The December Market

A tender, small-town holiday romance where the unexpected power of love melts the hardened hearts of two, grief-stricken locals.

 

The spirit of Christmas mends broken hearts in The December Market, a tender holiday romance by RaeAnne Thayne.

 

As in book one in the series, Christmas at the Shelter Inn, the story is set in Shelter Springs, Idaho—a small town that nourishes a sense of community, especially at Christmas. But for 31-year-old resident Amanda Taylor, the holidays resurrect sad memories of how her father’s alcoholism destroyed many lives and how her fiancé’s drinking problem ended their relationship.  As owner of an eco-friendly, skin care product shop, wounded Amanda buries herself in work and even oversees the Holiday Giving Market, where local merchants and artisans gather to sell their wares during the month of December.

 

Hard-working Amanda keeps crossing paths with Rafe Arredondo, a handsome paramedic and firefighter who tends to the first-aid booth at the market. Amanda learns that Rafe and his lovable six-year-old son, Isaac, live in her neighborhood—Rafe is widowed; his wife died of a drug overdose. When Amanda pays a visit to her plucky grandmother at the local retirement community, she and Rafe meet again and discover they have even more in common: their grandparents, both residents, are dating. As fate brings together Amanda and Rafe, their past heartaches are confronted by the prospect of a budding romance.

 

Prolific Thayne (15 Summers Later) unravels a heartfelt, hopeful story where grief is transcended by the power of love.

The December Market (Book 2 of 2: Shelter Springs) by RaeAnne Thayne

Canary Street Press (HarperCollins/Harlequin Books), $18.99 paperback, 9781335929358, 304 pages

Publication Date: October 8, 2024

To order this book via INDIEBOUND/Bookshop.org, link HERE

 

NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review as originally published on Shelf Awareness (October 11, 2024), link HERE 

Proof of Angels

When Sean Magee, a troubled 30-year-old firefighter, becomes trapped while battling a raging inferno, he bargains with God: "If you get me out of this... I promise... I'll be a better man." As if in answer to the prayer, a mysterious angelic light leads him to an escape, where he is forced to take a blind leap. His jump from the three-story building casts him into a new life filled with disabling and prolonged physical challenges. 

Sean's story is a spin-off thread from Mary Curran Hackett's previous novel, Proof of Heaven, in which a young boy with a life-threatening illness and his mother found their faith tested. "Uncle Sean"--a volatile, emotionally distant alcoholic--couldn't deal with their situation, so he ran away and created a new, single, solitary life in California. Proof of Angels, set three years later, delves into Sean's history, including how and why his heart was badly broken on an ill-fated trip to Italy years before.

After the fire, personal regret inhibits Sean's healing, and his physical immobility forces him to examine his conscience and make good on his life-saving promise to God. He must reconcile his past with the present, addressing his relationships with family, friends and caretakers who all have struggles of their own and, ultimately, with the woman he left behind across the ocean. Hackett delivers another gritty, yet hopeful story about the myriad ways broken human beings are often brought together to help and heal each other.

Proof of Angels by Mary Curran Hackett

William Morrow & Company, $14.99 Paperback, 9780062279958, 320 pp

Publication Date: November 4, 2014

To order this book via INDIEBOUND link HERE

Note: This review is a reprint and is being posted (in a slightly different form) with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (11/18/14), click HERE