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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

What Is The Truth About This Book?

by Chautona Havig · Leave a Comment

Strands of Truth hold you fast with strands of steel and keep you riveted to the page until you arrive at the end of the book breathless, panting, spent. via @chautonahavig

The words played out on the page in vivid hues. Each word, each turn of phrase. I felt… lived them, even, rather than read them. It was ages ago… a decade. More.

Beyond a Doubt, I think was the title. I remember hearing a soundtrack playing in my mind as I read—just as if the book had transformed into a movie.

I’d enjoyed every Colleen Coble book more than the last. Somewhere between the first and that one, she became a clear favorite.

Then life happened.

I had another baby. My writing consumed every spare minute I could give it. In fact, for a few years, I hardly read at all—nearly starved during those years.

See, fiction does something that I can’t explain but I do love. Christian fiction, that is, drives me to the Bible and makes me dig deep to see new things. It’s a catalyst of sorts.

So, after a decade or more of not picking up a Colleen Coble book, when Strands of Truth became available for a free review copy, it became a no-brainer. DUH. I’m requesting that book.

Why wouldn’t I? And even more importantly, what would I learn?

Note: links are likely affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense for you.

What Is the Truth about This Book?

I’m kind of known for finding odd things that I pull from books. Sometimes it’s something others can see once I point it out, but other times they just give me that, “Yeah… sorry, don’t get it,” look.

This is probably one of those books. As expected, Strands of Truth begins with high intensity and only lets up now and then for you to catch your breath before pushing you over another hill in the roller coaster car that it is!

Seriously, it has almost everything going for it. Characters—believable, multi-faceted characters appear on every page. Even the minor folks that appear on screen erm… the page for a moment have depth to them.

Description…

I may not know what living near Florida’s ocean is like, but I do know what it’s like in the Pacific, and I felt like I was there near the sea. I could almost smell the salt and brine. The rocking of the boat? Yep. All of it. Brilliant.

Plot? Excellent. Few people could take several semi-unrelated tropes, stir them into a plot of intrigue, deception, and criminal behavior and produce a completely plausible and harrowing story. Coble did it all in Strands of Truth without pushing over into the sensational. Skills, man. Just sayin’.

Writing? Almost perfect.

Seriously, one of the things I love most about Coble’s writing is how she knows when to weave a word in to pack a bigger punch and when to use a simpler one. Aside from a few annoyingly-placed “thens” in the first third of the book, I enjoyed every word I read. Even the subtle use of the title itself as a clue to elements in the book is brilliant.

Complaints? One.

The horse is flattened to an unrecognizable pancake, but I have to say it again. Faith. Where is it, Thomas Nelson? Seriously? To Ms. Coble’s credit, there’s more in Strands of Truth than some recent ones—easier to see the undercurrent of how faith-inspired actions and reactions than most of Nelson’s of late.

Still, as much as I hate preachiness, I’m about to become a staunch supporter of it in reaction to the serious lack of faith elements in their books. For what it’s worth, this is, in my opinion, a publisher issue. It’s too across the board in nearly every single Thomas Nelson book this year for me not to lay the issue on them.

If it doesn’t change by the end of the year, I’m putting them in the clean but not Christian category in my mind. If I want Christian fiction—by that, I mean something that will prick or encourage my faith—I won’t be choosing one of their books.

Strands of Truth is recommended for people who love to figure out the elements of a good suspense novel.

I suspected at around the 12% mark but she didn’t give me anything to even hope at confirmation until the 25% mark exactly. Some of the whys were complete “throw me for a loops” despite being almost cliched. In fact, she took the cliche and totally turned it on its head in my opinion. Brilliant again.

Just don’t expect to be able to put it down. I had trouble switching from it to Bible Study last night. Just sayin’.

Actually… there’s some irony there somewhere. I’m sure of it.

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 263: A Chat about The Love Script w/ Toni Shiloh
byChautona Havig

I had another lovely conversation with Toni Shiloh last month. Her latest book, The Love Script released and boy does it promise to be another #BookTouchdown!  Listen in to what you’ll find in this Love in the Spotlight series and especially in The Love Script.

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

How Many Lies Does It Take to Expose the Truth That Love Brings?

Authors tell me over and over that they experience the same things I do when I’m writing. You start helping your characters work through their problems, and as you do, the Lord starts exposing your own.  He helps you understand where you need growth and helps pull weeds that try to choke out that growth.

The Love Script has a great twist of someone trying to use a lie to smooth over the gossipy ripples of false reporting (genius way to handle it, eh?) and oh the fall out.

Toni promises we’ll see some great wisdom from Lamont’s mother and some deep truths that Neveah discovers.

The Love Truth by Toni Shiloh

A Hollywood hair stylist.

Nevaeh Richards loves making those in the spotlight shine but prefers the anonymity of staying behind her stylist chair, where no one notices her. But when a photo of Nevaeh and Hollywood A-lister Lamont Booker goes viral for all the wrong reasons, her quiet life becomes the number-one trending topic.

The silver screen’s latest heartthrob.

Lamont Booker’s bold faith has gained him a platform, and the authenticity of his faith is well known . . . until the tabloids cause the world to question everything he claims to be. With his reputation on the line, he finds himself hearing out his agent’s push for a fake relationship–something he never thought he’d consider in a million years.

A love that goes off script.

With their careers at risk, Nevaeh and Lamont have to convince the world that their scripted romance is more than just an act. But when fake seems to turn into something real, can Nevaeh trust her heart in a world where nothing is ever as it seems?

You can find out more about Toni on her WEBSITE.  Follow her on GoodReads and BookBub.

And don’t forget that you can get 30% off the book with free shipping at BakerBookHouse.com. And you can get You Make It Feel Like Christmas, too!

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

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Episode 263: A Chat about The Love Script w/ Toni Shiloh
Episode 263: A Chat about The Love Script w/ Toni Shiloh
September 23, 2023
Chautona Havig
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Episode 261: Chatting with Christian Youth Fiction Author, Candice Yamnitz
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Episode 260: A Chat with Rachel Hauck
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Episode 259: A Chat with Debut Author, Laura Conaway
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Episode 258: A Louisiana Christmas to Remember
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Episode 257: A Chat with Fantasy Author, N. Ford
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Episode 256: A Chat about Summer in the Spotlight w/ Liz Johnson
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Episode 254: A Chat about Where the Wings rise with Ashlyn McKayla Ohm
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I love this book so much. And it wouldn't be an "A I love this book so much. And it wouldn't be an "Anne" story without Gilbert and Diana... meet Gage. He's not quite Gilbert, but he's got everything a Gilbert should have--including the ability to completely annoy Anne when he doesn't mean to. She's speaking to him here... barely.
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I love this book so much. And it wouldn't be an "A I love this book so much. And it wouldn't be an "Anne" story without Gilbert and Diana... meet Gage. He's not quite Gilbert, but he's got everything a Gilbert should have--including the ability to completely annoy Anne when he doesn't mean to. She's speaking to him here... barely.
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