What Does DIY Have to Do with Love & Romance?

“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!

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

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.

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)

And don’t forget the giveaway!