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MY REVIEW:<\/strong><\/p>\n I cannot say that I particularly enjoyed “Christmas Embers”. I’m not certain anyone would actually “enjoy” it. It is a story filled with hard-hitting truth about adultery and how it affects everyone it touches including family, friends, and even strangers. The emotionally charged plot is sometimes difficult to read because it is so realistic and touches that place inside the reader that tells them “this could happen to anyone – even me”.<\/p>\n “Christmas Embers” is beautifully written and the author does an excellent job of getting her message across. How true that the very ones who believe they would never fall are usually the ones who do. I have seen it happen over and over, even in the church. One thing I have learned is to try not to be too quick to judge lest I fall in the very same trap.<\/p>\n If you are looking for a fluffy, feel-good Christmas story, “Christmas Embers” is probably not for you. But if you would like a novel full of Biblical truth and a bit more “meat”, I would recommend this book. I would also say that it’s not a just for Christmas story but could easily be appropriate for any time of the year.<\/p>\n I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by Celebrate Lit. A favorable review was not required. All views expressed are my own.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n ABOUT THE BOOK:<\/strong><\/p>\n Emily Byrne sits in her daughter\u2019s classroom listening to the deepest wishes of twenty kindergartners 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\u2019t sure where her Christmas project will take her.<\/p>\n Davia Cordell came to Rockland for one purpose\u2013find her son\u2019s father before she dies. An ex-prostitute, she\u2019s well aware that the news will cause waves, but what\u2019s a mother to do?<\/p>\n As these women join forces to search for Joey\u2019s father\u2013a Rockland area pastor, no less\u2013 Emily learns compassion for a woman who just wants the best for her son and can\u2019t quite imagine that Jesus wants anything to do with her.<\/p>\n Each day, Davia weakens until Emily isn\u2019t confident she\u2019ll find the boy\u2019s father in time\u2013if at all. Doubts form. Should she look? Is it right to risk destroying a family like this\u2013an entire church? The weight of that responsibility crushes her as Davia wastes away before her eyes.<\/p>\n A mother\u2019s love. A boy\u2019s confidence. A family\u2019s faith. A preacher\u2019s failure. Is redemption even possible anymore?<\/p>\n Christmas Embers: a story of love, failure, and redemption.<\/p>\n ABOUT THE AUTHOR:<\/strong><\/p>\n GUEST POST FROM CHAUTONA HAVIG:<\/strong><\/p>\n Infidelity to the Tune of Adeste Fideles<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI think my husband is having an affair.\u201d<\/p>\n An explanation followed. Look, I tend to be one who assumes the best of others\u2014to a fault even. I read the \u201cevidence\u201d and frankly could see it going either way. It\u2019s hard to tell across thousands of miles. While others on the message board saw red flag after red flag\u2014and frankly, I did, too\u2014I also saw perfectly innocent explanations for things. It\u2019s a curse sometimes\u2014that 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.<\/p>\n She wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t the first time I\u2019d come face to face with infidelity. As a child, there was an extended family member. As a newlywed, one of my wedding party\u2014then another. Then another. The excuses, the justifications. Friends and I went to confront a sister in Christ on her affair with her husband\u2019s best friend. We foolishly asked \u201cwhat happened?\u201d regarding her marriage. Her words: \u201cWe drifted apart.\u201d<\/p>\n I wanted to scream the words that battered my brain and heart. \u201cThen row back together!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2014vows made before the Lord<\/em>\u2014in favor of what sometimes were serial affairs. Abuse. Horror.