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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

The Best and Worst Parts of Castle on the Rise

by Chautona Havig · 6 Comments

I can’t recall who asked me the question, but I couldn’t get it out of my mind.

“Is contemporary or historical fiction more popular?”

Based on the recommendations in my favorite Facebook group, I guessed it would be contemporary. But guessing isn’t good enough. I wanted to know. So, of course, I did the only logical thing. I asked.

Okay, technically I set up a poll in the group. The last time I looked, historical won out over contemporary like two to one. That threw me. Someday I’ll take the time and find out the most popular era of historical fiction, but I’ll guess Victorian and WWII. We’ll see if I’m right, eh?

The synopsis didn’t exactly say that the book would be told in three different centuries, but it hinted at it. Who could resist historical and contemporary wrapped up in one book centered on an old castle in Ireland?

Not this gal.

So, I requested a review copy and waited for it to arrive. I promptly forgot to add it to my planner, too. Thankfully, a reminder notice came in time for me to spend the day reading. It’s a tough life. We soldier on.

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The Best and Worst Parts of Castle on the Rise

I’ve never read anything by Kristy Cambron before, and after this book, I’ll be reading lots more. In fact, while my daughter was setting up this blog post for me, I checked out her other books and two I’ve wanted to read for a long time are on her list of “other books by this author.” Ahem. I didn’t know.

The Lost castleSo, if you enjoyed The Ringmaster’s Wife or The Illusionist’s Apprentice, well… you might want to skip my review and just go get this book (or the first in the series, The Lost Castle) and save yourself some time.

But I promised the best and worst parts—and since three things are equally divided between best and worst, that’ll make it easy!

First, there’s the description.

Kristy Cambron knows how to paint a vivid picture with words and, much to my delight, without extraneous words. Most of the time. While there were a few places where I felt like the description slipped a little too close to overdone, for the most part, it couldn’t have been more perfect.

This book spans three centuries… stories being told that eventually weave together at the end. You can see where they are going—what will happen, even—but you can’t as well. Okay, perhaps those very well acquainted with Irish history might be able to. I don’t know.

But here’s the thing. Without excessive “reentry” description, every time I turned the page into a different century, I felt as though I was there. That takes some serious talent. From the late-eighteenth century to early twentieth, to present-day, it all plays out before you without once feeling as though you’re in the wrong century. That alone is proof of authorial brilliance. Just sayin’.

Then there’s the writing.

Again, both the best and the worst parts of the book can be found in this element—the writing. The worst here is once more, just a quibble. At first, I thought it was an editing issue. After all, I read an ARC and those are often still being edited. However, I’ve peeked into the “Look inside” on Amazon to see if some of my issues were corrected, and they aren’t.

Call me old-school. I know it’s nitpicky (but hey, I have to say what is worst and nitpicky is as worst as it gets), but “alright” nearly drove me crazy. I even looked it up to see if rules about it have changed. As far as I can tell, nope. Alright is not considered acceptable in edited work. And it’s all over the place in here. Seriously, it’s the worst part of the book. Alright.

Told you it was nitpicky.

The other writing issue I have is that the book is almost exclusively written in third-person limited perspective—that of the main female character of the chapter. However, several times we’re treated to a self-description that just isn’t natural. That character wouldn’t make note of her hair color as she tucked it behind her ear. The only purpose to putting that descriptor in is so we as the reader can know it. Thankfully, she didn’t do the very over-used mirror trick, but still. It jarred me out of the story every time.

And for what it’s worth, I doubt anyone else would notice.

Aside from those two bothersome bits, the writing both kept me enthralled and kept the story moving forward.

Note: this is not a fast-paced book.

Thank goodness. Seriously, a story like this shouldn’t be whizzed along on a high-speed train, and Ms. Cambron had the good sense to know that and write it with just enough tension-filled moments to keep it from lagging while not forcing it into an unnatural pace. This takes skill to do. Many authors would have dragged it on like a Dickens novel. Thank goodness that didn’t happen.

I think the shift to a different time period each chapter helped with that. Her variation from contemporary, to WWI, to 1797, and back to present-day adds to the pacing and also allows her not to have to add fluffy filler to any one section. We get just the pertinent bits played out on the page as if a movie scene, and then we cut away to the next action. It’s wonderfully well-done.  I am not sorry that I requested a review copy. Can you tell?

Finally the spiritual content

In this element, we have both the weakest best and the strongest worst. The nuggets she planted into this book are solid and valuable. Then, she sprinkled a little gold dust here and there in subtle ways that, if you weren’t looking for them, you might miss. I’m so glad I was looking, and I strongly recommend readers do it. In this sense, her biggest strength in the spiritual area is that she used the story itself to preach the sermon without even drawing faith into it some of the time.

And as I said, it’s also the weakest part. If I had not been scouring the book for it, I would have likely missed some of the best elements. I don’t know what made me do it, but I’m glad I did.

So, if the spiritual content is important to you in your Christian fiction, I recommend reading with a keen eye. I enjoy subtlety in how faith is woven into the pages of my fiction, but this is really subtle. I suspect that in trying not to get into the Catholic vs. Protestant debates in Ireland, she did this deliberately. If that’s the case, I understand why, but I’m not sure any of the things she seems to be trying to convey would have fallen strongly on either side, so I don’t know that she needed to be so… discreet?

Would I recommend Castle on the Rise?

Absolutely. A caveat for those bothered by divorce and potential remarriage—it’s a thing here. I thought Ms. Cambron did a fabulous job of showing a realistic portrayal of divorce and what it does to people. I can’t say more without giving away spoilers. If changing timelines are a problem for you, this book may not be your cuppa (or should I say Guinness)?

