About the Book

Name of book: Christmas Embers

Author: Chautona Havig

Genre: Contemporary Christmas

Release Date: November 25, 2016

It’s a truth universally unacknowledged that sin will hunt you down and advertise its presence the moment you try to hide it.

Emily Byrne sits in her daughter’s classroom listening to the deepest wishes of twenty kindergarteners as she sketches them. But when little Joey Cordell breaks down, weeping and insisting the only thing he wants to find is his father, she isn’t sure where her Christmas project will take her.

Davia Cordell came to Rockland for one purpose–find her son’s father before she dies. An ex-prostitute, she’s well aware that the news will cause waves, but what’s a mother to do?

As these women join forces to search for Joey’s father–a Rockland area pastor, no less– Emily learns compassion for a woman who just wants the best for her son and can’t quite imagine that Jesus wants anything to do with her.

Each day, Davia weakens until Emily isn’t confident she’ll find the boy’s father in time–if at all. Doubts form. Should she look? Is it right to risk destroying a family like this–an entire church? The weight of that responsibility crushes her as Davia wastes away before her eyes.

A mother’s love. A boy’s confidence. A family’s faith. A preacher’s failure. Is redemption even possible anymore?

Christmas Embers: a story of love, failure, and redemption.

Click here to purchase your copy!

In My Opinion…

This book is not your typical Christmas story. Instead, it lays bare the devastating effects infidelity leaves in its wake, leaving everyone near drowning.

Chautona Havig calls out a sin too often hidden or swept under the rug. While delicately balancing the different reactions of the community with the shattering of marriage vows, she exposes the emotions involved—sometimes overwhelming, sometimes confused, sometimes lost, and sometimes hope-filled. Children don’t understand what happened to make their mommy and daddy sad and blame themselves; extended family takes sides and makes accusations; and friends weep for the loss of trust and the difficulty of the act of obedience in forgiveness.

No, this is not your typical Christmas story, but is raw and real. It’s hard to read at times but it shines Light in the darkness. Grace is great than our deepest hurts.

My Rating:

Disclosure statement:
I receive complimentary books for review from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

About the Author

Author of the Amazon bestselling Aggie and Past Forward Series, Chautona Havig lives and writes in California’s Mojave Desert. With dozens of books to her name, Chautona spends most of her time writing, but when she takes the rare break, she can be found reading, sewing, paper crafting, or sleeping and dreaming of finishing the dozens of books swirling in her overly-active imagination at any given moment.

Guest Post from Chautona Havig

Infidelity to the Tune of Adeste Fideles

“I think my husband is having an affair.”

An explanation followed. Look, I tend to be one who assumes the best of others—to a fault even. I read the “evidence” and frankly could see it going either way. It’s hard to tell across thousands of miles. While others on the message board saw red flag after red flag—and frankly, I did, too—I also saw perfectly innocent explanations for things. It’s a curse sometimes—that ability to see both sides of an issue. I cautioned against assumptions no one would want other people to make of themselves. And I prayed she was wrong.

She wasn’t.

It wasn’t the first time I’d come face to face with infidelity. As a child, there was an extended family member. As a newlywed, one of my wedding party—then another. Then another. The excuses, the justifications. Friends and I went to confront a sister in Christ on her affair with her husband’s best friend. We foolishly asked “what happened?” regarding her marriage. Her words: “We drifted apart.”

I wanted to scream the words that battered my brain and heart. “Then row back together!”

But over the years, it just grew worse. One by one, wives and husbands tossed aside vows made to a brother or sister in Christ—vows made before the Lord—in favor of what sometimes were serial affairs. Abuse. Horror.

I’ve prayed women I love through court cases, medical visits, and disclosures from children no mother should ever have to hear. I’ve prayed for men I didn’t even like because of the pain their wives inflicted each time she left them alone with the kids. He knew. He always knew.

Adultery is real. It’s ugly. And there’s absolutely a cure for it. Jesus. 100% surrender to Jesus. But as long as we rely on those little loops on the back of our boots instead of the saving, healing, strengthening power of Jesus, we’re just as vulnerable as the next person.

And that’s why I wrote Christmas Embers. I took every heartbreaking story I’d observed over the years and put in each character for a reason. Every scene, every plot point, every twist—I put them exactly how and where they are for a reason.

