GIVEAWAY and Book Review: Sweet on You by Chautona Havig

It is my hypothesis that social conventions are created to test our fortitude.

Rockland circa 1900-
As the mayor’s daughter, Madeline Brown enjoys a rich social life that many might envy. But a sharp mind and a growing talent for observation leaves Madeline torn between avoiding social censure and exploring the world around her.

With an aunt who considers higher education and employment equally unsuitable for the mayor’s daughter, there is little to amuse her save endless committee meetings, evening socials, and her favorite pastime: curling up with an exciting detective novel. The temperance and suffrage movements hold little interest for a young woman who has just endured the rigors of her father’s mayoral campaign.

So when a young man shows interest in her friend, Madeline’s interest piques–until his actions hint that he might not be the upstanding gentleman everyone presumes him to be. Unable to ignore her concerns, Madeline finds herself in the middle of an investigation into his character and discovers a side of Rockland she’s never encountered.

Will her new hobby reduce the tedium of her life, or will her “meddling” create tension for herself and her father? Will she be forced to squelch this budding skill of hers or has Madeline finally found her calling in life.

Meddlin’ Madeline: Welcome to Rockland’s infancy.

My Thoughts: From the very start, Sweet on You had a sort of quality that reminded me of Austen’s Emma with Madeline’s misguided aid. It reads like a comedy where everyone ends up suspicious and investigating each other. I enjoyed the history Havig was able to bring to light. She focused on the early usage of electricity and it’s something that I rarely read about in a novel and I found it very interesting. There was a great deal of inner dialog and while there isn’t anything exactly wrong with it, it was a style that I didn’t care for. The plot is a little slow, but the story tends to focus more on what’s being said. Sweet on You is the first book of the series and Madeline has many more meddlin’ adventures yet to be told.

Rating and Recommendation: I recommend Sweet on You for anyone who enjoys Christian Historical Fiction and am giving it 4 stars.

~I received a copy from the publisher through Celebrate Lit. I was not compensated for my review or required to give a favorable one. All thoughts are my own.

GIVEAWAY:

To celebrate her tour, Chautona are giving away a $25 Amazon gift card! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/aa59

About the Author:

I am fortunate enough to live in the great state of California (in the Mojave Desert) with my husband Kevin and five of my nine children. My eldest is married with five children, so I have the fun of a son-in-law and grandbabies to enjoy. I’ve graduated six out of my nine children from our home school, and they’re all doing quite well in their lives. My younger children keep me from getting too selfish, and someday I’ll be fully retired as their teacher. I have to say, I’m lookin’ forward to it. Teaching about gerunds was fun the first time… not so much anymore. I salute all of those in the education field. You are my heroes.

When I’m not writing (which I admit isn’t often) I enjoy blogging (a totally different kind of writing, trust me), paper crafts, sewing, smocking, photo editing, and old music. No, really, I like OLD stuff… the Beatles are too newfangled for me. Yeah,I know they’re before my time… but I like stuff before my PARENTS time.

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