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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

Rumor Has It, Murmur in the Mud Caves Promises to Be Excellent!

by Chautona Havig · Leave a Comment

Murmur in the Mud Caves will release on Tuesday, and I got to chat with Kathleen about this book, where it fits in the series, and more! via @chautonahavig

Kathleen Denly has done it again! Her next book in the Chapparal Hearts series releases on the sixteenth, and with a title like Murmur in the Mud Caves, it promises to be another delightful book. Everyone knows I’m a huge fan of this series, so listen in and learn some of the things Kathleen encountered in her research and writing. Oh, and help me convince her and her publisher that we really do want seven books in the series.

mud caves

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Rumor Has It, Murmur in the Mud Caves Promises to Be Excellent!

Note to all: I apologize for the lateness. Wrenched my ankle in Scotland yesterday and it took a while to get going today. At least it’s still morning in the States!

Okay, as for this rumor, yeah. I started it. However, I totally stand behind it. 100%. If Kathleen Denly wrote it, I’m reading it. If it’s in the Chapparal Hearts series, I guarantee I’ll like it. Woot!

Taking us out into the desert a bit, this book gives us a Civil War veteran, a few stubborn women, and bandits.  What more could we ask for?

How about Kathleen’s brilliant storytelling? That’s what!

If you have any doubts about my opinions on these books, you can check out reviews HERE.

Murmur in the Mud Caves by Kathleen Denly

He came to cook for ranch hands, not three single women.

Gideon Swift, a visually impaired Civil War Veteran, responds to an ad for a ranch cook in the Southern California desert mountains. He wants nothing more than to forget his past and stay in the kitchen where he can do no harm. But when he arrives to find his employer murdered, the ranch turned to ashes, and three young women struggling to survive in the unforgiving Borrego Desert, he must decide whether his presence protects them or places them in greater danger.

Bridget “Biddie” Davidson finally receives word from her older sister who disappeared with their brother and pa eighteen years prior, but the news is not good. Determined to help her family, Biddie sets out for a remote desert ranch with her adopted father and best friend. Nothing she finds there is as she expected, including the man who came to cook for the shambles of a ranch.

When tragedy strikes, the danger threatens not only her plans to help her sister, but her own dreams for the future—with the man who’s stolen her heart.

You can learn more about Chapparal Hearts and Kathleen on her WEBSITE. (and don’t forget that you can get her novella by signing up for her newsletter!

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 579: A Chat with Lauren Smyth
byChautona Havig

Dystopian in the desert? Sign me up! Seriously, listen in while Lauren Smyth and I chat all things “glowy” in the desert!

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Not a lot of people write books about the boring Mojave Desert. When they do, I take note. Especially when it’s a super-cool dystopian delight! EEEP!

All That Glows by Lauren Smyth

The apocalypse didn’t take everyone. It just took us. Ever since the rain turned green, Kyrie’s world has been bathed in glowing dust. She packs it into old mascara tubes and sells it as makeup alongside dried cacti, threadbare blankets, and long-expired canned food. There’s not much else to do when everyone outside Kyrie’s small town in the Mojave Desert died from the plague-bearing rain ten years ago. Everyone—except the man in the rubber mask. He’s on the dangerous side of the fence, huffing infected air like it’s nothing, babbling to Kyrie about college and umbrellas and yogurt and everything else that disappeared the day it rained. He doesn’t seem to know that the world ended, and he has no explanation for how he survived the apocalypse. But Kyrie doesn’t believe in ghosts. She can’t trust him, but he’s right about one thing: Towns without secrets aren’t surrounded by chain-link fences. And chain-link fences won’t keep out the plague forever.

