You've Got a Friend: A Smitten Novella

By Diann Hunt

When a group of friends devise a plan to turn Smitten, Vermont, into the country’s premier romantic getaway, Shelby finds her own true love along the way.

With the local lumber mill closing, residents wonder if their town can stay afloat. Then four friends and local business owners—Natalie, Julia, Shelby, and Reese—decide the town is worth saving. How will they do it? They’ll turn Smitten into a honeymoon destination!

In "You’ve Got a Friend" by Diann Hunt, Shelby Evans' craft room goes up in flames. When volunteer fireman Nick Majors offers her the use of a building on his Christmas tree farm, Shelby discovers feelings for the tender heart that beats beneath his rough, mountain-man exterior.

Excerpted from Smitten, a novel in four parts written by Christian Fiction’s most popular romance novelists—and real life BFFs!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Jun 5, 2012
• ISBN: 9781401688622

Book preview

© 2011 by Diann Hunt

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc., books may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [e-mail].

Scripture quotations are taken from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved; and HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Smitten / Colleen Coble.

     p. cm.

  ISBN 978-1-4016-8494-5 (trade paper)

1. Love stories, American. 2. Christian fiction, American. I. Coble, Colleen.

   PS648.L6S54 2011

   813’.08508--dc23

2011035671

Printed in the United States of America

11 12 13 14 15 QG 5 4 3 2 1

DEAR FRIENDS,

Have you ever noticed that life’s biggest blessings are often unexpected? That’s how it was with both our budding friendship and the origination of Smitten.

In the mid-1990s, God began linking us together, first Colleen and Kristin, and a year or so later, Denise. Bonded by our fledgling writing careers, we attended writing conferences, connected daily via e-mail, and eventually wrote a few romantic novella collections together. Our relationship deepened and became the kind of friendship we knew could only be a God thing.

Years later, our careers budding just as our friendship had, God brought us Diann. The lonely business of writing was lonely no more—it was a party for four! Diann frequently teased us about being left out of our previous novella collections, as if she were our group’s third wheel, but nothing could have been further from the truth. The fact was, we fit together like pieces of a heavenly puzzle.

Although our genres took us down slightly different paths, we were constantly connected by love and support—the kind that got us through bouts with cancer, family crises, and all the other storms that came our way.

When the opportunity arose to collaborate on a collection, we were ecstatic. Do what we loved with the people we loved? How could we turn that down? Besides, it was Diann’s dream, and we (including Thomas Nelson) couldn’t have been more eager to grant it.

Hours of brainstorming and hundreds of e-mails later, Smitten was born—a story that follows a fledgling town and four friends as each finds her true love. To make things simpler (not to mention more fun), we endowed our heroines with a healthy dose of our own personalities, so as you meet them you’ll also be meeting us. (We hope you’ll like us. 1 )

In many ways, this collection is a celebration of our friendship, a celebration of enduring love, and a celebration of God’s unexpected blessings, all wrapped in one simple book. It’s our greatest hope that you, our readers, will feel a part of it all as you join us on our journey to Smitten.

Love,

Colleen, Kristin,

Diann, and Denise

9781401684945_INT_0006_001

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

SMITTEN WITH FRIENDSHIP

AN EXCERPT FROM BITTERSWEET SURRENDER

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Never has a book been more of a labor of love than Smitten! The four of us have had the best time writing this book together.

But we couldn’t have done it without lots of help. We are so blessed to have been able to do this project with Thomas Nelson. They caught the vision right from the start and entered into a partnership with us with great enthusiasm. A big hug and thanks to publisher Allen Arnold who was quick to tell us he wanted this project. And a big thank-you to our editor, Ami McConnell, who knows each one of us intimately and was able to make suggestions to bring our characters to life. Our team has worked hard on the project all along so we will be showing our gratitude with hugs and DeBrand truffles to Marketing Director Eric Mullett, Publicity Manager Katie Bond, cover designer Kristen Vasgaard, Marketing Specialist Ashley Schneider, Publicist Ruthie Harper, and editors Becky Monds, Jodi Hughes, Natalie Hanemann, and Amanda Bostic. Our terrific sales team is already hard at work too and we couldn’t do much without them! Love you all! And our agents, Karen Solem and Lee Hough, have been a huge help as we put together this very different story. Thanks, friends!

A special thanks to Rick Acker for spending precious conference time sitting and brainstorming with us last year. He helped us flesh out our plot with some great suggestions. And our editor, L.B. Norton, was phenomenal on this project. She caught the inconsistencies that no one else could. And our families are always our backbones as we juggle life and career.

