Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther (Lost Loves of the Bible)
by Ginger Garrett is an intriguing blend of the biblical account of Esther, Persian history, and fiction. This story of Esther is told in First Person narrative in a “dear diary” form. Esther is a young Jewish girl who has lost her parents and has been raised by her older cousin Mordecai. When current queen Vashti falls out of favor, King Xerxes calls for all available girls to be brought to him for the chance to win his favor. After a year of training and beauty treatments it is Esther’s time to meet the King. King Xerxes’ imagination is captured by her beauty, wisdom, and purity and he chooses for Esther his queen.

Danger and conspiracy are all around Esther as people close to the King deceive him. Neither Xerxes nor Esther are truly safe.

There are a couple things that I wasn’t satisfied with in this account of Esther’s life. I wasn’t all that fond of the feelings she held for Cyrus for so long. I didn’t like that she waited so long to tell Xerxes that she loved him, I didn’t like the timing or the words she used. I didn’t like the the ultimate traitor at the end.

It was a good story, not racy or too sexy. It made me cry which is a sign of a good story. My 14 year old daughter is reading it now. The whole time reading this book I did have visions of the movie "One Night with the King".

Some people have posted on Amazon about recipes and beauty treatments included in the book, my copy had none of those things.

The other books coming in the series about Jezebel and Delilah are of no interest to me at all. An idol worshipping murderer and a traitor, lier and deceiver are not women I want to read about. These women are not the heroines of their stories.

Thank you to David Cook and TBB for my free copy in exchange for my honest review.