Suzy Taylor Oakley

Purple Socks and Peppermint Tea Suzy Taylor Oakley

Trouble is brewing at Bedford Books, and it's weighing heavily on Maribelle Reed. She loves Clem and Ginnie, the owners who turned the bookkeeping over to her a few months ago, but now they've hired accountant Joel Stewart to investigate the store's finances. Will he point the finger at her, with the accounting mess only recently coming to light? It all started when Maribelle's hunt for a secret stash of peppermint tea (her favorite stress reliever) led to a mysterious tin of papers that may hold the key to the bookstore's financial crisis. Maribelle used to love Christmas with all her heart. But this year, with a failed romance and so much on her mind, she simply can't find the childlike joy she always had this time of year. Will she and Joel live with misunderstanding between them, or will they come together to solve the puzzle? What secrets lie behind each of their quirks? (He always wears purple; she's obsessed with peppermint tea.) Can Maribelle rediscover the joy of Christmas, or possibly allow herself to love again? Will Joel trust her enough to open up about his past?