"Now and Then and Always" by Melissa Tagg - A Maple Valley Romance

After traumatic circumstances forced her from her job as a nanny, Mara Bristol has finally found a refuge--an old Victorian inn on the outskirts of Maple Valley, IA. For the past year she'd been helping the owner, Lenora, take care of the inn, but when Lenora fails to return from a month-long trip and the bank threatens foreclosure, Mara worries she's once again alone . . . abandoned . . . about to lose the only true home she's ever known. Detective Marshall Hawkins is no closer to whole today than he was two years ago . . . the day his daughter died. Between his divorce, debilitating migraines, and a dependence on medication, his life is falling apart. And when a reckless decision on the job propels him into administrative leave, he has no other plan but to get in his truck and drive. A one-night stay at the Everwood was supposed to be just that. But there's something about the old house-or maybe its intriguing caretaker-that pulls him in. Together, Mara and Marshall set out to save the Everwood. But its secrets run deeper than they could have imagined.

Melissa Tagg's books just keep getting better and better. Set in the same quirky town as the Walker Family and Enchanted Christmas series, this has all the charm and heart of her other Maple Valley stories, but it has a mystery and touch of suspense to boot.

Like all the other Maple Valley stories, there's humor and quirkiness, but it's the emotional impact that gets me every time. My heart ached for both Marshall and Mara, for all that they have such different backgrounds. It was hard not to tear up just about any time Marshall's daughter was mentioned . . . or Mara's absolute aloneness and feelings of abandonment. But even if the grief will always be with them, there's so much hope, healing, and restoration. I like how another reviewer put it--"there's life beyond the brokenness."

If you want a story to tug at the heartstrings and romance to make you swoon, then look no further. Highly recommended. It's also the winner of the 2020 Christy Award for Best Contemporary Romance!

Maple Valley Romance

1. Now and Then and Always

2. Some Bright Someday

Related stories:

Walker Family
0.5: Three Little Words (novella)
1. From the Start
2. Like Never Before
3. Keep Holding On
4. All This Time

"A Maple Valley Romance" (published in Right Where We Belong collection of small-town novellas)

Enchanted Christmas Collection (now together in the omnibus Enchanted)
1. One Enchanted Christmas
2. One Enchanted Eve

3. One Enchanted Noel