Showing results by author "Judith Keim" in All Categories

When Ann and Rhonda receive a request from the vice-president to provide a private space at the hotel for a nighttime talk show host having difficulties, they’re worried. Trouble always happens when they do something for her. Sipping nightcaps, they watch Darryl Douglas’ show and decide to allow him to rent one of the guesthouses at the same time their beloved daughter-of -heart, Tina Marks, is renting the house next door along with her personal trainer, Abbie Hathaway.

Jill Conroy is tricked by her sister into becoming the housekeeper and cook for the summer at Seashell Cottage where Greg Campbell and his nephew, Brody, have been hired to do maintenance projects on the house. Annoyed at first, Jill soon realizes how wonderful it is to be away from her home in New York and the memories of her deceased, emotionally abusive husband. Soon the magic of the beach heals Jill enough for her to decide to move to Florida permanently to make a new life for herself.

When Ann Rutherford's husband dumps her for the bimbo in his office, unfairly leaving her without a home or a job, she reluctantly joins forces with Rhonda DelMonte to convert Rhonda's Florida seaside estate into the small upscale hotel it once was. Ann, quiet and reserved, is no match for brash, bossy Rhonda, who left the family's New Jersey butcher business after she won the Florida lottery.

Taylor Gilford is more than happy to accept her grandmother’s gift of a cottage on the Lilac Lake Inn’s property to be shared with her two sisters, Dani and Whitney. The youngest, she’s always felt left out when the sisters got together. Living at Lilac Lake will give her a chance to know them better.

When Emmett Chambers comes to Lilac Lake to replace Dr. Johnson, the town’s GP, Dr. Johnson asks Crystal, owner of the Lilac Lake Café, to show him around. Emmett is the son of an insufferable ambitious politician who is the reason Emmett has chosen the life of a doctor in a small town, away from politics. Just as the relationship between Crystal and Emmett heats up, Emmett’s mother finds out about it and is furious, deeming Crystal unsuitable for the family during her husband’s presidential campaign.

Tiffany Wright never planned to become a torch singer, much less a pregnant and single one. It was only with the help of her Fat Fridays luncheon group of strong women - counting their blessings, not their calories - that she found the courage to leave Beau, her once wonderful husband destroyed by drug addiction.

With her unexpected pregnancy, Carol Ann breaks free from her dismal life with her parents. Left on her own with no support from the father of her child, she decides to start an interior decorating business on the side. She begins by secretly helping Ed Pritchard, her boss at MacTel, decorate his condo for Christmas. One secret Sunday leads to others. Carol Ann and Ed are planning a future together when Ed is diagnosed with a serious illness. He decides it's only fair to break off his engagement to Carol Ann. Devastated, Carol Ann wonders how she can continue.

When Sukie's husband shacks up with her Pilates instructor, her domestic drama becomes the talk of her small Georgia town. Friends from her married life prove fickle, and Sukie hides at home, terrified of encountering the town gossips at the grocery store. Betsy, Sukie's neighbor, invites her to join "Fat Fridays", a weekly gathering at a local café where the women order whatever they crave - no calories counted. Over sausage pizza and sage advice, Sukie gets a grip on her new life.

Two years ago, Noelle North’s then-fiancé left her waiting at the church on Christmas - her wedding day and birthday. Now, she knows she cannot endure another holiday season at home in Boston. At the urging of four women at the assisted-living community where she serves as health director, Noelle decides to rent Seashell Cottage on the Gulf Coast of Florida for the holidays. She meets Silas Bellingham, the cutest seven-year-old boy she’s ever seen, and his great-grandmother, Althea.

Following her estranged mother's death, Marissa Cole returns to her hometown. Her mother has left a request for Marissa to scatter her ashes in New Hope, Maine. Marissa doesn't understand why; she's never heard her mother talk of such a place. In Maine, Marissa is thrilled to discover a family she never knew she had. But the family isn't what she thought, and helping her grandmother keep her share of the family fortune might cause Marissa to lose the only man she's ever trusted enough to love.

