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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

Love at First Sight? Why This Author Is a Favorite

by Chautona Havig · 5 Comments

I've wondered for over a year now... Will Daughters of Northern Shores reach the bar set by the first book in the Blackbird Mountain series? Now I know. via @chautonahavig

When you cut your finger it’s difficult to write out a review–even of a book as great as Daughters of Northern Shores. It’s also difficult to write out a review when you can’t keep your eyes open. When you stayed up reading a book after not sleeping at all the night before. Not that that ever happened to me or anything. Ahem.

I bought Daughters of Northern Shores the day it went on pre-order. That’s how much I liked the first book in the series, Sons of Blackbird Mountain. I got the book in the mail just as I was leaving for a women’s retreat back in March. Like any godly woman, eager to spend a weekend studying the Word and fellowshipping with other Christian women, I brought the book with me. Double ahem.

So, amid the beautiful (and very stinky) hot springs of Murrieta, Calfornia I cracked open the first pages of Daughters of Northern Shores and read. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish before I had to leave. Other work got in the way, leaving the book languishing in my TBR pile, but I wasn’t concerned because I had already signed up to review it with Celebrate Lit.

Making sure you have to do what you want to do is a totally valid form of self-preservation. Just saying.

And sometimes it’s not a matter of if you like a book but why.

daughters of northern shores review- Love at First Sight? Why This Author is a Favorite

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

Love at First Sight? Why This Author Is a Favorite

Aaah… insta-love. No, not the characters, me! The book. All the wonderfulness.

I’d never read anything by Joanne Bischof before I read Sons of Blackbird Mountain. That book went to the top of my 2018 favorite reads and stayed there. I expected no less of Daughters of Northern Shores.

I wasn’t disappointed.

In fact, after a four-month break in the middle of reading the book, I wasn’t sorry to have to start over to make sure I “didn’t forget anything.” The book wasn’t what I’d assumed it would be, and yet, it was everything I expected.

Beloved characters did what they do best. They wormed their way back into my heart and settled there And I doubt anything will be able to push them out again. The Norgaard family has a way of teaching you lessons you didn’t know you needed to learn. And Joanne Bischof knows how to teach you without you realizing she has stepped in as mentor, instructor, and friend.

With careful attention to detail, precise wording, and piercing to the heart of all she wants to say, Bischof writes with a flowing and beautiful pen that never once feels overloaded or showy. No detail is left unturned, and yet the pages of this book are not cluttered like a curio shop or a junky antique store. It takes serious writing skills to feel as if you are right there without being smothered by all the detail.

Joanne Bischoff has that mastered.

Emotion pours from every page without being heavy, sappy, or melodramatic. Rather, the emotion is tender, strong, even fierce sometimes. It’s always there beneath every word—almost a living subtext to the rest of the story.

Even better, Bischof weaves the faith, and the lack thereof, of her characters so naturally you almost forget the deep and abiding spiritual lessons that are also woven among the pages. Well, until that moment you need to see them. Then they shine with all their intended glory.

Recommended for lovers of Sons of Blackbird Mountain, lovers of strong historical fiction, and for anyone who understands that mankind has fallen, but with God, there is always redemption.

Oh, and yes… it landed solidly on the 2019 favorites list.

Daughters of Nother Shores CoverAbout the Book

Book: Daughters of Northern Shores

Author: Joanne Bischof

Genre: Historical Romance

Release Date: March 12, 2019

Aven Norgaard understands courage. Orphaned within an Irish workhouse, then widowed at just nineteen, she voyaged to America where she was wooed and wed by Thor Norgaard, a Deaf man in rural Appalachia. That the Lord saw her along the winding journey and that Aven now carries Thor’s child are blessings beyond measure.

Yet while Thor holds her heart, it is his younger brother and rival who haunts her memories. Haakon—whose selfish choices shattered her trust in him.

Having fled the Norgaard orchard after trying to take Aven as his own, Haakon sails on the North Atlantic ice trade, where his soul is plagued with regrets that distance cannot heal. Not even the beautiful Norwegian woman he’s pursued can ease the torment.