Our biggest thank-you goes to God who brought the four of us together in a bond of unbreakable friendship. We are all so different, and yet one, in our love for Christ and for one another.

CHAPTER ONE

Shelby Evans spotted the fire truck at her house and knew instinctively this was not going to be a good Monday.

Maybe she’d been a little distracted on her walk in the park, but she didn’t think she’d been gone that long. But it was such a beautiful September day and she had taken her journal, run into a couple of acquaintances, stopped for a bagel . . .

Clutching Penelope, her seven-pound Shih-poo, Shelby stepped over the neighbor kid’s bicycle on her front walk. Penelope barked at the intrusion of the monstrous truck parked in her driveway and the men winding up the heavy hose.

Nick Majors touched Shelby’s arm, catching her by surprise. She swiveled around to face him.

What’s going on?

Your neighbor reported smoke coming from your house.

Shelby gasped.

It’s contained in your dining room. Not too much damage—smoke damage mostly. The fire had just started when we got here.

She reached for the door and pushed it open. Thick smoke lingered inside the house, causing her to cough. If this is ‘not too much,’ I’d hate to see what real damage looks like.

What are you doing in here? A firefighter dressed in a cumbersome uniform, a fire extinguisher on his back, gave her a forbidding look.

Nick stood behind her. It’s all right, Captain. She lives here.

Thankfully, Nick was a volunteer fireman and could plead her case. She’d be upset if she couldn’t at least see the damage for herself.

Holding a dainty handkerchief loosely over Penelope’s nose, Shelby held the dog close and looked around her dining room area. Water on her floor and dining room table.

Wet walls. Though it could have been much worse, the scene overwhelmed her.

She spotted wet broken pieces of wood on the floor and cupped them in her hands. This was the clock you made me.

Don’t worry about it. I’ll make you another one for Christmas, Nick said.

The pieces spilled from her hands, and she choked back her emotions. Burying her face in Penelope’s soft, clean fur, Shelby stepped back outside, away from the acrid smell, and took in long, deep breaths.

Classes for Social Graces were scheduled to start in two weeks. In this very place. With an apartment-like setup, Shelby lived in the upstairs of her Victorian home and used the downstairs for the school. It had been the perfect arrangement.

Until now.

Shelby had invested most of her money into the house to make it functional for her purposes, so she had little to use toward renting another place while this one was repaired. Her sewing business provided enough, but offered little extra.

Social Graces, the place where she taught young girls how to become ladies, was more of a calling than a moneymaker.

She’d have to call her insurance company, then contact someone to clean up the mess.

We’ll figure it all out, Nick said.

Shelby nodded. Just having him near sent a rush of relief through her. He was right. They’d figure it out. And God would help her get through this, one step at a time. The tension eased from her shoulders.

The captain came out of the house, talked to Shelby again about what would happen next, and left.

I have to wash my truck, and then we could stop at the coffee shop to talk things over. You need to get away from this place, the smoke and all, so you can think. Want to go?

Aren’t you on duty?

I came when the pager went off, but they had enough responders when I got here. Since things are quieting down, Captain just told me I could go.

One of the other firemen called him over. Shelby watched them as they talked. She didn’t like the growing frown on Nick’s face or the way he stomped back toward her.

They found out where the fire started.

Oh? She had the distinct feeling she didn’t want to hear this.

"You left the glue gun on in the dining room, Shelby.

How many times have I told you when you’re finished to turn it off and unplug it?"

A flicker of irritation gained momentum—especially when she noticed several people looking their way. "I’m sorry,

Mr. Safety, but not all of us qualify for the Smokey the Bear Award."

How can you defend yourself when we’re talking life and death here?

I’m not defending myself. I’m just saying we don’t all think of things the way you do. I messed up. So sue me.

His gaze pinned her in place. I don’t believe this. He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck.

Shelby knew it was her fault, but he didn’t have to point it out so everyone could hear. Look, Nick, I appreciate your concern, but you’re not a superhero. Deal with it. She whirled around and attempted to walk away, but he grabbed her arm.

"Listen, we’re

Reviews for You've Got a Friend

[Emeldah K · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow! Shelby and Nick's friendship is one of the most beautiful things to read as it develops, because God was really working on their hearts most of the time.
I loved the book because it was relatable, and I was rooting for Nick and Shelby to get their heads in the game and get together already!
Great read.