Christian Novels

New York City is always in need of miracles...And this Christmas is no exception. Thank heavens the divinely inspired, if somewhat ditsy, angelic trio -- Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy -- is available to answer three heartfelt prayers this sacred holiday season... and to impart important lessons along the way. And Goodness knows (as do Mercy and Shirley) that the three lonely women to whom they've been assigned have a lot to learn:A dedicated inner-city school teacher, Brynn needs to teach her troubled students how to dream...Shy and dutiful Hannah must learn to follow her own heart...And frustrated small-town-girl-turned-Broadway-wannabe Jenny needs to discover that home is where love truly lies.It's time for the angels to shine.. and to prove once again that when you wish upon a star, you get much more than just a pretty song! One The young man wore a staple in one ear. Brynn Cassidy tried not to stare as he paraded past her and slouched down in the desk in the farthest corner of the classroom. His nose was decorated with a safety pin. The fact that his hair was cut in a Mohawk style and dyed orange shouldn't faze her. She'd been told what to expect. Manhattan High School wasn't St. Mary Academy, the parochial girls' high school where she'd taught for the last two years. But teaching here was an opportunity she couldn't let pass her by. She'd accepted this position to test her theories and gain experience in dealing with students from a disadvantaged neighborhood. Next, a young lady entered the room in a miniskirt, blouse and no bra. Her hair, pitch-black and stringy, covered her far better than her choice of outfits. She glanced around, shrugged, and claimed the seat closest to the door as if it were important to make a fast getaway. The room filled quickly. The school building itself was said to be dilapidated and run-down, but that didn't trouble Brynn. St. Mary Academy was a turn-of-the-century structure with high ceilings and lovely polished wood floors that smelled of lemon oil. When Brynn learned Manhattan High in the Washington Heights area had been constructed in the early 1950s, she'd expected it to be an improvement, but she was wrong. Like so many other schools, Manhattan High had been forced to make some difficult budget choices. Thanks to three failed school bond levies, modernizing the classrooms was on the low end of the priority list. "Will everyone kindly take a seat," Brynn instructed nervously. She stood in front of the class and was ignored, which wasn't surprising since the bell had yet to ring. Looking for something constructive to do, she walked over to the badly chipped blackboard and wrote out her name. The bell rang, and several of the kids stopped talking long enough to indicate their irritation at being interrupted. The level of conversation increased once the bell finished. Brynn returned to the front center of the room and waited. She'd learned early in her teaching career never to outshout her students. It only ma

Alone at Christmas, Greg Bennett feels his life has been a waste. Sixty years old and he has no one to spend the holiday with -- and no one who cares. Greg knows he's made mistakes, hurt people, failed in all the ways that matter. As a young man, he fathered a child he never acknowledged. He deserted a friend in his hour of need. He abandoned his own brother, who he hasn't seen in years. And he and his wife are in the midst of an acrimonious divorce. Listlessly wandering through the streets of San Francisco, Greg finds himself in a church -- and he whispers a simple, heartfelt prayer. His prayer finds its way to the Archangel Gabriel, who assigns his favorite angels -- Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy -- to Greg Bennett's case. Gabriel knows that very soon, Greg will need all three. One Greg Bennett had always hated Christmas. He'd never believed in "goodwill toward men" and all that other sentimental garbage. Christmas in the city - any city - was the epitome of commercialism, and San Francisco was no exception. Here it was, barely December, and department-store windows had been filled with automated elves and tinsel-hung Christmas trees since before Thanksgiving! Most annoying, in Greg's opinion, was the hustle and bustle of holiday shoppers, all of whom seemed to be unnaturally cheerful. That only made his own mood worse. He wouldn't be in the city at all if he wasn't desperately in need of a bank loan. Without it, he'd be forced to lay off what remained of his crew by the end of the year. He'd have to close the winery's doors. His vines - and literally decades of work - had been wiped out by fan leaf disease, devastating the future of his vineyard and crippling him financially. He'd spent the morning visiting one financial institution after