Comfort and Joy

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Overview

New York Times Bestseller

Curl up by the Yuletide with these heartwarming stories that add a touch of wonder to your holidays. . .

"Comfort and Joy" by Fern Michaels

Ever since Angie Bradford took over her mother's gift wrap business in the Eagle Department Store, she and handsome store chief Josh Eagle have been at odds. When Josh threatens to give up on the business and move to London, and a devastating storm may destroy their Christmas season, Angie never expects help to come in the form of a holiday miracle. . .

"A High-Kicking Christmas" by Marie Bostwick

After ten years as a Rockette at Radio City Music Hall, Kendra Erickson needs a break from Christmas. But when an injury lands her in small-town Vermont where she finds herself directing the local holiday pageant alongside the charming new pastor, Kendra reconsiders her views on life, love--and the most romantic season of all. . .

"Suzanna's Stockings" by Cathy Lamb

When an accident lands Suzanna Everts in the hospital for Christmas this year, she'll need a little magic to save the holiday season. Enter sexy, but Scrooge-like, land developer Jack Benson to the rescue, proving to Suzanna that the best gifts are those that take you completely by surprise. . .

"Family Blessings" by Deborah J. Wolf

Tired of dealing with her squabbling family, Kacey would rather not be home for the holidays. But Christmas memories hold a special power that is enough to remind a family of the blessings they share--and awaken Kacey to the promise of new love. . .

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Editorial Reviews

Library Journal

Ring in the holidays with this touching quartet of Christmas novellas that make for perfect fireside reading. A floundering department store gets a complete makeover at the hands of two former adversaries in Michaels's endearing "Comfort and Joy"; a Radio City Music Hall Rockette finds unexpected love and belonging when a broken ankle and a helpful cast mate send her to a tiny Vermont town to direct its Christmas pageant in Marie Bostwick's "A High-Kicking Christmas"; a woman in a coma gets a surprising bird's-eye view of the true state of events in tiny Canyon Beach, OR, and recovers in time to help sort everything out in Cathy Lamb's creative, compelling "Suzanna's Stockings"; and a young woman finds healing and new love while dealing with her mother's Alzheimer's disease in Deborah J. Wolf's poignant "Family Blessings."Other Tasty Treats

—Kristin Ramsdell

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Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780821780480
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Publication date: 11/1/2007
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 352
Sales rank: 595,718
Product dimensions: 4.32 (w) x 7.02 (h) x 1.29 (d)

Meet the Author

Fern Michaels

With over than sixty million copies of her books sold around the world, New York Times bestselling author Fern Michaels pens romance after epic romance, each filled with all the drama and heartbreak her loyal fans can handle.

Biography

Born Mary Ruth Kuczkir in Hastings, Pennsylvania, Fern Michaels was married and the mother of five before she embarked on her long, successful writing career – a career that began with something midway between a challenge and a command. When her youngest child went off to kindergarten, Michaels's husband imperiously ordered her (in just so many words) to get off her ass and get a job. Long years in the domestic trenches had left her short on marketable skills, so she decided trade off her lifelong love of reading and write a book. Just like that. The domineering, unsupportive husband is history. And Michaels has gone on to pen bestselling romance after bestselling romance. Just like that..

With typical modesty, Michaels does not claim to be a great writer; however, she admits proudly to being a born storyteller. Her bulging bookshelf proves she is all over the map, producing with equal facility hot historicals, lighthearted contemporary capers, adrenaline-laced thrillers, and heartwarming tales of family and friendship. She is especially adept at writing stories about women who prevail in hard times – a reflection, perhaps, of her own struggles in her marriage and early career.

Raised to believe that the fortunate in life have an obligation to give back, Michaels devotes a lot of time to philanthropic concerns. She has established a foundation that grants four-year scholarships to needy students and has set up pre-schools and daycare centers for single mothers. She is also an avid animal lover and has been known to own as many as five dogs at a time.

In 1993, Michaels picked up stakes and moved from her home in New Jersey to a 300-year-old plantation house in Charleston, South Carolina. She and the dogs share the house amicably with a friendly ghost whom Fern has dubbed Mary Margaret. In addition to stopping clocks and moving pillows from room to room, Mary Margaret has been known to occasionally leave flowers on Michaels's nightstand!

