First comes marriage, then comes love?

Blessing Bentley is an interesting take on the institute of marriage set in the genre of fiction. I found many of the ideas thought provoking and the characters where hysterical at times. (Man-azon, that is all I will say.)

When Bentley makes her thoughts known and steps out in faith, she finds herself on a very interesting ride with a willing young man. There was no love, not in the way we would expect. Only a mutual desire to please God, with maybe a hint of necessity. As I read through the chapters, I began to think about my own marriage. We married for love but now live and work together to serve God. What would happen if we flipped it around when we first meet someone that we enjoy their company. I’m not entirely sure I could do that, but I cannot say I wouldn’t either.

Blessing Bentley was a joy to read. I laughed in quite a few places. I read the some sentences more than once in an effort to process exactly what the character was saying. Not in a bad way. More like taking in her thoughts to better understand. As you will read below, there are two more books coming in this series and I can’t wait to see what happens next as I know Chautona Havig has a wonderful way of weaving characters from other stories into whatever it is that she is working on.

Honestly, there isn’t a single book that this woman could put out, that I would not enjoy. I hope you will pick up a copy for yourself and will be as entertained as much as I was.

**I was provided a copy from Chautona Havig through CelebrateLit so that I may offer an honest opinion on this story.

About the Book

Book: Blessing Bentley

Author: Chautona Havig

Genre: Fiction / Christian / Romantic Women’s Fiction

Release date: June 13, 2019

Bentley Girard’s about to propose… to a guy she doesn’t even love.

Not THAT way anyway.

After studying everything the Bible has to say about marriage, she’s decided she wants in. Now. So who’s going to take her up on that offer?

And just why did no one reminded her that those vows include that little word, “love.”

Oops!

With her Bible in her hip pocket, and a shiny new ring on her finger, Bentley navigates this new world of marriage with grace and… oh, who is she kidding? She flounders until she gets a sure footing and hangs on tight.

 

Get your copy here!

 

 

About the Author

Chautona Havig lives in an oxymoron, escapes into imaginary worlds that look startlingly similar to ours and writes the stories that emerge. An irrepressible optimist, Chautona sees everything through a kaleidoscope of It’s a Wonderful Life sprinkled with fairy tales. Find her on the web and say howdy—if you can remember how to spell her name.

 

More from Chautona

If You Need to Save Time, Don’t Ask for Help

Not from my friend anyway. It all started with a conversation about Bentley…

She pops up now and then—the most ubiquitous (and yet not) of my unpublished characters, you might say. Who is this unsung Bentley, and why should we care about her? For that matter, why has her story been languishing in my “to be edited” pile for over a decade?”

It’s worse than that. Bentley isn’t the only book that’s been sitting there, unedited, waiting for a chance at daylight. There’s also Tait’s story. Andi’s story. Ami’s story… all the unpublished stories. Those don’t even include the partially done ones.

It’s an illness, I tell ya.

Some people may not know this about me, but I plot out my books while I’m driving. I get in the car, turn on my voice recorder, and talk to myself. You can’t know how grateful I am for cellphones. I don’t own or use one, but man I’m glad they exist. Know why? Because people don’t give you weird looks when you talk to yourself in the car now. When I was a kid, that wasn’t true. Not that I know from personal experience or anything. *whistles*

So one trip down south (it’s an hour and a half to go anywhere from my house, and most of my trips are at least three hours one way), I realized that Tait and Bentley’s stories could be merged. It would be awesome. Two books. One stone. If I did that to a bunch of my languishing manuscripts, I could clear out that unfinished file in no time! (Okay, let me dream here. Eternal optimist, remember?)

And that brings us back to Blessing Bentley

I was at my friend Sandy’s house (if you know Celebrate Lit, yes, that Sandy), and I told her I needed a new title. Why? Because now it included Tait and his story.

We talked. We schemed and plotted. Sandy wanted something to happen that just can’t. I’d seriously have to rewrite the entire series. Oh, and then there would be issues with already published books. Ahem.

Then it happened. She said the words. “It needs to be two books.”

I could have put an ice cube down her shirt. Do you remember how excited I was to have two combined into one??? Now we’re back to two books. Still, they were written as two. I just don’t have a satisfactory ending for Tait’s.

That’s when things got fun. Sandy tossed out one idea. I tossed it back. She remolded it and flipped it in the air. I caught it, made a few changes, and voila! We had a BOOK. And it would be adorable.

Then she swore at me.

Okay, so she actually just said, “You really need a third book, friend.”

Anyone who has ever heard her talk, can hear her voice there. I know you can. Still, as sweet and kind as she might have meant to sound, I heard swearing.

Another book. You’ve got to be kidding me! I went from having two books morphed into one being split back in two, and now you want to add one? I’m trying to reduce the to-do pile!

But then I remembered another story that’s been percolating since I wrote 31 Kisses. Carson’s brother is newly single. And well…

Yep. Enter trilogy.

Marriage of Conviction—that was supposed to be the title of Blessing Bentley. Who knew that when I started writing that book fifteen years ago—who knew it would end up being the title of a series instead. Marriages of Conviction. Blessing Bentley, Tempting Tait, and Charming Chloe.

Welcome to a new look on marriage and a wild ride with these characters!

And remember… if you think I have too many series… Well, this one’s Sandy’s fault.

 

Blog Stops

Among the Reads, July 8

Cultivating Us, July 8

Texas Book-aholic, July 9

janicesbookreviews, July 10

Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses, July 10

A Reader’s Brain, July 11

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, July 12

CarpeDiem, July 12

Retrospective Spines, July 13

Splashes of Joy, July 13

Back Porch Reads, July 14

Inklings and notions, July 15

Through the Fire Blogs, July 16

Godly Book Reviews, July 16

Lots of Helpers, July 17

Captive Dreams Window, July 17

Daysong Reflections, July 18

She Lives To Read, July 19

Blogging With Carol, July 19

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, July 20

For Him and My Family, July 21

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, July 21

 

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Chautona is giving away a Blessing Bentley grand prize package that includes a paperback copy of the book, a book cozy, a Blessing Bentley Candle, and a $25 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/e550/blessing-bentley-celebration-tour-giveaway