another. Like a number of other growers, he'd applied at the small-town banks in the Napa Valley and been unsuccessful. His wasn't the only vineyard destroyed by the disease - although, for reasons no one really understood, certain vineyards had been spared the blight. For a while there'd been talk of low-interest loans from the federal government, but they hadn't materialized. Apparently the ruin hadn't been thorough enough to warrant financial assistance. For Greg that news definitely fell into the category of cold comfort. It left him in a dilemma. No loan - no replanted vines. Without the vines there would be no grapes, without the grapes, no wine, and without the winery, no Gregory Bennett. What he needed after a morning such as this, he decided, was a good stiff drink and the company of a charming female companion, someone who could help him forget his current troubles. He walked into the St. Francis, the elegant San Francisco hotel, and found himself facing a twenty-foot Christmas tree decorated with huge gold balls and plush red velvet bows. Disgusted, he looked away and hurried toward the bar. The bartender seemed to sense his urgency. "What can I get you?" he asked promptly. He wore a name tag that

Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded shops, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That's just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they'll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on the street without a rooftop Frosty the snowman; they won't be hosting their annual Christmas Eve bash; they aren't even going to have a tree. They won't need one, because come December 25 they're setting sail on a Caribbean cruise. But, as this weary couple is about to discover, skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences - and isn't half as easy as they'd imagined.A classic tale for modern times, Skipping Christmas offers a hilarious look at the chaos and frenzy that has become part of our holiday tradition. The gate was packed with weary travelers, most of them standing and huddled along the walls because the meager allotment of plastic chairs had long since been taken. Every plane that came and went held at least eighty passengers, yet the gate had seats for only a few dozen.There seemed to be a thousand waiting for the 7 P.M. flight to Miami. They were bundled up and heavily laden, and after fighting the traffic and the check-in and the mobs along the concourse they were subdued, as a whole. It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving, one of the busiest days of the year for air travel, and as they jostled and got pushed farther into the gate many asked themselves, not for the first time, why, exactly, they had chosen this day to fly.The reasons were varied and irrelevant at the moment. Some tried to smile. Some tried to read, but the crush and the noise made it difficult. Others just stared at the floor and waited. Nearby a skinny black Santa Claus clanged an irksome bell and droned out holiday greetings.A small family approached, and when they saw the gate number and the mob they stopped along the edge of the concourse and began their wait. The daughter was young and pretty. Her name was Blair, and she was obviously leaving. Her parents were not. The three gazed at the crowd, and they, too, at that moment, silently asked themselves why they had picked this day to travel.The tears were over, at least most of them. Blair was twenty-three, fresh from graduate school with a handsome resume but not ready for a career. A friend from college was in Africa with the Peace Corps, and this had inspired Blair to dedicate the next two years to helping others. Her assignment was eastern Peru, where she would teach primitive little children how to read. She would live in a lean-to with no plumbing, no electricity, no phone, and she was anxious to begin her journey.The flight would take her to Miami, then to Lima, then by bus for three days into the mountains, into another century. For the first time in her young and sheltered life, Blair would spend Christmas away from home. Her mother clutched her hand and tried to be strong.The good -byes had all been said. "Are you sure this is what

