It wasn’t even Thanksgiving, and all the overachievers already had their Christmas decorations up.  The Main Street holiday window display competition had become more cutthroat over the years, especially as fresh blood had been introduced to downtown. When Alex purchased The Melting Plot five years ago, she had only been twenty-four years old, the youngest business owner by far. But now, the owner of the salon couldn’t be more than three years out of high school, and the anti

Being married to a police officer wasn't nearly as sexy as Isabella had been led to believe. If the book covers in her mom's Kindle library were any indicator, she would be swept off her feet daily by a six-foot-five bodybuilder who knew his way around a pair of handcuffs. Instead, she was alone in her queen-size bed, wrists unbound, and dressed in a very modest pair of flannel pajamas. Her husband, Carver, just started night shift, and it was Isabella's first night alone in

Every year, I’m excited for Advent, but I always get caught up in the busyness of the holidays, and by the time I catch my breath, the season has come and gone. I want to do something a little different this year that forces me to meditate on the four themes of Advent: hope, peace, joy, and love. I'm thrilled to announce I will be writing and publishing a series of short stories during Advent, focusing on these key themes. What Is Advent? Advent is a season observed by most C

Despite having been an avid reader for most of my life, it has only been recently that I've joined a formal book club.  Last year, I was talking with one of my closest friends, who is also a bibliophile, and she mentioned she would like to form a book club. So we each invited a few friends, picked a book to read, and met at a brewery on Main Street. We read a book called Big Stone Gap  by Adriana Trigiani. It's based on the real town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, which isn't to