FOREVER THIS TIME – Maggie McGinnis
An Echo Lake Novel , Book 1
St. Martin's Paperbacks
November 2015
Contemporary Romance

Echo Lake, Vermont

Echo Lake is the home of the Kendrick family's Snowflake Village, a year round Christmas-themed amusement park…a business young Josie Kendrick sarcastically calls Camp Ho Ho and thinks of as a trap. She blames the park for the dysfunction of her home life and couldn't get away soon enough. Her chance came when she was eighteen, but there was a snag. Josie had been in love with EthanMiller for years, and they planned to marry, but life dealt them both with cruel blows that resulted in Ethan going to work at the park and Josie fleeing for Boston.

Now, ten years later, with no communication with home, Josie is settled in Boston where she and a friend are partners in a successful family counseling practice. Suddenly she gets a call from her mother; her father has had a serious stroke, could she please come home.

Josie's return to Echo Lake sets off a series of reactions in her as well as other residents. Her mother for sure, whom Josie finds greatly changed; several of the older workers at the park who greet her fondly; her former best friend who is not so welcoming, and, of course, Ethan.

While there might be hard feelings between them, neither has really moved on or forgotten the other. Ethan was terribly hurt by her rejection, and while he has become her father's second in command of the park, he's not in a hurry to explain other important facts of his life. Light banter often masks their real feelings and helps them get through the memories, sweet and sorrowful.

One memory they share from long ago is the loss of a little girl from cancer, and other stricken children are responsible for some very poignant moments in this book.

Jane Bowers