Reunited at Christmas

Samantha Murphy, one of the newest of the stable of novelists at Bedford Potter Publishing in New York City, is offered one of the plum assignments to write one of their highly anticipated Christmas-themed romances for publication next Christmas, one year away. Sam accepts the assignment despite writing better from inspiration than on demand, that inspiration lacking in not having had a festive Christmas in years with she, her sister Annie, and Annie's husband Mark, being shuttled between her still-quietly-squabbling parents, retired police officer Bill and still-practicing lawyer Claire, six years after their divorce, they who don't give her the best impression of married life especially as they seemed so happy when Sam was younger, and with her Nana, her paternal grandmother Madeline Murphy, having passed earlier this year, Nana the one who held any of those long-held family Christmas traditions. Sam and her boyfriend, local television news field reporter Simon Baker, had planned an Aspen getaway this Christmas, which changes at the last minute when Sam and everyone in her family, including Claire, are summoned back to their hometown of Cedar Ridge in New England by Nana, who, planning it before her passing, wanted them to have one last Christmas in her house partaking in all her specific list of traditions. On the surface, this get-together has the potential to put Sam in an even worse frame of mind, with the strain existing between her parents, and Simon wanting to insert his own tradition into the mix. But the spirit of Nana may be the silver lining to give Sam that much needed inspiration, not only for the book but for family life in general, especially at Christmas.