A very touching story and timely in our world today of all the sex trafficking going on. Beautifully written.

I didn't realize from the description that this was a faith-based book and wasn't familiar with the author. From the reviews it looks like the Christian stuff continues, so I'm going to DNF. The blurb makes it sound like a thriller with some romance, but I try to stay away from religious books. My bad!

I loved this book!! 4.5 Stars!! Kingsbury is an auto-buy author for me and this book did not disappoint.

Due to my beliefs and some things in A Distant Short I will not be finishing it or reviewing it as I don't agree with somethings.

A Distant Shore is a modern-day novel written by Karen Kingsbury.

Summary: Eliza Lawrence has been a prisoner for most of her life. And now, she’s being married off to the highest bidder. Will this be a chance to escape, or has a new nightmare just begun?

Jack Ryder has never gotten over his tragic past. The feelings hurt too much, so he does his best not to feel at all. Besides, that allows him to take the risks other FBI agents wouldn’t dream of.

So when a mission requires him to pretend to be a drug lord purchasing a new wife, he has no qualms about diving in head first.

But Eliza isn’t what he expects.

Can he complete the mission with her reluctant assistance, or will it all come crashing down around them?

My Thoughts: I liked the action in this book. I really liked the relationship between Jack and Eliza, and how the book ends.

But, the subject matter of this book was much too dark for me. The focus of this book is really on the prostitution of young girls, and it doesn’t just get glossed over, but goes more into the nitty gritty.

It was too much for me, and I didn’t care for it.

If this doesn’t bother you, there is plenty of action, suspense, and drama to make this an exciting book, it just wasn’t for me.

I would like to thank Atria books for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you.

Oh this is a fantastic book! I love Karen’s books! No matter what the storyline is your going to feel all of your emotions and this one is no exception. A true page turner, you must get this book and see for yourself. Thank you Karen for one again giving us another great book!

#A Distant Shore by New York Times bestseller #Karen Kingsbury is a wonderful novel. A high-stakes love story." Sometimes miracles happen not once, but twice... along a distant shore".lf your in the mood for a love story this weekend, I've never been disappointed by this author.
Thank you for the advance copy,
#Netgalley, #Karen Kingsbury, and #Atria Books 💜🐾🐾

Sooo good!!

Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“Inspirational fiction superstar” (Publishers Weekly) and #1 New York Times bestselling author of life-changing fiction returns with this high-stakes love story of danger, passion, and faith.

She was a child caught in a riptide in the Caribbean Sea. He was a teenager from the East Coast on vacation with his family. He dove in to save her, and that single terrifying moment changed both their lives forever.

Ten years later Jack Ryder is a daring secret agent with the FBI and Eliza Lawrence still lives on that pristine island. She’s an untainted princess in a kingdom of darkness and evil, on the brink of a forced marriage with a dangerous neighboring drug lord, a marriage arranged by her father.

This time when Jack and Eliza meet, there’s a connection neither of them can explain. Both their lives are on the line, and once again, the stakes are deadly high. Can they join forces in a complicated and dangerous mission, pretending to have a breathtaking love…without really falling?

Sometimes miracles happen not once, but twice…along a distant shore.

It's been a while since I've read a Karen Kingsbury book, but the premise of this one looked different from her regular genre. Even though Kingsbury writes about all sorts of family issues in her novels, this book feels different.
She handles the topic of sex trafficking with grace, showing the depth of horror without being graphic.
Things I liked:
I loved the characters. They were well-developed and likable.
The healing: Kingsbury doesn't rush with any relationships. She shows the time it takes for someone to heal.
The plot was steady and interesting.
What I didn't love:
Beck's character seemed thrown in as an afterthought to move the story along.
Overall, this is a great book about a topic that needs more attention. I hope the book sparks discussion and more involvement to help end trafficking.

(Review shared on Goodreads and Amazon.)

Not your typical Karen Kingsbury book, but definitely a wonderful one. With signature emotion and depth, A Distant Shore is an eye-opening look into the world of sex trafficking. I truly enjoyed this book. While heavy subject matter, it was hard to put down and left me smiling by the end. And it was actually really nice to read something a bit different from a typical KK book. Surprising and rewarding.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this book.

I enjoyed reading Karen Kingsbury's A Distant Shore. I am giving it four stars. I can not wait to read more releases by her in the future.

I absolutely LOVED this book! The message that God can redeem anything in your life and make it work for your good and His glory is so strong. It was wonderful!!