When the winds bear him home after four years away, Haakon finds the family on the brink of tragedy. A decades-old feud with the neighboring farm has wrenched them into the fiercest confrontation on Blackbird Mountain since the Civil War. Haakon’s cunning and strength hold the power to seal many fates, including Thor’s—which is already imperiled due to a grave illness brought to him at the first prick of warfare.

Now Haakon faces the hardest choice of his life. One that shapes a battlefield where pride must be broken enough to be restored, and where a prodigal son may finally know the healing peace of surrender and the boundless gift of forgiveness. And when it comes to the woman he left behind in Norway, he just might discover that while his heart belongs to a daughter of the north, she’s been awaiting him on shores more distant than the land he’s fighting for.

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Comments

  1. Joanne Bischof says

    August 12, 2019 at 10:50 am

    I am so blessed to read your words, Chautona. Thank you for reading the books, and for sharing your heart. It has blessed my own!

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      August 12, 2019 at 3:13 pm

      Thank you for writing! I’m dying to get to “The Lady and the Lionheart.” ALL THE BOOKNESS! AAAAK!

      Reply
  2. Emma says

    August 6, 2019 at 8:48 pm

    You make me want to read this book! I haven’t read the first one, though.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      August 12, 2019 at 3:13 pm

      Must. Read. First. Book.
      That is all.

      Reply
  3. Ava says

    August 6, 2019 at 10:43 am

    This was a great book!

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 163: A Chat with Naomi Craig about Ezekiel's Song
byChautona Havig

Before I began the interview with Naomi Craig about Ezekiel’s Song, I kind of went crazy and left it in to give you a chuckle. But Naomi and I chat about her upcoming release, why she chose to write about Ezekiel, and what areas she focused on. Listen in and hear her heart for the Word and for stimulating readers to love it and live it.

Oh, and that song I couldn’t remember? Well, I found it after a BUNCH of hunting on YouTube. Here you go!

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

Has Ezekiel Always Confused You? How about a Little Fictional Clarity?

There’s SO much to write about in Ezekiel, but after talking to Naomi Craig, I feel like I got a pretty good grasp of where she’s taking this book without feeling like I don’t need to read it now that we chatted, and that’s always great. Naomi shows service in the temple, how Ezekiel could have had a mentorish relationship under Jeremiah, and even what kind of woman his wife might have been.

Personally, I love the “Darcy-ish” meeting where he totally insults her and accuses her of being an idolatress. Let me tell you something. I cannot wait to read that! Seriously!

God had Ezekiel do a lot of weird things, and I always wondered how he managed some of it, but Naomi brings out possibilities by focusing on this wife that we don’t know much (anything) about. How cool is that?

Naomi also gave us a couple of glimpses into what’s coming next!

She’s #TeamBlue in the Keeping Christmas novella collections, writing about Herod’s palace and the wise men’s appearance looking for “the King of the Jews.”  And… from a scribe’s perspective!  How cool is that?

Also… next up is a book about a woman in Ephriam’s lineage who built three cities. A woman credited with the building of these cities!  I cannot wait! I love how Naomi focuses on how strong Biblical women were. So often we think of them as downtrodden and little more than cattle, but God shows how much He loves His daughters in the Word, and He definitely allows them to shine. We saw that in Naomi’s debut novel Rahab’s Courage.

Ezekiel’s Song by Naomi Craig

A prophet’s heart broken, a woman’s joy gone. What does Yahweh have planned for His people?

On the brink of Jerusalem’s demise, devoted priest, Ezekiel, sees the insincerity of Judah’s worship. Despite his efforts to call the people back to true worship of Yahweh, priests, artisans, valiant warriors, and royals are exiled to Babylon. When God gives him messages of continued judgment for the people in his homeland, his heart breaks. How can he minister to the people from so far away?

The presence of the Lord is tangible when Shiriel sings in the temple, and her voice prepares the hearts of many to worship. When she is exiled to Babylon, her faith is shaken. Does the Lord’s presence extend beyond Jerusalem and His holy temple?

