Forever This Time

Launching the Echo Lake contemporary series, McGinnis weaves an engrossing and uplifting tale of enduring love. Josie Kendrew ditched her family and fiancé and left Echo Lake at age 18. Ten years later, she makes a quick visit to see her father, who has suffered a stroke. Childhood memories of an alcoholic mother and workaholic father are strangely compromised when Josie encounters her mother, now an organized homemaker, and sees her father, the energetic owner of Christmas theme park Snowflake Village, lying listless. She also reconnects with her former fiancé, Ethan, despite knowing little about the man he’s become. Frequent flashbacks give readers a glimpse into the life Josie left behind, explaining her aversion to Snowflake Village and introducing Avery, a young girl with cancer who in many ways shaped Josie’s adult life. Josie and Ethan’s charity work with cancer-stricken children adds depth, while former friends, some welcoming and some not, add elements of loyalty and conflict to a robust romance. Agent: Courtney Miller-Callihan, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Nov.)