Lauer A Very Chapel Falls Christmas

1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-63582-567-1
Verlag: Feminine Genius
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 192 Seiten

Reihe: A Very Chapel Falls Christmas

An epic breakup finds Nik Forrest, a world-famous musician, back in his quaint hometown at the same time his ex-fiancée returns, making for a Christmas holiday with its share of surprises, calamity, laughter, and love-if the two of them can learn from the mistakes that drove them apart in the first place. When she moves back to Chapel Falls, Noelle Clark was never expecting to see Nik again, except for on the cover of magazines. Try as she might to avoid him, the two exes keep running into each other throughout the holiday season. From the Ugly Sweater Shuffle to the Christmas Cookie Crawl, Nik and Noelle begin reconnecting at the renowned Christmas festivities that put their city on the map. Now Noelle is starting to fall, again, for the charming musician. But their future is tested when Nik's storied past comes knocking. Willow, the woman who dumped him at the most prestigious award ceremony in the world, shows up at Chapel Falls with a ring on her finger and a business offer Nik can't refuse. Nik must choose between the dream he has chased for years that cost him his first chance with Noelle or the hope of a second chance with the girl of his dreams. . . if it's not too late for good. Can Nik prove to himself and to his true love that he has moved on from Willow, the fast life of Nashville, and moved back to Noelle, just in time to pull off a picture-perfect Christmas surprise and start their life together?

An avid reader and history buff since childhood, award-winning author, journalist and screenwriter Amanda Lauer is the author of the Heaven Intended Civil War series. A World Such as Heaven Intended won the 2016 YA CALA (Catholic Arts and Letters) Award and A Freedom Such as Heaven Intended earned the 2022 Catholic Media Book Awards: First Place Catholic Novels: Inspirational. In addition, Lauer has written two time-travel novels, Anything But Groovy and Royal & Ancient, and was one of the co-authors of Catholic Teen Books novels Treasures: Visible & Invisible and Ashes: Visible & Invisible, and worked with Archduke Eduard Habsburg to bring his children's tale Dubbie: The Double-Headed Eagle to life. Her latest book, A Very Chapel Falls Christmas, is her first foray into contemporary romcom.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lauer, Amanda

