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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

One of the Best Things Is Introducing Mom to Favorite Authors

by Chautona Havig · 1 Comment

Colleen Coble has been one of my favorite authors for years, but this year I finally got to introduce my mom to her work, and boy was that fun! via @chautonahavig

Mom moved in with us the day before Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving afternoon, I brought the first stack of books to her room. Outside of my books, she hasn’t read much if any Christian fiction before now.

Fun fact, one day we were talking about repetitive words or phrases in books and she said, “There was one of yours that you kept using some word or phrase over and over until I wanted to throw the book!”

Gotta love Mom. If you don’t want the truth, don’t ask or talk to her.  Ahem.

Anyway, Mom’s read a lot–from historical authors like J’Nell Ciesielski Joanne Bischof, and Roseanna M. White to Michelle Griep.  She’s read a few mysteries, including Audrey Stallsmith. A few women’s fiction… She often has some interesting comments to make about this one or that. She lets me know what she likes, what she doesn’t.

I gave her a book by one of my favorite authors a few weeks ago, and the other day she finally got to it (you know, after the dozen or two other books in front of it). She handed it back with the first unsolicited praise I’ve heard from her.  “This one’s good–really good. I liked it.”

That book?  One Little Lie by Colleen Coble, and last night I read it.

Colleen Coble

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

One of the Best Things Is Introducing Mom to Favorite Authors

Seriously, aside from the fun of sharing things I enjoy, knowing that if my mom liked it I will, too is pretty awesome.  Then again, when have I ever not loved a Colleen Coble book?  It may happen someday, but so far, it hasn’t happened yet. I mean, when I requested and received the review copy of this book, I didn’t wonder if I’d like it. It was more of a why would I like it.

Of course, the moment I thought of that, I knew I was tempting Murphy.  Maybe this would be the book–the one that disappointed me and left me wrecked in a puddle of disillusion and despair.

Okay, I’ll stop laughing now. Right?  Snort.

But why did I like it?  Was it because Mom did, so I felt I should?

Nope.  Although, if she had and I hadn’t, I’d have wondered if there was something wrong with me, and I probably would have reread it again.  Right then.

Maybe it had to do with the fact that Thomas Nelson seems to have reversed its trend of weak  Christian content to the curb.  WOOHOO!  Look, it’s not that there was all kinds of preachiness all over this book.  Can’t stand that stuff.  However, Colleen Coble placed a few solid nuggets in there and left the next book wide open for a whole goldmine of ’em.

Even better than that, she grabbed me and held my attention even with chaos happening around me.

No really, I had to call the police while I was reading the book.

And not just because I was annoyed at being interrupted while reading a great story.

A multi-faceted story glistens and sparkles across the page as you dig deeper and deeper into this story. Well placed twists and turns kept me second-guessing every guess I’d made until the final showdown.  Just before proof appeared with the turn of a page, I knew she’d gotten me.  She’d convinced me to switch my guess to the obvious choice, and as a result, she tripped me up.

Well done, Ms. Coble.  Well done.

One of the best elements in this novel is how flawed every character is–and all in different but oh, so similar ways. We see true faith in action, fear and uncertainty overriding faith, and the natural fallout of sin in people’s lives. Not once is sin glorified or excused, but in the end, we understand how it got a foothold and see what it does to those who grip it.

With a plot that keeps you riveted, pacing that never lags, and characters to root for, One Little Lie has everything you want in an excellent suspense novel and is only missing one thing.

The next book in the series.

How on earth will I make it until September?

Recommended for lovers of suspense. For those of us not dying for a strong romantic element in every book, this is the one for you. While there’s a tiny thread in there, it’s such a minor one, you almost don’t notice it.  For those who love that romantic thread, no worries.  I see it coming in the next book or two.

About the Boone little lie colleen cobleok

Book:  One Little Lie

Author: Colleen Coble

Genre:  Romantic Suspense

Release Date: March 3, 2020

It started with one little lie. But Jane Hardy will do everything in her power to uncover the truth in this gripping new romantic suspense.

Jane Hardy is appointed interim sheriff in Pelican Harbor, Alabama after her father retires, but there’s no time for an adjustment period. When her father is arrested for theft and then implicated in a recent murder, Jane quickly realizes she’s facing someone out to destroy the only family she has.

After escaping with her father from a cult fifteen years ago, Jane has searched relentlessly for her mother—who refused to leave—ever since. Could someone from that horrible past have found them?

Reid Bechtol is well-known for his documentaries, and his latest project involves covering Jane’s career. Jane has little interest in the attention, but the committee who appointed her loves the idea of the publicity.

Jane finds herself depending on Reid’s calm manner as he follows her around filming, and they begin working together to clear her father. But Reid has his own secrets from the past, and the gulf between them may be impossible to cross—especially once her father’s lie catches up with him.

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    March 18, 2020 at 4:16 am

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 265: A Chat with Karen Witemeyer
byChautona Havig

Nothing says fairy tale like a sweet western romance by an author like Karen Witemeyer… unless it’s a fairytale retelling set in Texas in the late 19th century, right?  Fairest of Heart takes the familiar “Snow White” and turns it on its head with retired cowboys, a self-absorbed actress, a Texas Ranger, and a sweet girl who knows the true Source of her beauty.  Listen in to see all the genius Easter eggs Witemeyer planted in this book.

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

Sometimes All a Girl Needs Is a True Change of Heart

I fell in love with the cover of Karen Witemeyer’s Head Over Heels a few years back (only to learn it’s much older than that, even), and meant to read that book.  I didn’t.  #BecauseIdiot. Well, that’ll be rectified just as soon as I’m done listening to her first book in a trilogy of fairytale retellings. I loaded it up on my Audible app tonight and wheeeeeeee. Here I go! So much for no new books until October. HA! 

Karen talks about her heart for young women today and how they’re taught by every bit of media blasting at them that they need to use their bodies to get what they need or want when the Lord has a better plan. And I can’t guarantee it, but I strongly suspect she does it without preaching. SQUEE!

Fairest of Heart by Karen Witemeyer

Once upon a time in Texas . . .

Beauty has been nothing but a curse to Penelope Snow. When she becomes a personal maid for a famous actress whose troupe is leaving Chicago to tour the West, she hides her figure beneath shapeless dresses and keeps her head down. But she still manages to attract the wrong attention, leaving her prospects in tatters–and her jealous mistress plotting her demise.

After his brother lost his life over a woman, Texas Ranger Titus Kingsley has learned to expect the worst from women and is rarely disappointed. So when a young lady found in suspicious circumstances takes up residence with the seven old drovers living at his grandfather’s ranch, Titus is determined to keep a close eye on her.

With a promotion hanging in the balance, Titus is assigned to investigate a robbery case tied to Penelope’s acting troupe, and all evidence points to Penelope’s guilt. But Titus might just be convinced that the fairest woman of all has a heart as pure as her last name . . . if only he can prove it.

You can learn more about Karen Witemeyer and her books on her WEBSITE. Don’t forget the book is 30% off on BakerBookHouse.com.  

Follow Karen on BookBub and GoodReads.

And don’t forget her Posse Group on Facebook.

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Episode 265: A Chat with Karen Witemeyer
Episode 265: A Chat with Karen Witemeyer
September 29, 2023
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