Downsizing – Blog Tour & Giveaway

Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for Downsizing by Lin Stepp, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Downsizing
Series: Mountain Home Books #2
Author: Lin Stepp
Publisher: Mountain Hill Press
Release Date: April 1, 2021
Genre: Clean/Sweet Contemporary Romance

Forced to suddenly downsize her life, and not by choice, pushes Mary Pat Latham to give up all that is familiar, to reexamine her life in every area, and to eventually open her heart to new beauty and purpose, instead of only looking back in regret.

At midlife, Mary Pat Latham has an almost perfect life—a successful husband, a beautiful home, four fine grown children, and a wealth of meaningful activities and social clubs to fill her days—so it’s a total shock when her husband walks in one day and says he wants a divorce. As if hearing a stranger talking in her own kitchen, Mary Pat listens to Russell’s reasons for wanting to abandon their long marriage and to his plans, already in place, to sell their home and move on. What will she do? Where will she go? She hasn’t worked since the children were born, her life wrapped up in home and family. Stunned, Mary Pat heads to the small mountain home she and Russell bought from her parents years ago, too shocked and humiliated to face her friends or anyone she knows right now.

Owen McCarter knew he’d need to stop by the old Jennings place, on some pretense or other, after Wheeler told him he’d seen a woman up there acting sick. After all, the house was next door to his at the end of Highland Drive. When he knocked on the front door later, it took him a minute to recognize Mary Pat, weeping and so different from the girl he’d known in childhood and fallen in love with. Owen reached out in friendship, of course, seeing Mary Pat so upset, but he felt surprised at the old memories that touched him, too. Hearing her problems and learning why she’d come to the mountains, Owen knew it unlikely she’d stay for long after the more lavish life she’d known. But he couldn’t help wishing she would.

Another Lin Stepp novel set in the Smoky Mountains … with a special “Downsizing Diet” available free to readers as a book supplement.

PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

MORE BOOKS IN THIS SERIES

---

EXCERPT

Mary Pat glanced up from the kitchen counter where she stood frosting her latest cake masterpiece to see her husband Russell walking in the back door.

“Hi. What brings you home in the middle of the day?” She smiled at him, licking a dab of strawberry frosting off her finger. “Have you had lunch yet? I can make you something.”

“No. I grabbed a bite at the hospital earlier between surgeries. I’m good.” He moved over to a stool at the big kitchen island and sat down….

“Uh, oh,” she said, adding the final layer of frosting to the top of her cake. “You look serious. Did I run up the credit card accounts too much during Christmas? I know I got a little carried away with all four of the children home for the holidays. The boys and Victoria are in apartments now and they need so many things. We don’t see them nearly enough either. I know I spoil them.” …

“No, they’re not a problem, Marian.” …

She finished the cake, arranging a few sliced berries across the top to make it prettier. Turning to the sink to rinse her hands, she looked back at Russell. “Are you sure you don’t want a sandwich or a piece of the cream pie I made yesterday? It’s no trouble. I can pour you a glass of tea, too.”

“I’ll take the tea,” he said.

“Good.” She beamed at him, still hoping to cheer him up over whatever seemed to be worrying him today. …

Russell still hadn’t smiled yet and Mary Pat felt uncomfortable with him popping in at midday like this. As a busy cardiologist, he seldom had time to get away from the office or the hospital during the day. Many nights he got called back into the hospital or simply worked late, too. His practice was demanding.

…He patted the cushioned barstool beside him at the island. “Come sit down a minute, Marian.”

“All right.” She made her way around the counter and settled onto the barstool chair.

Russell stirred his tea and sighed.
“Whatever is the matter, Russell?” she finally asked.
His eyes lifted to hers. “I want a divorce, Marian.”
“What?” she said, trying to absorb the words.
“I want a divorce,” he said again, saying each word more slowly.

“Russell, that doesn’t make sense.” Mary Pat put a hand to her heart. “We celebrated our thirty-fourth wedding anniversary while the children were home for Christmas. We’ve raised four children together. We seldom argue. We share a good happy life. Surely you can’t mean that.”

---

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image credit Katie Riley