They’re there as a warning.

This isn’t your lighthearted Christmas novel. Some have suggested I shouldn’t have set it at Christmastime. But you know what? Over half the disclosures I’ve ever heard of happened between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. I couldn’t get the idea of Joey’s story out of my head. And to write his story, it had to be at Christmas.

Let me say it again. While Christmas may not seem like the optimal time for a hard-hitting book like this, I had to do it. Adultery is reaching epidemic proportions in the church. There’s a solution. His name is Jesus.

Blog Stops

Carpe Diem, December 5

A Baker’s Perspective, December 5

Mary Hake, December 5

Moments Dipped in Ink, December 6

D’S QUILTS & BOOKS, December 6

Daysong Reflections, December 6

Fiction Aficionado, December 7

A Simply Enchanted Life, December 7

Genesis 5020, December 7

Blogging With Carol, December 8

The Power of Words, December 8

Bigreadersite, December 8

Reading Is My SuperPower, December 9

A Greater Yes, December 9

Radiant Light, December 9

Just Jo’Anne, December 10

For The Love of Books, December 10

Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses, December 10

Aryn the Libraryan, December 11

A Reader’s Brain, December 11

The Fizzy Pop Collection, December 12

Books, Books, and More Books., December 12

Quiet Quilter, December 13

Seasons of Opportunities, December 13

Christian Book Devourer, December 13

Allofakindmom, December 14

Texas Book-aholic, December 14

Pursuing Stacie, December 14

Pause for Tales, December 15

Reader’s cozy corner, December 15

margaret kazmierczak, December 15

Red Headed Book Lady, December 16

Purposeful Learning, December 16

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, December 16

Janices book reviews, December 17

Christian Bookaholic, December 17

Karen Sue Hadley, December 18

Remembrancy, December 18

Blossoms and Blessings, December 18

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Chautona is giving away a grand prize of a 6 month Kindle Unlimited Subscription!!

Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries! https://promosimple.com/ps/c512

I really loved Courtney Walsh’s Paper Hearts and was excited to learn her next book, Change of Heart (due on March 1, 2016), is set in the town of Loves Park, Colorado and the return of the quirky Valentine Volunteers.

As the wife of a Colorado senator, Evelyn Brandt has a life others can only envy. But when the FBI shows up while she’s hosting a luncheon, claiming her husband has embezzled from the state, the mirror of her picture-perfect world is shattered. When the rest of Evelyn’s husband’s indiscretions are revealed to the public, Evelyn wonders if she’s the only one who didn’t know about his affairs.

Trevor Whitney let go of his friendship with Evelyn and Christopher Brandt long ago but when Evelyn’s left with nowhere to go, Trevor offers the guest house on his farm. But can he handle having the woman he once loved live right next door? Will his protective gruffness keep his heart safe?

When the Valentine Volunteers force Evelyn and Trevor to work together, Evelyn begins to realize the ways her marriage to Christopher changed her over the years. Instead of becoming the person she hoped to be, she became the person her husband molded her into—someone she doesn’t like. Does she have the strength to shed that persona and become someone who can stand on her own two feet?

In truth, I’m still not sure how I feel about the whole man secretly loving a married woman for the past ten years thing. But the one thing Trevor allows himself to do (in secret) is romantic and sweet. And Evelyn’s transformation is a powerful one when she realizes what other people think of her doesn’t matter.

Add in the nosy Valentine Volunteer women (Gigi, Doris and Ursula) and you’ve got some entertainment thrown into the struggles of our main characters. I think Ursula, the blunt, tell-it-like-it-is, woman is my favorite of the three. While she doesn’t sugar coat anything, she’s truthful and sees beyond the masks people put in place.

Overall, the story moves along nicely—with some predictability in there—but there seemed to be something missing or maybe some kind of disconnect for me. By no means was this a bad book, just so-so, it was a little bit of a disappointment after Paper Hearts. Maybe just a fluke on the author’s part or perhaps simply where I’m at in my life (I’ll admit that as a single woman in her forties, it’s sometimes hard for me to be happy for someone who gets two chances at love while I’m still awaiting my first one), I’ll most definitely give Walsh another try when her next book is released.

***The Tyndale Blog Network provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Infidelity

Christmas Embers by Chautona Havig (Guest Post, Giveaway & Review)