Reviewed for THC ReviewsThose Christmas Angels is the fifth book of Debbie Macomber’s Angels Everywhere holiday-themed series, which returns to its mostly romantic roots. In this one we have Roy Fletcher, a businessman who is deeply cynical about love and relationships following a devastating betrayal that affected both him and his mother, Anne. But Anne has come to terms with it and prays that her son will, too, so that he’ll be able find someone he can truly love and trust. Her prayer request lands on the desk of the archangel, Gabriel, who assigns Shirley, Goodness and Mercy to the case. They’re thrilled to be matchmaking again, but initially disagree over who would be the best match for Roy. Then along comes Julie Wilcoff, the daughter of Roy’s newly hired chief of security. Their first meeting is anything but cordial. In spite of that, though, Mercy thinks they’d be a perfect fit, so the angels engineer a little accident, which only ratchets up the tension between Roy and Julie. But eventually they find their way to a more romantic place that looks like it’s going to lead to an HEA if only Roy can overcome his distrust of women.Roy is a successful businessman who several years ago had a serious relationship with a woman named Aimee. They were on the path to getting married until Aimee met Roy’s father, Burton, and from there, things went downhill. Burton and Aimee had an affair that turned into devastation and broken hearts for Roy and his mother, Anne, when both their relationships crumbled, and Anne was cheated out of a fair divorce settlement. Since then, Anne has picked up the pieces of her life and has reinvented herself as an artist, making a modest living, but Roy has languished in bitterness and cynicism. Anne’s Christmas wish is for Roy to find a woman who can love him for himself and who he can trust and love in return. After hiring a new head of security, Roy has a chance meeting with the man’s daughter, Julie, in which he’s pretty rude about her presence on his property. From there, the angel trio creates an accident in which Julie is thrown from her bike and it appears that Roy may have hit her with his car. The two argue incessantly over who was at fault, and although he admits no wrongdoing, Roy decides to head off an expected lawsuit by paying Julie off. Incensed that he would be so distrustful, she refuses his money, and gradually Roy starts to open his heart to her, thinking that she really is different. Romance begins to blossom, but when Julie refuses an offer to move in with Roy, his old tendency to distrust starts rearing its ugly head again, leading to a breakup in need of a Christmas miracle to get their relationship back on track. Although Roy has good reasons for being so cynical, I had a hard time really liking him because he takes it to a level that’s pretty sexist, lumping all women into the lying, cheating category with his ex. He’s emotionally closed off, and when in a pique of anger, can say some rather mean t

Wishes for love bring hope from above.Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy—three willing but sometimes wayward angels—are each given someone's prayer to answer . . .Shirley: She's sent to help nine-year-old Timmy Potter, who longs for a new father. And although his mother, Jody, has vowed never to trust any man, Shirley is determined to help her love again.Goodness: She knows Monica Fischer longs for a husband and home of her own, but the young woman has practically given up on finding the right man to stand by her side . . . until Goodness steps in to help.Mercy: Can Mercy bring hope back into Leah Lundberg's life? This maternity nurse desperately wants a child to fill up the home she's made with her husband, Andrew.But there's just one catch: Each angel must teach her charge a memorable lesson before the prayer can be granted . . . Chapter 1 The manger was empty. Leah Lundberg walked past the nativity scene Providence Hospital put out every year, stopped, and stared. The north wind cut through her like a boning knife as Leah studied the ramshackle stable, her heart heavy, her life more so. The blue of Mary's gown had long since faded, she noted. Joseph, leaning heavily against his staff, was slightly off-balance, and looked as if he'd topple in a stiff wind. There seemed to be one less lamb this year and one of the donkey's ears was missing. It was a small wonder the structure remained upright with the weight of the angel, yellow now instead of golden, nailed to the top. Triumphantly, she blew her chipped horn proclaiming the glorious news of the Savior's birth. The hospital had reconstructed the Christmas scene every Advent for the last fifty years, long before Leah was born, long before she realized an entire lifetime of tears could be stored within a single tattered soul. It was ironic that a woman who toiled as a nurse day after day on a maternity ward would be childless herself. Her work with laboring mothers was her gift, they said, her special talent. Women specifically requested that she be with them for the birthing of their children. For whatever reason, Leah had been granted the touch, a gentle hand, and a sympathetic heart. Birthing mothers claimed she was inspiring, encouraging, and supportive. Labor didn't seem nearly as difficult when Leah was with a patient. She'd heard it all before, countless times, the praise, the gratitude. What most of Leah's patients didn't know was that she, who was an expert at labor and delivery, had never given birth herself. Her patients left the hospital with their arms and their lives full. Each afternoon, Leah walked out of Providence alone. And empty. Tears crowded her eyes and spilled unheeded down her cheeks. She bowed her head and closed her eyes in prayer. "Dear God," she whispered, choking down the emotion, "please give me a child." It was a plea she'd whispered innumerable times over the last ten years. So often that she was convinced God had long since given up hearing. Or caring. Wiping the moist

