Showing results by author "Judith Keim" in All Categories

After agreeing to enter the New Life Assisted-Living Community outside of Boston, Agatha “Aggie” Robard talks her devoted, serious granddaughter, Blythe, into driving her to Florida, stopping to see old college friends along the way. She particularly needs to speak to Donovan Bailey, the man she’d thought she would marry right after graduating from college. By asking Blythe to go with her, Aggie is hoping to prove to her that life should be about having fun, too.

Three talented women brought together by a man’s love...When Rose Macklin is asked to help Alec Thurston, the one man she’s ever truly loved, by coming to Palm Desert, California, she doesn’t hesitate. He’s dying of cancer and needs her help overseeing the sale of his hotel, the Desert Sage Inn, to another hotel group. With her marketing skill and as the owner of a very successful blog, she’s his perfect choice to make the sale a smooth transition while ensuring the new owners will maintain the reputation and image of the upscale property after the sale.

Louise "Lulu" Kingsley is thrilled to discover after years of wishing for a sibling, Cami Chandler is her half-sister. When Cami invites her to live with her at Chandler Hill, Lulu jumps at the chance to leave behind all the heartache in her recent life. Not the spoiled little rich girl the media would like everyone to think, Lulu digs into marketing for the inn and winery, feeling more comfortable there than she ever did in California with her political father. Better yet, her mother is becoming a stronger, happier person and shares the idea of becoming part of a new family.

Emerson “Em” Jordan always wanted a Valentine’s Day wedding. But after being dumped by her boyfriend, she spends the holiday at Seashell Cottage on the Gulf Coast of Florida with Devin Gerard, a family friend who has no interest in her or any other woman and is instead concentrating on his pediatric medical practice and continuing medical missions in Costa Rica. Em, who’s always wanted a large family, doesn’t mind his disinterest. At 32, she’s decided she doesn’t need a husband to have a child or to adopt one.

In 1970, Violet Hawkins’ only wish at 18 is to escape her life in the Dayton, Ohio, foster-care system and make her way to the west coast to enjoy a mellow life and find the love she’s been missing all her life. She makes it to San Francisco, but soon learns she needs a job if she’s to live properly.

Sheena Sullivan Morelli and her sisters, Darcy and Regan, work to complete their Uncle Gavin’s challenge of turning his rundown hotel into a profitable operation within one year. Winning means earning a share in their uncle’s sizable estate. More than that, it determines how they’ll spend the rest of their lives. Sheena wants to stay on, overseeing the hotel operation. But Darcy and Regan want to move on with their lives - Darcy writing a novel and Regan going into the interior decorating business with Mo. But life has other plans for them. And in the end, all three realize that the only thing that really matters is finding - and keeping - family.

Two years ago, Noelle North’s then-fiancé left her waiting at the church on Christmas - her wedding day and birthday. Now, she knows she cannot endure another holiday season at home in Boston. At the urging of four women at the assisted-living community where she serves as health director, Noelle decides to rent Seashell Cottage on the Gulf Coast of Florida for the holidays. She meets Silas Bellingham, the cutest seven-year-old boy she’s ever seen, and his great-grandmother, Althea.

As Regan Sullivan continues to work with her sisters, Sheena and Darcy, to meet their Uncle Gavin's challenge to make the Salty Key Inn a success, she wonders why she can never find the man of her dreams. Her sisters are happily settled with men they love. Why can't she do the same? When she's involved in a motorcycle accident with Brian Harwood, Regan learns to think differently about both her appearance and herself.

Ann and Rhonda are fed up with the way the new majority owners are changing the Beach House Hotel from the small, elegant hotel they once owned and operated into a tacky, South Beach wannabe property. What's their only recourse? Buy back the property to save it from getting even worse. And with the new management ruining Ann's daughter's plans for a Christmas Eve wedding, they have to get to work right away to regain control of the hotel.

Darcy Sullivan and her two sisters continue to work hard at the Salty Key Inn, the small, Florida hotel they unexpectedly inherited. In order to inherit the rest of Uncle Gavin's sizeable estate, they must meet his challenge to open the neglected hotel by the end of the year. Darcy figures once they meet the challenge, she'll take off, travel the world, and maybe, just maybe, begin writing the world's best novel.