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve prayed women I love through court cases, medical visits, and disclosures from children no mother should ever have to hear. I\u2019ve prayed for men I didn\u2019t even like because of the pain their wives inflicted each time she left them alone with the kids. He knew. He always knew.<\/p>\n Adultery is real. It\u2019s ugly. And there\u2019s 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\u2019re just as vulnerable as the next person.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s why I wrote Christmas Embers.<\/em> I took every heartbreaking story I\u2019d observed over the years and put in each character for a reason. Every scene, every plot point, every twist\u2014I put them exactly how and where they are for a reason.<\/p>\n They\u2019re there as a warning.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t your lighthearted Christmas novel. Some have suggested I shouldn\u2019t have set it at Christmastime. But you know what? Over half the disclosures I\u2019ve ever heard of happened between Thanksgiving and New Year\u2019s Day. I couldn\u2019t get the idea of Joey\u2019s story out of my head. And to write his story, it had to be at Christmas.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s a solution. His name is Jesus.<\/p>\n BLOG STOPS:<\/strong><\/p>\n Carpe Diem<\/span><\/a>, December 5<\/p>\n A Baker\u2019s Perspective<\/span><\/a>, December 5<\/p>\n Mary Hake<\/a>, December 5<\/p>\n Moments Dipped in Ink<\/span><\/a>, December 6<\/p>\n D\u2019S QUILTS & BOOKS<\/span><\/a>, December 6<\/p>\n Daysong Reflections<\/a>, <\/span>December 6<\/p>\n Fiction Aficionado<\/span><\/a>, December 7<\/p>\n A Simply Enchanted Life<\/span><\/a>, December 7<\/p>\n Genesis 5020<\/span><\/a>, December 7<\/p>\n Blogging With Carol<\/span><\/a>, December 8<\/p>\n The Power of Words<\/span><\/a>, December 8<\/p>\n Bigreadersite<\/a>, <\/span>December 8<\/p>\n Reading Is My SuperPower<\/span><\/a>, December 9<\/p>\n A Greater Yes<\/a>, <\/span>December 9<\/p>\n Radiant Light<\/a>, <\/span>December 9<\/p>\n Just Jo\u2019Anne<\/span><\/a>, December 10<\/p>\n For The Love of Books<\/span><\/a>, December 10<\/p>\n Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses<\/span><\/a>, December 10<\/p>\n Aryn the Libraryan<\/span>,<\/a> December 11<\/p>\n A Reader\u2019s Brain, <\/span><\/a>December 11<\/p>\n The Fizzy Pop Collection<\/span><\/a>, December 12<\/p>\n Books, Books, and More Books<\/a>., <\/span>December 12<\/p>\n Quiet Quilter<\/span><\/a>, December 13<\/p>\n Seasons of Opportunities<\/span><\/a>, December 13<\/p>\n Christian Book Devourer<\/span><\/a>, December 13<\/p>\n Allofakindmom<\/a>, <\/span>December 14<\/p>\n Texas Book-aholic<\/span><\/a>, December 14<\/p>\n Pursuing Stacie<\/a>, <\/span>December 14<\/p>\n Pause for Tales<\/span><\/a>, December 15<\/p>\n Reader\u2019s cozy corner<\/span><\/a>, December 15<\/p>\n margaret kazmierczak<\/span><\/a>, December 15<\/p>\n Red Headed Book Lady<\/a>, <\/span>December 16<\/p>\n Purposeful Learning<\/span><\/a>, December 16<\/p>\n Debbie\u2019s Dusty Deliberations<\/a>, December 16<\/p>\n Janices book reviews<\/span><\/a>, December 17<\/p>\n Christian Bookaholic<\/span><\/a>, December 17<\/p>\n Karen Sue Hadley<\/span><\/a>, December 18<\/p>\n Remembrancy<\/span><\/a>, December 18<\/p>\n Blossoms and Blessings<\/span><\/a>, December 18<\/p>\n GIVEAWAY:<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/divider2.png\" "\\"divider2\\"")
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\n<\/a>It\u2019s a truth universally unacknowledged that sin will hunt you down and advertise its presence the moment you try to hide it.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nClick here<\/a> to purchase your copy!<\/h5>\n
Author of the Amazon bestselling Aggie and Past Forward Series, Chautona Havig<\/strong> lives and writes in California\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n