This Christmas, the greatest gift could be a second chance at love.Maddie Craig enjoys her quiet life in the charming small town of Christmas Beach, Louisiana, content to work as a pediatric nurse and raise her son Alex alone after the tragic death of her husband Rob. Her longtime neighbor and friend Jeff Murphy has always been a source of support, but when a devastating fire destroys Maddie's holiday décor, she begins to see Jeff in a new light.As Maddie and Jeff join forces to create a magical family Christmas celebration, the spirit of the season sparks long-buried feelings between them. But Maddie still carries the scars of loss and heartbreak, afraid to risk her heart again. And with gossip swirling in their close-knit community, will Maddie and Jeff find the courage to embrace a second chance at love?
Lori Wilde can’t remember a time when she didn’t want to write. She even went to nursing school so she could have a schedule flexible enough to allow her to write on the side. She nursed for 20 years, working in a variety of settings from the newborn nursery to the recovery room, to dialysis. But she never lost her desire to write.
She sold her first book in 1994 to Silhouette Romance but later discovered she had a flair for comedy and branched out to Harlequin Duets and now, to Blaze.
Lori is an adventuresome soul who loves to travel. She’s taken flying lessons, completed two marathons, rode in a hot-air balloon, performed with a professional jazz band, traveled Europe as a teenager, hiked volcanoes in Hawaii, trod on glaciers in Alaska, shot white-water rapids, water-skied, snow-skied, raced all-terrain vehicles, bodysurfed in the Gulf of Mexico, and photographed grizzly bears in Yellowstone.
She lives in her native Texas, with her own real-life hero, Bill.
A wonderful, sweet, second chance Christmas romance. The storyline is delightful and I loved the later-ish in life characters. They were authentic and real. The story is full of adorable moments and friendship. It's mostly lighthearted with small town beach charm and a sweet romance. I could not help but love every moment of this book.
Neighbors Maddie Craig and Jeff Murphy have known each other since their children were little and have been a source of support for each other whenever needed through the years. But suddenly each of them has noticed a change in their feelings for the other and aren’t quite sure what to do or say about it and possibly risk ruining their great friendship. Community gossip already has them as a couple. Can Maddie and Jeff open their hearts to the possibility of a future together? A great second chance, later in life story.
I enjoyed this novella's storyline because of the mutual feelings of Jeff and Maddie even tho they had not ever spoken them until he proposed. The entire families knew they had feelings for each other. The story was just long enough not to get boring.
Nice friends to lovers story, where widowed and divorced neighbors realize that their friendship is so much more. Maddie is the very last to know, even though her son, Jeff's daughters, and the entire town of Christmas Beach evidently saw it.
This could easily become a Hallmark Christmas movie. Sweet story showcasing a love that wasn’t apparent at first to Maddie and Jeff, and slowly blossoms.