Bøker av Chautona Havig

It's always a good time to read.Just ask Cezanne (just "Anne" if you please. Anne with an E) Montgomery. After her disastrous business breakup with her best friend, Anne left her beloved Berned Books in the dust and moved across the street to the building she'd always wanted for their bookstore. Clock Tower Bound might be small and floundering, but it has great potential.If Berne, Indiana can support two bookstores that is.Enter Milton Coleridge and his trusty parrotlet, Atticus (not finch). Anne is certain that Milton can ensure the success of a bookstore that emphasizes reader-author connections and keeping the younger generation in good literature.Milton... isn't so certain. A town with a population of just over four thousand isn't exactly a gold mine for one store, much less two! And then there's that problem with the ex-best friend. The one Anne won't talk about.It'll take a lot more than fancy book release parties to make the store profitable--much more. Though he's not sure she wants to hear that. This project could take a degree in diplomacy. Too bad he missed that class in business school.Three fractured friendships, two stores, and one totally unwanted solution.

Lights, candles, attraction!She lost her job, she's been installed as an ad-hoc wedding planner, and then there's that guy who doesn't like her. Christmas is gonna be great this year.Crystal Steele comes to New Cheltenham to help her friend when his fiancée is hospitalized. It was supposed to be simple stuff. Address a few invitations, find some décor pieces. Easy peasy. But one disaster after another strikes and leaves her redoing everything and at the last minute.Which totally ticks off Lewis Chambers. Owner of 221-B and purveyor of all things Sherlock, Lewis has his own stresses with a niece he didn't know existed needing a home and now. You'd think a guy who traded in detective stuff could figure out what Crystal is up to, but he can't. And he can't figure out why he's drawn to someone who may be trying to bust up a friend's wedding!Also, why can no one figure out who is stealing from New Cheltenham shops?But when the lights go out... the light dawns in more than one mind!

Flirtation can be an artIf so, Ruth and Richard are "the old masters" of the flirting game. Despite their strictly platonic relationship, there's "something there," as so many of their friends and families say. Neighbors and friends for ten years, neither seems willing to change the course of their relationship.Three doors down, at the end of the cul-de-sac, Mason Dickenson has watched his favorite neighbors with an interested eye, but he's finally had it with the dance. So, with a pack of cards and a few tricks up his sleeve, he's determined to get them out of the "friend rut" and into romance.Thanks to Mason's unique matchmaking scheme, Ruth and Richard concoct one of their own-a deeper, stronger, eternal love and relationship that nothing on earth can match.

Her passion for fashion might just get her killed.With her eclectic fashion sense, no one is surprised when Alexa Hartfield invests in a retro-inspired clothing line. In fact, her entire life just got a makeover-new house, new and changing friendships, and now a new business venture. She's just supposed to be a silent partner and spokesperson all rolled into one author celebrity.She's not supposed to become entangled in another murder... or two.But when things start going wrong with the new business, how is Alexa supposed to ignore it? One person dies and others are threatened. As Alexa and Officer Joe race to discover who might have it in for the new fashion line and her business partners, Alexa begins to fear for the safety of her life (and heart) as well.The tension mounts as every clue leads to the last person she would have expected to have it in for her.Hold onto your hats as the next book in the Hartfield Mysteries makes its mark on the runway!

Who knew that Christmas carols were love songs?Justine Driscoll sure didn't. Peace on earth? She's heard of that. Holy and joyful? Something about that, too. But love songs sung by a bride about the birth of her bridegroom? That's just weird stuff right there.Weird or not, though, once Justine decides to enter a short story contest using a Christmas carol as the inspiration, she discovers love in the carols she investigates, in the story an ex-Army guy tells, and in the little tourist town of New Cheltenham."But what do the words mean?"Ken Torsney is used to fighting for causes he believes in. He just never imagined he'd go from Army "warrior" to spiritual warrior in the span of a simple question from a stranger to his little village. Justine is like no girl he's ever known. She's hungry for the gospel even as she rejects it.He's falling for her, and that's bound to break his heart.Love is in the air in New Cheltenham this Christmas. Again.

