Kirjahaku

With genteel grace and quiet fortitude, Emma Garrett presides over Hill House, a stately boardinghouse in the canal village of Candlewood, New York. She finds her purpose in caring for her guests, ministering to them with a generous dose of wisdom and humor. But when a "runaway grandma" lands on her doorstep, Emma's need to fix every wrong places her in the midst of a family feud. Emma's concerns heighten when her attorney, Zachary Breckenwith, delivers life-changing news, leaving Emma reeling from the implications. With her future suddenly uncertain, Emma longs to restore the peace of Hill House--for her guests and within her own heart. FIND A WELCOME RETREAT IN CANDLEWOOD AS YOU EXPERIENCE THE BEAUTY, FRIENDSHIP, AND FAITH IN THE LIVES OF ITS QUAINT AND COLORFUL CHARACTERS.

When tragedy befalls the village of Candlewood, Emma Garrett graciously opens the doors of her boardinghouse to those in need. But two guests prove so disagreeable, Emma wonders how she can turn the other cheek--and what will become of the rest of her guests. Adding to the turmoil are the legal problems threatening the title to her house. And when Zachary Breckenwith makes a most surprising--and troubling--announcement, Emma's once-sure foundation is in danger of crumbling. In a season of trial and uncertainty, Emma must discover anew the source of her strength.

Emma Garret is eagerly anticipating the arrival of spring, when her three children and grandchildren will travel back to Candlewood to celebrate her birthday at Hill House, the boardinghouse she oversees. Though anxious to introduce her sons to Zachary Breckenwith, the man who's been courting her, her sons' own problems--and wounds deeply hidden since childhood--soon overshadow her joy. As Zachary presses Emma for an answer to his marriage proposal, Emma faces a host of dilemmas. Struggling to help her children, to determine the fate of Hill House, and plan her future with Zachary, Emma must rely on her wits, her determination, and her faith to help her fully understand the meaning of family, friendship, and love.

With no means to support herself, Ellie Kilmer agrees to work as a housekeeper for the young widower who lives on Dillon Island, hopeful she can obtain a proper reference. But Jackson Smith quickly realizes that Ellie's presence may solve his own problems--both the rearing of his young boys and the scandal that surrounds his first marriage. When a marriage of convenience is offered, Ellie is initially humiliated. Though she is past the age most women marry, she has more pride than to agree to his outlandish suggestion. Yet what options does she have? To marry would mean a home and stability. So despite the rumors circling Jackson and his first wife, Ellie accepts this unlikely proposal...

Ruth Livingstone's life changes drastically the day her father puts a young child in her arms and sends her to a small village in New Jersey under an assumed name. There Ruth pretends to be a widow and quietly secludes herself until her father is acquitted of a crime. But with the emergence of the penny press, the imagination of the reading public is stirred, and her father's trial stands center stage. Asher Tripp is the brash newspaperman who determines that this case is the event he can use to redeem himself as a journalist. Ruth finds solace tending a garden along the banks of the Toms River--a place where she can find a measure of peace in the midst of the sorrow that continues to build. It is also here that Asher Tripp finds a temporary residence, all in an attempt to discover if the lovely creature known as Widow Malloy is truly Ruth Livingstone, the woman every newspaper has been looking for. Love begins to slowly bloom...but is the affection they share strong enough to withstand the secrets that separate them?

Betrayed by her husband, Annabelle Tyler wears the burden of legally being a divorcee, a difficult position for an upstanding young woman to find herself in. While attempting to start a new life for herself, an unexpected turn of events once again has Annabelle married--this time to Harrison Graymoor, the most eligible, yet elusive, bachelor in Philadelphia. Harrison assures her that he will secure an annulment immediately, unaware that the constable has sent word of the marriage to the press in Philadelphia. And here things continue to go awry. Harrison's past, a philanthropic cousin with his eye on Annabelle, and the appearance of Annabelle's ex-husband threaten the tentative relationship growing between Harrison and his "wife." For two individuals set against marriage, there are certainly a lot of second thoughts regarding the one forced upon them.