Unforgiven Launch Week: Unknown Free for a Limited Time!
That’s right! For a limited time, the ebook version of Unknown is available for free. I’d be honored if you’d check it out at the links below:
Purchase for FREE!Add on Goodreads
Given this is Unforgiven’s launch week, it might seem weird to be talking about the first book in the series, but Unknown is where the entire story begins. One of my favorite parts about the flow of this series is that main characters from previous books are always in the following ones. Bad news for the poor characters, I guess, but I really enjoy that I get to continue writing about characters I’ve come to know so well.
And these two characters from Unknown, Gabe and Sofia, get thrown into every single book that comes after them. 
I began writing Unknown in 2018, which now that I think about it, is six years ago. Unknown was my first real attempt at modern-day fiction and really my first adventure into romantic suspense/thriller. Prior to Unknown, I had been stuck in the 1860s … and we don’t even want to talk about that time of my writing. (If you’re interested, you can check out this rather distressing post to see a taste of how I wrote many years back.)
Unknown was originally supposed to be this spy/thriller sort of book, with Sofia as the alluring ballerina and Gabe as some suave spy. (I kind of still like the idea, just not with these characters, haha!) However, after some plotting—and no doubt the Lord’s provision—Gabe turned into an average guy who became a missionary, and Sofia was a gritty ballerina solely focused on her art.
He knew there was a cost. He just didn’t know how great it’d be.
Gabriel Kelly returned to Russia for one reason—to bury his parents. After ten years in the United States, he hadn’t expected to return to his childhood home in the face of tragedy. However, after short days in Moscow, he begins to consider if the same call that cost his parents’ lives is now upon him.
Sofia Rykova’s dreams finally came true when she became a principal soloist with the Bolshoi Ballet. One night, though, an old crush walks back into her life, making her wonder if there is more to life than ballet. Gabe Kelly is just as she remembered, just as she longed for—yet religion stands between them.
Unknown to Gabe and Sofia, danger lurks closer than either would have guessed. The deaths of Gabe’s parents grow more suspicious by the day, and Gabe and Sofia are drawn into the midst of a plot neither can escape. Will obedience to God’s call—in spite of their fears and desires—result in a price too steep to bear?
There are so many things I enjoyed in this book—exploring the world of professional ballet in Moscow, missions in a foreign country, the struggles of a relationship that doesn’t look like it’s going to work out, and even armwrestling … because you gotta give those characters something fun to do!
And in the end, there’s plenty of action and drama and heartbreak and even a little bit of romance in this book, but most of all, Unknown is a story of obedience, sacrifice, and the truth that salvation lies in Christ alone.
