On Tour with Prism Book Tours
Home for Christmas
(Shores of Indian Lake #12)
By Catherine Lanigan
Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook, 384 Pages
November 1st 2019 by Harlequin Heartwarming
Can a magical Christmas under glass…
…bring them back together for good?
Widowed dad Adam Masterson still doesn’t understand why Joy Boston left Indian Lake and broke his heart all those years ago. Now she’s returned to sell her grandfather’s beloved poinsettia greenhouse—and Joy and Adam’s connection is as strong as ever. But Joy has a life in New York. And Adam has only until Christmas to convince Joy that she belongs in Indian Lake—with him.
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My Thoughts
Another hit by one of my favorite heart warming authors! Lanigan has done it! Once again, she has created a Hallmark worthy story for readers. Every page turn pulled me farther into the story, and help me captive until the very end.
I absolutely love traveling to Indian Lake and seeing the beautiful scenery and wonderful characters. Lanigan uses vivid detail and wonderful depictions of the town and those that inhabit it, and it creates a wonderful Holiday image for the reader. Joy and Adam’s characters are beautifully chiseled and truly captured my heart. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Adam with Joy, seeing him work to convince her that she’s already home for Christmas.
Their story is one of second chances, sparking an old flame, and knowing what the heart wants. Lanigan has wonderful messages woven through out the story and it truly made for a relaxing time of reading! If you want a 4 star worthy read, one that will make you feel like it was written just for you, one that will have you warm and cozy for Christmas to be here, then grab a copy of this beautifully written novel. Let Lanigan take you Home for Christmas this Christmas!
Excerpt
Unwinding her scarf, she walked behind the counter and was surprised to see full boxes of ribbons, foil and cellophane, and bolts of wrapping paper sitting in the same spots as they had a decade ago. “Not everything was sold or discarded.”
She looked toward the back of the retail gift area. Two French doors led to a smaller greenhouse where specialty orchids, amaryllis and hybrid poinsettias used to be displayed on long wooden tables. That was Joy’s favorite area, where her grandfather would test his yearlong projects of coral-and-white-striped poinsettias, yellows, ambers, and try as he might, the absolute impossible task of creating a blue poinsettia. Blue poinsettias didn’t exist naturally, and he would dye white ones to please designers in Chicago, but he was a dreamer. He’d often told her he wanted to create a flower that was not only beautiful but timeless. Something the world would never have seen if it hadn’t been for him.
Behind the special greenhouse were the storage rooms, where the new shipments of gift items, table linens, Christmas stockings, birdbaths and feeders, scented candles and bath oils and washes used to be delivered and stored until they were put out for display.
“I wonder if any stock is left…” Joy started toward the storage room when she heard a door slam. She halted. “What was that?” She peered through the French doors. Was someone breaking into the greenhouse?
“Hello? Is someone there?”
Peering through the windows, she saw a tall man, wearing a buckskin-yellow suede jacket with a sheepskin collar and lining, jeans, a scarf around his neck and a tan cowboy hat that was pulled down low so that she couldn’t see his face. He was carrying a large sack of something on his shoulder as he pushed one door open with his booted foot.
His presence filled the room as if he owned the place and she was the one intruding.
He placed the sack on the cement floor of the greenhouse, then slapped his hands together, creating a cloud of white dust. He pushed the tip of his cowboy hat up and leveled on her the bluest eyes she’d ever seen.
Familiar eyes.
Eyes that probed her in a way that went straight to her heart.
“Adam?” She almost choked out his name, being both stunned and oddly pleased to see him.
“Hey.”
He continued to stare at her, assessing her as if she were one of his cogs in a machine he was creating.
“Hi,” she returned.
Unsmiling, he said, “I heard you might come back.”
“Yes. Of—of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Been a long time.”
Joy didn’t like the accusatory tone Adam used. Nor did she like the fact that he’d matured into a handsome man with flashing, mesmerizing eyes. And how was that possible? They were “over” a long time ago.
“He was my grandpa.”
“And you came back because he died.”
“Excuse me?”
“Sorry. I mean I’m sorry about Frank. He loved you a lot.”
“And you know this…how?”
“He never stopped talking about you.”
Joy felt a pang of guilt for not being there more for her grandfather. But she didn’t like Adam’s tone. She glanced through the French door, propped open by the sack of cement he’d deposited. She saw a compressor, metal pipes, PVC pipes, vent apparatus and coils of copper tubing. A toolbox with wrenches, hammers and screwdrivers sat next to the pile of materials.
“Just exactly how did you get in here?”
“Key.”
Joy had to consciously halt her eyes from flying wide open. “You? Have access to my grandfather’s place of business?”
“Clearly—” he waved his hand across the empty retail area “—it’s not a business anymore.”
“I was told Frank closed it years ago.”
“He did. Five years, to be exact.”
Joy put her fingertips to her temples. None of this made sense. “I don’t understand. I flew him to New York for Thanksgiving every year. He told me he had to hurry back here to get the poinsettia shipments in. He said business had never been better.”
“He lied.”
“I got that, Adam!”
“Don’t jump on me!” he shot back, all too quickly and with twice the force.
“Why didn’t he tell me the truth?”
“He didn’t want to disappoint you,” Adam replied, dropping his harsh tone.
Her eyes were tearing again, but she didn’t care. “He told you that?”
“He did.”
“But nothing he would do could ever, ever disappoint me. I loved him. That’s all. The attorney told me on the phone that Grandpa was too proud to ask for my help.”
“That, too.” Adam glanced down as he asked, “Would you have come back if he asked?”
“I don’t know. No. Maybe…if he’d told me how bad it was.”
Adam shook his head. “Well, we’ll never know.”
Other Books in the Series
About the Author
Catherine Lanigan is the international bestselling and award-winning author of over forty-five published titles in both fiction and non-fiction, including the novelizations of Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile. Ms. Lanigan’s novels have been translated into over twenty-four languages. Lanigan was tasked by the NotMYkid foundation to pen a collection of compelling and informative true stories of teen addicts. Ms. Lanigan’s SHORES OF INDIAN LAKE series for HARLEQUIN HEARTWARMING includes LOVE SHADOWS, HEART’S DESIRE , A FINE YEAR FOR LOVE, KATIA’S PROMISE, FEAR OF FALLING, SOPHIE’S PATH, PROTECTING THE SINGLE MOM, FAMILY OF HIS OWN, HIS BABY DILEMMA, RESCUED BY THE FIREFIGHTER and HERS TO PROTECT (2019).
Ms. Lanigan is a frequent speaker at literary functions and book conventions as well as inspiring audiences with her real stories of angelic intervention from her Angel Tales series of books. She is an outspoken advocate for domestic violence and abuse and was honored by The National Domestic Violence Hotline in Washington, D.C. She has been a guest on numerous radio programs including “Coast to Coast” and on television interview and talk show programs as well as blogs, podcasts and online radio interview programs. She writes a monthly blog for Heartwarmingauthors.blogspot.com.
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Tour Schedule
Tour Giveaway
– One winner will receive a $100 Amazon eGift Card (open internationally)
– Two winners will each receive a signed copy of Home for Christmas with a bookmark (US only)
– Ends November 27, 2019
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