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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

What Does DIY Have to Do with Love & Romance?

by Chautona Havig · Leave a Comment

Flipping Hearts releases today, and the authors are all sharing their favorite DIY projects with you. First up, me and my kitchen! via @chautonahavig

“What are we writing about for the release of Flipping Hearts?”

I think that’s when I went, “Um…” for about half an hour.  But then it hit me.  Flipping Hearts is about the aftermath of Hurricane Arley and its destruction on Hopper Island.  Now, no, it wasn’t a devastating hurricane. Only a few ruined houses. Mostly cosmetic damage and a lot of clean-up.  I mean, really, they got off easy.

However, a home show, Barret’s Bailey-wick, offers to come on down and help with the cleanup, and Brooks Crawforth has to accept, right?  I mean, they need the help. What they didn’t need was a bait and switch.  Still, it gave the obvious answer.

For this book, we’re going to talk about our DIY projects.  I don’t know what the other authors are doing, but I just happened to have a big project to share.

See, during our big earthquake a couple of years ago, our butcherblock countertop got damaged.

We put it in almost fifteen years ago, and for my birthday, my kids bought me a new section to replace the big cracked piece.  This Saturday was showtime.  #4daughter even brought a friend from church over to do the heavy grunt work.  So, it was a gift for me AND one for Kevin, because he can’t do heavy lifting like that anymore–not since his back surgery.

BUT… he did do the original kitchen work–or a lot of it. And he should get credit for that.

Well… this DIY project ended up being a lot of DIT (do it themselves) with #4daughter and friend duking out the hard stuff, but hey. I moved stuff out of the rain and got screws to work and bought stuff we needed and…. something else, I’m sure.  It counts! And lookie here!

DIY Flipping hearts

New sink, faucet, and backsplash with the new countertop.

flipping hearts diy

It’s looking nice now. We had to put all our castiron in and around the sink to weigh it down for the silicone while we waited for new screws to arrive. The ones they gave us were too short.  Guess it’s time to do those dishes, no?

We’re ripping off that tile and doing a backsplash up to the (now slightly battered after 15 yearsish of hard use by tons of people)cabinets.  We may buy new doors someday.  But seriously, I am a HUGE fan of Ikea cabinets.  And countertops.  Just not their sink style.  We followed their recommendation.  We should not.  BLECH.  Bad design.  But that’s been fixed, now. YAY!

Bailey might even approve.

flipping hearts release

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

What Does DIY Have to Do with Love & Romance?

Well… in this sorta “enemies-to-romance” book, Bailey Barret and Brooks Crawforth have to get past their issues and work together to figure out who is sabotaging the work on the islands.  And well, when folks work together, they either learn to hate each other or respect each other, don’t they?

And today is the release of Flipping Hearts.  

Many of my Independence Islands books have had heavier themes, but this one is a lot more lighthearted.  And we really needed that.  This release is timely, because I just finished my next book in the series, Finding a Memory. 

Each author is sharing their DIY projects this week, starting with me today and then:

  • Melissa Wardwell (7/27)
  • Kari Trumbo (7/28)
  • Rachel Skatvold (7/29)
  • Tabitha Bouldin (7/30)
  • Carolyn Miller (7/31)
  • Sandy Barela–Celebrate Lit Publishing (8/1)
Flipping Hearts

Flipping Hearts

$12.99eBook: $4.99Audiobook: $12.99
Author: Chautona Havig
Series: Independence Islands: the Book Barrow, Book 4
Genres: Christian Fiction, Romance
Tag: Romance

Brooks Crawforth agreed to volunteer crews helping to clean up and repair things on the island, not a whole home and garden series on the total renovation of several houses and a bit of cleanup on the side.  He's livid, and the show host is spitting nails at the person who blew it in the first place.

 

More info →
Buy This Book Online
Buy from Audible.com
Buy from Amazon Kindle
Flipping Hearts
Buy now!

And don’t forget the giveaway!

 

 

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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:

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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
Chautona Havig
Episode 577: A Chat with Denise M. Colby
September 5, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 576: A Chat with Ann Swindell
August 31, 2026
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A Chat with Dante Lupinetti
August 29, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 574: A Chat with Laura DeNooyer
August 24, 2026
Chautona Havig
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
Chautona Havig
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A family legacy so deeply rooted in the soil of Ca A family legacy so deeply rooted in the soil of California's Napa Valley that it stretches back a hundred years.
Avelino Carrillo is home from the Pacific Theater and wounded in more ways than one. Determined to earn back his family's vineyard, despite the underhanded machinations of a local "land baron," his new life home is everything he could've hoped for and nothing like he expected. It's heartache and joy, love and acceptance, and rejection and disdain. As he shares his family's stories with the people living in his family home, he's even more determined to succeed than ever. If not for himself and his family, then for the young woman who has stolen his heart.
Deepest Roots of the Heart is available on Kindle, "free" through Kindle Unlimited, and also as an audiobook narrated by the fabulous Thom Rivera @thomriveraofficial. His ability to flip between accents is astounding.
When Reid decided on "no girlfriends" for his firs When Reid decided on "no girlfriends" for his first year out of prison, he hadn't counted on prayer-singing, guitar-playing nurse Kelsey. Oh, and he hadn't counted on a matchmaking florist (not to mention said florist's obsession with daisies!). When a floral fiasco says all the right things to the right woman at the wrong time, Reid has to decide if his decision was God-directed or if romance was part of His plans all along.
Available FREE from 9/12-9/16/2026. Always "Free" on Kindle Unlimited.
https://amzn.to/4yslLfs #affiliatelink
#Christfic
#ContemporaryChristianRomance
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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.
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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
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