Part of Christmas Hope, book 10
First published 2020
Lauren Mabrey discovers she's pregnant in June 2012. Her friends at Glory's Place rally around her as she prepares for motherhood. During a visit to a local furniture builder, Lauren buys a refinished table he acquired at a garage sale. Back home, she finds a hidden drawer containing recipe cards. Each card bears personal notes from a mother to her daughter. Lauren grew up moving between foster homes and never learned to cook. She feels drawn to these unknown women and wants to honor the mother's memory. The story shifts between 2012 and 1972, when John Creighton built the original table for his wife Joan. Joan used her mother's recipes to fill their new table with meals, but later faces breast cancer. As Lauren learns to cook from the discovered cards, she prepares for her baby's arrival. Christmas approaches and Lauren searches for answers about the table's history while seeking the sense of belonging she has always craved.
Genres: romance, family-life, historical-fiction, contemporary
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, second-chance
Setting: Glory's Place, June 2012
Period: 1972, 2012, Christmas
231 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press