Betrayed by her company, corporate lawyer Samantha James sets out to find closure from her past. Her journey leads her to Hope Valley, where unexpected friendships, hidden secrets, and the possibility of love offer her a chance at a new beginning. But a mysterious twist threatens to change everything.
Samantha James – Sam to her friends – is a corporate lawyer who has been devoted to her company for nine years. Then she is betrayed by her company. She is furious – sees red … literally. Feeling utterly alone and abandoned, she embarks on a journey back to her first home to try and find a childhood love who saved her from a near drowning. She wants to right a wrong – to say things that were left unsaid twenty years before. Perhaps her brother is right and she should get a life…
And then on her journey, feeling tired and utterly hopeless, she spots a signboard that reads Hope Valley, and on a whim decides to investigate. Just before dark she finds herself in Hope Valley where she meets The Valley’s most interesting inhabitants. Horatio, the proprietor of Horatio’s Haberdashery, Horses and Husbands, who takes her to Jeremiah’s Den. Joy-Bell, with her freckled elven face and feathered earrings, and Gerome, who keeps dropping things. And then there is Mr Marmalade, who thinks he is the boss of the Inn. Albert, the French chef who escaped the war in the nick of time and is talented in gastronomy and astronomy. He tells her the fables of the dark moon and the shooting stars. And she meets Gabe, full of philosophy, charm… and secrets. He tells her the tale of Jeremiah McGuire and she learns to laugh again. She starts off as a weary traveller but now Hope Valley is starting to feel like home and the longer she stays, the more difficult it is to move on.
With conflicting emotions, she goes to sleep in her room at the inn and wakes up with a police officer banging on her car window…