I wonder if there’s a woman among us who hasn’t longed to be considered beautiful and even charming? Though we’re warned that striving for such attributes can lead to deceitfulness and vanity, there are times we nevertheless focus on outward loveliness and grace. Both our outward and inward beauty is designed to display God to the world. However, because Satan wants to destroy what God created, that includes the beauty in each of us. If he can’t destroy it directly, he’ll try to twist what God designed each of us to be. He’ll tempt us to use beauty and charm for deceitful purposes or to give ourselves away. At the least, he’ll attempt to mangle our self-respect.
That’s the message that lay on my heart when the idea for my novel The Black Rose was born. In light of Proverbs 31:30, which states, “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman that fears the Lord, she shall be praised”, I wrote The Black Rose, a story of twins, young women with many similarities and still so many differences. While one sister, Corianne, always makes the “right” choices and doesn’t stray from the straight and narrow, her sister Jesilyn seems bent on self-destruction, choosing to follow selfish desires over godliness. While it’s frustrating to watch her make horrible decisions, readers eventually come to see that her innate lack of self-worth and a knowledge of who God created her to be, plays a role. Meanwhile, Corianne is a good Christian girl, but she has difficulty acknowledging her pride. She sometimes wears self-righteousness like a badge. Haven’t most of us, at some point, been one girl or the other?
We easily forget who God created us to be. God created us each to love Him and be fully loved by Him, to be fully beautiful and perfect in His sight as we walk in humbleness with him.
Almost a century ago, author Mary Jane Holmes wrote a novel about sisters with opposite personalities titled Tempest and Sunshine. I remembered bits and pieces of that story when I wrote The Black Rose, but I wanted my characters to demonstrate that even the darkest behavior can indicate an individual’s misunderstanding of who they are, or can be through repentance, in Christ. At the same time, someone who flaunts good behavior might be acting from a sanctimonious spirit. There is a kind of charm that is deceitful, and some beautiful actions are performed with a vain and self-righteous spirit.
The Empire in Pine series is a generational saga. By the time the series reaches book three, The Black Rose, it’s 1893. Logging has reached its golden era in the growing state of Wisconsin, and twins Jesilyn and Corianne Beaumont enjoy a comfortable life with their parents in the bustling, Great Lake city of Superior—until jealousy incites Jesi to seduce Cori’s fiancé, certain she can claim his heart. When her plans unravel, a flight and fall from grace lands her in a boom town brothel where a fresh start is denied her. Meanwhile, stung by Jesilyn’s betrayal, Corianne finds refuge in refusing to forgive, and her bitterness might separate her from a second chance at happiness. When tragedy causes fresh sparks between them, will love fail forever? Or is there a way for both women to begin new lives—and find budding love blooming in places neither of them expects?
The Black Rose concludes the Empire in Pine trilogy. If you haven’t ever been introduced to the series, book one, The Green Veil, is on a special summer sale for 99¢.
Naomi Musch is a multi-published, award-winning author whose writer’s heart beats hardest for historical fiction / historical romance. She believes a perfect day is spent working on a novel, roaming about the farm, snacking out of the garden, relaxing in her vintage camper, and loving on her passel of grandchildren. Connect with her via her website and newsletter at www.naomimusch.com, her Amazon author page amazon.com/author/naomimusch, and on social media around the web.