A Christmas Bride

Ramsay (the Last Chance series) launches the Chapel of Love contemporary series with this well-written, gratifying romance. After blowing the whistle on her employer's misdeeds, Willow Peterson loses her job and returns to her northern Virginia hometown of Shenandoah Falls to start a new life. She decides to restore Eagle Hill Manor, a local inn formerly owned by her deceased best friend, Shelly, in time for another friend's Christmas wedding. David Lyndon, Shelly's widower, is a politician, not an innkeeper; he refuses to play host and instead puts the inn up for sale. However, his humbug attitude proves to be no match for Willow's fortitude, wit, and love for David and Shelly's eight-year-old daughter. At the behest of David's high-society, political family, he and Willow (whose mother is known as a troublemaking hippie) embark on a relationship, but they frequently clash over plans for the inn. Ramsay places sacrifice at the heart of the story. David's strength is evident from the start, and readers will be eager to see how he balances his obligations against his desires. Agent: Elaine P. English, Elaine P. English. (Sept.)