About the Book

Book: Twice Sold Tales

Author: Chautona Havig

Genre: Christian / Romantic Women’s Fiction

Release date: November 2, 2022

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

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

USA Today Bestselling author Chautona Havig lives in an oxymoron, escapes into imaginary worlds that look startlingly similar to ours and writes the stories that emerge. An irrepressible optimist, Chautona sees everything through a kaleidoscope of It’s a Wonderful Life sprinkled with fairy tales. Find her at chautona.com and say howdy—if you can remember how to spell her name.

 

More from Chautona

“What kind of research does a contemporary book need? I mean, she’s a bookstore owner in a town you’ve been to several times. What’s there to research?”

I can’t be the only author to get questions like this. And I certainly can’t be the only one who has to fight the urge to laugh. Folks, authors research everything. In Twice Sold Tales, I think I looked up almost as much as I did in my Meddlin’ Madeline Mysteries!

Because here’s the deal. What I didn’t know about Red Wing, Minnesota wouldn’t have hurt the story most of the time. Who cares that Bev’s Café has amazing creamy cucumbers? It doesn’t technically matter. Well, except to my character who hates veggies but will eat those. They make her feel virtuous. And you get to know about it.

But… what you discover about a place or a time or an occupation or whatever can totally change the course of your story. Case in point? I went to a website about River City Days because my niece suggested it might be a good thing for Noah to do with his son. That led me to the Farmer’s Markets and to other things. How I got to the first Ghost Walk in Red Wing taking place this year? I don’t even know. What I do know is that the moment I read about it, I knew Harper had to go. And if she did, and if Milton were the instigator, Noah had to go. #BecauseMatchmaker.

And this is where it got really cool. To make the walk as authentic as I could, I read everything I could find about it. And I discovered something super cool. Like… blow you out of the water cool.

Red Wing, Minnesota sits near the shore of Lake Pepin. Little House on the Prairie lovers will remember this as the lake that Laura Ingalls crossed in the wagon as they left the Big Woods of Wisconsin (you know, right across the river/lake from Red Wing???) Well… Lake Pepin has a monster—the Nessie of the Mississippi. Yes, you read that right… a monster! I went looking and guess what? The “monster” has a name. Pepie! Needless to say, Pepie became a an important part of my story. Because how could he not?

And… I happened to find a stuffed Pepie at Treats & Treasures in Lake City, just south of Red Wing, so I ordered a couple for giveaways—including the one with this blog tour. Happy reading, and what do you think? Shouldn’t someone write Pepie’s story?

MY REVIEW 

I feel so inspired after reading this book. Why you may ask yourself?  Well thanks for  asking.  I feel as if I could open a bookstore, design it to a degree with a certain person’s help and make it successful. I would also have to bring Harper along to run the store. To say that I love  this character is an understatement. Her sass alone makes her my best friend. I loved her shirts she wore with sayings that make me laugh. I think  I may have to see if they are available to purchase. She takes no pleasure in seeing young children  come into her bookstore and torture the books. No they are not welcomed and Harper makes it very clear when chaos happens when children are out of control in her store. She has enough going on with trying  to keep the store open, so no tomfoolery is aloud. 

Getting to know Noah and his son was a welcome addition to the story. I liked how these two become a family and how Noah makes sure Bennie knows that he is safe. I didn’t mind at all that Bennie wanted to do ballet and loved how he thrived at it. Of course there is always  that one kid that just can’t help themselves when it comes to being a bully. I don’t like bullies at all and I’m glad that Noah addressed the issue right away so Bennie knew his dad would stand up for him. Through this experience of being  bullied,  Bennie begins to understand that his dad loves him and will always be there for him. Noah also will learn a valuable lesson about risking everything to protect the ones he loves. 

Now let’s get to our friend Milton. What a wonderful character the author has created. He comes to town to help Harper revamp her store and make it prosperous. The ideas that Milton comes u0 with are exciting except I’m not sure about doing research on the ghost trail. That  one gave me chills and I’m right there with Noah not wanting to go. One intriguing fact in the book is about “Nessie in the Mississippi.” Pepie is the monsters name and it is quite the phenomenon in the town.  I must have a stuffed Pepie and will not rest until I find  my own. Pepie reminds me of a sweet dinosaur and when I was younger my brothers called me Dino the dinosaur. So yes I need my own Pepie. I love everything about it and how it is related to the story from Laura Ingalls  Wilder which  will always be my favorite story from childhood. 

The story is filled with a charming town that the author brings to life. Her research makes the story come alive and maybe there is a trip in my future. Milton surprises me with his compassion to help others. His knowledge of how to make a business better is a gift. I loved how the author mentions many books in the story and stopped  and looked up every one of them. This has been an honor to read this book and see how people come together to help each other out.  I can’t wait to read the next in the series and see who Milton will meet and share his gift of compassion and happy endings.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.

Blog Stops

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, January 21

Vicky Sluiter, January 21

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, January 22

Mary Hake, January 22

Texas Book-aholic, January 23

Where Crisis & Christ Collide, January 23

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, January 24

deb’s Book Review, January 24

All-of-a-kind Mom, January 25

Lots of Helpers, January 25

Cover Lover Book Review, January 26

Locks, Hooks and Books, January 26

Splashes of Joy, January 27

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, January 27

She Lives To Read, January 28

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, January 29

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, January 30

For Him and My Family, January 30

Divine Perspective, January 31

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, January 31

Aryn the Libraryan, February 1

Books I’ve Read, February 1

Blogging With Carol, February 2

Back Porch Reads, February 2

Pause for Tales, February 3

Spoken from the Heart, February 3

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Chautona is giving away the grand prize package of a paperback of the book, a stuffed “Pepie” and a few other bookish goodies!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/23bc5/twice-sold-tales-celebration-tour-giveaway