Downsizing

Forced to suddenly downsize her life, and not by choice, pushes Mary Pat Latham to give up all that is familiar, to reexamine her life in every area, and to eventually open her heart to new beauty and purpose, instead of only looking back in regret.

At midlife, Mary Pat Latham has an almost perfect life-a successful husband, a beautiful home, four fine grown children, and a wealth of meaningful activities and social clubs to fill her days-so it's a total shock when her husband walks in one day and says he wants a divorce. As if hearing a stranger talking in her own kitchen, Mary Pat listens to Russell's reasons for wanting to abandon their long marriage and to his plans, already in place, to sell their home and move on. What will she do? Where will she go? She hasn't worked since the children were born, her life wrapped up in home and family. Stunned, Mary Pat heads to the small mountain home she and Russell bought from her parents years ago, too shocked and humiliated to face her friends or anyone she knows right now.

Owen McCarter knew he'd need to stop by the old Jennings place, on some pretense or other, after Wheeler told him he'd seen a woman up there acting sick. After all, the house was next door to his at the end of Highland Drive. When he knocked on the front door later, it took him a minute to recognize Mary Pat, weeping and so different from the girl he'd known in childhood and fallen in love with. Owen reached out in friendship, of course, seeing Mary Pat so upset, but he felt surprised at the old memories that touched him, too. Hearing her problems and learning why she'd come to the mountains, Owen knew it unlikely she'd stay for long after the more lavish life she'd known. But he couldn't help wishing she would.

Another Lin Stepp novel set in the Smoky Mountains ... with a special "Downsizing Diet" available free to readers as a book supplement.

PRAISE FOR LIN STEPP'S SMOKY MOUNTAIN BOOKS:

"DOWNSIZING is absolutely charming... Mary Pat is a heroine of the heart; making her way in a world where the size of a person's heart is often less important than the size of her waist. A story of renewal, second chances, new beginnings, family, friendship, and food. ...A treat at the end-our heroine's very own sensible plan for trimming your dress size-while expanding your new horizons."

- Deborah Smith, NYT bestselling author of A PLACE TO CALL HOME

"Lin Stepp delivers a classic Southern romance with heart and she peppers the world of her story with details instantly recognizable to those familiar with the mountains ... Her rich, warm picture of the Smokies welcomes any who have ever called the Appalachians home."

- All About Women Magazine REVIEW

"A lovely love story about having a second chance at love."

- Night Owl Reviews

"Stepp establishes a lovely sense of place in the novel, capturing the sights and sounds of Tennessee's breathtaking Great Smoky Mountains.

- Booklist

"Well, I've finally come across someone that believes in all the things that I do ... love, family, faith, intrigue, mystery, loyalty, romance, and a great love four our beloved Smoky Mountains. Dr. Lin Stepp I salute you."

- Dolly Parton, award-winning country music singer, songwriter, entrepreneur