Christmas is a time for angels.Shirley, Goodness and Mercy are back! These three irresistible angels love their assignments on Earth. They especially love helping people who send prayer requests to Heaven (even though the Archangel Gabriel, their boss, knows they're going to break his rules)!This Christmas, Mercy is assigned to bring peace of mind to an elderly man— who discovers an unexpected answer to his prayer.Goodness is sent to oversee the love life of a young woman afraid to risk commitment a second time. And Shirley has the task of granting a little boy's fondest Christmas wish.Shirley, Goodness and Mercy go wherever they're needed. These three charming angels often find themselves in trouble, but somehow things always work out for the best—especially at Christmas. The sights and sounds of Christmas were all around him. At home, the scent of evergreen mingled with ginger and spice, and multicolored lights glittered throughout the house. This was Harry Alderwood's favorite time of year. He'd settled in Leavenworth, Washington, more than five decades ago, and he loved the way this town celebrated Christmas. Despite his eighty-six years and failing health, nothing could dampen his love of the season. Even sitting in Dr. Snellgrove's office, with its spindly artificial Christmas tree, waiting for what he was sure would be bad news, Harry didn't feel depressed. This appointment would probably drain him for the rest of the day, and yet it seemed pointless. He doubted there was anything left for Dr. Snellgrove to do. His heart was giving out; it was as simple as that. Harry wasn't afraid of death. He often thought about it, especially with so many of his friends dying. He'd seen death, witnessed it countless times on the beaches of Normandy and the battlefields of Europe in World War II. He'd grieved when his own parents and his older brother, Ted, had passed away. He wasn't afraid, though. Maybe he should be, but why worry about the inevitable? An exhausted young mother sat across the room, keeping her little girl entertained by reading to her. Looking at them, he found it hard to tell who needed the doctor most, mother or child. Both seemed to be suffering from bad colds. Harry was grateful for the distance between them, since his own immune system was so weak. Harry knew this would almost certainly be his last Christmas, and that saddened him. He'd always been a man of faith, and that faith had grown stronger as he grew older. Which was a natural progression, he supposed. He wondered if the angels celebrated Christmas in Heaven; he suspected they did. Harry figured he'd find out soon enough. Meanwhile, he was determined to make his last Christmas on Earth as special as he could for Rosalie. Already he was thinking of what he might do to show his wife of sixty-five years how much he loved her. Leaving Rosalie. That was his one regret.... "Harry Alderwood." He was caught up in his thoughts, and the nurse had to repeat his name before he heard

Touched by Angels (Angels Everywhere #3) Book Online Touched by Angels (Angels Everywhere #3) In Touched by Angels, the beloved author of Mrs. Miracle, showcases three of her most popular characters: the well-meaning if somewhat dizzy heavenly helpers, Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy. Macomber's delightful angelic trio alights in New York City in Touched by Angels, and before they re-enter the Pearly Gates, they need to answer the prayers of a troubled school teacher, a shy and lonely young woman, and a wannabe Broadway actress a long way from home. *************** One The young man wore a staple in one ear. Brynn Cassidy tried not to stare as he paraded past her and slouched down in the desk in the farthest corner of the classroom. His nose was decorated with a safety pin. The fact that his hair was cut in a Mohawk style and dyed orange shouldn't faze her. She'd been told what to expect. Manhattan High School wasn't St. Mary Academy, the parochial girls' high school where she'd taught for the last two years. But teaching here was an opportunity she couldn't let pass her by. She'd accepted this position to test her theories and gain experience in dealing with students from a disadvantaged neighborhood. Next, a young lady entered