PLACE TO COME HOME TO

Book excerpt: Maggie Carpenter, hardworking and successful news reporter for the Los Angeles Times, laughs when she first spots the quaint job posting on the Internet. But when the violence of gang activity hits her neighborhood and her teenage son begins to withdraw, Maggie reconsiders. When Maggie and Spencer arrive in Pine Mountain, Oregon, they realize with dismay that the idyllic escape they'd hope for has fallen into disrepair. As she rallies the townsfolk in an attempt to save the community, she makes friends and discovers enemies. Why is the postmaster so unfriendly? What dark secret in the woods threatens the efforts of the Main Street merchants to restore the town? And will Maggie have the courage to open her heart to either the mysterious, wood-working preacher of the outgoing, sophisticated photographer.