Sheena Sullivan Morelli and her sisters, Darcy and Regan, receive the unexpected news that their Uncle Gavin Sullivan has left them a hotel on the Gulf coast of Florida. The gift comes with a twist. They must live together for one year at the hotel and prepare the hotel to receive guests within a year. Dreams of sitting on the beach sipping margaritas are shattered when they see the property in need of renovation. Facing the unexpected and working together, the three sisters learn a lot about each other and the gift of family love.

When Marissa Crawford and her husband Brad decide to start a family, Marissa has serious doubts about her ability to be a good mother - she was raised by one of the worst. Torn between telling Brad the truth and hoping she doesn't get pregnant, Marissa's life is completely upended when a baby girl is left in a basket on the front porch of her large home in Maine. In caring for the baby given specifically to Brad and her, Marissa must decide what her role in life is all about.

Samantha Hartwell's life changes completely when she's attacked by a client's boyfriend. She leaves Boston and Straight Talk, her consulting business, and escapes to California wine country to heal and to help her sister and brother-in-law with their vineyard's growth. But she can't escape the desire Derek Roberts, a world-wide photographer, had sparked inside her. The two challenge each other in ways they've never experienced and end up with more than they ever expected.

The Beach House Hotel, the seaside mansion Ann Rutherford and Rhonda Del Monte converted to an upscale boutique hotel, continues to be a success. Not only is it the spot for breakfast and lunch, it's become the "in" place for dinner. However, they still face many challenges. With the sudden death of Robert and Kandie, Ann and Vaughn decide to raise their son, Robbie, to help relieve Ann's daughter, Liz, of the responsibility she thought she'd never have. And Rhonda becomes both a mother and grandmother.

Following her divorce, Allison Hartwell leaves Maine for California to become a partner in her college roommate's art gallery. She's out to prove she can succeed in business, get along without a man and have fun along the way. But things quickly fall apart; the business is financially insecure and she's left with the care of her roommate's eight-year-old daughter, Daisy.

Following her estranged mother's death, Marissa Cole returns to her hometown. Her mother has left a request for Marissa to scatter her ashes in New Hope, Maine. Marissa doesn't understand why; she's never heard her mother talk of such a place. In Maine, Marissa is thrilled to discover a family she never knew she had. But the family isn't what she thought, and helping her grandmother keep her share of the family fortune might cause Marissa to lose the only man she's ever trusted enough to love.

Ann Rutherford's and Rhonda DelMonte Grayson's lives continue to be full of surprises as they run The Beach House Hotel, their small upscale hotel on the Gulf Coast in Southwest Florida. Things heat up when Tina Marks (Valentina Marquis, a famous young movie star) is sent to the hotel in secret to lose 25 pounds in eight weeks for her next starring role. As much as Ann and Rhonda want to help Tina succeed, the hotel is known for its delicious food as well as its promise of anonymity, and Tina is impossible to deal with.

When Vice-President Amelia Swanson asks them to oversee a stay at the hotel by the Italian Ambassador to the United Nations in New York City and his family, Ann and Rhonda hope this won’t mean another problem for The Beach House Hotel. Enrico Ferrara, his wife, Catarina, and his daughter, Philippa, arrive at the hotel at the same time a young chef, Chet Waring, and a friend, Harper Lewis, seek employment at the hotel after being unfairly booted from the Miami restaurant scene by a notorious, difficult chef.

Camilla "Cami" Chandler comes home from France to take over the Chandler Hill Inn and Winery for her recently-deceased grandmother, Lettie, as she’d always promised. Determined to succeed in this new venture, she finds herself in trouble from the beginning when she discovers most of her grandmother’s estate intended for maintaining the inn’s business expenses was lost in a Ponzi scheme. She forges ahead to provide her guests with wonderful experiences and to produce the best wines in Willamette Valley. She decides that being friends with Drew Farley is the safest way to proceed.

Planting the seeds of forgiveness might bring the best harvest of all… Sarah Bullard Miller returns to Lilac Lake with her four-year-old twin daughters following the suicide of her husband. She’s always been part of the group of summer kids who play together with the granddaughters of the woman who owned the Lilac Lake Inn, and she loves renewing those friendships. Keeping busy working at her parents’ hardware store and taking care of the girls, she begins the healing process following her husband’s violent death. Aaron Collister was Sarah’s high school boyfriend.