Under the Hibiscus

Suamalie Islands

De: Chautona Havig

Narrado por: Christa DelSorbo

Do you have to give God two-weeks’ notice when you quit the ministry?

After a lifetime of being her father's right-hand girl, Ezra gets a small taste of freedom during her friend's honeymoon visit to the Suamalie islands and decides enough is enough. All she needs is to find a replacement secretary, teacher, project manager, accountant... et cetera. In fact, what her father needs is a wife.

Scott Keil intended to serve the Lord on St. Alyn Island for life. He just never intended to do it without his wife. So, when his daughter begins balking at being saddled with a ministry she never signed up for, he knows he needs to find a replacement for her. And well, she's right. A wife who loves organization and serving the Lord would be the perfect solution.

But only one woman interests him and loves his ministry nearly as much as he does. Natalie Dershem—the event planner at St. Alyn's newest resort. Why did she have to be nearly as young as his daughter... and so intriguing?

Enjoy this age-gap Christmas romance today.

©2022, 2025 Chautona Havig (P)2025 Chautona Havig

Wow!

What I loved about this story is that it speaks so tenderly about the problems faced by pastors and their children. As the book develops these characters, we see a painful wound in the heart of the pastor’s daughter which begins to heal as both pastor and daughter address long buried feelings and long established inconsiderate behaviors. Throughout the story, when Ezra confesses one part or another of how she feels, I felt as if I were being hit in my own heart. I actually shed a tear or two because the scenes were written so well with such love, compassion, and tenderness, and not just towards the daughter. What makes Erza’s pain so heartbreaking is that her father loves her and is genuinely trying to serve God. The story is not all drama, though, because Havig writes with humor and compassion towards all involved which makes the story fun as well as tender and realistic.

I love that the characters all learn to work through problems and disagreements, and Havig makes readers / listeners aware that each person has a unique perspective and psychology which affects the way they view circumstances. I guess my biggest problem with her book is that the people who need to read it most will probably never pick up a romance novel like this. The truth is that both men and women would benefit from a book like this which is more like an extremely well written fictionalized version of a counseling session than a fantasy romance.

The story weaves together father and daughter’s relationship with a romance between the pastor and a volunteer at his church. This is not the typical light beach reading. Though the story is set on a beautiful island with all the gorgeous, romantic scenes so well described, the goal of this tale is to show how two become one, oneness as husband and wife, to show how two individuals must blend together in every day circumstances like how to spend money, whether of not to have children, how to do ministry, how to handle an age gap, and how to handle what other people say about them. That is a lot of doing real life there, but Havig writes with so much good humor and joy that readers / listeners feel entertained in the doing.

The reader was very good, though sometimes the expressions and intonations were off, especially when the English accent was used. Was this a machine voice? I do not know, but most of the story sounded like a human voice. The reader was really good. I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this little gem. Or should I say hibiscus? 🌺