Do you think love can be rekindled after it was once lost? This was the burning question in my mind when I began brainstorming my book, A Christmas Kind of Perfect. When I thought about the Scripture passage that would be the theme the story, Jeremiah 29:11 came almost immediately to mind. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (NIV). When we rest in that teaching, our lives move in beautiful harmony but when we veer off and into our own beliefs for what is right for our lives, we tend to cause more trouble for ourselves like the hero and heroine of the story.
Two people who were once in love, and who once planned a future together were torn apart by a decision each one made that adversely affected the other. Decisions that would change their lives forever.
Conrad Hamilton struggled with his sinful pride. When the love of his life, the heroine, Lila Clark accepted an apprenticeship in New York. Instead of being honest about how he felt about the position, he allowed his pride to dictate. His pride was also injured that she chose her career over him, and it reared its ugly head again when he thought about going after her and telling her the truth about how he felt.
Heroine, Lila Clark, is following her dream, even though it meant trips back home to the man she loved dearly, Conrad, were becoming more difficult. In time, the trips stopped altogether. She traded love for a fast-track career as an author. And she made it. Big. But her love for Conrad never died. She saw him in New York, or at least she thought she did. Her heart was aching for the life she once knew, but she felt it now, it was too late.
When Lila is asked to come home to help a friend’s failing bookstore with a book signing it isn’t long before she runs smack dab into the one man she never thought she’d see again—Conrad Hamilton. Misperceptions about each other run wild as they converse for the first time in a long time. Events swirling around them bring them together until they both have to face the truth that only through forgiveness—not only for each other—but for themselves too will allow the everlasting love they have found in each other to grow.
Conrad Hamilton thought his life would be easy. A great job running his own construction business. Living in his hometown in Door County, Wisconsin with Lila Clark by his side. He’d planned to marry her as soon as she returned from her Chicago internship, but it never happened.
Lila never expected to become a successful writer, nor did she plan to spend years in New York. But she did.
Can the magic of Christmas turn two hearts back to one another again, or is it too late to capture that special kind of perfect?
A Christmas Kind of Perfect can be ordered at your local bookstore and is available online.
Christine Schimpf enjoys writing about small-town romance because she’s lived in a small town most of her life. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Magna Cum Laude and is an award-winning essayist. She began writing in 2011 with Nick, The Journey of a Lifetime, a fictionalized memoir on the lives of her husband’s grandparents and the launch of the largest egg farm in Wisconsin. After Nick, she segued to inspirational romance with The Ticket, A Perfect Fit, A Christmas Kind of Perfect, and Falling for Chet. Door County, Wisconsin, what’s known as the ‘Cape Cod of the Midwest is the setting of choice for many of her books. Christine is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association and the Faith, Hope, and Love Christian Writers as well as many private writing Facebook groups. She spends her leisure time either on the golf course or the tennis court and is a member of the United States Tennis and Golf Associations. She lives on five acres in the country with her husband and is now fortunate to devote most of her time to writing. She always has a work in progress, but in her spare time, she enjoys golf, tennis, walking through the country roads of her neighborhood, and simply being outdoors where she finds inspiration. Her advice to those wanting to leap into writing is to join a writing/critique group, read as often as you can, and study the craft.
You may contact her anytime at cschimpf57@yahoo.com or find her on social media:
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