She was hired to design his house. Instead she created a home. Interior designer Amanda Lowery can turn Blake Randall’s crumbling castle into a Gallant Lake showplace. But helping the real estate mogul with his guarded heart and his troubled, orphaned nephew? A much bigger challenge. With demons in her own past, Amanda yearns to help them both heal. But will she find the family and safety she’s … family and safety she’s craved…or become a Christmas casualty in Blake’s latest business plan?
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This year I stumbled upon Jo McNally & her books through social media &I’m thrilled to share that this Special Edition touched my heart ! Amanda & Blake are forced to work in close proximity during his castle remodel. He also has a nephew Zach who needs stability . Amanda’s warmth and caring helps to heal the household occupants while renovating. There’s also a bit of suspense lurking that comes full circle to give us a truly heartfelt HEA ! Well done !
I really loved doing back to get Amanda and Blake’s story! However, I felt like I read them in the wrong order. Looking at release dates, I didn’t! Oh well, it was still very enjoyable!
This is the first book I’ve read by Jo McNally and loved it. Being an upstate NY girl myself it was great seeing this take place in the Catskills. Businessman Blake, his nephew Zach, and interior designer Amanda eventually make a wonderful family. Great secondary characters and looking forward to their stories.
Jo McNally’s It Started A Christmas is a prequel of the Lowry Women’s series, and is a heartwarming story about Interior designer Amanda Lowery turning Blake Randall’s crumbling castle into a Gallant Lake showplace. Her biggest challenge isn’t just dealing with Blake’s guarded heart and his troubled, orphaned nephew, but she has to deal with the demons of her own past. Together both Amanda and Blake learn to trust and let go of their past hurts. I’ve received Jo McNally’s It Started At Christmas from the author in exchange for my honest review.
Jo McNally has a real winner here! She evokes passion, love and a sense of the importance of family in this story.
She might have been a bit dishonest in how she went about trying to get the design job on the castle on Gallant Lake but the design drawings presented were definitely Amanda Lowery’s original designs. She was very nervous about the meeting with the owner of the castle, real estate mogul Blake Randall. Blake was late for the meeting to discuss if Amanda would be hired to oversee the renovations so when Amanda found an open door she walked into the castle just to take a “little peek.” When Blake walked in and discovered her in his house he was sure she was a trespasser. He was shocked to learn that Amanda was no trespasser but was actually the designer he agreed to meet. Blake really liked Amanda’s designs and also felt attracted to her so he forgave her for her misdirection. He hired her and even offered her a suite in the house while renovations were ongoing. Amanda suffers a panic attack while meeting with Blake as something happens which evokes her memories of a scary attack earlier in the year. Amazingly Amanda feels safe around Blake. And, yes, she was attracted to him too.
It Started at Christmas by Jo McNally is the second book in the author’s Gallant Lake series. We met the two main characters in this story in the first book in the series, A Man You Can Trust. Blake and Amanda were already happily married in that book. This book is the story of how they met and fell in love. I just loved the entire storyline. It showcased two people who were meant to be together yet still highlighted their major issues. Blake has family issues he has to deal with. Jo McNally did an excellent job of describing the devastating occurrences in Amanda’s youth. She is such a strong woman to be able to function fairly normally after such devastation. I loved how Blake was patient, loving and caring while helping Amanda overcome her issues. This is a heartwarming story of love and true grit.
“It Started At Christmas” is book 2 of Jo McNally’s Gallant Lake Stories and features Blake Randall and Amanda Lowery.
If you’ve read The Lowery Women series (“She’s Far From Hollywood”, “Nora’s Guy Next Door”, “The Life She Wants”), you’re already familiar with Blake and Amanda. In those books the two are already married, however, in “It Started At Christmas”, we go back in time to when they met and how they fall in love.
Amanda is in Gallant Lake to start fresh and to get a job redesigning a castle owned by Blake with the hope of opening her own company.
Blake is there to build a casino to bring jobs and tourists to the failing town.
Staying together during the renovation of Halcyon, the two grow and overcome past hurts to find love in a castle that just might be haunted.
I’ll admit I was wary of reading a story that goes back in time, but I’m glad I read this one. Ms. McNally weaves a touching romance with characters you will root for to find their happily-ever-after.
It Started at Christmas
by Jo McNally
Pub Date Nov 19 2019
224 pages
5
Interior designer Amanda Lowery can turn Blake Randall’s crumbling castle into a Gallant Lake showplace. But helping the real estate mogul with his guarded heart and his troubled, orphaned nephew? A much bigger challenge. With demons in her own past, Amanda yearns to help them both heal. But will she find the family and safety she’s craved…or become a Christmas casualty in Blake’s latest business plan?
MY REVIEW
I loved this book so much and did not want it to end. If I could give more than 5 stars I would.
What a page turner! I started and finished this book in just a few hours . It was fun reading about these two opposites working things out. I fell in love with this town so much I wanted to move there. The characters are well developed and the plot is very attention grabbing. It started at Christmas is a Beautiful and Heartwarming book filled with laughter, joy, and some sadness. The author did an amazing job with this story and i can’t wait to read more!There are some surprising twists that I didn’t see coming close to the end. Loved the nice touch of the ghost. I really do hope we get to read more from this town and other characters in this story. Thank you netgalley, Jo McNally, and Harlequin for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
It Started at Christmas… (Gallant Lake Stories)