A heartwarming holiday story about second chancesRocky Hill Romance – Book 1Single mother Samantha Dean doesn’t have time for Christmas. Or romance, for that matter. She is weeks away from opening her own catering business, the most important part of her plan to provide her certified genius daughter Patty with all the wonderful things she deserves.Except Patty doesn’t want to go to a fancy … deserves.
Except Patty doesn’t want to go to a fancy boarding school. She wants a father and when she meets bartender Murphy O’Rourke at her fourth grade Career Day presentation, she knows she’s met the man of her mother’s dreams!
But can she convince her Mrs. Scrooge of a mom that it was time to give Christmas — and love — a second chance?
Previously published by Harlequin Books
Acclaim for the novels of Barbara Bretton
“Bretton’s characters are always real and their conflicts believable.”
”” Chicago Sun-Times
“Soul warming… A powerful relationship drama [for] anyone who enjoys a passionate look inside the hearts and souls of the prime players.”
”” Midwest Book Review
“[Bretton] excels in her portrayal of the sometimes sweet, sometimes stifling ties of a small community. The town’s tight network of loving, eccentric friends and family infuses the tale with a gently comic note that perfectly balances the darker dramas of the romance.”
”” Publishers Weekly
“A tender love story about two people who, when they find something special, will go to any length to keep it.”
”” Booklist
“Honest, witty… absolutely unforgettable.”
”” Rendezvous
“A classic adult fairy tale.”
”” Affaire de Coeur
“Dialogue flows easily and characters spring quickly to life.”
”” Rocky Mountain News
˃˃˃ Also available in audio from Amazon, iTunes, and Audible
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About the author
Barbara Bretton is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of over fifty novels. She has been published in twelve languages in over twenty countries. She currently lives with her husband in central New Jersey.
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Super cute!! Samantha Dean got pregnant when she was 17, but her boyfriend was from the “right side of the tracks” and his family ended the relationship. Her now 10-year-old daughter, Patty, is a genius and wants nothing more to have a “real” father, so she spends her time (when not working on mathematical equations) matchmaking for her mother, an aspiring caterer.
When Murphy O’Rourke, former world-trotting newspaper correspondent, comes to Patty’s school on Career Day, Patty decides he’s “the one.” She pulls him aside and offers Sam’s catering skills at an outrageous price for the bar he’s running while his father, the bar owner, is recovering from a massive heart attack.
Murphy and Sam like each other and find it easy to be together, but neither sees sparks – until the night of the masquerade ball when they realize there’s a lot more to the other than they assumed.
I loved all the characters in this book (okay, not Patty’s biological father, Ronald Donovan), but Sam, Murphy, Patty, Caroline, Murphy’s father, Scotty (a barfly and former Princeton professor), and Sam’s parents.
Oh, and for me, the local aspect was a big plus. The story was set just north of Princeton in a small town called Rocky Hill (which actually exists) and, having gone to college in Ewing, I was very familiar with the New Jersey locales.
Cute book
As usual, Barbara Bretton has thrilled me with her characters and plots. I never get enough of her charming books.
A really lovely book. The story line and the characters were wonderful.
Interesting characters & a lovely story.
It would make a GREAT Hallmark movie.
This was such a sweet story, with the sweetest little girl in it.
Her mama and this guy, Mickey, have the most intense romance.
Oh how you want everything to work out for them all.
The ending was my absolute favorite. It also has the most Christmas cheer there. You’re left with the most Christmas of things said, and quite profound too.
A great intro for me with this author and I look forward to more.
I give it 3 stars but could be persuaded to bump it up to 3.5. This is a cute, quick, fun Christmas story about a precocious eleven-year-old and scheme to find a father. Patty and her mother, Sam, have been alone her entire life. She knows who her biological father is, but he’s never been part of her life. Now, her mother is finally about to graduate from college, open her own business, and their lives will be secure. That’s Sam’s vision of their future. Patty’s vision is more concerned about finding her mom a husband and herself a full-time father. Enter Murphy O’Rourke. He’s between jobs as a top journalist and is at Patty’s school for Career Day. She knows the moment she sees Murphy that he’s The One. What results is a combination of funny, sweet, and a few sad moments as Patty and her Aunt Caroline try to get Murphy and Sam together. This is pretty much Hallmark holiday material.