Ezekiel is struck mute and paralyzed as he begins his prophetic ministry, and Shiriel devises a plan to get the Lord’s message back to the unfaithful people of Judah. Shiriel struggles with discontentment as serving the Lord looks nothing like she’d imagined. Can she provide for her family and carry out her husband’s ministry when her joy is gone, and her own dreams are placed on hold?

How will Yahweh save His people from themselves? Find out in Ezekiel’s Song!

Ezekiel’s Song is available at 30% off paperback and at a discount for Kindle, too through release week, so visit Naomi’s WEBSITE for more information.

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Episode 163: A Chat with Naomi Craig about Ezekiel's Song
Episode 163: A Chat with Naomi Craig about Ezekiel's Song
August 12, 2022
Chautona Havig
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August 9, 2022
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Episode 161: A Chat with Christian Women's Fiction Robin W. Pearson
July 26, 2022
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Episode 160: A Chat with Liz Johnson about The Last Way Home
July 22, 2022
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Episode 159: A Chat with Biblical Fiction Author, Mesu Andrews
July 19, 2022
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July 12, 2022
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Episode 157: A Chat with Historical Christian Fiction Author, Lynn Austin
July 8, 2022
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July 5, 2022
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Episode 155: Chatting with Heather Day Gilbert & Jen Cudmore
July 1, 2022
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Episode 154: A Chat with Romantic Suspense Author, Sami A. Abrams
June 28, 2022
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Reposted from @tabithabouldin Reposted from @Sarah Reposted from @tabithabouldin Reposted from @Sarah Monzon The entire Carrington Family series is on sale for only 99¢! (Free with #kindleunlimited ) 

Split-time romances with high stakes and even higher rewards! 

#splittime #romance #booksale #kindlecountdown #bookstagram #christianfiction #readmorebooks #read #books #ebooksale #boxset
If only owning a bookstore didn't mean dealing wit If only owning a bookstore didn't mean dealing with people.
Harper Brevig has two skills—picking out snarky bookish t-shirts and alienating customers. 
Oh, and racking up bills out of thin air. Make that three skills. She loves the elderly and the very 
young—except the ones who destroy her beloved books. You could say she doesn’t have a very nice 
“book-side manner.” 
Milton Coleridge and his parrotlet Atticus (not Finch) come to the rescue… but is it too late to 
save this bookstore?
Twice Sold Tales: the first full-length novel in the Bookstrings Series releases on November 2, 
2022. Link to more information is in my bio! 
#amwriting
#amreading
#bookishbooks
#bookstrings
#comingsoon
#ChristianFiction
Reposted from @mwardwellwrites A mother/son road t Reposted from @mwardwellwrites A mother/son road trip isn’t always fun, but it was a bonding experience for Liz and her son, Matt.

Finding Hope in Savannah is on Sale now through the 19th, only on Amazon.

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Fascinating moon tonight. Fascinating moon tonight.
If only owning a bookstore didn't mean dealing wit If only owning a bookstore didn't mean dealing with people.
Harper Brevig has two skills—picking out snarky bookish t-shirts and alienating customers. 
Oh, and racking up bills out of thin air. Make that three skills. She loves the elderly and the very 
young—except the ones who destroy her beloved books. You could say she doesn’t have a very nice 
“book-side manner.” 
Milton Coleridge and his parrotlet Atticus (not Finch) come to the rescue… but is it too late to 
save this bookstore?
Twice Sold Tales: the first full-length novel in the Bookstrings Series releases on November 2, 
2022. Link to more information is in my bio! 
#amwriting
#amreading
#bookishbooks
#bookstrings
#comingsoon
#ChristianFiction
#becauselunch #becauselunch
While I was in Minnesota, I went to Red Wing for While I was in Minnesota,  I went to Red Wing for research,  and the shop manager of the salon I've appropriated for my bookstore in Twice Sold Tales was so encouraging and helpful.  She even gave @catheswanson a great bang trim.
#amwriting 
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#bookstrings 
#comingsoon
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