Sunday Spotlight is a feature we began in 2016. This year we’re spotlighting our favorite books, old and new. We’ll be raving about the books we love and being total fangirls. You’ve been warned. 🙂
This is one of my favorite books to reread during the holidays. It’s a book about second chances at life and love. Ross and Maggie were college sweethearts and were deeply in love. This book tells the story of how success in life doesn’t always improve a relationship. In this case it actually hurts it. It’s apparent that fate decides that Ross and Maggie aren’t quite done. The small town of Bethlehem works it’s magic and these two slowly find their way back to each other. This book makes me laugh, get teary, and sigh every time I read it. It’s a must read anytime of the year, but much more enjoyable during the holiday season.
Some Enchanted Season (Bethlehem, #2) by Marilyn Pappano Series: Bethlehem #2
Also in this series: Some Enchanted Season (Bethlehem, #2)
Publisher: Bantam
Publication Date: December 1, 1998
Point-of-View: Third
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 374
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Sometimes miracles do happen.
When Maggie left her husband Ross that fateful Christmas Eve, their marriage was over. But a near fatal accident on an ice-slick road changed everything.
Now another Christmas approaches. While Maggie hasn't regained all her memory, she's ready to test her strength at home--with Ross as her only companion. Sharing a house with him once more, putting on the best face for their neighbors, Maggie knows she's living a lie.
Then she glimpses Ross as he used to be: playful and passionate, the man of her dreams before ambition changed him. She couldn't know he's feeling the same regrets, the same heartache...or that he fears the return of her memory. What will happen when she remembers the reason she fled from him last year?
It will take a miracle to send the walls of anger and secrecy tumbling down and reunite the divided couple. But in the small town of Bethlehem, miracles do happen....
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Excerpt
She wiped her eyes and gave a great sigh. “Oh, Ross, if I don’t laugh, I’ll have to cry, and I’ve cried enough tears in my life.”
He didn’t want to know—honest, he didn’t—but the question slipped out anyway. “When?”
In an instant, she became utterly serious. “Nights when you were in the office. Weeks when you were out of town. Years when you were out of reach. A woman can’t watch her husband create a life for himself with no room for her without shedding a few tears.”
“I—I’m sorry. I didn’t know …”
“Maybe not about the tears, but you knew you were moving me out of your life. You just didn’t care.” She spoke matter-of-factly, as if she had long ago accepted that fact. Before the acceptance, though, there must have been heartache and disillusionment, because she, at least, had tried to make things work.
That was more than he could say for himself.
She tried her burger and shrugged. “It’s not too bad. I’ve had worse. I’ve cooked worse.” After another bite she said, “All those dinner parties I planned for you … What was wrong with them?”
“Nothing. The food was great. You were always great. They were fine.”
“Then why did you take them away from me? Why did you suddenly insist on having them catered?”
Sliding onto the stool beside her, he thought back to when he’d made that decision. He tried to remember what her response was. Had she been resistant, or had she quietly, meekly, gone along? Had she been grateful to be freed of so much responsibility, or had she felt rejected?
That last was easy enough to answer. Why did you take them away? wasn’t the question of a grateful woman.
“It was a status thing,” he said at last. “A way of subtly pointing out that we could afford such extravagances.” Seeking to ease his own discomfort, he said, “You never enjoyed those parties anyway—not the hours of planning or the days of shopping or even the cooking. What did it matter to you if someone else did it?”
“Because it was one less way you needed me. You’re right. I didn’t particularly enjoy the parties. But I liked doing them for you. I liked feeling that I had someplace in your life besides bed.” Suddenly she grinned. “But I have to admit, whatever problems were building between us, the sex was still great. I was always grace—grateful—that you never replaced me there. But you weren’t that type. All those times you were gone, all that distance between us, I always knew that there would never be another woman. That counted for a lot.”
The chill that hit Ross was guilt laced with shame. It made his lungs tight and filled his ears with a rushing that distorted her words as she continued to talk. She sounded so confident, so certain that she could trust him at least on that score, but she was wrong. Her gratitude was misplaced, because for one brief, unforgivable time, he’d been exactly that type. He had betrayed her and himself for a few hours’ pleasure, and in the process he had almost destroyed her.
Now he was betraying her again, because even as she hoped and prayed for her missing memories to return, he prayed that she would never remember.
God forgive him.
Because Maggie wouldn’t.
Bethlehem
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Do you want to give this book a try after reading the excerpt? Let us know what you think and what some of your old favorites are!
About Marilyn Pappano
Born in Oklahoma, Marilyn Pappano followed her career-Navy husband across the southern United States for fifteen years, living in California, the Carolinas, Alabama and Georgia -- all locations she's used regularly in her novels. Her first book, WITHIN REACH, was published by Silhouette Books in 1987, and she's gone on to sell about eighty books to Silhouette, Harlequin, Warner, Bantam, Dell and Forever Romance. She's made bestseller lists, won every major award in the romance genre, and seen a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie made from her novel, SEASON FOR MIRACLES. Marilyn writes both contemporary romance and romantic suspense and is best known for her richly-textured characterization. Her current publishers are Harlequin Romantic Suspense and Forever Romance, where she's using her experience as a military spouse and mother in her new Tallgrass books, a series about a group of best friends and military widows who help each other grieve, live and learn to love again.
I enjoyed the excerpt. Sounds like a good book.
I’m pretty sure that I read this back in the day!
Just so you know, the Rafflecopter shows as closed.
Thank you! It’s been updated.
And thank you!
I’ll have to check this one out. I’ve never been a fan of memory loss, but I recently listened to Repeat by Kylie Scott, and it was really good. Thanks for the rec.
By the way, are ya’ll doing the ‘best of’ lists this year?
Hi Nushie,
We are. They’ll be going up next week (beginning tomorrow).
Repeat was one of my favorite books of 2019. I’m not a fan of amnesia usually either, but that one worked so well for me.
Awesome!
You know, I was thinking about why I liked Repeat, and it’s down to two things: no Overboard trope (where the hero/heroine lies to amnesiac) and amnesiac actually experiences growth and is a very different person (after all, we are more than our genetics, our experiences matter).
I agree completely. Clem’s personal journey was the true pull of the book. Watching Clem learn who she was and who she wanted to be was so satisfying for me. I read the book multiple times, in fact. Plus, I loved Ed.
I enjoyed the excerpt even though I don’t usually read amnesia books. However, I spent most of the time reading the excerpt with deja vu. I know I’ve read that bit before, but seems like it was more than a few months ago. I just can’t remember when.
I had that feeling too – after a rummage in Google I found that it had featured as a previous Sunday Spotlight 😀
I had that feeling too – after a rummage in Google I found that it had featured as a previous Sunday Spotlight 😀
Oops. Looks like Casee’s note about this being a re-done post got lost. Ah, well. There’s always next year. 🙂
I never mind a repeat of a good read! 😀
I’ve heard of this author, but I don’t think I’ve read her books.