When Jeanette Brioche helped launch The Corner Spa in Serenity, South Carolina, she found a whole lot more than professional satisfaction. She discovered the deep and loyal friendships that had been missing from her life. But even the Sweet Magnolias can’t mend the terrible rift between Jeanette and her family or persuade her that the holidays are anything more than a season of misery.
Pushed into working on the town’s much-loved annual Christmas festival, Jeanette teams up with the sexy new town manager. Tom McDonald may be the only person in Serenity who’s less enthused about family and the holidays than she is.
But with tree decorations going up on the town square and a bit of romance in the air, Jeanette and Tom take a fresh look at the past and a hopeful look into the future. Together they discover that this just may be a season of miracles after all.
Praise for the novels of Sherryl Woods
“Sherryl Woods writes emotionally satisfying novels about family, friendship and home. Truly feel-great reads!”
—#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber
“Woods is a master heartstring puller.”
—Publishers Weekly on Seaview Inn
“Woods’s readers will eagerly anticipate her trademark small-town setting, loyal friendships, and honorable mentors as they meet new characters and reconnect with familiar ones in this heartwarming tale.”
—Booklist on Home in Carolina
“Once again, Woods, with such authenticity, weaves a tale of true love and the challenges that can knock up against that love.”
—RT Book Reviews on Beach Lane
“In this sweet, sometimes funny and often touching story, the characters are beautifully depicted, and readers…will…want to wish themselves away to Seaview Key.”
—RT Book Reviews on Seaview Inn
“Woods…is noted for appealing character-driven stories that are often infused with the flavor and fragrance of the South.”
—Library Journal
“A reunion story punctuated by family drama, Woods’s first novel in her new Ocean Breeze series is touching, tense and tantalizing.”
—RT Book Reviews on Sand Castle Bay
“A whimsical, sweet scenario…the digressions have their own charm, and Woods never fails to come back to the romantic point.”
—Publishers Weekly on Sweet Tea at Sunrise
The Sweet Magnolias series
Stealing Home
A Slice of Heaven
Feels Like Family
Welcome to Serenity
Home to Carolina
Sweet Tea at Sunrise
Honeysuckle Summer
Midnight Promises
Catching Fireflies
Where Azaleas Bloom
Swan Point
For additional books by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods, visit her website, sherrylwoods.com, and click on the checklist.
WELCOME TO
SERENITY
Dear Friends,
Originally the Sweet Magnolias series was conceived as only three books, but reader response was so terrific and I loved writing about these women so much that I just had to continue the series! Welcome to Serenity, Jeanette’s story, kept calling to me. And because it was originally written for release during the holiday season, it also made sense to make that a part of the book.
But unlike my own absolute love of the holidays, Jeanette clearly has long-standing issues with the season. Exploring her past and matching her with a man who has his own bad memories of the holidays seemed exactly right for stirring up conflict in Serenity, South Carolina, a community that loves its holidays, Christmas most of all.
If you’re reading this for the first time just as your own tree is coming down, I hope it will rekindle a few of the good memories you have from the holiday season!
So, welcome back to Serenity and to the Sweet Magnolias. I hope your own friendships are as rich and rewarding as those found in these pages.
All best,
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
EXCERPT FROM WILLOW BROOK ROAD BY SHERRYL WOODS
CHAPTER ONE
The relaxing scent of lavender in the hand cream that Jeanette Brioche was massaging into her cramped fingers did absolutely nothing to calm her jittery nerves. A few hours ago Maddie Maddox, her boss at The Corner Spa, had scheduled a meeting for six o’clock, immediately after Jeanette was due to finish with her last client. Maddie hadn’t said what it was about, but her grim expression suggested it wasn’t a celebration, something she and her friends Dana Sue and Helen organized at the drop of a hat.
Since Jeanette tended to be a worrier who saw disaster around every corner, she decided to get this over with even though it wasn’t quite six. Her stomach knotted with dread, she walked down the hall to Maddie’s office.
After tapping on the partially open door, Jeanette stepped inside to chaos. A disheveled Maddie was holding a wriggling six-month-old Cole in her arms and trying to feed him, while two-year-old Jessica Lynn ran wildly around the room, knocking everything in sight onto the floor. Maddie’s usually well-organized folders were in a chaotic heap, and samples from their suppliers were scattered everywhere. A topless bottle of hand lotion had been upended.
“Help!” Maddie said to Jeanette, who promptly scooped up Jessica Lynn and tickled her until the child dissolved into giggles.
“Having a bad day?” Jeanette inquired, feeling her stomach unknot as the toddler patted her cheek with sticky fingers that smelled of rose-scented hand lotion. The more time she spent around Jessica Lynn and Cole, as well as Helen’s little girl, however, the louder the ticking of Jeanette’s biological clock seemed to get. The alarm hadn’t gone off yet, but she sensed it was about to when the scent of baby powder started to smell better to her than the herbal aromas in the spa.
“A bad day, a bad week and more than likely a bad month,” Maddie replied.
The weary response pretty much confirmed the reason for her earlier grim expression. Maddie had already had three children when she’d married Cal Maddox a few years ago and now had two more. Her oldest son, Ty, was a sophomore at Duke and star of the school’s baseball team. Kyle was in high school and finally regaining his equilibrium after Maddie’s divorce from
