Melinda Sweet loved her husband before she learned of his wealth and she loves him still, despite the fact that itโs gone. Unfortunately, while she knows the collapse of his Chicago financial services business had nothing to do with him, he believes otherwise. His upbeat adjustment to their newโand temporaryโlife on his grandfatherโs rundown honey farm is a foil to cover the burden of failure. She wasnโt expecting to throwโin five weeksโthe traditional Sweet Christmas Open House, but itโs a good earning opportunity and how hard could it be?
Austin Sweet is determined to make his wife proud of him again. But he also wants to erase the sting of shame he feels from his parents, to whom he owes a debt of gratitude for arranging for this caretaking job. Getting paid to fix up this disaster is better than living in their basement, sure. But what does he know about bees? Or fixing broken plumbing? Or cleaning a chimney?
But when Austinโs grandfather gives him the farm as a Christmas gift, thereโs only one response. Accepting the gift will secure a future that will make his wife even more unhappy than he already is. Refusing the gift will finalize the rift between him and his family, but heโd rather lose them than Melinda. Then he discovers sheโs spared him the choice. Austinโs not-so-Sweet side rears up as he determines that heโs done trying to make everyone happy. Heโll get his wife back, no matter what. And theyโll decide their future together.
Roxanne Snopek, a USA Today bestselling author, writes contemporary small-town romance, usually with strong heroines and true-to-life heroes in stories that contain complications arising from modern family dynamics. She is a former veterinary technician, wife, and mother of three grown daughters, and animals, kids, and husbands are her forte. Emotional conflict, tears, angstโthose wretched โgrowth-opportunityโ moments your friends comfort you aboutโthatโs what she writes, and readers love it.
Felicity Munroe is a prolific narrator whose readings include titles by Sandi Lyn, Marie Force, Gillian Archer, and Katie MacAlister.