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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

Hold Me Close: A book review

by Chautona Havig · 5 Comments

Hold Me Close–what a fun title!

Why?  Well, unlike in most historical romance, Hold Me Close doesn’t have a romantic significance. Okay, maybe I am wrong.  You see, “hold me close” in this sense signifies one character’s desire for the Lord to “hold her close” and keep her from wandering from Him.  And if you add the Lord’s comparisons of the church as His bride and Song of Solomon, I suppose you could stretch it… but I’d rather not.

Hold Me Close

(Note: links in this post may be affiliate links and as such, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.)

Marguerite Gray set this book in Charleston, South Carolina in 1772–back when it was still called “Charles Town.”  The town teems with disgruntled colonists and angry Loyalists, and the combination becomes a powder keg ready to explode.  See what I did there?  I amuse myself.  And I digress.

One of the loveliest things about this book is that the author based the main characters on actual characters who lived during the time. Louis, a French Huguenot, and Elizabeth, a transplanted Bostonian who loves her new home, become friends after Louis arrives on a quest to find purpose and direction in his life.

As tensions increase, Louis must decide if he will follow self or the Lord, and Elizabeth must decide if she will share her disloyal political leanings or if she will keep them to herself.

I have to say, near the end, my sap-o-meter went into overdrive.  No joke. The protestations of love and devotion became much more than I prefer , but also much more in line with what most historical romance offers. They are NOT inappropriate or graphic.  It’s just that I’m just not a sappy kind of gal.

My Review:

Actually, I found this book difficult to review.  In fact, I won’t leave an Amazon review because I refuse to apply a star rating. You see, I truly enjoyed this story.  I found it engaging, and I haven’t read much historical  Southern history that wasn’t centered almost a hundred years later.  Most American historical Christian fiction concentrates on the 1800’s and 1900’s.  There are some Puritan books,  but I haven’t seen as many from this era and particularly from this far south. I also really enjoyed the characters and look forward to a second book. Yes, I will buy the second book and will read it.  I look forward to it.

But this book has some problems that make it impossible to leave a 4 or 5-star rating, and I don’t think it’s right to give it a 2 or 3 star based on how I’ve rated books in the past. Well, I just decided to leave stars out of it and share several of my problems and praises with the book. They likely won’t be problems for everyone. After all, this is fiction.

The problems I found with Hold Me Close?

  • The language is terribly modern to me.  While I don’t think that historical fiction has to be written in the style of the book’s time period, I found it disarming to hear a Frenchman in 1772 use diction that you hear on TV. And this had turns of phrases so decidedly modern, that I couldn’t ignore them.  They jolted me out of the book. There was the bit about a Huguenot mother telling her son that as long as he had a “personal relationship with Jesus Christ” she didn’t care what church he attended.  I checked with my historical fiction editor because that felt off, and she verified that this is decidedly post-1950’s terminology.  Additionally, the idea of whatever church you wanted–so very modern and unheard of at the time.  I think I understand what she attempted to do, but it really did take me out of the story. I doubt many will find dance cards and perambulators, in pre-19th century America to be anachronous, butI double checked them too. Neither was in England or America until the 1830’s at the earliest. But again–it’s not going to affect most people’s reading pleasure. Just something that I noted for those who find those little details annoying.
  • I can tell that she must have studied the craft of writing.  All the “rules” (show don’t tell, few dialogue tags, use action beats, don’t dump info) she is careful to follow, but it actually comes out in a difficult to read way sometimes. Her writing is not bad.  I’ve read enough of that to assure you that I don’t consider it bad. But because of how it works out, sometimes it becomes a bit cumbersome. In particular, the info dump spots (she masked most into dialogue) were a bit much.  Still, compared to MOST info-dump scenes I see, they weren’t too terribly rough and my original ones in my first book were.
  • I found what I consider character inconsistencies.  I think Ms. Gray used some of them to show that we don’t always know our own minds.  Louis thinks he knows what he wants and does the opposite.  Elizabeth insists someone in her life is just a friend of her father’s, and then becomes clear there’s more to it. (Can’t explain what or it is huge spoiler material). The first can be easily dismissed by that “not knowing himself” thing, but the second was harder to swallow.
  • My strongest objection is, I think, an accident. One line in the book says, “The hymns, inspired by God, sounded different.”  I suspect the author meant/implied, “Inspired by a love of God” or something to that effect, but the words as written seriously bothered me.  While, as I said, I do not think it was meant to imply that God directly inspired the words, it does read that way.

Hold Me Close coverSo do I recommend Hold Me Close?

Actually, I do, with the caveat that some will find these things hard to get past.  Clean and interesting, the book did hold my attention, and despite the aforementioned issues, there were times I couldn’t put it down. I wanted to know what would happen next–particularly in the second half. As I said, I’ll buy the second.  Look, it’s her first book.  It’s not a “great book” but it is a good story!  And really, I wouldn’t have wanted someone to read my first book, and “write me off” after that.  Authors grow, we mature, we improve. So go on over to Amazon. Read the first three chapters.  If it grabs you at all, know that the book really picks up in chapter 4.

Other blogger/reviewers have read and reviewed this book recently.  Check out their blogs to get a balanced view of the book and its contents.  This is just one opinion.  Others have rated it very high!

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Comments

  1. Emma Filbrun says

    July 1, 2016 at 4:20 pm

    A couple of my long-term favorites aren’t adult books, but I love them anyway–Hidden Riches by Romaine Stauffer and The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. As far as adult fiction, the most memorable is The Second Thanksgiving by Douglas Lloyd McIntosh.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      July 1, 2016 at 8:13 pm

      OOOH! Checking those out. I love The Witch of Blackbird Pond, too.

      Reply
      • Emma Filbrun says

        July 1, 2016 at 8:23 pm

        You might have to buy Hidden Riches from the publisher, Christian Light Publications (clp.org). If you want super-clean books, that’s a place to get them. I recently read Returning Home and Crossing the Distance, from them–great books that I highly recommend.

        Reply
  2. Caryl Kane says

    July 1, 2016 at 3:03 pm

    Thank you for your honesty. I so appreciate reviewers who do so.

    Reply

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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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