About the Book
Book: The End Begins (Rerelease)
Author: Sara Davison
Genre: Dystopian Romantic Suspense
Release Date: July 15, 2024
Which of them is the prisoner and which one is free?
Bookstore owner Meryn O’Reilly and Army Captain Jesse Christensen are on opposite sides of a battle. After a series of terrorist attacks in 2053, martial law has been declared in Canada and the military has taken over. When a radical Christian group claims responsibility, Jesse and his platoon are sent to Meryn’s city to keep an eye on the Christians and ensure they are not stepping outside the confines of the law.
Fiery and quick-tempered, Meryn chafes under the curfew and other restrictions to her freedom. Jesse is equally amused, intrigued, and terrified by her spirit, knowing she could end up in prison if she shows defiance to the wrong soldier, namely Lieutenant Gallagher.
Jesse watches out for Meryn when possible, although she wants nothing to do with him. His worst fears are realized when she commits a crime he cannot protect her from. Now they both face an uncertain future and the very real threat of losing everything, including their lives.
With time running out, Jesse works feverishly to convince the authorities to show leniency—and to convince Meryn that love can overcome any barrier that lies between them.
Click here to get your copy!
About the Author
Sara Davison is the author of The Night Guardians, The Rose Tattoo, two sparrows for a penny, and In the Shadows series, as well as the standalone, The Watcher. A finalist for more than a dozen national writing awards, including the Christy Award, Davison is a Cascade, Word, and two-time Carol Award winner for romantic suspense. She lives in Ontario with her husband, Michael. Like every good Canadian, she loves coffee, hockey, poutine, and apologizing for no particular reason.
More from Sara
Most, if not all, great fiction begins with the question, “What if?” This is likely truer for The Day Draws Near Series (formerly The Seven Trilogy) than for any of my other stories.
The seeds for this series were planted as I worked my way through a study on Revelation at our church. Each of those seeds represented a what if question.
What if the Bible was outlawed and taken away from believers? What if restrictions such as a curfew or being forced to wear an identity bracelet were placed on Christians? What if the consequences for not following those restrictions became serious, even deadly? What if publicly declaring that you were a follower of Jesus Christ made it harder to buy or sell items? What if the churches were closed and believers forced to meet underground? What if teaching your children from the Bible meant you risked having them taken away from you? What if all this happened in Canada and the US in the very near future?
And the big question the entire series asks is: What if we are not ready?
Those seeds grew into the characters and storylines that make up the dystopian romantic suspense books The End Begins, The Darkness Deepens, and The Morning Star Rises.
The Day Draws Near Series is a revised and updated-with-new-content version of The Seven Trilogy, originally released in 2015 and 2016. While I don’t for a moment claim these books are prophetic, between their original release and now, many of the things that happen in the series, including a global pandemic, have since come to pass.
My hope and prayer for each book in this series is that readers will be left with a deeper awareness that time is short and that we are living in a society increasingly hostile to Christianity and in a world of darkness that hates the light. However that hostility and hatred plays out, life will become more difficult for Christians in the future, as the Bible clearly claims.
However, the tone of the book and what I pray readers will take with them is one of peace and hope. The most powerful message these stories convey is that there is no need to be afraid. God’s ultimate plan of redemption and reconciliation is playing out in front of our eyes. Nothing can thwart that plan. Nothing can happen that God does not allow.
Above all, every believer can know with absolute certainty that, whatever happens in the future, we will never face it alone. God will be with us, watching over us and giving us the strength and the courage to endure to the end.
Blog Stops
The Lofty Pages, September 19
For the Love of Literature, September 20 (Author Interview)
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, September 20
Locks, Hooks and Books, September 21
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, September 22
Through the Fire Blogs, September 23 (Author Interview)
Texas Book-aholic, September 23
Life on Chickadee Lane, September 24
Betti Mace, September 25
Artistic Nobody, September 26 (Author Interview)
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, September 27
Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, September 28 (Author Interview)
Simple Harvest Reads, September 29 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)
Beauty in the Binding, September 30 (Author Interview)
Library Lady’s Kid Lit, October 1
For Him and My Family, October 2
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Sara is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon card and a paperback copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf5445
Interview with Sara
What has been your greatest writing achievement to date?
In 2021, I was a finalist for a Carol Award, which is one of the big Christian literary awards. There are three finalists in each category, and that year in the romantic suspense category, the finalists were me, DiAnn Mills, and Irene Hannon. I mean, it was completely surreal just to see my name listed among these two titans of Christian romantic suspense. Definitely one of those “well, it was an honour to be nominated” moments. I never even contemplated the possibility that my novel, Lost Down Deep, would win, so much so that I didn’t give the awards another thought and was out for a walk with my husband when I started getting texts from friends congratulating me on the award. That was by far the craziest moment in my writing career, and I doubt I will ever top it, as I have such incredible respect and awe for both those authors.
Do you have a favorite character you’ve created? Tell us about them.
Don’t tell anyone this, but I have a tendency to fall in love with my characters. Even so, Puerto-Rican-Canadian private investigator Jax Rodriguez, my hero in Driven (which, crazily enough, also won a Carol Award), has a special place in my heart. Jax comes off as a funny, extremely confident, even flirty guy, but that persona masks a deeply hurting man with far more depth than my heroine, Mikayla Grant, initially suspects. He is on a faith journey that eventually leads him to God, although the ache inside over the brother who has been missing for twenty years—the impetus for Jax becoming a private investigator—never goes away.
Do you use humor at all in your writing?
I absolutely love inserting humour in my stories, partly for the sheer enjoyment of it and partly to break up what can be intense storylines. In The End Begins, there is a lot of banter between my hero, Captain Jesse Christensen, and his best friend and commanding officer, Major Caleb Donevan. As much as I love a good love story and enjoy writing the scenes between the hero and heroine, those scenes between the friends who are as close as brothers were a lot of fun to create.
What is the easiest part of your writing process?
I don’t know how common this is among writers, but for me, the hard part is the initial writing. While sometimes it’s pure joy, often it feels more like a chore. What I love is that first edit after the initial draft is complete. If the draft is the skeleton, the first edit is the flesh you add to it—the description, interesting details, sensory imagery—that brings those bare bones to life. That’s the fun part for me.
What do you wish you knew before you started writing?
Everything. Seriously, despite having a degree in English literature and taking all kinds of creative writing courses, until I was actually doing it, I had no idea what I didn’t know. Probably the biggest thing is how impossible it is to be objective about your own work. I mean, I can tell when I’m reading someone else’s book if it’s good or not, but I have absolutely no idea about my own, which is kind of scary when I’m preparing to put it out into the world, believe me. It’s why I always refer to release day as excitifying – equally exciting and terrifying.
Do your books revolve around certain themes?
All my books have their own theme, but the one that runs through every single story I write is that we are never alone. Whatever we are going through, whatever we may have done in the past or has been done to us, God is with us. He sees us, He knows us, and He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. That theme is as strong in The Day Draws Near Series as any I have written, since what I hope and pray readers will take from these books is the sure hope that whatever we might face as the result of our faith, He will be with us, giving us the strength and courage to endure to the end.
I enjoyed the inrerview
Glad you stopped by!
This looks like a fantastic read. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome.
This sounds good–and all too believable after the events of the last few years.
Hope you enjoy it, Emma.
Thanks so much, Jodie, for highlighting The End Begins on your blog! And thanks to everyone who stopped by on the tour. Blessings, Sara
Great to have you here, Sara.