Introducing… Her Thankful Heart

Welcome to the Advent season at Maranatha Inn!

For probably ten years, I’ve been noodling on a romance series that focused on the themes of advent, starting with Thanksgiving. I had a few different ideas of background, setting, and characters, but nothing quite meshed until about two years ago.

Then… boom! What if the characters were all in their fifties? What if the heroines had been Bible school friends way back in the day? What would bring this “single again” group back together decades later?

An inn wrapped in Christmas joy! And why not in Jewel Lake, where most of my recent series have taken place? Sure, the town is getting crowded (how is there anyone single left? LOL!) but there must be room for one more.

Then came the fun part of fleshing out the characters. How are women in their fifties single? Widowhood, divorce, or never having married. I decided on a mix of all three backgrounds. Ditto for their heroes. Do they have children? Grandchildren? Aging parents? Where do all these extra people live, and do they show up in person or do they remain in the background?

These heroines… what talents and skills do they bring to Maranatha Inn? What in their histories prepared them for their role in running an inn? And, oh, yes! How big is this inn, anyway? What does it look like? How is it laid out?

So many questions! Typical of how I begin noodling on a series.

About the series:
Welcome to Maranatha Inn, where six old college friends reconnect to highlight Advent traditions in Jewel Lake, Montana. They might all be single (again) after all these years, but romance isn’t on their Christmas lists, which are full of hosting holiday parties, bonfires, Christmas trees, sleigh rides, and more! Still, romance may just find them, anyway.

What will you find in Her Thankful Heart?

mature charactersstruggles with widowhood after a difficult marriageloss of children (distant past)reconnecting with an estranged adult childovercoming regreta chef and retired militarydifficulty in finding gratitude and joydeep Christian faithdeep friendships and a sense of communitylaugh-out-loud momentsbantera delightful, uplifting, advent-based Christian romance

About Her Thankful Heart:

Move across the country? Check.
Help a friend open a new inn? Check.
Make room in her life for gratitude and new love? Not. A. Chance.

Accomplished chef Pamela Whorley has arrived in Jewel Lake, Montana, and here she’ll stay for the next three months, hanging out with her college bestie and other friends of that era, then move on again. Alone, no matter how the sole guest at the inn tempts her heart to reawaken.

Granger Durand has plenty of regrets, starting with putting his military career ahead of his infant daughter. Fighting militants was easier than fighting his ex, but now his grown-up daughter seems ready to accept a relationship with him… on her terms. Which is why he’s staying at the Maranatha Inn, an arrangement that seems perfect until the new chef, a beautiful widow, refuses to be friends.

Granger’s two grandkids force a reluctant Pam to face memories of her own lost family, and his humble gratitude for new opportunities might encourage her to reacquaint herself with her fractured faith. But being thankful for everything that’s happened and opening up about it to her friends — not to mention Granger — might be asking too much.