the room in a miniskirt, blouse and no bra. Her hair, pitch-black and stringy, covered her far better than her choice of outfits. She glanced around, shrugged, and claimed the seat closest to the door as if it were important to make a fast getaway. The room filled quickly. The school building itself was said to be dilapidated and run-down, but that didn't trouble Brynn. St. Mary Academy was a turn-of-the-century structure with high ceilings and lovely polished wood floors that smelled of lemon oil. When Brynn learned Manhattan High in the Washington Heights area had been constructed in the early 1950s, she'd expected it to be an improvement, but she was wrong. Like so many other schools, Manhattan High had been forced to make some difficult budget choices. Thanks to three failed school bond levies, modernizing the classrooms was on the low end of the priority list. "Will everyone kindly take a seat," Brynn instructed nervously. She stood in front of the class and was ignored, which wasn't surprising since the bell had yet to ring. Looking for something constructive to do, she walked over to the badly chipped blackboard and wrote out her name. The bell rang, and several of the kids stopped talking long enough to indicate their irritation at being interrupted. The level of conversation increased once the bell finished. Brynn returned to the front center of the room and waited. She'd learned early in her teaching career never to outshout her students. It only made her look foolish, and it didn't work. After five full minutes of being ignored, she went to the wall and flipped the light switch a couple of times. This technique had worked elsewhere but had only a mild effect upon the class. The level of talking decreased moment

A Season of Angels (Angels Everywhere #1) Book Online A Season of Angels (Angels Everywhere #1) A heartwarming story of love and joy from bestselling author Debbie Macomber. Three angels are each given a prayer request to answer during the four weeks before Christmas. But there's a catch: each angel must teach her charge a memorable lesson before the wish is granted. *************** Chapter 1 The manger was empty. Leah Lundberg walked past the nativity scene Providence Hospital put out every year, stopped, and stared. The north wind cut through her like a boning knife as Leah studied the ramshackle stable, her heart heavy, her life more so. The blue of Mary's gown had long since faded, she noted. Joseph, leaning heavily against his staff, was slightly off-balance, and looked as if he'd topple in a stiff wind. There seemed to be one less lamb this year and one of the donkey's ears was missing. It was a small wonder the structure remained upright with the weight of the angel, yellow now instead of golden, nailed to the top. Triumphantly, she blew her chipped horn proclaiming the glorious news of the Savior's birth. The hospital had reconstructed the Christmas scene every Advent for the last fifty years, long before Leah was born, long before she realized an entire lifetime of tears could be stored within a single tattered soul. It was ironic that a woman who toiled as a nurse day after day on a maternity ward would be childless herself. Her work with laboring mothers was her gift, they said, her special talent. Women specifically requested that she be with them for the birthing of their children. For whatever reason, Leah had been granted the touch, a gentle hand, and a sympathetic heart. Birthing mothers claimed she was inspiring, encouraging, and supportive. Labor didn't seem nearly as difficult when Leah was with a patient. She'd heard it all before, countless times, the praise, the gratitude. What most of Leah's patients didn't know was that she, who was an expert at labor and delivery, had never given birth herself. Her patients left the hospital with their arms and their lives full. Each afternoon, Leah walked out of Providence alone. And empty. Tears crowded her eyes and spilled unheeded down her cheeks. She bowed her head and closed her eyes in prayer. "Dear God," she whispered, choking down the emotion, "please give me a child." It was a plea she'd whispered innumerable times over the last ten years. So often that she was convinced God had long since given up hearing. Or caring. Wiping the moisture from her face, she gathered her coat more closely around her thin shoulders and headed for the staff parking lot. She forced herself to smile. It upset Andrew that she continued to dwell on their inability to have children, and she didn't want him to know she'd been crying. Her husband had accepted the news with little more than a shrug. He felt bad, knowing how desperately she longed for a baby, but it wasn't nearly as earth-shattering to hi

