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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

Rumor Has It That This Is a Great Book… But Is It?

by Chautona Havig · 2 Comments

It was one of those books. The ones that you see everywhere. When someone says, “What should I read next?” it was the first recommended. Almost every day someone said, “I’m reading A Rumored Fortune and it’s sooooo good!”

I had Joanna Davidson Politano’s first book, Lady Jane Disappears. It’d been sitting on my TBR shelf for months. But, when I saw people raving about A Rumored Fortune, I took a chance and snagged a copy of it, too.

I just hoped I wasn’t setting myself up for disappointment. That had happened before, you know. I was probably the only “book dragon” in the world that didn’t like that one, but the worst part of it was that the author could write. I’ll say it again. Bethany Turner can write.

But could Joanna Davidson Politano?

That question kept the book on the shelf for months. Every time someone asked if I’d read it, I’d say the same thing. “I’m afraid to.”

Then it was time to choose my next “fun read.”  I gave that job to #7daughter.  She picked A Rumored Fortune. I’ll admit it. I almost said, “I should start with the first one.”  But I didn’t.  Since I asked and she picked it, it was time.  As stand alones, I didn’t need to read one before the other.

By the third chapter, I was done. It wasn’t that I disliked the book, but I was disappointed. Again.

The only thing that kept me going was a nagging feeling that I wasn’t being fair. And it reminded me of something.

I tend to avoid the popular.

As a girl, it was because I never liked what was popular. I just had differing tastes from what the crowd loved. It became a habit, that avoiding the popular stuff.

Then it became a self-righteous choice. As if somehow avoiding what others liked was somehow spiritually superior. Yeah. I know how stupid that is.

Trust me, I know.

Like most thunderpuppies, I grew up. And I learned that popular doesn’t equal “not my taste” nor does it equal sinful. But something else came that I hadn’t expected.

Disappointment. Because you see, when I learned that some of the popular things in life are great, I began to expect things to live up to their hype.

Big mistake. Huge.

Rumor Has It That This Is a Great Book… But Is It?

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. This book was NOT a review copy. I purchased and chose to review because I love to read.  🙂

Rumor Has It That This Is a Great Book… But Is It?

Up until one-third of the way through the book, I would have told you no. Unlike the stories of “not able to put it down,” I was able to walk away for days at a time while I did other things. However, it did call me back.

And then I hit that one-third mark or so.

Look, I don’t know if the book just got better, or if my expectations became more realistic, or some combination of the two. What I do know is that at some point, I hated having to walk away. I loved guessing things and being right… and wrong. The characters called to me, the setting was perfectly, delightfully creepy (without being overdone) and the result…

A book that (mostly) lives up to the hype.

Plot? Excellent.

Characterization? Spot on for every last one.

Description? Never too much or too little.

Twists and turns? Enough to please the most discriminating reader.

But the best part of this book?

The deep, heart-pricking, soul-searching spiritual lessons that kept me aching to turn the page for one more nugget.

Each chapter opens with a “note” from a vintner. Those nuggets read much like what you might expect the Biblical Solomon to share if he wanted to leave a book of proverbs inspired by the vines.

Watching others live out their faith—making mistakes and holding fast when waves threaten to dash them against the rocks of life’s shore… achingly beautiful.

Look, until I started writing this review, I’d planned on giving it a solid four stars. I liked it. A lot. But I just “liked” it. I thought.

Yeah, not so much. The more I ruminate and ponder those lessons, those characters, those nuggets in my heart, the more I love it. Like Tessa, it’s a slow-growing love, but it’s solid. Real.

I’m so thrilled I wasn’t disappointed again. Because this book? This one lives up to the hype.  A five-star hype after all.

Recommended

for anyone who loves historical fiction, suspense, mystery, and deep, spiritual lessons that don’t get preachy.

Title: A Rumored Fortune  (link to the paperback because it’s less than .50 more than the Kindle)

Author: Joanna Davidson Politano

Synopsis: Tressa Harlowe’s father did not trust banks, but neither did he trusA Rumored Fortune by Joanna Davidson Politanot his greedy extended family. He kept his vast fortune hidden somewhere on his estate in the south of England and died suddenly, without telling anyone where he had concealed it. Tressa and her ailing mother are left with a mansion and an immense vineyard and no money to run it.

