Joy Candellaro is a dreamer who clips travel advertisements and plans trips she never takes. She's also a well-loved school librarian who had a perfect life with her husband, Thom, and her best friend/sister Stacey. Then she loses everyone she's cared about when she comes home early from work to find Thom and Stacey together in her bed. From that moment on, Joy has been living in limbo, going through the motions of life. That is, until Stacey appears at her door, wanting to mend fences and become sisters again. At first, Joy is hopeful that Stacey and Thom have split up, but instead, she hands Joy a wedding invitation and shares with her that she's pregnant.

Joy has had enough and with little thought and no planning, she heads for the airport to get as far away from her life and the holidays as possible. When she arrives at the airport, Joy searches the departure board and finds the ideal destination, Hope. With only the clothes on her back, Joy departs for Hope, British Columbia, and risks it all.

What Joy discovers along the way is both terrifying and magical. Walking away from a tragedy that few survive, Joy is transported to a tranquil town where she meets a beautiful child in need of encouragement and love. Nine- year-old Bobby O'Shea befriends Joy and invites her to stay at Comfort Lodge, an inn he and his dad run. Joy finds peace, comfort and a sense of family for the first time since her husband and sister's betrayal.

Comfort Lodge, Bobby and Daniel O'Shea become Joy's salvation and help her to become a strong independent woman once again. Circumstances force Joy back to her home in Bakersfield and no one believes Joy when she relates her time in Comfort Lodge. Joy, however, believes that her destiny lies with Bobby and Daniel, and that if she believes hard enough, she can once again go back to Comfort Lodge.

Kristin Hannah is a magical and gifted writer who presents a beautiful tale of strength, love and tragedy that balances the reality of trauma with the dreamlike quality of perfection. COMFORT & JOY is a beautiful and poignant story that's captivating, intriguing and charming, at the same time.

Book Summary

Newly divorced, Joy Candellaro is presented with a serendipitous opportunity to leave her past behind. Arriving in the small town of Rain Valley, Joy glimpses the possibility of a new life in the faces of widower Daniel O'Shea and his son, Bobby. But dramatic events force Joy to make a painful choice. In a world of impossible dreams and unexpected chances, can she summon enough faith to hold on to her newfound happiness?

A modern-day fairy tale, Comfort & Joy tells the story of a woman caught between two lives, and finding a joyous resolution one momentous, emotional Christmas Eve.

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