The Perfect Christmas Book Online WHAT WOULD MAKE YOUR CHRISTMAS PERFECT? For Cassie Beaumont, it's meeting her perfect match. Cassie, at thirty-three, wants a husband and kids, and so far, nothing's worked. Not blind dates, not the Internet and certainly not leaving love to chance. What's left? A professional matchmaker. He's Simon Dodson, and he's very choosy about the clients he takes on. Cassie finds Simon a difficult, acerbic know-it-all, and she's astonished when he accepts her as a client. Claiming he has her perfect mate in mind, Simon assigns her three tasks to complete before she meets him. Three tasks that are all about Christmas: being a charity bell ringer, dressing up as Santa's elf at a children's party and preparing a traditional turkey dinner for her neighbors (whom she happens to dislike). Despite a number of comical mishaps, Cassie does it all --- and she's finally ready to meet her match. *************** Chapter 1 "W ho mails out Christmas cards before Thanksgiving?" Cassie Beaumont lamented to her best friend. Angie Barber looked up from her microscope and seemed to take an extra moment to consider what Cassie had just said. "You got a Christmas card? Already?" Cassie wheeled her chair back to her station. "Can you believe it?" "Who from?" "An old college friend. You wouldn't know her." Cassie shrugged. "Jill married Tom two weeks after we graduated." "They have children?" Cassie caught the wisp of longing in Angie's voice and answered with a nod. "Two, a boy and a girl, and of course they're adorable." "Of course," Angie echoed. The Christmas card photo showed the four of them in matching outfits of green and red. The mother and daughter wore full-length green dresses with red-and-green plaid skirts. Father and son had on three-piece suits with vests in the same fabric as the dress skirts. It was too adorable for words. "There was a letter, as well." "Everything in their lives is perfect, right?" Angie asked. "Perfect in every way," Cassie grumbled. The unfairness of it all was too much. Jill, who worked as a financial planner, held down a forty-hour-a-week job, kept a meticulous house and still managed to be a terrific wife and mother. Despite all the demands on her time, she'd mailed out her Christmas cards a full month in advance. "Is there a reason the perfect Jill sent her Christmas cards so soon?" Angie asked. "Jill and Tom just moved into a new home and wanted to update family and friends with their address change. Oh, and there was a photo of the house and it was - "

Glad Tidings Book Online Glad Tidings (Here Comes Trouble & There's Something About Christmas) CHRISTMAS NEWS! READ ALL ABOUT IT! This is a time for families, for togetherness, for memories. On Christmas Eve, Maryanne and Nolan Adams tell their kids the story they most want to hear --- how Mom and Dad met and fell in love. It all started when they were reporters on rival Seattle papers ... and next thing you know, Here Comes Trouble! Christmas is also a time for ... fruitcake. Rookie reporter Emma Collins hates fruitcake; for that matter, she hates Christmas, too. When three Washington State women are finalists in a national fruitcake contest, the story is assigned to her. That's bad enough. It gets worse when she has to fly in a small plane (scary!) with a smart-aleck pilot named Oliver Hamilton (sexy!) and his scruffy dog (cute!). In the end she meets three wise women, falls in love and learns There's Something About Christmas. *************** THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT CHRISTMAS To Emma Ingram (the real Emma) and her mother Chapter One On that cold day I was born, in February 1955, my great-aunt gave me a classic fruitcake for the celebration of the occasion of my birth. Every year during the holidays I pull it out of the attic and take a look at it and it still looks great, and every year I try to get up the nerve to take a slice and try it. - Dean Fearing, chef of The Mansion on Turtle Creek This job was going to kill her yet. Emma Collins stared at the daredevil pilot who was urging her toward his plane. She'd come to Thun Field to drum up advertising dollars for her employer, The Puyallup Examiner, and wasn't interested in taking a spin around southeast Puget Sound. "Thank you, but no," she insisted for the third time. Oliver Hamilton seemed to have a hearing problem. However, Emma was doing her best to maintain a professional facade, despite her pounding heart. No way would she go for a ride with Flyboy. The truth was, Emma was terrified of flying. Okay, she white-knuckled it in a Boeing 747, but nothing on God's green earth would get her inside a small plane with this man - and his dog. Oliver Hamilton had a devil-may-care glint in his dark blue eyes and wore a distressed brown leather jacket that resembled something a World War Two bomber pilot might wear. All he needed was the white scarf. She suspected that if he ever got her in the air, he'd start making loops and circles with the express purpose of frightening her to death. He looked just the type. Placing the advertising-rate sheet on his desk, she turned resolutely away from the window and the sight of Hamilton's little bitty plane - a Cessna Caravan 675, he'd called it. "As I was explaining earlier, The Examiner has a circulation of over forty-five thousand. As you'll see - " she gestured at the sheet " - we have special introductory rates in December. We serve four communities and, dollar for advertising dollar, you can't do better than what we're offering." "Yes, yes, I un

