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All Along: A Smitten Novella
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Welcome to Smitten, Vermont.
With the help of four friends, it’s about to become the most romantic town in America.
The proposed closing of the lumber mill comes as unwelcome news for the citizens of Smitten. How will the town survive without its main employer? A close-knit group of women think they’ve got just the plan to save Smitten. They’ll capitalize on its name and turn it into a tourist destination for lovers—complete with sweet shops, a high-end spa, romantic music on the square, and cabins outfitted with fireplaces and hot tubs.
But is this manly town ready for an influx of romantically-minded guests?
Country music sensation Sawyer Smitten, the town’s hometown hero, wants to help by holding his own wedding there on Valentine’s Day. And little Mia’s lavender wreaths hang all over town as a reminder that faith can work miracles. Along the way, four women spearheading the town’s transformation—energetic Natalie, sophisticated Julia, graceful Shelby, and athletic Reese—get in the spirit by reviving their own love lives.
Join best-selling inspirational romance authors (and real-life BFFs) Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt, and Denise Hunter for an inspiring stay at the (soon-to-be) most romantic town on the eastern seaboard.
One visit . . . and you’ll be smitten too.
Acciones del libro
Comenzar a leerInformación sobre el libro
All Along: A Smitten Novella
Descripción
Welcome to Smitten, Vermont.
With the help of four friends, it’s about to become the most romantic town in America.
The proposed closing of the lumber mill comes as unwelcome news for the citizens of Smitten. How will the town survive without its main employer? A close-knit group of women think they’ve got just the plan to save Smitten. They’ll capitalize on its name and turn it into a tourist destination for lovers—complete with sweet shops, a high-end spa, romantic music on the square, and cabins outfitted with fireplaces and hot tubs.
But is this manly town ready for an influx of romantically-minded guests?
Country music sensation Sawyer Smitten, the town’s hometown hero, wants to help by holding his own wedding there on Valentine’s Day. And little Mia’s lavender wreaths hang all over town as a reminder that faith can work miracles. Along the way, four women spearheading the town’s transformation—energetic Natalie, sophisticated Julia, graceful Shelby, and athletic Reese—get in the spirit by reviving their own love lives.
Join best-selling inspirational romance authors (and real-life BFFs) Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt, and Denise Hunter for an inspiring stay at the (soon-to-be) most romantic town on the eastern seaboard.
One visit . . . and you’ll be smitten too.
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All Along - Colleen Coble
© 2011 by Denise Hunter
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Thomas Nelson, Inc., books may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.
Scripture quotations are taken from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved; and HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smitten / Colleen Coble.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-4016-8494-5 (trade paper)
1. Love stories, American. 2. Christian fiction, American. I. Coble, Colleen.
PS648.L6S54 2011
813’.08508--dc23
2011035671
Printed in the United States of America
11 12 13 14 15 QG 5 4 3 2 1
DEAR FRIENDS,
Have you ever noticed that life’s biggest blessings are often unexpected? That’s how it was with both our budding friendship and the origination of Smitten.
In the mid-1990s, God began linking us together, first Colleen and Kristin, and a year or so later, Denise. Bonded by our fledgling writing careers, we attended writing conferences, connected daily via e-mail, and eventually wrote a few romantic novella collections together. Our relationship deepened and became the kind of friendship we knew could only be a God thing.
Years later, our careers budding just as our friendship had, God brought us Diann. The lonely business of writing was lonely no more—it was a party for four! Diann frequently teased us about being left out
of our previous novella collections, as if she were our group’s third wheel, but nothing could have been further from the truth. The fact was, we fit together like pieces of a heavenly puzzle.
Although our genres took us down slightly different paths, we were constantly connected by love and support—the kind that got us through bouts with cancer, family crises, and all the other storms that came our way.
When the opportunity arose to collaborate on a collection, we were ecstatic. Do what we loved with the people we loved? How could we turn that down? Besides, it was Diann’s dream, and we (including Thomas Nelson) couldn’t have been more eager to grant it.
Hours of brainstorming and hundreds of e-mails later, Smitten 
)
In many ways, this collection is a celebration of our friendship, a celebration of enduring love, and a celebration of God’s unexpected blessings, all wrapped in one simple book. It’s our greatest hope that you, our readers, will feel a part of it all as you join us on our journey to Smitten.
