Spellbound

Noelle Fontaine, the proprietor of Wafflelicious specialty waffle shop in Angel Cove, Florida, has loved the Christmas season her entire life. Her sweet, bubbly personality and effervescent optimism sees the good and love in everyone-no matter what the season-making her one of the Cove's most beloved locals. And it doesn't take long for the dimpled, golden-haired femme to sense a wounded soul hiding under the stoic, cynical exterior of Angel Cove's newest and most guarded resident. Noelle decides a little dose of Christmas magic is exactly what Quinn Williamson needs to break out of her shell.

A recent transplant from Chicago, Quinn has moved to Angel Cove looking for a fresh start after her ex-girlfriend abruptly left her. Guarded, jaded, and accustomed to not expecting much out of life, Quinn takes a job as the local news and crime reporter journalist for the weekly Angel Cove Observer, a far cry from the big city daily papers she has labored on over the past twenty years. Taken aback (and slightly irritated) by Noelle's constant cheerfulness at first, she is eventually stunned to realize she is actually settling comfortably into small town life-in no small part because of a golden-haired sprite who refuses to let an increasingly spellbound Quinn hide away from the camaraderie of the town any longer.

However, when Noelle discovers not long before Christmas that the building housing Wafflelicious is going to be sold to an out-of-town property developer-who plans to demolish the structure to make way for luxury condos-the usually optimistic shop owner finds the blow to her heart more than she can handle. Sinking into depression, Noelle cuts herself off from everyone in town as she mourns the loss of her lifelong dream, unable to deal with the devastation.

But the residents of Angel Cove, led by a grumpy journalist hell-bent on restoring the sunshine in Noelle's soul, scheme to save Wafflelicious from the wrecking ball. Through grit, resolve, and a refusal to lose the charm of their seaside town to a greedy developer only concerned with profit, the Angel Cove inhabitants set out to prove the magic of Christmas and family can overcome even the most seemingly-impossible obstacles when fueled by pure love.

Sugar. Spice. And the Magic of Christmas vs. Scrooge in Paradise. A meet-cute, grumpy/sunshine, against all odds, heartwarming holiday novella.