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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

When You Love an Author but not One Book

by Chautona Havig · 5 Comments

The House at the End of the Moor turned out to be a surprise of an entirely different kind. Curious to know what others think of it. via @chautonahavig

“So many books. So little time.”

How many times have I said that?  Probably enough to make me a walking, talking cliche.  But it’s kind of true, you know?

I get these emails, you see.  “New Tour Alert” followed by a title or cover that grabs me or by an author name that says, “You know you want to read me…”

Look, I did a lot of reviews last year, so I deliberately signed up for fewer ones this year. Just to be certain that if life throws any more curveballs I wouldn’t be overrun.

So life throws a pandemic that keeps me home with plenty of time to read, right?

Just kidding. I don’t have any more or less time than usual. My life hasn’t changed almost at all. I digress.

Books.  Well, there are some authors who, when a tour announcement goes out, it’s an automatic “Um, YEAH!. Duh!” from me.

The House at the End of the Moor was one of those books.  I saw Michelle Griep’s name and went, “Well, yeah!”

Then I read it and…

The house at the end of the moor review

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

When You Love an Author but not One Book

An opera singer in hiding and an escaped (but innocent) convict. Oh, and a Dartmouth moor. In the interest of full confessions, I will now admit that I snorted when I saw that Maggie has a slight obsession with Jane Eyre.

Told from three points of view in two styles (both third/past and first/present), the story becomes a bit jarring when the third POV is entered.  I think it’s because we don’t get that POV right away.  I do understand why Ms. Griep put in his POV and I think if they were all in the same tense it would have been less jarring. As it was, going from person to person, tense to tense, and first to third left me with a bit of mental whiplash.  This style CAN be done well. I just finished one where it was employed, but the present time POV was 75 years later than the past tense POVs. It actually helped set the stage well instead of pulling you off it.

Additionally, while I LIKED the characters, I didn’t love them. Maggie was nice.  Oliver was nice. Barrows was evil. Grout was evil. Corbin or whatever his name was… was evil.  The most multi-layered character in the whole book was a minor character–Oliver’s father.  He was my favorite.  He and the other politician dude’s wife.

Oh!  And ARGH.  Dora?  Was that the maid’s name?  I can’t remember and the book is home, but I want her story.  I suspect she has a cool one we’d all love to know.

Plot of The House at the End of the Moor… meh.

What Ms. Griep did really well was to put some of the difficult things in even as she used a bit of convenience to further the plot. It was as if she was writing a fantasy book where using a bit of magic by one of the character holds a penalty. So, every time she created a convenience, one character had to pay a bit.  That’s a poor way to explain it, but it’s the best I can do.

All in all, it really felt like they were running around, doing a bunch of random things that really made no sense.  At one point, Oliver is informed that something he thought he knew about his father was wrong for all these years.  He finds out his father has been doing something really rather wonderful.  And his reaction is to never speak to his father again.

WHAT?

I don’t get it.  It’s as if we needed him mad at daddy so Maggie can have her little sermon, and then everyone can repent and live happily ever after.

UGH, that looks nasty written out that way.  I don’t mean it to be.  But that’s exactly how it came across.

The best part?

The spiritual content in The House at the End of the Moor is really the strongest element in the book, even with the preachy scene. There is some solid spiritual encouragement and Scriptural applications of sound Bible in the lives and revelations of the characters.  THAT was beautiful, and really, it made the little sermonette not as bothersome as it otherwise would have been. Still, if Maggie had given that sermon BEFORE the discussion with the father, it all would have made so much more sense.

I didn’t love this book, but I still love the author.  I’d like to lay blame on the first-person/present tense element. She did that in her “The Old Lace Shop” and I didn’t like it there.  It worked better in this due to the “on the run” aspect, but only just.

Recommended to lovers of Michelle Griep’s work, Bronte book lovers, and readers who just enjoy lovely wordsmithing without strong expectations. While I’m not sorry I requested a free review copy, I am grateful to have received it. Looking forward to her next book, regardless.

house at the end of the moorAbout the Book

Book:  House at the End of the Moor

Author: Michelle Griep

Genre:  Christian Historical

Release Date: April 2020

An Opulent London Opera Star Escapes to the Rugged Landscape of the English Moors

Opera star Maggie Lee escapes her opulent lifestyle when threatened by a powerful politician who aims to ruin her life. She runs off to the wilds of the moors to live in anonymity. All that changes the day she discovers a half-dead man near her house. Escaped convict Oliver Ward is on the run to prove his innocence until he gets hurt and is taken in by Maggie. He discovers some jewels in her possession—the very same jewels that got him convicted. Together they hatch a plan to return the jewels, clearing Oliver’s name and hopefully maintaining Maggie’s anonymity.