Good To Know

Michaels confesses in our interview: "I'm a junk food junkie and a chocoholic. My desk drawers have more junk food in them than paper and pens. I chomp and chew all day long. At night I get up and eat Marshmallow Fluff right out of the jar. In between eating, I write."

Her first "sort of, kind of job" was in market research. Michaels recounts the gig's low-point in our interview: "I had a partner and we were testing a new pressurized drain cleaner. All you had to do was put this can in the drain, squeeze and supposedly the drain would open right up. It did, all right.

"The whole wall collapsed, and stuff that was in there for a hundred years flew everywhere. The lady didn't tell us the drain backed up to her kitchen drain and disposal. The company didn't care that we smelled like a sewer or that our clothes were ruined. The lady got a new bathroom, and we both got fired."

Michaels reveals some of her sources of inspiration: "Inspiration comes from everywhere. The title for Finders Keepers came from a cartoon with two chipmunks that my grandson was watching. I had a title but no story. I finally came up with one to fit that wonderful title.

"Names for characters sometime come from television. I had a character named Metaxis which is odd to begin with. There is a news anchor on T.V. who has that same last name. Sometimes it will just be a word someone says in passing, something I read or saw. There's no rhyme or reason to it. It's almost like, okay, I need something here, stay alert and it will happen."

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1. Also Known As:
  
  Mary Kuczkir
2. Hometown:
  
  Summerville, South Carolina
1. Education:
  
  High School

Read an Excerpt

Comfort and Joy

By FERN MICHAELS Marie Bostwick Cathy Lamb Deborah J. Wolf

ZEBRA BOOKS

Copyright © 2007 Kensington Publishing Corp.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8217-8048-0

Chapter One

Angel Mary Clare Bradford, Angie to her friends, looked over at her assistant, who was stacking rolls of colored ribbon onto spindles. Satisfied that the rolls of ribbon were aligned to match the spindles of wrapping paper, she turned away to survey her domain.

The thirty-foot-by-thirty-foot room with its own lavatory was neat as a pin because Angie Bradford was a tidy person. The room she and her assistant, Bess Kelly, were standing in was known as the Eagle Department Store gift wrap department.

Eva Bradford, Angie's mother, had a lifetime lease on this very room, thanks to retired owner Angus Eagle, something that rankled the current young department store head, Josh Eagle, Angus's heir.

Angie and Josh had gone to the mat via the legal system on several occasions. Josh wanted the lease canceled so he could open a safari clothing department. He claimed the paltry, three-hundred-dollar-a-month rent Angie paid for the gift wrap space was depriving the Eagle Department Store of serious revenue. Another set of legal papers claimed his father had not been of sound mind when he signed the ridiculous lifetime lease.

Angie countered with a startling video of Angus playing tennis and being interviewed by the New York Times talking about politics and his philanthropic endeavors on the very day he signed the lifetime lease. In a separate filing, Angie charged Josh Eagle was a bully, and presented sworn testimony that he repeatedly turned off the electricity in the gift shop as well as the water in the lavatory just to harass her. On occasion the heat and air conditioning were also turned off. Usually on the coldest and hottest days of the year.

Josh retaliated by saying Angie should pay for the electricity, water, heat, and air-conditioning. He said there were no free lunches in the Eagle Department Store in Woodbridge, New Jersey.

Judge Atkins had glared at the two adversaries and barked his decision: Josh Eagle was not to step within 150 feet of the gift wrap department. Angie was to pay an additional thirty-dollars-a-month rent for the utilities, and a new heating unit was to be installed at Eagle's expense.

At that point the Eagle-Bradford war escalated to an all-time high, with both sides doing double-time to outwit the other. The present score was zip-zip.

"So, are you going to the store meeting or not?" Bess asked as she gathered up her purse and jacket.

"Nope. I don't work for Josh Eagle or this store. I work for my mother. I'm just renting space from Eagle's. It was toasty in here today, wasn't it?" Angie asked. It had been unseasonably cool for September.

