Between Stairs and Stardust by Pepper Basham

                Stella, an illustrator is in hiding when she meets James. Believing James to be a gardner at the Biltmore, she befriends him and his young sister. I love the friendship that develops as they learn about each other. A beautiful version of Cinderella. So grab a pitcher of meadow tea and relax with a beautiful tale!

I was given a copy of this novella by the author with no expectations. All thoughts are my own.

From Amazon:

An illustrator in hiding A millionaire with a gardening fascination And the possibility of a perfect fit for a happily-ever-after Once Upon a time…A young illustrator, forced from her home in Boston, must return to her Blue Ridge Mountains to escape a scandal. Certain that her dreams are on hold, Stella Emory doesn’t expect to find a prince charming in the form of James Craven, a young man who works in the gardens of the famed Biltmore Estate. Brought together unexpectedly, the two begin a tender friendship inspired by James’s little sister and the story of Cinderella, but James isn’t all he seems. As their friendship grows into a romance, the truth of James’s millionaire status shakes Stella’s confidence. When her past follows her to Asheville, Stella thinks her chance at romance with James is over, but will a Christmas masquerade and the remnants of a charm bracelet somehow provide the magic Stella needs to clear her name and claim her own happily-ever-after?

About the author:

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Biography

Pepper Basham is an award-winning author who writes romance peppered with grace and humor with a southern Appalachian flair. Her books have garnered recognition in the Grace Awards, Inpsys, and the ACFW Carol Awards, with The Thorn Healer selected as a 2018 finalist in the RT awards. Both her contemporary and historical romance novels consistently receive high ratings from Romantic Times, with Just the Way You Are as a Top Pick. Most recently she’s introduced readers to Bath, UK through her novellas, Second Impressions and Jane by the Book, and taken readers into the exciting world of WW2 espionage in her novella, Façade. The second novel in The Pleasant Gap series, When You Look at Me, arrives in October and her contribution to Barbour’s wonderful My Heart Belongs series hits the shelves in January 2019 with My Heart Belongs in the Blue Ridge. Her books are seasoned with her Appalachian heritage and love for family. She currently resides in the lovely mountains of Asheville, NC where she is the mom of five great kids, a speech-pathologist to about fifty more, and a lover of chocolate, jazz, hats, and Jesus.

You can get to know Pepper on her website, www.pepperdbasham.com, on Facebook, Instagram, or over at her group blog, The Writer's Alley.