Unlocking A Broken Embrace: Writing With God, Not Just For Him

Greetings,

It’s been a while since I’ve posted something other than a book review, hasn’t it? Those reviews have kind of taken over this gathering room in more ways than one. Well, today I’m not writing a book review (though I have an interesting one in the works) today is about sharing more of the story behind my upcoming 2026 novel, A Broken Embrace.

Book Review - Unsung Psalms by Sean Lyon

Greetings, 

I am here, still writing tons of reviews and hopefully giving you all some good thoughts on what I read and why books resonate with me. As always, I read and review these books freely. Today, I have the second book in Sean Lyon's "The Other Acts". It is called Unsung Psalms. 

I've been reading a lot of good ones this year, and this one is no exception. Without further ado, here is my review. 

See you in the pages, 

MJE

Book Review - Keeping Thessalonica by Jenifer Jennings

 Greetings, 

I had this one under wraps for a few weeks, but I am excited to share this review of  Jenifer Jennings' upcoming release, Keeping Thessalonica. 

This is one of those rare gems that stick with you long after you finish the final pages.  You are going to love this one. I'm pretty sure this is one of my longest reviews, if not the longest. 

See you in the pages, 

MJE

Book Reviews - Blaze of Honor by D.M. Griffin

Greetings, 

I'm so excited to share this review with you today. I have always enjoyed reading this author's books and can't wait to read the other ones as they come out. D.M. Griffin is a fantastic author, and I encourage you to read any of her stories. You can also follow her on Substack now. 

But I won't hold you up any longer. Blaze of Honor comes out later this week, May 12th. I'm sure there will be a few more of these reviews over the next few days. 

See you in the pages,

M.J.E.

Book Reviews: Loosed by Anna Moore Bradfield

Greetings, 

It has been a busy month, and tonight, I have my first review following my new review system. If you have ever wanted to know more about what the life and times of King David could have been like, then you are in luck. 

Loosed: Michal's Story by Anna Moore Bradfield captures that in great detail. I was glad to be given the chance to read this one and pray that this review will help anyone who reads it find another book to possibly add to their libraries. Well, I don't want to keep you any longer, so without further ado. 

See you in the pages, 

M.J.E. 

Book Reviews: Absalom - The Shadow King, by Trevor Kincaid

Greetings, 

It has been a hot minute since I have reviewed one of Trevor Kincaid's books. His upcoming release, Absalom: The Shadow King, is not one you will want to miss. I do not think I have read anything like it before, and I truly appreciate the depths of this novel, but I will leave that for the review you are about to read. 

This one comes out on March 31st, and I sincerely hope that anyone who reads this review will consider investing their time into this tragic, but haunting story. I cannot convey in this post just how much of an impact I believe this one will have on the Biblical Fiction community. 

See you in the pages, 

M.J.E. 

The Characters of The Hope of Inheritance

Greetings, 

It turns out that God has some interesting timing. 

When I released my Award Winning Novel, The Hope of Inheritance, over the summer it turns out I neglected to post the Character Profiles for the story on this blog. 

Well, I'm about to do a relaunch for the book and Character Profiles are the perfect way to get that all started. Its going to take place over the next few months, but you got to start somewhere, right? 

Take a look at all of the wonderful characters from this story that changed everything for me. 

See you in the pages, 

M. J. E. 

Book Reviews: And They Were Persuaded by Naomi Craig and Donna E. Lane

Greetings, 

I pray that everyone reading this is doing well. This blog has been quieter for a few weeks than I normally like, but that's all for good reason. Those of you on my email list will hear more about that when my monthly email goes out.

For this post, I have another review for you. And They Were Persuaded by Naomi Craig and Donna E. Lane, released on 1/27, and I was invited to be a part of their launch team. This review is my honest thoughts, and I was not persuaded (did you catch that) in any way to share my thoughts. I truly enjoyed reading this one and can't wait for you to read the book for yourselves. 

See you in the pages, 

M.J.E.

Book Reviews: Appointed Adventurer by D.M. Griffin

Greetings, 

While I intended to write a review for another book for this post, which will be coming soon, I remembered that I had this one sitting in limbo throughout the PenWorks of the Wor Blog Tour. 

This review is of another book that I read in September from the Biblical Fiction category. It is another one of D.M. Griffin's books. It's called Appointed Adventurer.   Truth be told, this one has been on my TBR list for at least two years, and I just kept pushing the review off because of other things. 

However, I am super excited to finally get this one out there for you. One of my goals with any review I write is to find the positive information that really stands out to me, and that was not a hard ask with this book. Without further ado, here is my honest review of Appointed Adventurer. This is book 4 of a set of 4 from her Believers Legacy Series.

See you in the pages, 

M.J.E.

Mid-Month Madness | A Big News Post

Greetings, 

It is always fun creating stories, and I have always said that The World of Kedoshim is going to be one of the biggest that I have ever built. While my alter ego, E.M. James, is hard at work creating worlds for Christian Fantasy, Matthew James has three more stories from Kedoshim coming your way. 