Love,
Colleen, Kristin,
Diann, and Denise
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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
SMITTEN WITH FRIENDSHIP
AN EXCERPT FROM A COWBOY'S TOUCH
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Never has a book been more of a labor of love than Smitten! The four of us have had the best time writing this book together.
But we couldn’t have done it without lots of help. We are so blessed to have been able to do this project with Thomas Nelson. They caught the vision right from the start and entered into a partnership with us with great enthusiasm. A big hug and thanks to publisher Allen Arnold who was quick to tell us he wanted this project. And a big thank-you to our editor, Ami McConnell, who knows each one of us intimately and was able to make suggestions to bring our characters to life. Our team has worked hard on the project all along so we will be showing our gratitude with hugs and DeBrand truffles to Marketing Director Eric Mullett, Publicity Manager Katie Bond, cover designer Kristen Vasgaard, Marketing Specialist Ashley Schneider, Publicist Ruthie Harper, and editors Becky Monds, Jodi Hughes, Natalie Hanemann, and Amanda Bostic. Our terrific sales team is already hard at work too and we couldn’t do much without them! Love you all! And our agents, Karen Solem and Lee Hough, have been a huge help as we put together this very different story. Thanks, friends!
A special thanks to Rick Acker for spending precious conference time sitting and brainstorming with us last year. He helped us flesh out our plot with some great suggestions. And our editor, L.B. Norton, was phenomenal on this project. She caught the inconsistencies that no one else could. And our families are always our backbones as we juggle life and career.
Our biggest thank-you goes to God who brought the four of us together in a bond of unbreakable friendship. We are all so different, and yet one, in our love for Christ and for one another.
CHAPTER ONE
Reese Mackenzie swept her hand over the old wall as if she could perceive the secrets beneath it. Regardless of what the ugly wallpaper hid, in two months she’d be living her dream.
You should definitely take the walls down,
Griffen Parker said. He closed the space between them and knocked on the drywall. Bet there’s brick under there.
Reese met his clear blue eyes. A dark lock of hair fell over his forehead and battled with his eyelashes.
I’d planned on painting. You never know what’s behind these old walls. The only way to find out is to knock them down, and once you do that, there’s no turning back.
Can’t be worse than this,
he said, running his hand over the Pepto-Bismol wallpaper. Besides, it’ll take forever to remove this stuff.
He was right about that, but she hated changing boats midstream. I’ll think about it.
She couldn’t believe the Palmer Building was all hers now.
Well, hers and the bank’s. There was so much work to do, and so many unknowns. She’d been planning this forever, but that didn’t stop the worry from jangling on her nerves.
Reese crossed the open space, her Merrell boots barely making a sound on the wooden planks. You don’t see a problem structurally with opening up the second floor?
He pocketed his hands in his vest coat. Nope. The bones are solid.
Reese glanced around the space, her imagination kicking in. I want lots of cubbies and shelving.
Of course you do.
A place for everything.
I expected no less.
It was going to take a lot of time. She hoped it wouldn’t put Griffen in a bind with his other clients. She knew he’d do anything for her, but she’d never take advantage of their friendship.
She studied his face. He’d changed since he left Smitten three years earlier. His hair was longer, dangling over his forehead and curling up on the ends. And he always seemed to be sporting a five o’clock shadow. Probably didn’t have time to shave, with all his projects.
You sure you have time for all this—you’d tell me if you didn’t, right?
He cocked a grin. Always have time for my favorite girl. I’ll finish the town’s gazebo tomorrow, and I figured this project would be my last. I’m all yours for the next two months.
Only if you’re absolutely, positively sure . . .
You want it in blood?
She shot him a look, then returned to her perusal of her very own building. That would leave me a week to arrange the merchandise before the wedding. I’ll be ready in plenty of time to assist the wedding guests with all their recreational needs.
She’d already ordered everything from ski poles to canoes.
Opened boxes filled her spare rooms, and a variety of boats and bikes had usurped her car’s spot in the garage. Each shipment filled her with excitement . . . and worry. What if this whole plan was one massive failure? Please, God. You know we’re trying to step out on faith here, right?
Obviously, you’ll need new plumbing. And the heating system is archaic.
Just write it up and give me a ballpark figure.
She nailed him with a look. And be fair. I’m not a charity case.
He tipped a grin her way. "Speaking of ballpark, I’ve been home for almost eight months, and you
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