A Distant Shore, is an interesting story with an original theme. I have read many books by Karen Kingsbury and I have enjoyed them all. A Distant Shore is the story of a young man, on vacation with his family who saves a girl from drowning. Jack is now an FBI a agent and he is sent to work on a human trafficking case. It was going to be very tough, have many moving parts but would save many girls. Eliza, who has lost her family but is now part of this trafficking ring. Eliza’s father is a terrible man and if she doesn’t get away from him, she will have a miserable life. As it is, she is promised to another man and lives a life of a prisoner. Can Jack find and save Lizzie? Will the mission work? Will they know each other from all those years ago? A well written novel, with great characters. I am sure you will enjoy it..

I found the overall story in this book to be current, however was just overwhelmed at all of the spewing out of the data and research that occurred. I, also, ended up feeling like the book was just divided into multiple stories. You had the sex trafficking, the obvious attraction and let's be friends but not really, and the spiritual awakening that occurred as a result of the event involving the sex trafficking. I definitely think that is a topic that has been more present in the media and literature in the past couple of years and I find this to be a positive move, however I feel that this book just ended up feeling detached from the sex trafficking issue and not relevant to the actual issue.. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

Karen Kingsbury pens a timely story that addresses the tough issue of human trafficking with a graceful pen. With a fast-paced plot, a sweet romance and the strong faith thread her readers have come to expect, Ms. Kingsbury will captivate her reader's with this story filled with the hope that comes from redemption and grace.

I received a complimentary copy from the author/publisher and Netgalley. I was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Holy cow! This novel by Karen Kingsbury is not her normal novel! It's so much! Don't get me wrong. I ADORE her novels. All of them. They are the books that my mom and I used to buddy read together before she passed away. But, this one.....this one has twisting suspense, epic romance and a beautiful message!


This novel, outside Kingsbury's normal inspirational novels, is absolutely amazing! I loved every single second of this read. Jack and Eliza are beautifully chiseled, playing their roles in this breathtaking, intense, edge of your seat read. I loved watching them together, desperate to overcome the line their lives are on. 

I have every book Kingsbury has written to date and this one is going to be a perfect addition! It's so refreshing to see this new type of novel from the Queen of Life Changing Fiction. It's life changing. It's still as amazing as her others, but, it's new. It's definitely a 5 star read in my book! Grab it up today! 

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Author/Publisher and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*

I generally don't read christian/inspirational books but the description drew me in. I truly loved the story!!! Some religious leaders encourage potential followers to take what resonates with them and leave the rest. A Distant Shore was like that for me. I loved the story and the author's voice even as I skimmed over the religious aspects of it. But definitely an enjoyable book!

DNF. Did not realize this was Christian fiction. Too much scripture. Story not realistic. Some may like it.

This was a really great read! Karen never disappoints, and this was certainly was far from a disappointment.

This book was so relevant to today’s current events (2021). The tough topic of sex trafficking was the main theme, and it was handled pretty well here. I was glad to see a book that featured rescues from such a hard life, as I’ve been encouraged to see real-life rescues mentioned in conservative news outlets over the last year or so. Eliza’s journey was a good one, as it highlighted the lowest of this trafficking as well as rescue operations from that lifestyle. Her story was complex, and I was hooked and wanting to know what happened to her from the very beginning.

I liked how Jack’s grief and sorrow were first stuffed down but then dealt with in a healthy way. That process is not an easy one to write about or to live out, but Mrs. Kingsbury did a fantastic job with it here.

This book ought to have been labeled as connected to the Angels Walking series, because the angel Beck showed up a couple of times. I wish I would have known it was connected, because that series is my least favorite that I’ve read of Kingsbury’s. Angel books are just not my genre.

There was one super random background note for a character. It had already been clearly established several times that this guy decided early in his life he would never fall in love or marry, but suddenly he revealed he went “from one girl to another” in his younger days. It was a shock-and-awe moment that had nothing to do with the rest of the plot. A couple of other inconsistencies bugged me too, but that was the most glaring one.

The baptism that happened in the story was weird to me. First of all, it happened about eight seconds after the person accepted Jesus into their heart. That seemed incredibly fast to me. The leading guy was in no way an ordained minister, so I’m not sure he had the authority to baptize someone. As far as I know, there are no instances of non-ministers baptizing people in the Bible, since John the Baptist was a prophet ordained by God and the apostles were called and sent out as evangelists by Jesus. This book’s leading man also didn’t even consider that such an act would have blown his partner’s and his own cover since it was on a public beach and it was well established that the bad guys always sent people to watch them, so it didn’t work cohesively within the plot either.

I did like the fact that a salvation experience was included in this story. Those moments always make me smile and want to welcome the character into the family of God, even if they aren’t real people.

Content: alcohol, skimpy clothing (including bikinis), suicidal thoughts, drugs, sexual innuendo