Carolynn Carey

The Christmas Cake Carolynn Carey

Can a simple Christmas cake heal old wounds and lead to new beginnings?When Sally Emery baked her open-book Christmas cake for a charity event in her hometown in West Virginia, she couldn't have known it would become a factor in events that led to the deaths of five men, deaths she blames herself for. Now, years later, she's still making that cake-making it and destroying it-in a futile effort to cope with her guilt. Then Alex Montgomery walks into the small-town Tennessee bakery where she works, and her hopes for a peaceful lifetime devoted to atonement begin to unravel because he simply won't shut up about that Christmas cake. When she at last confronts her past and confides in him, she rediscovers the joys of Christmas and the hope of new beginnings. Moving back to Georgia to deal with his dysfunctional family wasn't Alex Montgomery's ideal future, especially since his career as a literary agent had been centered in New York City. Still, he resolves to do what must be done, and that includes stopping in Cedar Hollow, Tennessee, to ask his biggest client if he'll accept an agent who isn't based in New York. Who could have guessed that this simple stopover would result in such chaos? Between snowstorms and his mother behaving totally out of character and that baker-Sally-and her obsession with a Christmas cake, well, he begins to feel as though he's sliding headfirst down the snowy mountainside. Fortunately, Sally-with her mysterious past, her talent for baking, and her innate kindness-helps him discover that where you're located isn't nearly as important as who you're with.