Donna VanLiere's books movingly portray ordinary people reaching for more meaningful lives. In The Christmas Promise, she follows two seemingly separate individuals and shows how their lives intersect.

Chaz McConnell realizes that his life is empty-and he's made it that way. He goes home every night to a bare apartment. For the first time in his life, he's working at a job that will last more than a few weeks, as security for Wilson's Department Store. Trying to reach out, he befriends 4-year-old Donovan, whose mother is part of the janitorial team at Wilson's.

Gloria Bailey finds it easy to care for families in need but just can't seem to bridge the gap with her cantankerous neighbor, 60-something widow Miriam Lloyd Davies. When Miriam goes away for a week and a pipe bursts she comes home to a house under water.

Gloria, in an act of kindness or maybe insanity invites Miriam to stay at her house until a hotel room becomes available. They eventually realize they have more in common than they ever thought.

In this beautiful, deeply poignant novel, we are reminded that the past is never far behind and all of us are longing for a place to call home.

About the AuthorDonna VanLiere is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Christmas Hope books and The Angels of Morgan Hill. Her husband is the manager for the group NewSong; New Song's Billboard Hit, The Christmas Shoes is played on radio stations across the country each holiday season.