Those Christmas Angels (Angels Everywhere #5) Book Online Those Christmas Angels (Angels Everywhere #5) New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber brings readers a much-awaited NEW angel story this month! This tale brings back reader favorites Shirley, Goodness and Mercy, who are matchmaking angels playing havoc on an unsuspecting couple. Combining elements of comedy and fantasy with the added joy of the Christmas season, THOSE CHRISTMAS ANGELS will make the perfect holiday gift! This new angel book follows Debbie's three HarperCollins novels and one MIRA book, SHIRLEY, GOODNESS AND MERCY (10/99), and will be in great demand. *************** One Anne Fletcher pulled the last box of Christmas decorations from the closet in the spare bedroom. She loved Christmas - always had and always would, regardless of her circumstances. It was a bit early yet, a few days before Thanksgiving, but some Christmas cheer was exactly what she needed to get her mind off her problems. The grief that had been hounding her since the divorce five years agoThe financial uncertainty she now facedThe betrayal she still felt "No," she said aloud, refusing to allow herself to step closer to that swamp of regrets. It often happened like this. She'd start thinking about everything she'd lost, and before she knew it, she'd collapse emotionally, drowning in pain. Carrying the plastic container down the hallway, she glanced inside her art room and let her gaze drift over to her easel and her latest project. The bold colors of the setting sun against the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean pleased her. Yes, she was divorced, but there'd been compensations, too. Her art had fulfilled her in ways she hadn't even realized were possible. How different her life was at fifty-nine than she would've imagined even five years ago - before the divorce. What Burton had done was unforgivable. He'd hurt her, and he'd cheated her out of funds that were rightfully hers. Once again she stopped herself, not wanting to indulge those bitter memories and regrets. She'd done plenty of that in the beginning, when she'd first learned he'd found someone else and wanted out of their thirty-year marriage. It was a fling, or so she'd managed to convince herself. A midlife crisis. Lots of men had them. Any day Burton would come to his senses and see what he was doing to her and to Roy, their son. Only he hadn't, and Anne walked out of divorce court numb with shock and disbelief. Not until the judge's gavel echoed through the room had she fully believed her husband was capable of such treachery. She should've known, should've been prepared. Burton was a top-notch divorce attorney, a persuasive man who knew all the ploys. But despite everything, she'd trusted him. Her friends had been stunned, too - less by Burton's deception than by Anne's apparent acceptance of what he'd done to her. It wasn't in her to fight, to drag her marriage and her life through the courts. Burton had recommended an attorney, whom sh

Where Angels Go (Angels Everywhere #6) Book Online Where Angels Go (Angels Everywhere #6) Christmas is a time for angel. Shirley, Goodness and Mercy are back! These three irresistible angels love their assignments on Earth. They especially love helping people who send prayer requests to Heaven (even though the Archangel Gabriel, their boss, knows they're going to break his rules)! This Christmas, Mercy is assigned to bring peace of mind to an elderly man— who discovers an unexpected answer to his prayer. Goodness is sent to oversee the love life of a young woman afraid to risk commitment a second time. And Shirley has the task of granting a little boy's fondest Christmas wish. *************** The sights and sounds of Christmas were all around him. At home, the scent of evergreen mingled with ginger and spice, and multicolored lights glittered throughout the house. This was Harry Alderwood's favorite time of year. He'd settled in Leavenworth, Washington, more than five decades ago, and he loved the way this town celebrated Christmas. Despite his eighty-six years and failing health, nothing could dampen his love of the season. Even sitting in Dr. Snellgrove's