Her reputation precedes her, whether the bad guys realize it or not.Nancy Harrison has finally stepped out of her prissy box and tried to do something helpful--but did she go overboard in her first self-less act?She can't ride, she hates horses, and she's terrified of being alone. What's a girl to do?Join the Pony Express, of course.When Nancy Harrison's family receives a tax bill they can't pay, there's only one option open to them. Her brother, Lewis, will have to join the Pony Express and earn the money that way. It would have worked, too, if ruffians hadn't attacked him and broken his leg. She doesn't want to do it, of course, but what choice is there? Lose everything or ride a stupid, smelly horse for a few weeks?Nancy decides that she'll chop off her hair, take to the dusty overland trail, and prove that she isn't a "flighty little thing." But things go from bad to worse as she discovers that riding astride is worse than sidesaddle-especially when you're not used to it.Can't she just go back home to balls, teas, and the hope of a suitor before her twentieth birthday? Sans her hair, of course, because that'll entice the fellows. Sigh.

"...waitin' for the matchmakin' man with the (mail) bag..."When Izzie Williams receives a package for someone else in the Elmhurst neighborhood, she scrawls an apologetic note on it and pops it back in the mail.Gabe Carbone never imagined a misdirected package would then lead to a postcard correspondence with a sweet old lady a few streets over.A snowstorm creates a little postal mayhem that turns into friendly correspondence and then something more when Gabe and Izzie discover that their "geriatric" neighbors are more than just "young at heart."An illusionist and a parodist meet on the snow-crusted sidewalk and exchange snow-crossed letters. Who falls in love first? Find out in Snow-Crossed Letters today!

♥ She's got one chance to find herself and start a new life-with a little help from her radio psychologist. ♥Quinn Kelly. Intelligent, responsible, hard-working, reliable. She's also spontaneous and whimsical-when she lets herself be. Certain those two sides of herself cannot peaceably coexist, she takes a serendipitous windfall and a bit of risky advice from some old movies and decides to spend a couple of months at a chalet resort in Lake Vienna-as a pair of twins. (Hint: she doesn't have a twin). Surely she can sort her issues in a couple of months... right?Seth Clifton has his own issues-trust issues to be precise. But the girl he keeps running into offers a refreshing perspective on life. Right up to the moment he discovers she's not who and what she seems.They both have problems to overcome. They both have the same therapist, sort of. They could each be great for the other with a little work and a lot of help from Dr. Daphne Moore. What'll it take for the radio doc to resolve their differences and heal hearts?If you love rom-coms and sweet romance, get your copy of Dial I for Identity today, a sweet Christian contemporary romance novella. Enjoy all the books in this exciting series filled with romantic comedy, heartwarming drama, and inspirational romance. Readers are sure to want to collect them all!

They left him for dead once, but the Kasimirs won't make that mistake again.Organized crime. Illegal drugs. Violence. With them comes acceptance, order, purpose-danger.They filled a hole in Leo Haesert's heart-one left by a father he never knew and an indifferent mother. Things change, however, and after years in the notorious Alliance of Kasimir, Leo met Jesus and turned himself around-right into the hands of the police and a bad plea-bargain to boot."One of Adric's girls, (From Thirty Days Hath...)" Allison Wahl has yet to meet "the one." She never imagined he might be a man with tattoos on his neck, arms, chest, and back. She certainly never imagined a man with piercings all over him and scars on his body and soul.As he begins his community service sentence, he rattles more than just Allison's emotions and when The Agency steps in to help, things go from bad to worse as far as he's concerned. What will it take for him to survive the Kasimir manhunt and begin a new life with the woman he's terrified to love?Grab this second Agency Files book and hold on for a dangerous ride through romantic suspense.

What's a guy to do when the ghosts of his past converge on his Christmas present?Mitchell Bogaert hasn't done much with his life in the four years since college, to which his negative-digits bank account and credit score will attest. So when news of an inheritance from a man he hasn't seen in years arrives on the same day as his eviction notice, Mitchell considers the odd terms of the will to be a no-brainer.Sure, he'll move into a building in the tourist village of New Cheltenham. Of course, he'd be happy to live there for a year as a condition of inheritance. And yes, he'll suffer the humiliation of creating, entering, and presenting at the annual Dickens Ghost Story Competition. Free room and board for a year plus a rather substantial inheritance to boot? Who wouldn't?But someone either doesn't want him in New Cheltenham or doesn't want him to receive that inheritance, because the more he works on his story, the more convinced he is that a ghost resides in the narrow building he now calls home.Don't miss the short story he writes in this book in "The Ghastly Therapist" also available.

