When spring is in the air, thoughts turn to romance…and what is more romantic than springtime in Paris? Or to be more exact, springtime in Versailles, as all the choices we’ll explore this month take place around the small hunting lodge at the edge of a royal forest which became a palace whose very name conjures images of luxury, excess, drama and tragedy. The kings who inhabited that palace dominated the known world, set a standard for opulence copied to this day—and took mistresses whose stories still enchant readers. We begin with a work that covers the whole tumultuous century of the Louis. Rather than focusing solely on the mistresses, Rosaline Laker’s TO DANCE WITH KINGS: A NOVEL explores Versaille itself as the backdrop to a multi-generational saga. In the early years of the reign of Louis XIV, the whim of an aristocrat elevates the daughter of a fan-maker to a place at court. Marguerite will find favor, heartache and betrayal in the Sun King’s entourage, eventually losing power as the political winds change. Marguerite’s daughter, Jasmin, lives a life of luxury, but risks everything to try to entice a king. Jasmin’s daughter, Violette, is drawn into the dangerous undercurrent…

I am an author and a reader. Worse than that, I’m one of those historical nerds who think that what people ate hundreds of years ago is actually important. Throw all that in with my espresso machine and Bible, and you have a Christian Historical Fiction author who loves action and real-life, gritty faith-in-action. Faith. Gritty faith. I suppose what I mean by the combination of those two words is that faith isn’t always pretty. People often picture Christianity as a peaceful oasis in a skin-blistering desert, but Christian life is often something more than calm. Christianity is gritty real life. We’re faced with the same crushing waves that hit others. Only, we’re slammed into the Rock of Ages. When life gets hard or downright dirty, we have hope. In my latest novel, Grace Triumphant, I was faced with showing how faith works even in the heart of the storm. In my own life, I have seen how God’s grace is abounding – even in the midst of the dirty little messes we create and the turmoil that eventually comes our way. So, with writing a book that is obviously centered on grace, I had to realize that grace really…