office, with its spindly artificial Christmas tree, waiting for what he was sure would be bad news, Harry didn't feel depressed. This appointment would probably drain him for the rest of the day, and yet it seemed pointless. He doubted there was anything left for Dr. Snellgrove to do. His heart was giving out; it was as simple as that. Harry wasn't afraid of death. He often thought about it, especially with so many of his friends dying. He'd seen death, witnessed it countless times on the beaches of Normandy and the battlefields of Europe in World War II. He'd grieved when his own parents and his older brother, Ted, had passed away. He wasn't afraid, though. Maybe he should be, but why worry about the inevitable? An exhausted young mother sat across the room, keeping her little girl entertained by reading to her. Looking at them, he found it hard to tell who needed the doctor most, mother or child. Both seemed to be suffering from bad colds. Harry was grateful for the distance between them, since his own immune system was so weak. Harry knew this would almost certainly be his last Christmas, and that saddened him. He'd always been a man of faith, and that faith had grown stronger as he grew older. Which was a natural progression, he supposed. He wondered if the angels celebrated Christmas in Heaven; he suspected they did. Harry figured he'd find out soon enough. Meanwhile, he was determined to make his last Christmas on Earth as special as he could for Rosalie. Already he was thinking of what he might do to show his wife of sixty-five years how much he loved her. Leaving Rosalie. That was his one regret.... "Harry Alderwood." He was caught up in his thoughts, and the nurse had to repeat his name before he heard her. She was a young woman named Kelly Shannon - or was it Shannon Kell

Shirley, Goodness and Mercy (Angels Everywhere #4) Book Online Shirley, Goodness and Mercy (Angels Everywhere #4) Alone at Christmas, Greg Bennett feels his life has been a waste. Sixty years old and he has no one to spend the holiday with - and no one who cares. Greg knows he's made mistakes, hurt people, failed in all the ways that matter. As a young man, he fathered a child he never acknowledged. He deserted a friend in his hour of need. He abandoned his own brother, who he hasn't seen in years. And he and his wife are in the midst of an acrimonious divorce. Listlessly wandering through the streets of San Francisco, Greg finds himself in a church - and he whispers a simple, heartfelt prayer. His prayer finds its way to the Archangel Gabriel, who assigns his favorite angels - Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy - to Greg Bennet's case. Gabriel knows that very soon, Greg will to need all three. *************** One Greg Bennett had always hated Christmas. He'd never believed in "goodwill toward men" and all that other sentimental garbage. Christmas in the city - any city - was the epitome of commercialism, and San Francisco was no exception. Here it was, barely December, and department-store windows had been filled with automated elves and tinsel-hung Christmas trees since before Thanksgiving! Most annoying, in Greg's opinion, was the hustle and bustle of holiday shoppers, all of whom seemed to be unnaturally cheerful. That only made his own mood worse. He wouldn't be in the city at all if he wasn't desperately in need of a bank loan. Without it, he'd be forced to lay off what remained of his crew by the end of the year. He'd have to close the winery's doors. His vines - and literally decades of work - had been wiped out by fan leaf disease, devastating the future of his vineyard and crippling him financially. He'd spent the morning visiting one financial institution after another. Like a number of other growers, he'd applied at the small-town banks in the Napa Valley and been unsuccessful. His wasn't the only vineyard destroyed by the disease - although, for reasons no one really understood, certain vineyards had been spared the blight. For a while there'd been talk of low-interest loans from the federal government, but they hadn't materialized. Apparently the ruin hadn't been thorough enough to warrant financial assistance. For Greg that news definitely fell into the category of cold comfort. It left him in a dilemma. No loan - no replanted vines. Without the vines there would be no grapes, without the grapes, no wine, and without the winery, no Gregory Bennett. What he needed after a morning such as this, he decided, was a good stiff drink and the company of a charming female companion, someone who could help him forget his current troubles. He walked into the St. Francis, the elegant San Francisco hotel, and found himself facing a twenty-foot Christmas tree decorated with huge gold balls and plush red velvet bows. Disgusted, he looked away and hu