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Comments

  1. Caryl Kane says

    April 23, 2020 at 1:06 pm

    Thank you for sharing your honest thoughts.

    Reply
  2. Dianne Casey says

    April 22, 2020 at 9:54 am

    Sounds like a book I would enjoy reading. The moors sound fascinating.

    Reply
  3. James Robert says

    April 22, 2020 at 12:31 am

    Congrats on this tour and thank for the opportunity to read about another great book out there to read. It helps out so I can find books I know my family will enjoy reading. Thanks as well for the giveaway.

    Reply
  4. Amelia says

    April 21, 2020 at 12:07 pm

    Thanks for the review!

    Reply
  5. Rita Wray says

    April 21, 2020 at 10:34 am

    Thank you for the review.

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
byChautona Havig

Hey, we’re back after a couple of weeks of vacation, and boy did I need it. And, have I got a fabulous interview for you. Nancy Naigle and I talked about her books, her most recent release, What Remains True as well as her Christmas books and the one I’m most anxious to read, The Shell Collector. Listen in and learn about what Nancy says about this bet she has going on in What Remains True. Great stuff!

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

Need a Great Romantic Read to Wind Up Your Summer Reads?

As I said in the podcast, a while back, someone told me I’d LOVE The Shell Collector–one of those people who recommends books you HAVE to read if they say you do.  So I bought it and it’s been sitting on my shelf ever since. Well, now it’s on my GoodReads shelf, and I’m about to start it (and I optimistically thought I’d be done with it by the time this episode released. Oh, me of too much faith in myself and my time management!)

Author of over thirty books, not to mention a bestselling author who also has movies made of her novels (And The Shell Collector has been optioned! EEEP!), Nancy loves to write Christmas books and small-town stories. Seriously, as we talked, I felt like she was talking about me half the time. We’re so very alike in so many ways. It was fun.

Nancy also pointed out that her first books (if you go WAY back) are not Christian fiction and are a bit spicier than she prefers to write and definitely more than she writes today. So be warned there, but she did assure us that they are all closed-door books.

What Remains True by Nancy Naigle

One woman wants to win a bet. One man wants to become a rodeo champion. One little girl may give them both something even better—from USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle.

“A commitment-phobic rodeo star and a divorcée with secrets find love in this wholesome romance. . . . As uplifting as it is sweet.”—Publishers Weekly

Working at a little shop on Main Street in a small town is exactly the break that executive Merry Anna Foster needs following her divorce. She’s made a bet with her ex-husband that she can live on the amount of money she’s giving him in alimony. If she can do it, then Kevin will have to stop complaining and leave her alone. But after three months of this new life, will she even want to leave Antler Creek?

Adam Locklear, bull rider and owner of the local feedstore, is having the best year of his rodeo career. He’s also a bit distracted by the pretty new neighbor living in his old bunkhouse. But Adam has no time for matters of the heart. He’s got his future all mapped out, and that future doesn’t involve a woman just yet. It doesn’t involve parenting a little girl either. However, Carly Fowler still suddenly leaves five-year-old Zan—the daughter Adam didn’t know he had—in his care.

Is it possible that the future holds a life even better than what Merry Anna and Adam had each dreamed of? One that includes both tenderness and even love—not just for each other but for Zan too?

You can learn more about Nancy’s books and movies on her WEBSITE.

Oh, and PSST… I’m loving the audiobook of this one!

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Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
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August 9, 2022
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Reposted from @angeladmeyer Hello Readers! Summer Reposted from @angeladmeyer Hello Readers!

Summer Book Lover's Day is August 9 and we are taking a whole week to celebrate!

I want you to have a chance to win 40+ books or a $500 Amazon card to buy a ton of books yourself in Celebrate Lit's Summer Book Lovers Giveaway.

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Reposted from @revolutionaryfaithseries Hello Read Reposted from @revolutionaryfaithseries Hello Readers!

Summer Book Lover's Day is August 9 and we are taking a whole week to celebrate!

 I want you to have a chance to win 40+ books or a $500 Amazon card to buy a ton of books yourself in Celebrate Lit's Summer Book Lovers Giveaway.

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My Book Lover's Day read. I usually read 5 chapter My Book Lover's Day read. I usually read 5 chapters per day,  but I'm going to let myself enjoy 10 today.  And if it puts me close to the ND, maybe I'll go crazy and finish. I blame @lindsayharrelauthor 
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Reposted from @danielleswritingspot The excitement Reposted from @danielleswritingspot The excitement surrounding As Silent as the Night continues to bless me. This incredible endorsement comes from Chautona Havig:⁠
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