In conjunction with an event I am doing with some other wonderful authors over at Heroes, Heroines, and History for their Mid-Month Madness Event, I’m making a pretty big announcement. If you are one of my email subscribers, you received this email early this morning; it's also live on the website.

PenWorks of the Word | Featured Book Review | Worn Sandals - Sean Lyon

Greetings, 

I found this book on social media, and it piqued my interest. As someone who loves this genre, I simply could not pass it up. So... I reached out to the author and told him I was going to review it. Little did Sean Lyon, or even I, know that we would find a genuine connection as writers, and I am honored to write this review. 

My goal with the PenWorks of the Word Blog Tour was to also review three books from different genres that were faith-based, well... you are getting two Biblical Fiction novels and one Christian Fantasy novel. While I didn't plan for this one to be part of the tour originally, I am certainly glad it is.

With that, I'll see you in the 'digital' pages, 

M.J.E

PenWorks of the Word | Featured Book Review | Leading Philippi - Jenifer Jennings

Greetings, 

As we continue this blog tour, one of the things I wanted to do was write a few book reviews. I mean, we are all here wanting to learning about books and read them, right? Well... I think that's part of it anyway. Today's review is for a book called Leading Philippi, and it is a Biblical Fiction Novel written by our Jenifer Jennings. Yes, that is the same Jenifer Jennings who gave us an interview to start this whole tour off. 

Today, 10/10/25, is launch day for her book, and I was blessed to receive an advance copy of it to review. The review you are about to read is my honest review of this wonderful addition to the world of Biblical Fiction.

Let’s dive into this one, and I’ll see you in the ‘digital’ pages.

PenWorks of the Word | Featured Author | Jenifer Jennings

Greetings,

Welcome to the PenWorks of the Word Blog Tour. I'm thrilled you have found your way here. It is exciting to see how this event has come together, and today's featured author is Jenifer Jennings. I don't want to take up any more of your time, so without further ado... Here is an interview with her about her upcoming book, Leading Philippi, which is set to release on Friday, 10/10... I will be posting a review of this wonderful addition to Biblical Fiction on launch day. 

See you in the 'digital' pages, 

M.J.E. 

Book Reviews: Rain by Dana McNeely

Greetings, 

This is a review of Rain, a novel by Dana McNeely. It was released on February 18th, 2021. I received a free copy of this book when it was on sale this year and have chosen to review this book of my own accord. It is an exciting one for sure, too. 

See you in the pages, 

M.J.E.

Book Reviews: The Strength of Samson by Tyler Kraft

Greetings, 

This is a review of The Strength of Samson, a debut novel from Tyler Kraft. It was released on June 27th, 2025. I was given the opportunity to be a part of his Advanced Reader Team. I have chosen to review this book, and all of these words are my own. 

See you in the pages, 

M.J.E.

The Hope of Inheritance - Cover Art Competition

Greetings, 

I am excited to announce that my upcoming release, The Hope of Inheritance, was entered into at least one competition. This particular competition is a cover art competition. The contest is through clean fiction magazine and there are some other really good covers entered as well. 

When the idea for The Hope of Inheritance came bursting through my imagination, I was quite literally shocked. Writing a book about the persecution believers faced in Rome after the great fire of 64 AD was not something I wanted to do.  I wrote the prologue before The Cyprus Journal was even an idea, and it was terrifying. 

 Greetings,

It's time for a sneak peek of the newest story from The World of Kedoshim, The Hope of Inheritance...

I cannot wait to get this story out into the world. I have been working on this book for a very long time. I mean we are talking, I wrote the Prologue at the end of 2023. So we are more than a year down the road on this project and let me tell you, it has become something bigger than I ever thought it would be. 

More to Come Soon and I'll see you in the pages, 

MJE

The Ephesus Pages Devotional: An Introduction

Greetings, 

One of my favorite things about releasing The Ephesus Pages: A Journey Begins is that there are many quotable moments in the story. While it was not my intent to do this, that is what happened and I have been seeking confirmation about doing this for a few weeks. When I asked God to give me a story that focused more on Paul and some of his Missionary Journeys, the city of Ephesus stuck out to me deeply. 

Book Reviews: Reconciled Runaway by D.M. Griffin

Greetings, 

Rating: ★★★★★

Description:

Snatched from his Jewish home in the Holy Land by the clutches of Rome, Onesimus found himself living a life he wasn't supposed to live. As a young boy, he thought he was settling a family debt. Instead, he was sold into slavery. With no control over his own fate, Onesimus let bitterness fuel his rebellious choices well into adulthood. He began running away from God long before he ran away from his earthly master, Philemon. 

The Ephesus Pages: A Journey Begins

 
Greetings, 

I'm so excited to let everyone know that The Ephesus Pages: A Journey Begins is now available for download.  It is crazy to think that this story started off as an eight-part mini-series and has now developed into three different parts of the same story. While Part I: A Journey Begins released today, Part II: Mysteries in Ephesus is still being written and should be ready in the first quarter of 2025. It will be uploaded as additional content to the story that released today when the time is right.