Bess eyed her young employer and laughed. She'd worked for Eva Bradford for twelve years before Eva turned the business over to her daughter, 110 pounds of energy who was full of spit and vinegar, five years ago. Angie had jumped right into the business, played David to Josh's Goliath, and come out a winner. At least in Bess's eyes. With the Christmas season fast approaching, Bess knew in her gut that Josh Eagle would pull out all his big guns to try to get under Angie's skin and make her life so miserable she would give up and move out. She laughed silently. Josh Eagle didn't know the Angie Bradford she knew.

"Come on, boss, I'll walk you out to the parking lot. How's Eva today?"

Angie slipped into her jacket and hung her purse on her shoulder before she turned off the lights. She pressed a switch, and a colorful corrugated blind came down, totally covering the entrance to the gift wrap department. She waited a moment until she heard the sound of the lock slipping into place. She'd installed the sliding panel at her own expense, much to Josh Eagle's chagrin. She then locked the walkthrough door to the gift wrap department. Not just any old lock, this was a special lock that Josh Eagle couldn't open with the store's master keys. She'd also installed her own security system with the ADT firm. Josh had taken her to court on that one, too, and lost, with the judge saying Angie was protecting her investment and as long as she wasn't asking him to pay for her security, there was no problem. Back then the score had been one-zip.

"Uh-oh, look who's standing by that big red X you painted on the floor!"

Angie looked ahead of her to see Josh Eagle glaring at her. "You're late!"

He was good-looking, she had to give him that. And he had dimples. Right now his dark brown eyes were spewing sparks. He was dressed in a power suit and tie, his shirt so blinding white, it had to be new. It was all about image with Josh Eagle.

Angie looked down at her watch. "Actually, I'm leaving right on time, Mr. Eagle. My lights are off, the heat has been turned down, the security system locked and loaded, and my door is locked. It's one minute past six. The store closes at six."

"I called a meeting for six-fifteen for all department heads. That means you're supposed to be in the conference room promptly at six-ten. You're still standing here, Ms. Bradford. What's wrong with this picture? Well?"

Angie sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you, Mr. Eagle? I do not work for you. Judge Atkins sent you papers to that effect. I have copies in case you lost yours. What part of I-am-not-one-of-your-employees don't you understand?"

Josh Eagle looked like he was about to say something, then changed his mind. Angie started walking again, and when she got to Josh and he didn't move, she stiff-armed him.

"You touched my person," Josh said dramatically as he pretended to back away.

"Will you get off it already! Do you sit up there in your ivory tower and dream up ways to torment me? I did not touch you. I put my arm out so you wouldn't touch me. In case your vision is impaired, I have a witness. Now, I suggest you get out of my way and don't come down here again with your silly demands. This shop is off-limits to you!"

"Just a damn minute, Ms. Bradford. If you want to go to court again, I'm your man. I want to know what you're going to do about wrapping my customers' Christmas gifts this year. That's the main topic to be discussed at tonight's meeting."

"We've had this same discussion every September for the past five years. You had the same discussion with my mother for the five years prior to my arrival, and the outcome has always been the same. This year is no different. Pay me to wrap your customers' gifts, and we're in business. If you don't pay me, I cannot help you. I'm in business to make money just the way you are. Try to wrap your feeble brain around that fact, then get back to me or have your lawyer call my lawyer. Good night, Mr. Eagle."

Outside in the cool evening air, Angie dusted her hands together. "I thought that went rather well." She sniffed the air. "Someone's burning leaves. Oh, I just love that smell."

Bess opened her car door. "I think you enjoy tormenting that man. I agree he's sorely lacking in the charm department, but my mother always told me you can get more flies with honey than vinegar. The guy's a hottie, that's for sure."

"Ha! Eye candy. The man has no substance, he's all veneer. On top of that, he's greedy and obnoxious. With all that going against him, I wonder how he manages to charm that string of women he parades around all the time," Angie sniffed.

"His money charms them. Josh Eagle is considered a good catch. You know, Angie, you could throw your line in the pond. You reel him in, and all this," Bess said, extending her arms to indicate the huge parking lot and the department store, "could be yours!"

Angie started to laugh and couldn't stop. "Not in this life time. See you tomorrow, Bess."

"Tell your mother I said hello."

"Will do," Angie called over her shoulder.

