Showing results by author "Stephanie Taylor" in All Categories

Welcome back to Christmas Key! A lot has changed in five years: the baby boom has resulted in a tiny class of kindergarteners on the island, and so-called "influencers" have discovered paradise, which they now want to share with their fans via podcasts, vlogs, and inspirational social media posts. But the real story isn't just the holiday lights on Main Street, the icy cold margaritas at the Ho Ho Hideaway, or the new clothing and furniture store--it's former First Lady Ruby Hudson: part-time Christmas Key resident, and full-time favorite of everyone on the island. Ruby and her husband, the...

Goddess Rising is a book of 8 women who each share their personal story of rising to become the Goddess she is within. It is filled with hope. Filled with inspiration. Filled with women who chose to rise again and sometimes they chose to rise again and again. All of this made them into the women (goddess) they are today. They are women who proved to the world that life is more than just the hand of cards you are dealt, but rather, how you respond to those cards you are dealt. It is a choice. They chose to find love. They chose to find healing. They chose to find life. In return she gives ...

Jude Majors has a problem and she knows it: her drinking has gotten out of hand. Being married to an astronaut and raising twin daughters on Stardust Beach is a dream come true, but for Jude, her life is an exercise of finding balance in her head and in her heart--and trying to reconcile the painful memories of her past... Jude, whose mother is Japanese, was sent to live with her father in Los Angeles shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, but being forced to hide a big part of who she is has left her feeling inadequate. Shunned. Alone. She's hidden so many facets of herself over the ...

What happens when a medical examiner leaves cold bodies and cold winters behind to chase her dream of running a travel agency in a warm, sunny beach town? Lucy Landish has put a decade into her career, but a heartbreaking divorce and a mother whose medical needs are growing increasingly demanding have driven her to chase her dream south—way south—to Amelia Island, Florida. Dreaming of a fresh start, Lucy hangs out a shingle and opens The Holiday Adventure Club with plans to travel the world for a year, hitting a new location for every major holiday with her groups of intrepid tourists ...

Christmas Key will have to function without its beloved mayor, Holly Baxter, while she embarks on a European adventure with her long-distance love... But when Holly's mother arrives on the island with plans to sell off paradise and build a bloated, gaudy casino on the island's shores, the locals have to pull together to keep her at bay. A shocking loss throws the locals for a loop while they welcome three new islanders to Christmas Key in Holly's absence, but if she learns nothing else from her trip across the pond, Holly comes home knowing in her heart that it's time to say "yes" to new ...

If you’re wondering whether there’s life on the other side of deconversion, or if you’re trying desperately to understand a loved one who is losing their faith—this book is for you. Edited by philosophy of religion scholar, Sarah Bacaller, with a foreword by Bart Campolo (the first humanist chaplain at the University of Southern California), this book offers gripping insights into the deepest aspects of the deconversion journey.

Spring comes in like a lion on Christmas Key, bringing heat, humidity, and April Fools Day pranks, but leaving romance and expectation in its wake… As usual, Mayor Holly Baxter has her hands full with a visiting group—this time a reunion for a family of redheads famous for starring on a reality show—and life on the island is changing once again. She and Miguel are still happy as clams, spending more time together than apart, and the promise of an upcoming wedding on the island has everyone daydreaming about love. But there are more twists and turns than the locals can imagine, and ...

Valentine’s Day in Venice was a success, but will St. Patrick’s Day on St. Barts be even more of an adventure? Lucy Landish hopes so! She’s got a troop of travelers joining her for the second Holiday Adventure Club trip, and they’re trying to get over heartbreak, find new love, and have the vacation of a lifetime. With Nick Epperson, one of her handsome, available, next-door work neighbors along for the ride, Lucy is ready to show her guests a great time in the French West Indies. But things are complicated between her and Nick; there’s clearly chemistry, but they’ve both got ...

Everyone loves a good holiday, and no one loves the season more than the women of Shipwreck Key... Former First Lady Ruby Hudson finally has things settled when it comes to her heart, and along with a solid romance, she has both of her daughters on the island for Christmas. Her best friend, Sunday Bond, is feeling secure and in love, and all of the island's residents are geared up for a holiday season full of laughter, love, and fun. They've invited family and friends to Shipwreck Key to help them celebrate, and there's even a hint of that most rare and impossible thing in Florida: SNOW! To...

Florida’s Space Coast—1963. People flock south to make the Sunshine State their winter playground, moving to the brand new beach towns and neighborhoods to live their lives in the sun. But the families moving to Stardust Beach near Cape Kennedy aren’t there for canasta and cocktails; the men aren’t going to spend their days on the golf courses, and the women aren’t there for fashion shows and shuffleboard. These couples are young, driven, and there to make history. These are the First Families of NASA’s new space program, and they’re ready to aim for the moon… Josephine ...

