Publisher's Synopsis
Sleigh Bells Ring is the warm, festive story by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne, a name that has become synonymous with Christmas. In this emotional and heartwarming book, RaeAnne Thayne tells the story of the caretaker of a ranch determined to keep the spread going, and the man who inherited the land and is determined to sell. But when it benefits them both to pretend to be each other's long-lost love, can real love be far behind? Celebrate the season in this sparkling holiday romance, perfect for fans of Debbie Macomber, Robyn Carr, and Susan Mallery.
None of the Sheridan family members has visited the gorgeous Angel's View Ranch in the entire thirty months Annie McCade has been the caretaker of the property, and she has no reason to believe this holiday season will be any different. After all, why would they visit? Annie knows Wallace Sheridan, the family patriarch who hired her, loved it here but no one else in the family did. They couldn't face their dark memories of the place. Annie certainly understands their pain--when, as a child, she lived on the ranch, she saw a young and frantic Tate Sheridan come galloping out of the mountains, looking for help for his severely injured father, who would later die from massive injuries. Since then, with the exception of Wallace, the whole remaining family couldn't get away fast enough.
And actually, Annie is grateful to have the place to herself--her ne'er-do-well brother got himself thrown in jail over the holidays, and she took temporary custody of her little niece and nephew for Christmas. Until Tate shows up and she unexpectedly hits him square in the face with a snowball! She worries that she is about to get fired, but Tate, after confronting the ghosts of his past, realizes he wants Annie to stay. His big family and their entourage are arriving the next day, and he can't manage them--and the big, echoing ranch house--without her.
So Tate has a brilliant idea. He tells her she and the kids can stay, through the holidays at least--if she agrees to pretend to be his long-lost love, to keep his busybody matchmaking grandmother off his back.
Annie is at first outraged by the suggestions and then intrigued. How hard could it be to pretend she and Tate have fallen for each other? He's gorgeous, after all--and some part of her heart had never forgotten their long-ago friendship. The trick, she realizes, will be convincing her heart during the magical holiday season that it's only make belive.
