A Christmas Promise (Kansas Crossroads Book 16)

Miranda Monroe came to the Brody Hotel to work as a waitress when her brother, Parker, took a job as a deputy in Topeka. She's getting along well with her coworkers and settling in as a member of the community, but she still carries an ache in her heart from the passing of both her parents. As Christmas approaches, she finds it difficult to immerse herself in the parties and celebrations, preferring instead to think of Christmas as any other day. When the boy she loved as a young girl years ago shows up in her dining room one snowy afternoon, she's surprised to find that she still has feelings for him so many years later - and they aren't children anymore.

Richard Norton is a new seminary graduate who has come to assist Pastor Osbourne with the congregation. He loves the Christmas season, and can't understand why his old friend Miranda is so against it. While her past taught her to resent it, his past taught him to appreciate it - and if he has his way, he'll change her mind both about the holiday and about her relationship with God. Maybe, just maybe, he'll convince her that they can have a love story just as real as the ones she likes to read about.