Francesca Lombardi’s ascent from glamorous Rockette in the late 1950s to star of the Broadway stage seemed like a given; nothing could stand in her way. But something did—something broke her spirit and she gave up dancing and left New York for good, swearing that she’d never set foot on a stage again... Fast forward a few years and Francesca has been refashioned as Frankie, gorgeous wife to one of NASA’s newest astronauts, Ed Maxwell. Frankie’s new group of friends loves her for her acerbic wit and sharp outlook on life, and her close friendship with Jo Booker is keeping both ...

When a woman is prized first and foremost for her looks, what does she have left to offer when the world decides those looks are fading? Marigold Pim, once the darling of the modeling world, graced the covers of nearly every prestigious fashion magazine on the planet. Her beauty made her the epitome of glamour as a young woman—and also led her straight into the arms of Cobb Hartley, the famous-but-troubled British rockstar. They raised a son together and endured two decades of a complicated marriage, but now they’re happily divorced and living their lives on different continents. For ...

It's wedding season on Christmas Key, and with the arrival of a Hollywood starlet and her groom-to-be, the locals are knee-deep in cake frosting and mysterious paparazzi! Can Holly Baxter pull off this top-secret wedding and make her famous guests happy? And will the nuptials of a wealthy couple leave two of the islanders with the kind of wedding envy that makes them wish they'd never even planned to say "I do"? Changes are happening fast on the growing island, and Holly realizes quickly that everything is better if you leave room for a little nonsense! Small town Clean and wholesome ...

In a world that expects near perfection from people in ministry, it is hard to be honest about struggles of being a pastor's wife or a woman in ministry—let alone have a sense of humor about it! In their popular podcast, Pastors' Wives Tell All, Jessica Taylor, Stephanie Gilbert, and Jenna Allen create a safe place for pastors' wives and women in ministry to be their most authentic selves. Now they're bringing their wit and wisdom to women through the spoken word.

Ruby Hudson has avoided reading the words of her late husband, President Jack Hudson--until now... For most of his life, Jack kept meticulous and well-written journals and diaries about his life. After his death, everything was boxed up and put into storage, but now, nearly two years after his passing, Ruby is ready to start unpacking her past and making sense of her husband's choices. With the month of August to herself on Shipwreck Key, Ruby brings out the boxes of journals dating back to the 70s, and she tries to unravel the mystery of her marriage: where did it go wrong? What had she ...

Mayor Holly Baxter has her hands full: the island is hosting a group of rowdy, swashbuckling weekend pirates; her ex-boyfriend's new love interest has decided to stick around; mysterious holes keep popping up all over the island; and a new family is ready to make Christmas Key home--a family that includes rambunctious six-year-old twin boys... After leaving the island on Christmas Eve, River O'Leary has started texting and calling Holly again, stirring up feelings in her that she's been too busy to ponder. But will having River back in her life finally free Holly from the ties that bind her...

When a woman needs to flee a bad marriage, it doesn’t matter that she’s the wife of the former Vice President, it only matters that she escapes... Sunday Bond longs for a life far from Washington D.C., and far from the husband who has kept her in a gilded cage for too long, locked up there with only his dark secrets to keep her company. When Sunday’s best friend, the former First Lady, moves south to Shipwreck Key, Sunday goes for a visit and decides to stay. The remote island off the coast of Florida is the perfect place to avoid the world’s prying eyes and to forget about her ...

Valentine's Day is near, and romance is in the air on Christmas Key! Things are heating up between Mayor Holly Baxter and the island's newest resident, Miguel, and there's a seafood festival coming to town. Holly's DNA results have come in and suddenly there's a man in her life to fill the role of father figure--but does she even want to meet him after a lifetime of assuming he doesn't exist? When a tragedy happens on the island its residents must pull together to help a stranger--whether they agree with Holly's methods and motives or not. Join Christmas Key's colorful locals for another ...

At twenty-seven, Jeanie Florence is shattering glass ceilings and forging a new path for women in the 1960s. As a NASA engineer, the shy, studious Jeanie has never been in a real relationship, and the closest she's come to having real, adult feelings for a man is the way she feels about Bill Booker. But Bill is a married astronaut ten years her senior, and he is NOT a real prospect...if only Jeanie's heart would get that fact the same way her brain does. The glamour and excitement of the 60s plays out as a backdrop to Jeanie's search for love and meaning, and as she dreams of going to space...

Tiny homes are coming to our favorite tiny island…along with a few tiny humans! Christmas Key is laced with holiday decorations and loads of expectation as the end of the year draws near. Pregnant and growing bigger and more uncomfortable with each passing day, Holly is hard at work planning another reality show—this time with HGTV there to document the community of miniature bungalows that will be built on the beach—and all the stars are aligned for a major meteor shower that’s going to be best seen from Florida. With an influx of guests and stargazers, and a surprise visit from ...