Angie sat in her car for ten minutes while she played the scene that had just transpired back in the store over and over in her mind. Would Josh Eagle drag her into court again? Probably. The man had a hate on for her that was so over-the-top she could no longer comprehend it. In the beginning she'd handled it the way she handled every challenge that came her way: fairly and honestly. She fought to win, and so far she'd won every round. Remembering the look on Josh Eagle's face, she wondered if her luck was about to change.

Well, she would think about it later. Right now she had to stop for pizza and go to the rehab center on New Durham Road, where her mother was waiting for her.

Angie reached for her cell phone to call Tony's Pizza on Oak Tree Road. She ordered three large pepperoni pies and was told they would be ready in ten minutes. That was good, the pies would still be hot when she delivered them to Eva and the other patients at the rehab center.

On the ride to the pizza parlor Angie thought about her mother. A gutsy lady who had worked part time to help with the family bills. Back when she was young, with a family to help support, she'd worked three days a week for Angus Eagle, a man her own age whose wife deplored housework. Her mother had cooked and cleaned for Angus, and in doing so they had forged a friendship that eventually resulted, one Christmas morning, in his turning over the gift wrap department at his store to her with a lifetime lease.

Her mother never tired of telling her the story of that particular Christmas that changed her life, even though Angie, who was fifteen at the time, remembered it very well. Angus's wife hadn't wanted to be bothered wrapping presents for Josh and her husband, so she'd turned the job over to Eva. Each time her mother told the story, she would laugh and laugh and say how impressed Angus had been at her flair for gift wrapping.

It was always at times like this, when Angie grew melancholy, that she thought about her own life and why she was doing what she was doing with it. She'd gone to work on Wall Street as a financial planner, but five years of early mornings, late nights, and the long commute was all she could take. Then she taught school for a couple of years but couldn't decide whether or not teaching was a career to which she wanted to commit herself. Five years ago, she'd happily given it up without a second thought when, after her aunt Peggy got into a serious automobile accident in Florida, her mother suggested that Angie take over the gift-wrapping business. Eva had rushed down to care for Peggy, knowing she was leaving her little business in good hands, and was gone four years.

After her aunt's passing, Eva had remained to take care of her sister's estate, returning to New Jersey only a year ago.

It was nice having her mother home again, in the big old house on Rose Street.

Angie giggled when she thought about all the young guys, the sons of friends her mother had invited to dinner on Sunday in the hopes one of them would be suitable for Angie. So far, she'd made a lot of new male friends, but none of them was what she considered blow-my-socks-off material.

As always, when she got to this point in her reverie, Angie's thoughts turned to her beloved father and his passing. It had been so sudden, so shocking, so mind-bending, it had taken her years to come to terms with her loss. How she missed the big, jolly man who had carried her on his shoulders when she was little, the same man who taught her to ride her first bike, then to drive her clunker of a car. He'd hooted and hollered at her high school graduation, beamed with pride at her college graduation, and could hardly wait to show her the brand-new car he'd bought her. It was all wrapped up in a red satin ribbon. Oh, how she'd cried when she'd seen that little silver Volkswagen Jetta convertible. These days she drove a bright red Honda Civic, but the Jetta was still up on blocks in the garage on Rose Street. She planned to keep it forever and ever.

Angie dabbed at her eyes. It was all so long ago.

Twenty miles away, Eva Bradford sat in the sunroom of the Durham Rehab Center, waiting for her daughter. The television was on, but she wasn't listening to the evening news. Nor was she paying attention to the other patients, who were talking in polite, low tones so others could hear the news. Her thoughts were somewhere else, and she wasn't happy with where they were taking her.

Eva looked up when the evening nurse approached her with a fresh bag of frozen peas to place on her knee. She was young like Angie with a ready smile. "You know the drill, Eva, thirty minutes on and thirty minutes off." The nurse, whose name was Betsy, reached for the thawed-out bag of peas Eva handed her.

Eva wondered if she'd ever dance again. Not that she danced a lot, but still, if the occasion warranted it, she wanted to be able to get up and trip the light fantastic. Knee replacements at her age were so common it was mind-boggling. She looked around the sunroom and counted nine patients with knee replacements, one a double knee, four hip jobs, and two back surgeries. Of all of them, she thought she was progressing the best. Another few days and she was certain she would be discharged with home health aides to help her out a few hours every day. She could hardly wait to return to the house on Rose Street in Metuchen.