Learn more on Lauren’s WEBSITE and follow on GoodReads and BookBub.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

  • Apple
  • Castbox
  • Google Play
  • Libsyn
  • RSS
  • Spotify
  • Amazon
  • YouTube
  • and more!
Episode 579: A Chat with Lauren Smyth
Episode 579: A Chat with Lauren Smyth
September 9, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 578: A Chat with Carolyn Bourke
September 7, 2026
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Episode 577: A Chat with Denise M. Colby
September 5, 2026
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Episode 576: A Chat with Ann Swindell
August 31, 2026
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A Chat with Dante Lupinetti
August 29, 2026
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Episode 574: A Chat with Laura DeNooyer
August 24, 2026
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Episode 573: A Chat with Cheryl Weber
August 22, 2026
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Episode 572: A Chat with Kari Trumbo
August 19, 2026
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Episode 571: A Chat with Lucas and Shauna Fischhaber
August 17, 2026
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Episode 570: A Chat with Niki Florica
August 15, 2026
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When Hollywood's prince abdicates his cinematic th When Hollywood's prince abdicates his cinematic throne for Bible college and a cigarillo girl, Gary Prinz assumes all threats against him are hyperbole rather than serious. But when shots ring out and people start dropping at his final movie premiere, things look dire--especially when that cigarillo girl is arrested for the murders.
Set in 1926 Hollywood, this Cinderella-esque mystery is available in print, on Kindle (and Kindle Unlimited), and audiobook (available on all platforms), or listen FREE on YouTube @ChristaDelSorbo.
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One foolish night sparks an accusation that threat One foolish night sparks an accusation that threatens to ruin multiple lives. Savannah never meant to let things go so far, and she certainly never meant to say anything so heinous. When she disappears the whole town knows it has to be HIS fault, that Mac.
Quite possibly my favorite book of all I've written.
Available in print and on Kindle Unlimited. https://amzn.to/4gONyQa #affiliatelink
#ChristFic
#ChristianRomance
When Hollywood's prince abdicates his cinematic th When Hollywood's prince abdicates his cinematic throne for Bible college and a cigarillo girl, Gary Prinz assumes all threats against him are hyperbole rather than serious. But when shots ring out and people start dropping at his final movie premiere, things look dire--especially when that cigarillo girl is arrested for the murders.
Set in 1926 Hollywood, this Cinderella-esque mystery is available in print, on Kindle (and Kindle Unlimited), and audiobook (available on all platforms), or listen FREE on YouTube @ChristaDelSorbo.
https://amzn.to/4xvQRCQ #affiliatelink
#ChristFic
#ChristianMystery
#HistoricalChristianMystery
One foolish night sparks an accusation that threat One foolish night sparks an accusation that threatens to ruin multiple lives. Savannah never meant to let things go so far, and she certainly never meant to say anything so heinous. When she disappears the whole town knows it has to be HIS fault, that Mac.
Quite possibly my favorite book of all I've written.
Available in print and on Kindle Unlimited. https://amzn.to/4gONyQa #affiliatelink
#ChristFic
#ChristianRomance
When Hollywood's prince abdicates his cinematic th When Hollywood's prince abdicates his cinematic throne for Bible college and a cigarillo girl, Gary Prinz assumes all threats against him are hyperbole rather than serious. But when shots ring out and people start dropping at his final movie premiere, things look dire--especially when that cigarillo girl is arrested for the murders.
Set in 1926 Hollywood, this Cinderella-esque mystery is available in print, on Kindle (and Kindle Unlimited), and audiobook (available on all platforms), or listen FREE on YouTube @ChristaDelSorbo.
https://amzn.to/4xvQRCQ #affiliatelink
#ChristFic
#ChristianMystery
#HistoricalChristianMystery
One foolish night sparks an accusation that threat One foolish night sparks an accusation that threatens to ruin multiple lives. Savannah never meant to let things go so far, and she certainly never meant to say anything so heinous. When she disappears the whole town knows it has to be HIS fault, that Mac.
Quite possibly my favorite book of all I've written.
Available in print and on Kindle Unlimited. https://amzn.to/4gONyQa #affiliatelink
#ChristFic
#ChristianRomance
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