The Next Best Day - by Sharon Sala (Paperback)

A product of the foster care system, Katie McGrath fought hard to overcome her rough start. Though proud to have achieved her dream of becoming a teacher, being shuffled from home to home as a child has taken its emotional toll. She loves being a teacher to groups of excited, inquisitive children. She just wishes she can find someone to lover her. After suffering through first a personal tragedy and then a larger community tragedy, Katie realizes she needs a fresh start. That's how she finds herself starting over in the small town of Borden's Gap, Tennessee. Katie quickly finds her place in her new home and settles in as the new first grade teacher. Yet she carries the scars of the events she left behind. She takes comfort from her neighbor, chief of police Sam Youngblood and his two young daughters. Sam suffered his own tragedy when his wife died in childbirth. Now, ready to try for love again, Sam and his daughters give Katie a soft place to land, and hope for a future she wasn't sure could be hers. Sharon Sala welcomes us to the town of Borden's Gap, a small town that warmly welcomes a newcomer and accepts her as one of their own. Katie finds just who and what she needs as she seeks to heal . This is a story of survival and finding the strength to overcome past anguish. I had tears in my eyes and a warm feeling in my heart through the last chapters of the book. Filled with emotion and laced with hope, love and triumph, this may not be a Christmas story, but it's perfect for the season.