A HEARTFELT CHRISTMAS PROMISE - Nancy Naigle
St. Martin's Griffin
ASIN :  B084M22FQL
October 2020
Fiction

Fraser Hills, North Carolina - Present Day

Workaholic Vanessa Larkin is sure that her next assignment will be either Paris or a ski resort in Washington state. But her company needs a business shut down in a small North Carolina town by January to take over their warehouse for a huge sporting goods chain. Vanessa is angry and disappointed, but contacts her late mother's cousin, Anna, to ask if she wants to spend Christmas with Vanessa in Fraser Hills, NC. Not someone who enjoys holidays, or vacations, or relaxing much, Vanessa is still in need of support from her only family member. Anna loves the idea.

For Fraser Hills, Porters Fruit Cakes has been a family owned and run business for generations. When it was sold off to a larger corporation, the employees were assured that nothing would change, and nothing had, but now corporate is sending a representative a few weeks before Christmas, and that has many workers worried. 

Vanessa is enchanted with the hometown feel of Fraser Hills. Everyone seems friendly, even the employees at Porters. Her research on the company has shown her that Porters is still a very viable business, and she is sad to be bringing bad news just before the holidays. She is given an office, a corporate apartment, and she settles down to work on this less than enjoyable process. However, Vanessa discovers right away that the warehouse area that the sporting goods company needs is actually available without dismantling Porters. Her boss, however, is not interested in preserving the fruit cake company. But he does give Vanessa free reign to see what she can do. 

Meeting some of the locals, Vanessa gets more involved in their lives. Mike Marshall, who owns a horse farm, intrigues her, and his daughter, Misty, who works for Porters, proves to be a huge asset helping Vanessa discover the ins and outs of the company. When Anna arrives, the two women are befriended by another local, Buck, who offers them the use of a cottage on his property. How can Vanessa destroy the lives of this tight knit community? Is there a way out of closing Porters? Can a workaholic get comfy in small town Fraser Hills?

Start your holiday season off with A HEARTFELT CHRISTMAS PROMISE. Readers will love the atmosphere of Fraser Hills, and the residents who love it there. 

Jani Brooks