Eva turned away from the cluster of patients who looked to be in a heated discussion over something that was going on in the Middle East. She did her best to slide down into the chair she was sitting on so she wouldn't have to look at Angus Eagle who, according to Betsy, had just been transferred from the hospital to receive therapy for a hip replacement he'd had a month ago. She knew the jig would be up when Angie arrived with their nightly pizza. At this moment she simply didn't want to go down Memory Lane with Angus or be put in a position where she had to defend her daughter's business dealings.

She hadn't seen Angus for a long time. At least five years-she really couldn't remember. She tried to come up with the exact year. In the end she thought it was five years ago, the same year her older sister, Peggy, a childless widow, had been in that bad car accident. She'd gone to Florida and stayed on for four years because her sister's health had deteriorated, and with no children to help out, it was up to her to see to her sister's comfort. Then, she'd stayed to handle all the legal matters, sell the house, the furnishings, and the car. She'd been home for a year now. She swiped at the tears that threatened to overflow.

Would Angie take care of her the way she'd taken care of Peggy? Of course she would. Angie had a heart of gold and loved her. She couldn't help but wonder who was going to take care of Angus Eagle. Not that hard-as-nails son whose mission in life was to make Angie give up the gift wrap department. Well, Angus could certainly afford in-home health care around the clock.

Eva looked up to see her daughter standing in the doorway holding three large pizza boxes, one for the two of them and two for the other patients. Angie was so kind. She watched as Angie handed two of the pizza boxes to Betsy and moved across the room to join her mother. Angie hugged and kissed her.

"How'd it go today, Mom?"

"Not too bad. I think I'll be out of here in a few days. Honey, Angus Eagle arrived today for additional therapy. He had a hip replacement a month ago, according to Betsy. He's sitting over there between Cyrus and Harriet. Don't look now."

"And this means ... what?" Angie asked as she sprinkled hot peppers on the pizza, then handed her mother a huge slice. She chomped down on her own as she casually looked around. She had no trouble locating the elegant-looking Angus Eagle. At seventy years of age, he still looked dashing, with his snow-white hair, trim body, and tanned complexion. It had been a few years since she'd seen him in the courtroom alongside his son. How angry he'd looked that day. Today he looked like he was in pain. A lot of pain.

"Well ... I don't know. I'm sure he hates us both. He's probably regretting giving me that lifetime lease. You know that old saying, blood is thicker than water. Josh is his son, so it's natural for him to side ... whatever," Eva dithered as she bit down into her slice of pizza.

"Business is business, Mom. Isn't that what you always told me? Sometimes people make deals that go sour. As long as it's done legally, the way your deal was done legally, you live with it and go on. Josh and I had a rather heated exchange as I was leaving the store this evening. By the way, it's cold out in case you're interested. I think today was the first day that shop felt warm.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Comfort and Joy by FERN MICHAELS Marie Bostwick Cathy Lamb Deborah J. Wolf Copyright © 2007 by Kensington Publishing Corp.. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Comfort and Joy Fern Michaels....................7
A High-Kicking Christmas Marie Bostwick....................107
Suzanna's Stockings Cathy Lamb....................227
Family Blessings Deborah J. Wolf....................371

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Comfort and Joy

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Comfort and Joy

Overview

Pick Up In Store

Available on NOOK devices and apps Nook Devices NOOK HD/HD+ Tablet NOOK NOOK Color NOOK Tablet Tablet/Phone NOOK for Windows 8 Tablet NOOK for iOS NOOK for Android NOOK Kids for iPad PC/Mac NOOK for Windows 8 NOOK for PC NOOK for Mac NOOK Study NOOK for Web

All Available Formats & Editions

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

More About This Book

Overview

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal

Product Details

Related Subjects

Meet the Author

Fern Michaels

Biography

Good To Know

Read an Excerpt

Comfort and Joy

ZEBRA BOOKS

Chapter One

Table of Contents

Contents

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3 Star

2 Star

1 Star

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