Leseproben

Chapter Two With a city this size, it was hard to imagine too much would change over the course of ten years, but Noelle was pleasantly surprised as she peered from her apartment window down Main Street on the pre-dawn Black Friday morning. There had definitely been some changes. All for the good from what she could see. While some of the paper mills that had reigned this area for more than a hundred years were no longer spitting out converted paper by the railcar full, the abandoned bones of those structures had been razed or replaced. Now the areas had become greenspace or been repurposed into trendy city living for the homegrown young professionals who were coming back to town after establishing careers in bigger areas. Chapel Falls wasn’t her hometown, but it sure did feel like home. It was where she’d taken her first job when she’d graduated from college. That, and the place where she’d found her first love. And experienced her first heartache. Noelle glanced down at her left hand as she tossed a piece of lettuce into her guinea pig’s cage. The wheek, wheek, wheek chatter subsided as Cocoa chomped on the leaf, appreciative of the treat. Thinking about Chapel Falls made her consider her past. She absentmindedly touched her ring finger and could almost feel that silver band that had encircled her finger for two years. It had been custom designed at J. Anthony Jewelers just a couple blocks down from her apartment building. The pear-cut labradorite stone, also known as firestone—prized in the Inuit culture for its interior beauty and resemblance to the Northern Lights—was surrounded by nine round matching stones. One for each month of their courtship. It had never left her finger until the day she took it off for good. She’d been enamored with the ring from the moment she saw it. “Wish you could’ve seen that ring, Cocoa. It was so pretty,” she said wistfully to the guinea pig. The cut of the center stone reminded her of a tear, emblematic of the tears of joy she’d shed on that day when it had been slipped on her ring finger ten years ago. Little did she know that two years later, those tears would be of regret, sadness, and abandonment. After she and her fiancé had amicably parted ways, Noelle moved back home to ponder her life choices. She swore she’d never step foot in Chapel Falls again. But the job opportunities in Homer, Alaska, for someone in her field—or any field, for that matter—were scarce, to say the least. A degree in pulp and paper engineering was ideal for someone residing in a city built by paper barons. Not so practical in the frozen North, where the once-booming timber industry had dried up as more land was closed to timber harvesting. One last scratch on the guinea pig’s head, and she pulled the top of the cage down. “Be good, Cocoa. I’ll be back in a couple hours.” She grabbed her gloves and stepped out of the apartment. As humbling as it was to admit, in the ten years since the breakup, Noelle had been the stereotypical millennial living under her parents’ roof. Not in the basement—since most homes in Alaska didn’t have such a thing—but in the converted attic she’d taken over in high school after she’d gotten sick of sharing a bedroom with her younger sister, Hannah. The elevator door slid open, and Noelle stepped into the lobby and through the doorway to the coffee shop on the first floor of her building. To her credit, after she’d gone back to Alaska, she didn’t put her degree to use working as a barista. Not that there was anything wrong with that—she gave her friend behind the counter at Globe Coffee a smile—but with the employment picture being what it was, she’d been relegated to the position of administrative assistant, the glorified term for secretary, at a local insurance company. “Hey, Rosalia,” Noelle said as she made her way to the counter of the cozy and festive Globe Coffee. Rosalia shut the medical textbook she’d been studying and set it aside. “Morning, Noelle. What can I get for you today?” Noelle scanned the chalkboard as though she would actually consider something other than her go-to beverage. A moment later, she turned her attention back to Rosalia, who, at the moment, was the only person she knew on a first-name basis in Chapel Falls. “Large Toffee Nut Mocha, whole milk, whipped cream.” “You’re consistent, I’ll give you that,” Rosalia noted with a laugh as she entered the item onto her screen. Her smile was almost as bright as the bling on her Christmas apron. “It’s the only order I’ve taken from you since you moved into the building.” “That’s not true. Remember last Friday when I got a frosted turkey-shaped sugar cookie too?” Rosalia’s dark brown eyes rolled jokingly. “I stand corrected.” She turned from the register to start steaming the milk. Noelle sidled over to the pick-up area to make space for the next person who might walk into the shop. While she waited for her drink, she picked up crumpled straw wrappers and stray paper napkins from the floor. “Looks like you’ve had a busy morning already.” “We did. There was a line waiting outside when we opened at five.” Rosalia looked toward Noelle, who had expanded her mission to the center of the shop. “You don’t have to do that. I’ll get the broom out once I restock the mugs and cups. Take a seat, your mocha will be ready in thirty seconds.” “Actually, this is to-go today.” Noelle deposited the discarded items into the recycling bin. “Someone else can have my coveted corner spot this morning.” Retreating to the back counter, Rosalia poured hot liquid from a stoneware mug into a paper cup. She worked a plastic cover over the top, dropped the ensemble into a paper sleeve emblazoned with colorful holiday ornaments, and pushed it toward the front of the counter. “Sorry.” Noelle raised her right shoulder in a shrug. “I should’ve mentioned that when I was ordering. I’m taking a day off from applying for jobs. I’ve got an interview set up for Monday morning.” “Oh my gosh, Noelle,” Rosalia wiped her hands on her apron and stepped from behind the counter, arms outstretched to give her a hug. “That’s great news. And so quick. Didn’t I tell you that you’d have no problem finding work? Whoever hires you will be so lucky to have you on their team.” Those were just the words she needed to hear. She’d been doubting her decision to move back to the Lower 48 since the moment she’d pulled off the interstate. It was so unlike her to break out of her comfort zone once she was established somewhere. Even if she was returning to a place that she’d once called home. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Rosalia. Not that I’m counting my chickens before they hatch, but even getting an in-person interview is worth celebrating. Seeing that it’s Black Friday—and the diehard early-bird shoppers have gone home to nap—I’m going to treat myself to a trip down Main Street to see what shops have popped up since I was here last.” “For sure. That’s definitely an advantage of living in this building. You’re just steps away from the heart of the city. You can walk nearly anywhere you need to go. That’s a plus on a day like today.” Noelle glanced out the window. It was as though the shop and the six stories of apartments above it were encased in a snow globe. Which, at this moment, was being vigorously shaken. It had worked out well that there was an opening in the Millview Apartment complex when she was planning her move back to Chapel Falls. She wasn’t one to rent a place sight unseen, but she had little choice with the rental market as tight as it was in this chic, now-booming area. The description and pictures she’d seen online noted that the building was on the portion of Main Street that curved away from downtown—so it was a bit quieter than apartments in the business district—but still had that metropolitan vibe. She grabbed her drink and took a moment to watch the hustle and bustle of the intrepid shoppers making their way from the parking lot across the street to the shops a half block away. Another selling point for her apartment building was that it overlooked Gateway Park, the home of Gateway Plaza, a replica of Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. She’d never been to the original skating rink but was looking forward to spending time at Chapel Fall’s version. The plaza was used for ice skating this time of year, but apparently, it was repurposed as a roller-skating rink in the warm-weather months. As an Alaskan, she’d been on figure skates since the moment she knew how to walk. Once she was settled into a job, she planned to unpack her old skates and head to the plaza in the evenings or on the weekends for a quick skate. “About that interview?” Noelle blinked to regain her focus. “Where is it?” Rosalia asked. “Oh. City Hall. There was a job posting online for an assistant to the mayor.” “I thought you were applying for engineering jobs?” “I am, but this is probably the worst time of year to apply for something in that field. Companies try to keep their expenses to a minimum at the end of the fiscal year. Besides,” she took a sip of her mocha, “My résumé is a bit thin. I’ve been off the engineering grid for the last decade.” “So, this is a temporary gig?” “Not necessarily. If I get the job offer, I plan to stay there for at least a year so I can...