Christmas Embers by Chautona Havig - Review and Giveaway

About the Book

Name of book: Christmas Embers  
Author: Chautona Havig  
Genre: Contemporary Christmas  
Release Date: November 25, 2016  

It’s a truth universally unacknowledged that sin will hunt you down and advertise its presence the moment you try to hide it. Emily Byrne sits in her daughter’s classroom listening to the deepest wishes of twenty kindergarteners as she sketches them. But when little Joey Cordell breaks down, weeping and insisting the only thing he wants to find is his father, she isn’t sure where her Christmas project will take her. Davia Cordell came to Rockland for one purpose–find her son’s father before she dies. An ex-prostitute, she’s well aware that the news will cause waves, but what’s a mother to do? As these women join forces to search for Joey’s father–a Rockland area pastor, no less– Emily learns compassion for a woman who just wants the best for her son and can’t quite imagine that Jesus wants anything to do with her. Each day, Davia weakens until Emily isn’t confident she’ll find the boy’s father in time–if at all. Doubts form. Should she look? Is it right to risk destroying a family like this–an entire church? The weight of that responsibility crushes her as Davia wastes away before her eyes. A mother’s love. A boy’s confidence. A family’s faith. A preacher’s failure. Is redemption even possible anymore? Christmas Embers: a story of love, failure, and redemption.

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About the Author

Author of the Amazon bestselling Aggie and Past Forward Series, Chautona Havig lives and writes in California’s Mojave Desert. With dozens of books to her name, Chautona spends most of her time writing, but when she takes the rare break, she can be found reading, sewing, paper crafting, or sleeping and dreaming of finishing the dozens of books swirling in her overly-active imagination at any given moment.

 

 

 

Guest Post from Chautona Havig

Infidelity to the Tune of Adeste Fideles

“I think my husband is having an affair.” An explanation followed. Look, I tend to be one who assumes the best of others—to a fault even. I read the “evidence” and frankly could see it going either way. It’s hard to tell across thousands of miles. While others on the message board saw red flag after red flag—and frankly, I did, too—I also saw perfectly innocent explanations for things. It’s a curse sometimes—that ability to see both sides of an issue. I cautioned against assumptions no one would want other people to make of themselves. And I prayed she was wrong. She wasn’t. It wasn’t the first time I’d come face to face with infidelity. As a child, there was an extended family member. As a newlywed, one of my wedding party—then another. Then another. The excuses, the justifications. Friends and I went to confront a sister in Christ on her affair with her husband’s best friend. We foolishly asked “what happened?” regarding her marriage. Her words: “We drifted apart.” I wanted to scream the words that battered my brain and heart. “Then row back together!” But over the years, it just grew worse. One by one, wives and husbands tossed aside vows made to a brother or sister in Christ—vows made before the Lord—in favor of what sometimes were serial affairs. Abuse. Horror. I’ve prayed women I love through court cases, medical visits, and disclosures from children no mother should ever have to hear. I’ve prayed for men I didn’t even like because of the pain their wives inflicted each time she left them alone with the kids. He knew. He always knew. Adultery is real. It’s ugly. And there’s absolutely a cure for it. Jesus. 100% surrender to Jesus. But as long as we rely on those little loops on the back of our boots instead of the saving, healing, strengthening power of Jesus, we’re just as vulnerable as the next person. And that’s why I wrote Christmas Embers. I took every heartbreaking story I’d observed over the years and put in each character for a reason. Every scene, every plot point, every twist—I put them exactly how and where they are for a reason. They’re there as a warning. This isn’t your lighthearted Christmas novel. Some have suggested I shouldn’t have set it at Christmastime. But you know what? Over half the disclosures I’ve ever heard of happened between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. I couldn’t get the idea of Joey’s story out of my head. And to write his story, it had to be at Christmas. Let me say it again. While Christmas may not seem like the optimal time for a hard-hitting book like this, I had to do it. Adultery is reaching epidemic proportions in the church. There’s a solution. His name is Jesus.


My Take:

This is not a Christmasy book. Meaning it is not a feel good boy gets girl, they live happily ever after with snow falling all around them with a sweet Christmas carol playing. This is my first book I've read of Ms. Havig's and while it ripped my heart apart, it won't be the last book I read of hers.

I don't know if Ms. Havig has experienced the pain of adultery, I have and she conveys the pain, humiliation, and utter disbelief with truth and realism, that leaves your heart open and raw.

I had only one problem with the story. At the beginning when Sean and Emily are talking with Kate at the first "counseling" session about her pastoral husband's infidelity, I thought their actions and comments to her were very insensitive. Which is one of the reasons women rarely go to their clergy because they don't believe they will receive a sympathetic ear and guided response.

My bottom line . . .


The characters are real, incredibly complex, dealing with struggles that we all encounter. Piper and Joey the two kids that Ms. Havig wrote into the story are adorable, fun, and have the childlike faith that Christ says we should have.

The book is deep and very emotional, leaving you thinking about it long after you close the book. Keep Kleenex close because you will need them.
While this is not your typical Christmas story, it is definitely a story for today, and I highly recommend it!

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Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Chautona is giving away a grand prize of a 6 month Kindle Unlimited Subscription!!

Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries! https://promosimple.com/ps/c512


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.