Olivia “Livy” Winters agrees to spend the summer at Sanderling Cove on the Gulf Coast of Florida with her two cousins, Charlotte “Charlie” Bradford and Brooke Weatherby, to help manage The Sanderling Cove Inn while their grandparents take a long road trip in Europe. Livy hopes a summer away from her past surroundings and her job as the owner of a bakery in Virginia will help her forget a traumatic incident there.

Catherine “Cate” Tibbs, Brooke Ridley, and Amber Anderson, friends since they were awkward 13-year-olds who named themselves “The Beach Babes,” are about to face their 40th birthdays. Because they haven’t been able to get together for some time, Cate arranges for them to rent a house along the Gulf Coast of Florida for a long weekend. She hopes it will give them the opportunity to celebrate and re-ignite their friendship.

One favor deserves another, or does it? Against their better judgment, Ann and Rhonda agree to help a young girl in distress at the request of the vice-president of the United States, Amelia Swanson. After almost losing their lives because of an earlier request of hers, they plan on being more careful. Amanda Rogers was an intern for Senator Worthington’s office when she was drugged at a staff party and got pregnant. Now, alone without parental support, she and her friend, Jax Thomas, arrive at the hotel to wait out the last weeks of pregnancy in privacy.

Ann and Rhonda continue overseeing their Beach House Hotel along the Gulf Coast of Florida and providing guests with a lovely experience of good eating, relaxation, and the privacy many of them require. When vice president of the United States Amelia Swanson asks them for a favor, Ann and Rhonda agree without realizing it means protecting Amelia’s sister from an abusive husband and a nosy public, including their nemesis, Brock Goodwin, who hopes to gain something from the knowledge. But once they’ve said yes, there’s no going back.

Ann Rutherford's and Rhonda DelMonte Grayson's lives continue to be full of surprises as they run The Beach House Hotel, their small upscale hotel on the Gulf Coast in Southwest Florida. Things heat up when Tina Marks (Valentina Marquis, a famous young movie star) is sent to the hotel in secret to lose 25 pounds in eight weeks for her next starring role. As much as Ann and Rhonda want to help Tina succeed, the hotel is known for its delicious food as well as its promise of anonymity, and Tina is impossible to deal with.

In 1970, Violet Hawkins’ only wish at 18 is to escape her life in the Dayton, Ohio, foster-care system and make her way to the west coast to enjoy a mellow life and find the love she’s been missing all her life. She makes it to San Francisco, but soon learns she needs a job if she’s to live properly.

Sheena Sullivan Morelli and her sisters, Darcy and Regan, work to complete their Uncle Gavin’s challenge of turning his rundown hotel into a profitable operation within one year. Winning means earning a share in their uncle’s sizable estate. More than that, it determines how they’ll spend the rest of their lives. Sheena wants to stay on, overseeing the hotel operation. But Darcy and Regan want to move on with their lives - Darcy writing a novel and Regan going into the interior decorating business with Mo. But life has other plans for them. And in the end, all three realize that the only thing that really matters is finding - and keeping - family.

Ann and Rhonda are fed up with the way the new majority owners are changing the Beach House Hotel from the small, elegant hotel they once owned and operated into a tacky, South Beach wannabe property. What's their only recourse? Buy back the property to save it from getting even worse. And with the new management ruining Ann's daughter's plans for a Christmas Eve wedding, they have to get to work right away to regain control of the hotel.

Darcy Sullivan and her two sisters continue to work hard at the Salty Key Inn, the small, Florida hotel they unexpectedly inherited. In order to inherit the rest of Uncle Gavin's sizeable estate, they must meet his challenge to open the neglected hotel by the end of the year. Darcy figures once they meet the challenge, she'll take off, travel the world, and maybe, just maybe, begin writing the world's best novel.

Sheena Sullivan Morelli and her sisters, Darcy and Regan, receive the unexpected news that their Uncle Gavin Sullivan has left them a hotel on the Gulf coast of Florida. The gift comes with a twist. They must live together for one year at the hotel and prepare the hotel to receive guests within a year. Dreams of sitting on the beach sipping margaritas are shattered when they see the property in need of renovation. Facing the unexpected and working together, the three sisters learn a lot about each other and the gift of family love.