Alone without friends or family to comfort her after the death of her mother, Willow Finley's idyllic life is over-and just beginning. Chad and Willow's engagement doesn't stay a secret for as long as they expected. Willow is initiated into the sport of Olympic shopping and attends her first ball. It sounds exciting, but after week with Marianne and Chad at her house is followed soon after by a week of Aggie's children, Willow needs a break from the whole "real world" thing.This volume introduces Willow to weddings and ends with a surprise twist. Follow as Willow's story unfolds past forward. Past Forward is a serial novel once released weekly on Kindle and now available in collected volumes--no more waiting for weekly installments!

If only owning a bookstore didn't mean dealing with people.No one was more surprised than Harper Brevig when Great Aunt Lorene (not "Lori," thank-you-very-much) died and left her least favorite niece her bookstore-including a prime piece of real estate in downtown Red Wing, Minnesota.Making a go of the place shouldn't be too hard. With her library science degree, she should be set. Then again, the website describing library degrees had said it would teach her excellent communication skills. It had not. Could she get a partial refund?Still, owning the building should mean crazy-low overhead to offset her less than optimal "book-side" manner. Ahem. So when yet another huge bill arrives, and she starts getting twitchy about the low bank balance, Harper does the only thing she can think of.Enter Milton Coleridge. He'd been excited about the possibilities of the store last year, but Harper had sent him packing before he could talk to her about them. Now he has a chance to make a difference. But she's right. She's bleeding money, and it doesn't make sense!Milton's job is to figure out what's going on, plug the financial leak, and maybe... do a little matchmaking. That dad with the adorable little boy would be good for her... and she'd be good for him. Probably.Twice Sold Tales: the first full-length novel in the Bookstrings series releasing with The Mosaic Collection

Someone's killing off Alexa Hartfield's characters almost faster than she can.They say not to tick off an author or she'll write you into her book and kill you off. No one said anything about those annoying folks recreating the murders from her current work in progress!Or, adding injury to murder, turning her life into a cliché in the process!Officer Joe Friedan walks a beat on the safe streets of downtown Fairbury-except when he's patrolling the neighborhoods or (lately), investigating another murder. Another murder inspired by their resident bestselling author.Fairbury already attracts enough tourists (it's the Mayberry vibe) and fans of (their famous but rapidly becoming infamous) author without flirting with every true-crime aficionado or serial killer groupie! He has to find this guy before Alexa becomes the next victim!Manuscript for Murder: The first book in the Hartfield Mysteries offers a race to stop a killer and bring him to justice before anyone else dies in this contemporary mystery with (mostly) vintage fashion flair!

♥ The only way not to break her best friend's heart is to get someone else to steal it. ♥It wasn't a marriage pact exactly, but Crystal and Jarod had agreed to discuss the idea if neither of them had found anyone during the ten years post-college graduation. Just a conversation-no pressure or obligation.But as the discussion date looms, Crystal knows she wants more from life than a nice existence with a best friend she isn't in love with. Begin "Operation Find Jarod a Girl." Phase one-well, she owes his boss thanks for that. A month off work should just about do it...if she can get him to agree to a month in New Cheltenham.Jarod doesn't see the point, but he's willing to make the trip if it keeps him away from his family's drama this Christmas. He didn't expect to find someone like Ellie there, and he definitely didn't expect to fall for her.But with Ellie and Jarod hitting it off so well and Jarod becoming exactly what she'd been looking for, Crystal wonders if she's made a colossal mistake.A novella of love and friendship that defies a love triangle to interfere.

