A Christmas Bride

October 17, 2016
Ramsay (the Last Chance series) launches the Chapel of Love contemporary series with this well-written, gratifying romance. After blowing the whistle on her employer's misdeeds, Willow Peterson loses her job and returns to her northern Virginia hometown of Shenandoah Falls to start a new life. She decides to restore Eagle Hill Manor, a local inn formerly owned by her deceased best friend, Shelly, in time for another friend's Christmas wedding. David Lyndon, Shelly's widower, is a politician, not an innkeeper; he refuses to play host and instead puts the inn up for sale. However, his humbug attitude proves to be no match for Willow's fortitude, wit, and love for David and Shelly's eight-year-old daughter. At the behest of David's high-society, political family, he and Willow (whose mother is known as a troublemaking hippie) embark on a relationship, but they frequently clash over plans for the inn. Ramsay places sacrifice at the heart of the story. David's strength is evident from the start, and readers will be eager to see how he balances his obligations against his desires. Agent: Elaine P. English, Elaine P. English.

October 15, 2016

Ousted from her job at a medical device company when she discovers fraud and turns whistle-blower, Willow Peterson leaves New York and returns to Shenandoah Falls to get her life back on track. She also gets involved in planning a Christmas wedding at her best friend Shelly's home, Eagle Hill Manor. Shelly was killed before the house could be restored, but Willow knows it's just what she would have wanted. The stumbling block is getting aspiring congressman David Lyndon, Shelly's still-grieving husband and cousin to the groom, to agree. A heroine with a knack for stirring up trouble and a hero who finally gets his priorities straight come to terms about their mutual feelings in a story knee-deep in class issues, family expectations, political action, and characters both to love and loathe (among them an adorable eight-year-old and a domineering mother who makes Cruella de Vil look like a saint). VERDICT With skillful precision, Ramsay nails the political dynamics and small-town vibe and launches an endearing series fans will savor. Ramsay (Last Chance Hero) lives in Virginia.

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