I am pleased to welcome Kathryn Springer today as she tours the internet with TLC Book Tours in support of her new book, The Gathering Table. Enjoy this stop and be sure to follow the tour for reviews and further excerpts from the book.
Available in paperback at Walmart, or online from your favorite audio or ebook retailer.
Excerpt #1 – The Gathering Table
“You have arrived at your destination.”
Carson, the invisible navigator inside Jessica Keaton’s cell phone, delivered the announcement in a crisp British accent that never failed to make her smile.
Until today.
Today Jess wanted to toss him…it…out the window.
Because a destination was something a person chose. Winsome Lake, Wisconsin, was a desperation. The kind of place you ended up when you had no choice at all.
“1525 Woodwind Lane is on your left.”
Either Jess had imagined the hint of frosty disapproval that had crept into Carson’s tone, or a week of sleepless nights was making her feel a little wonky.
“I heard you the first time,” Jess muttered. Even though talking back to her GPS definitely added weight to the wonky theory.
She tapped the brake. Just once, not quite ready to commit, but hard enough to trigger a low rumble underneath her feet that signified an ominous disturbance in the Buick’s rusty tectonic plates.
Oh. No.
Jess had forgotten how temperamental the car could be.
She cranked the wheel as a plume of charcoal-gray smoke erupted from the tailpipe. The tire grazed the curb, and the unexpected turbulence started a chain reaction that Jess was powerless to control. Two suitcases in the back seat collided with a thump, and the cardboard box balanced on top of them began to sway. In the rearview mirror, Jess watched the strip of packing tape holding the flaps together give way. A Burberry scarf, a gift to herself last Christmas, bobbed to the surface and spilled over the side, almost as if it had been waiting for an opportunity to escape.
Jess wasn’t so fortunate. Her chance to escape was thwarted when the Buick released a dramatic shudder and went still.
She’d forgotten about the car’s ability to play dead, too.
“1525 Woodwind Lane,” Carson intoned. His polite, British way of saying, “What are you waiting for, Yank?”
Jess ended the conversation with one swipe of a finger against the screen and abandoned the Buick only because she could pretend—for at least a few minutes—that it didn’t belong to her.
About The Gathering Table:
“A feast of small-town charm and characters who feel like dear friends.” —Liz Johnson, bestselling author of The Red Door Inn
From USA TODAY bestselling author Kathryn Springer comes a tale of starting over when life takes an unexpected turn.
Winsome Lake, Wisconsin, is postcard-pretty, but for chef Jessica Keaton it’s also a last resort. Fired from her dream job, Jess is starting over as a live-in cook and housekeeper. When she arrives, she finds her new employer is in rehab after having a stroke, and Jess expects she’ll be all alone in Elaine Haviland’s quaint house. A chef with no one to cook for.
But instead, she encounters a constant stream of colorful visitors who draw her back into the world. As Jess contends with local teenagers, a group of scrappy women and a charming football coach, Elaine faces some battles of her own that extend past her physical challenges. For both of them, all the ingredients for a fulfilling life are within reach, if they’re willing to take a leap. And maybe Jess will start to see that it’s not just what’s on the table that matters—it’s the people gathered round it.
A must-read novel from Love Inspired: Stories to Uplift and Inspire.
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About the Author:
Kathryn Springer grew up in a small town where her parents published a weekly newspaper. As a child, she spent hours sitting at her mother’s typewriter, plunking out stories, and credits her parents for instilling in her a love of reading – which turned into a desire to tell stories of her own.
Kathryn has written over thirty books and lives and writes on a lake in northern Wisconsin. She enjoys long walks in the woods and the change of seasons (although sometimes she wishes the “change” between winter and spring didn’t last quite so long!) When Kathryn isn’t at the computer, she’s spending time with family and friends, paging through cooking magazines or sitting in the sun. A really, really good day includes all three!
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