However, Since they rotate in consistently spaced intervals (they rotate every other chapter—present, 20th, 18th, present, 20th, 18th… etc.), I didn’t find it difficult at all. And, each one is labeled with the year in case you’ve forgotten what’s next.

With a delicate, authentic writing hand, fine attention to detail and historical precision, enough creative license to keep the plot moving, and wonderful characters that I didn’t want to say goodbye to, Castle on the Rise has made a fan out of me.

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Comments

  1. Dianna says

    February 22, 2019 at 4:45 pm

    I want someone to send me a reminder that I need to spend the whole day reading! Where do I sign up? 🙂

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      February 22, 2019 at 7:08 pm

      I’ve got this. How often do you want said reminder?

      Reply
  2. Paula Shreckhise says

    February 22, 2019 at 8:49 am

    Thanks for your refeshing comments. It is definitely on my gigantic TBR mountain.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      February 22, 2019 at 2:07 pm

      I think it should rise up that mountain…

      Reply
  3. Suzanne Sellner says

    February 22, 2019 at 8:23 am

    I enjoyed The Lost Castle and am looking forward to reading Castle on the Rise. I agree that Kristy Cambron is an amazing author! Thanks for your review.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      February 22, 2019 at 2:07 pm

      I’ve got a ton of books to order now. OOPS!

      Reply

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Episode 206: A Chat with Lisa Phillips about Her New Spin-off Series
byChautona Havig

Fans of Lisa Phillips’ Last Chance County series are doing happy dances following the release of an exciting new spin-off series, Last Chance Fire and Rescue. Expired Return brings back a few favorite characters and kicks off another of Sunrise Publishing’s author/mentor led fiction seasons! Listen in to find out what happens when an author brings back a guy she dropped a building on a couple of books back…

 

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When Fans Want More Exciting Stories, Smart Authors Listen and Deliver!

Let’s face it. Authors might SOMETIMES be “done” with a series, but readers often want more… indefinitely. Well, with the brilliance of Sunrise Publishing’s mentor model, authors get to collaborate with authors they trust to do their “worlds” proud while still having time to write new, exciting things as well. And some of the Sunrise lead authors even write in the spin-off series–like Lisa Phillips and Trisha Goyer!

This new Last Chance County series promises everything we love about Lisa Phillips’ world–danger, intrigue, heart-stopping suspense, drama… you know… all the feels. But in addition to her own release, Expired Return, this series also introduces us to new authors who have been carefully vetted and selected to ensure they do justice to Lisa’s Last Chance characters. I, for one, can’t wait to check it all out.

Lisa and I chatted about what she plans for the series,Lisa hinted about a possible super-secret reveal coming soon, and I even poked her with the idea of a Last Chance Christmas.

Help me convince them on that, will ya?

But this new book… Whoa…

Expired Return by Lisa Phillips

Pepper stood up. “How dare you.” She could spit fire at him right now. She’d loved and supported Victory since the day she was born. “You know nothing about me.”

“What’s this?”

Pepper whirled around at that voice. Heart. Breaking. She loved that gruff, commanding voice more than anything else in the world.

He wore a look a lot like Aiden’s. Blank, which she knew—or hoped—had to do with protecting his heart because he still cared for her. Except he probably hated her.

Donaldson sat back in his chair. “Allen.”

Former police officer Allen Frees had both hands on the wheels of his chair. He wore a fire department uniform of slacks and a white shirt. Emblems. A badge. His life of service hadn’t ended when he landed in that chair after a building blew up over his head.

As far as she’d been able to tell, it barely slowed him down.

She’ll give everything to protect her family.

He always knew she was the one.

Veterinary tech Pepper Miller lives a quiet life in Last Chance County. She’s watching her niece until her sister shows up…if she ever does. When Victory’s father demands he take over her care, Pepper knows something has gone wrong. With a new drug in town, and her sister embroiled in a dangerous bargain, it’s up to Pepper to protect the people she loves.

Even if it costs every secret she’s ever kept.

Fire Department liaison Allen Frees lives with the injuries he sustained as a police officer in a raid gone wrong. He’s put his life back together but getting the truck crew and engine squad to succeed might be his toughest assignment yet. When Victory is nearly kidnapped at a community event, Allen steps in to help Pepper keep her niece safe. The one thing he couldn’t fix was the love he lost, but he isn’t going to let Pepper walk away this time.

No matter what walls he has to break down.

Last Chance County returns in this blazing new series from Sunrise Publishing.

Last Chance Fire and Rescue

  • Book 1: Expired Return
  • Book 2: Expired Hope (coming soon)
  • Book 3: Expired Promise (coming soon)
  • Book 4: Expired Vows (coming soon)

Last Chance County

  • Book 1: Expired Refuge
  • Book 2: Expired Secrets
  • Book 3: Expired Cache
  • Book 4: Expired Hero
  • Book 5: Expired Game
  • Book 6: Expired Plot
  • Book 7: Expired Getaway
  • Book 8: Expired Betrayal
  • Book 9: Expired Flight
  • Book 10: Expired End

Learn more about Lisa and her books on her WEBSITE.

Learn more about the different seasons (series) offered by Sunrise Publishing or how to audition with them on the Sunrise Publishing WEBSITE.

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Episode 206: A Chat with Lisa Phillips about Her New Spin-off Series
Episode 206: A Chat with Lisa Phillips about Her New Spin-off Series
February 7, 2023
Chautona Havig
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Episode 202: A Chat with Historical Christian Author, Laura Frantz
January 24, 2023
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His sister has a solution--lots of dates. Great, heaping gobs of them. Go ahead. Be awkward. Get used to it. Then... then try with someone you really want to get to know. He's not so confident, but when a man gives his word... (Note to self: no more agreeing to Selby's plans without knowing what they are!)
Find out what happens in Random Acts (or is it Facts?) of Shyness.

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