It doesn’t take long for a bevy of opportunists to flock to the estate under the guise of offering condolences. Tressa knows what they’re really up to. She’ll have to work with the rough and rusticated vineyard manager to keep the laborers content without pay and discover the key to finding her father’s fortune–before someone else finds it first.

Award-winning author Joanna Davidson Politano welcomes readers to Trevelyan Castle, home of the poorest heiress in Victorian England, for a treasure hunt they’ll not soon forget.

So tell me. 

Did you read A Rumored Fortune?  Did you like it?  Should I read Lady Jane Disappears next?  Well, after Caught by Surprise by Jen Turano, which is the book that my husband chose next.

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Comments

  1. Paula Shreckhise says

    December 31, 2018 at 5:45 am

    I loved Lady Jane. So unique. Have not read Rumored Fortune yet but I still want to. Thanks for the review.

    Reply
  2. Patty says

    December 30, 2018 at 4:42 am

    I read her first book and really enjoyed it. Something a bit outside the norm, I left a capture my attention. So I actually pre-ordered this book and well I enjoyed it, I think I liked Lady Jane Disappears more.
    I am a reader not a writer, and I’m not sure I could really tell you why, but I would certainly give her first book a chance.

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 231: A Chat with RomCom author, Shannon Sue Dunlap
byChautona Havig

Shannon Sue Dunlap isn’t new to rom-coms, and her first book in the Sweetheart Series promises to be a literary riot, and it lives up to that promise. I’m only halfway through it and am thinking mean, ugly thoughts of everything keeping me from being able to escape into the crazy small-town politics and quirky characters. So far the com far outweighs the rom, which makes me thrilled to bits. Listen in to discover what makes Lone Star Sweetheart so much fun.

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Why Did This Author Write a Rom-Com about a Loveable Shrew?

Well, I think we can safely blame Shakespeare for that. Shannon Sue Dunlap has taken inspiration from Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew in her Katherine, but unlike Katerina, Dunlap’s character is actually trying to learn to tame the tongue. Maybe someone should send her over to the book of James. There’s that whole bit about not being able to tame it, being an “unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”

Kate’s isn’t that bad, but not for lack of trying. Or something.

Shannon Sue Dunlap isn’t joking when she says that her Katherine is a “loveable” shrew. Seriously, I love this character. She’s forthright, no-nonsense, and “what you see is what you get” in her approach to life. I respect that. Add to that her boss who has shaken up the town of Sweetheart, Texas, and you’ve got the makings of a great story. I’m loving Lone Star Sweetheart.

But this isn’t all Dunlap has written.

Under the pseudonym, Shannon Kent, you can find her sweet and clean romances (including one Christian romance) inspired by Korean dramas. If you said I’d be not only chomping to read a sweet and clean romance about Korean tour guides and all that entails but also ready to watch a Korean drama on Netflix… Okay, I might not have laughed in your face, but I’d’ve been laughing on the inside.

Best part… one of them ties into her Sweetheart Series

Lone Star Sweetheart by Shannon Sue Dunlap

Katherine Bruno’s passionate, unfiltered temper makes her the shrew of small-town Sweetheart, Texas. When she’s drafted to help the mayor’s wife run against her own husband, Katherine meets opposing big city political consultant Ryan Park. The good-looking, flirtatious campaign manager gets under her skin, but fraternizing with the enemy is off-limits.

Katherine must battle her lack of experience, campaign sabotage, and her growing feelings for Ryan as she strives to succeed. His unprejudiced acceptance of her strong-willed character beckons her heart, but his jaded rejection of God is an insurmountable barrier. Will Ryan return to his faith and stay with her in Sweetheart or leave when the election ends?

You can find out more about Shannon Sue Dunlap AND get that first novella in the Korean Crush series free on her WEBSITE.

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Episode 231: A Chat with RomCom author, Shannon Sue Dunlap
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