Mothering Santa's Elf — Emily Josephine

Leila Dennis' job as an elementary school art teacher fulfills her and is everything she wants in life. Until she meets Brad Riley. A new resident to Pine Grove, he's the father of one of Leila's first-graders, Mary. His initial attentions warm her, make her think that like her two older sisters, she might have found the man who would become her husband. Then, he turns cold, and practically pushes her out of his life. She's glad he does it early on, not so glad when Mary's audition for the annual school holiday program is so outstanding that Leila and the music teacher, Patricia, agree that the child must have a role. Unfortunately for Leila, that means seeing Brad on a regular basis. For his part, Brad struggles to remain loyal to the memory of Mary's deceased mother while his heart begins feeling a pull toward Leila. Remaining aloof ends up not being an option, however, when he walks into the school auditorium one day and a frantic Leila, who has only just discovered that Patricia had to leave town on a family emergency, snags his assistance with the school program. Their friendship can't help but grow, and seems to becoming something more…until the morning Mary unaccountably and tearfully begs her father not to expand their family of two. A middle-aged first-grade teacher who seems to take pleasure in despising Leila. The Christmas program almost falling to pieces. The man she's falling for, breaking away from her. If Leila's going to have a merry Christmas, she'll need a miracle or two. This clean and wholesome holiday romance novel is the third of six books in Emily Josephine's Christmas Sisters series.