diana was not alone in pre-wedding jitters: the equally damaged Charles, according to his friend Nicholas Soames, was no less a lamb, or, at 32, mutton, to the slaughter, “because she started with the bulimia and everything before the wedding”. It’s as if almost no time had passed since the night of the Panorama interview, 20 years ago, when Soames diagnosed in the princess “the advanced stages of paranoia”. I love how the author can bring what is in Scripture to life and flesh out the people we only read about. They were real with feelings, failures, struggles, and shortcomings. I think every time I read Jill's biblical fiction novels, she makes me look inward to my own self and evaluate my own heart. And t Let tyrants fear. I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects; and therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The more I read biblical fiction, the more I love it. Jill Eileen Smith has managed not only to perfectly blend scripture into her story, but give what I think is a great portrayal of the thoughts and Solomon's wives, as well as Solomon himself. Here is a man who loved the Lord, and yet he made mistakes. While he may have thought they were for good reason, they were still mistakes. Jill Eileen Smith has the ability not only to draw you into the character's minds, but understand the reasoning behind why they do things. Biblical fiction, when written well, is one of my favorite genres. The Heart of a King definitely delivered and I enjoyed almost every moment of it. I will definitely be looking for more books from Jill Eileen Smith in the future. No, it hasn’t escaped my notice that the probable author of the world’s most famous love poetry was also married to 600+ women—hardly the idealistic ‘one true love’ scenario—but I would have much preferred to have felt that he genuinely believed the words and his love each time he spoke them, even if he did speak them to more than one woman throughout his life.

I can't wait to see what Jill Eileen Smith writes next. I do know that it will be excellent. I highly recommend this one. Reading through the book of Ecclesiastes has always made me wonder about King Solomon. How could this king, to whom God Himself spoke and grant the gift of wisdom, write a book that reads so very much like the futility in our society today? Jill Eileen Smith has written an intriguing book about the life of King Solomon. Following the Biblical account very closely, she brings his story to life as we follow him through the politically turbulent years of his reign; his many marriages; and his search for true peace of heart and mind. King Solomon was a very layered man. Reading this book gives you insight and perspective into this wise king. The four wives and their characters showed the complex man Solomon was underneath his wisdom, love for beauty and women, and passion. Naamah, his first wife and mother of his heir, was his first political obligation and passion of his youth though he didn't love her as much as she loved him. Abishag shared his curiosity, joy in song and poetry, and offered him comfort and unconditional acceptance. Siti, an Egpytian princess, captured him with her exotic beauty and intelligence that challenged his belief in One God. Nicaula, the Queen of Sheba, sought to learn from Solomon's wisdom and, in return, learned about Solomon's One True God and sacrificial love. The incorporation of David and Bathsheba into the story at the beginning was also quite delightful. I also began to understand that the gift of wisdom can be a double-edged sword. It can blend with human wisdom so imperceptibly that we can be deceived into believing we are still fully heeding God’s wisdom when in fact we’re relying on our own, as happened with Solomon. My only complaint here is that I felt as though this theme didn’t become clear until towards the end.

Rivulets of waters is the heart of a king in the hand of Jehovah, Wherever He pleaseth He inclineth it. My feelings about this book are a bit all over the place! With four of Solomon’s wives featured as characters, I suspected I might struggle with the story on some level, but one of the things I love about fiction is that it gives me the opportunity to put myself in someone else’s shoes and understand their motives, even if I wouldn’t have made the same choices. Abishag, the young wife-nurse of David selected by Bathsheba knowing Solomon would marry the young wives of his father. Solomon and Abishag fall in love through grief and love of music.