The Wishing Season (Chapel Springs Series #3)

by Denise Hunter

Overview

In this competition, it’s not just the house on the line, it’s their hearts.

She has the touch when it comes to food, but PJ McKinley’s dream of opening her own restaurant is one building short of reality. So when a Chapel Springs resident offers her beloved ancestral home as prize to the applicant with the best plan for the house, PJ believes she was meant to win.

Contractor Cole Evans is confident, professional, and swoon-worthy—but this former foster kid knows his life could have turned out very differently. When Cole discovers the contest, he believes his home for foster kids in transition has found its saving grace. All he has to do is convince the owner that a not-for-profit enterprise will be good for the community.

When the eccentric philanthropist weighs the proposals, she proposes an outlandish tie-breaker: PJ and Cole will share the house for a year to see which idea works best. Now, with Cole and the foster kids upstairs and PJ and the restaurant below, day-to-day life has turned into an out-and-out rivalry—with some seriously flirtatious hallway encounters on the side. But could their magnetic attraction cost them everything they’ve ever wanted?

Includes Reading Group Guide

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781401687045
Publisher:	Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date:	12/16/2014
Series:	Chapel Springs Series , #3
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	692,283
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Denise Hunter is the internationally published, bestselling author of more than forty books, three of which have been adapted into original Hallmark Channel movies. She has won the Holt Medallion Award, the Reader’s Choice Award, the Carol Award, the Foreword Book of the Year Award, and is a RITA finalist. When Denise isn’t orchestrating love lives on the written page, she enjoys traveling with her family, drinking chai lattes, and playing drums. Denise makes her home in Indiana, where she and her husband raised three boys and are now enjoying an empty nest and three beautiful grandchildren. DeniseHunterBooks.com; Facebook: @AuthorDeniseHunter; Twitter: @DeniseAHunter; Instagram: @deniseahunter.

Editorial Reviews

11/03/2014
Hunter (The Trouble with Cowboys) adds another Chapel Springs Romance with this formulaic but still sparkling contemporary tale of competing ambitions, wounded personalities, and powerful attraction. PJ McKinley is an aspiring restaurateur, and Cole Evans is a contractor and former foster kid who wants to operate a group home for teen-age foster kids. Trouble is they're both competing for the same space, a Chapel Springs, Ind., home that a philanthropic resident will give to whoever will come up with the best use for it. PJ and Cole are both given a year to prove themselves, and sharing the space produces both competitive tension and unbidden attraction. PJ and Cole both have family issues that threaten to torpedo their growing relationship. The psychology that makes the two tick is a little simplistic, but it makes the plot move forward. Less forced is the powerful effervescence of their chemistry, and the pacing of their romantic pas-de-deux is also persuasive. Agent: Karen Solem, Spencerhill Associates. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

An interesting story that keeps the reader involved with the struggle the main characters have making their dreams come true. They each have past experiences to overcome and need to realize that sometimes dreams are subject to change.

Romantic Times

'. . . a warm, inspirational tale of ambition, confidence, family, and love.'

Booklist

'. . . a warm, inspirational tale of ambition, confidence, family, and love.'--Booklist

'. . . sparkling contemporary tale of competing ambitions, wounded personalities, and powerful attraction.'--Publishers Weekly

'As the baby of the family, PJ McKinley has a lot to prove. Working her way through culinary school, she made it her goal to open a restaurant. Meanwhile, Cole Evans, who grew up in the foster system, hopes to make a difference in the world by establishing a transition home for foster kids. From the moment PJ and Cole meet, sparks fly. However, they are both competing in a contest for the same beautiful mansion that would house their dreams. To determine the winner, the home's owner decides that the two should live under the same roof for one year and put their proposals into action.' VERDICT 'In this fun tale that is the third installment of the series (after Dancing with Fireflies), RITA finalist Hunter skillfully combines elements of romance, family stories, and kitchen disasters. Fans of Colleen Coble and Robin Lee Hatcher will enjoy this winter-themed novel.'--Library Journal

"An interesting story that keeps the reader involved with the struggle the main characters have making their dreams come true. They each have past experiences to overcome and need to realize that sometimes dreams are subject to change."--Romantic Times

From the Publisher

'. . . a warm, inspirational tale of ambition, confidence, family, and love.'

Booklist

11/15/2014
As the baby of the family, PJ McKinley has a lot to prove. Working her way through culinary school, she made it her goal to open a restaurant. Meanwhile, Cole Evans, who grew up in the foster system, hopes to make a difference in the world by establishing a transition home for foster kids. From the moment PJ and Cole meet, sparks fly. However, they are both competing in a contest for the same beautiful mansion that would house their dreams. To determine the winner, the home's owner decides that the two should live under the same roof for one year and put their proposals into action. VERDICT In this fun tale that is the third installment of the series (after Dancing with Fireflies), RITA finalist Hunter skillfully combines elements of romance, family stories, and kitchen disasters. Fans of Colleen Coble and Robin Lee Hatcher will enjoy this winter-themed novel.—Shondra Brown, Wakarusa P.L., IN

Library Journal