Over Coffee

by Barbara Briggs Ward

To Cate, her job as a newspaper reporter is so much more. It’s her passion. While she understands the industry is going through tough times, Cate assumes the executive who’d signed the email announcing expected furloughs wasn’t concerned that Christmas was three weeks away. She’s certain he didn’t know her divorce had been finalized nor did he realize or care she was on her own with a two-year-old anticipating Santa Claus.Sitting in her favorite coffee house working on a story, her assumption is about to change when that executive himself sits down at her table. Sometimes the obvious isn’t. Sometimes when we think we have the rest of our life planned, our heart takes us in a different direction and that can be a gift all in itself.

77 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 24, 2011

About the author

I am a writer living in Ogdensburg, NY. I am author of "The Reindeer Keeper", released October, 2010 and selected by both Yahoo's Christmas Book Club and Yonkers, NY Riverfront Library Book Club as their December 2012 featured Book of the Month. Because of the positive feedback from readers, I followed with the release of "The Snowman Maker" in 2013 and in October, 2015, "The Candle Giver." The three Christmas-themed books stand on their own yet there is a thread connecting them-making them a heartwarming Christmas trilogy.
I have been published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul book-'Christmas Magic'; the Chicken Soup for the Soul book, 'Family Caregivers'; Ladies' Home Journal, Highlights for Children; The Crafts Report; and The Saturday Evening Post online. In June, 2017 I released an Amish mystery titled, "A Robin's Snow" available online in paperback, Kindle and Nook.
I have been a featured writer on Mountain Lake PBS and at Target Book Festivals in New York and Boston. I invite you to my website. My Blog can be found under the Author tab on my website: barbarabriggsward.com

Reviews

[Lisa (Bookworm Lisa) · Rating 3 out of 5]

**3.5 stars**

This is a very quick Christmas romance. The main characters are both coming from lives that have had major disappointments. They both don't know if they will ever find love again.

Cate is a reporter working on her next assignment, stressing about upcoming furloughs, and struggling to make ends meet as a single mother. Lost in her work, a man asks if he can sit with her for a cup of coffee. She didn't realize that it was an executive from the paper, one of the villains in her mind.

She quickly learns that things are not always what they appear to be. He is a great guy. They both learn from each other about life and learning to trust.

The book begins in a coffee shop and one of the last settings is the coffee shop.

I enjoyed this short book. It's a great book to read on a cold winter's night when you want a book that will make you feel good about life and romance.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice feel-good Christmas story, with the characters taking a dip into their pasts and using what they find to make the present better. The writer has a smooth, easy-to-read style and invites the reader to like her characters in a subtle manner. There's a lot of talking heads here, with blocks of dialogue without tags or beats, so the reader's major insight into the characters becomes what they say, not less they're doing or thinking. A good pick-me-up for when you're down.