Alone without friends or family to comfort her after the death of her mother, Willow Finley's idyllic life is over-and just beginning... AGAIN!Chad and Willow's new marriage is everything and nothing like either of them expected, especially with the pending Solari trial. At last, a significant step in removing the Solari's from Chad and Willow's life, but the drama isn't quite over yet! Willow thought that her new life after her mother was an adjustment, but daily life even with her best friend offers new trials and unexpected sorrows. Learning how to include each other in decisions, how to manage all the work (new and continuing), and still remain true to the things they hold dear puts a strain on their relationship, but with their trust in the Lord and in each other, they can weather anything... can't they?So many firsts in this volume from first days of marriage to another first that can, if you choose, end the series for you.There is more... Two more volumes, one more major shock, and then a lifetime of joys and sorrows together as it ends in Volume Six.Follow as Willow's story unfolds past forward. Past Forward is a serial novel once released weekly on Kindle and now available in collected volumes--no more waiting for weekly installments!

♥ Christmas in Rockland--battleground or romantic? ♥Avalon is ticked-seriously livid. Who does this Marine recruiter thing he is? Her brother is a boy and is not ready to be sacrificed on the altar of "service to your country." No. Thank you. When trying to talk sense into Max doesn't work, she does the only think she can think of. Take it to the top.Gareth Hudson has an exemplary record as a Marine recruiter and knows a good man when he sees one. So when Maxton McCollum starts asking questions in a diner one afternoon, it was obvious. This was a match made in military heaven. One young man anxious to serve his country. One country ready to train him to be the best version of himself.So when Avalon walks into Gareth's recruiting office, all the wrong kinds of fireworks explode. In a peacekeeping move unlike him, Gareth asks for four Saturdays to change her mind. If he can't, he'll suggest that Max wait six months before signing up. Romance wasn't part of the bargain, and with their age difference, Gareth knows it still shouldn't be, but how do you resist the pull of love at Christmas?

October 1939-What happens when you run from danger... and into a trap?After the Anschluss, Austria becomes a place its citizens don't recognize-especially its Jewish citizens. Whispers ripple through Jewish communities-whispers about a chalet where a woman protects Jewish children from discovery. She'll keep them safe, fed, and far away from Nazis.Parents are forced to make horrific decisions. Send their children away to safety, possibly never seeing them again, or keep their families together and risk their children's lives?Hans Hartmann arrives at the chalet with a chip on his shoulder and a little girl in tow. He found Grete waiting at the train station. Alone. But life at Chalet Versteck feels more ominous than the streets of Vienna. Children sometimes vanish, and before Hans can figure out what's happening, a high-ranking officer appears-and is killed.It's a race to find out who killed the man and get himself (and probably that pesky Grete) out!A Ransomed Grete is the bridge book between the 1920s and 1940s Ever After Mysteries, combining fairy tales with mysteries.

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 he 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?Under the Hibiscus is the introductory Christmas "noella" in the brand-new, Suamalie Islands Series from Celebrate Lit Publishing. Grab this May/December Christmas romance today.

He loved her then. Will she love him now? When Mallory Barrows finds an old diary in a box of books, the story she finds within sends her on the hunt for the owner-and maybe more. Theirs is a story ripped from a country song. A wedding, a former love presumed dead, her new love stepping aside. And over forty years later, their story is one few remember. With Mallory determined to find the people in the pages of that diary, one couple is offered the second chance of a lifetime. This "second-chance / seasoned romance" novel introduces the next island in the Independence Islands Series featuring five islands, six authors, and a boatload of happily-ever-afters. The Independence Islands Series: beach reads aren't just for summer anymore.

When a hurricane rips through Hooper Island, a tidal wave of TV crews follows and upsets the locals.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 furious, and the show host is spitting nails at the person who blew it in the first place.His and his father's jobs are in jeopardy, the islanders are about to kill him, and that crazy show host blames him for her assistant's last-minute, "you've-got-to-sign-this-now-or-we-can't-come" contract.One more thing. Did she have to be so cute?He's got even more trouble, though. Islanders are starting to blame Mallory Barrows for the invasion. Not only that, there are rumors of dismantling the association and allowing tourism on the islands. How's he supposed to fix this mess?They can't stand each other, but if they can manage to flip off the enemy switch and flip on some cooperation, maybe their hearts'll get flipped, too.This "enemies to romance" novel introduces the next island in the Independence Islands Series featuring five islands, six authors, and a boatload of happily-ever-afters. The Independence Islands Series: beach reads aren't just for summer anymore.