Having the Prime of My Life

HAVING THE PRIME OF MY LIFE 

SPECIAL EDITION

FEATURING

AUTHOR KATHLEEN D. BAILEY

If Kathy looks cold here, it’s because Hilltop, New Hampshire, is fast approaching winter as they gear up for a Christmas Festival. Read Kathy’s story about the Hilltop series, and be sure to check out my review and order this great Christmas read by a talented senior writer!

    Paul McKee is content with his life as police chief in the small town of Hilltop, New Hampshire. He’s a local and adept at dealing with stubborn New England characters. He’s raising two small daughters alone, after his wife Sarah died in a car accident, and he’s making it work. Mostly.

     Jillian Despres fled Hilltop after high school and carved a new life for herself, where nobody knew that an alcoholic hoarding grandfather raised her. Jill has run as fast and as hard as she could. She’s made it as far as Boston and a job in television news. But when she loses her job and her grandfather’s hoarding gets out of control, it’s back to Hilltop – and the boy who loved her in high school.

     Jill has never had time for religion. She worked two jobs in high school to get by and to get out of Hilltop. She’s done everything herself, or so she thinks, and she reasons she’s done a better job than God could. But deep inside, she’s hurt and hurting. She feels every scar from being the poor girl with the drunk grandfather, and she’s not about to let anyone see inside.

     I “birthed” Jill in the first novel, “Hilltop Christmas,” where she was the morning show host reporting on Alice Merrill’s alleged embezzlement. While she was a very minor character, I did have Alice sigh, “Poor girl. She didn’t get a lot of help at home.”

     Slowly, my Jill emerged: pretty, ambitious, driven. A girl who never brought friends home. A girl who brought herself up and got herself out, until she couldn’t go any further. A girl who made the right choices, until she made one that went terribly wrong.

     Paul McKee was a straight-enough arrow even before he accepted the call to law enforcement. The only child of a lawyer and a physician, he learned compassion early, along with everything else. He led his class in every subject. But the Hilltoppers of his generation remember Paul for his protective nature. From baby birds to bullies, he handled every situation with grace and tact. He wanted most of all to protect Jillian Despres.

     But she wouldn’t let him.

     Now Jill finds herself back in Hilltop, the town Paul has never left. She doesn’t want their charity – again. But with Paul, it’s become something more than charity. It always was. He loved his late wife, Sarah, dearly and grieved deeply when she was killed in an accident. But seeing Jill again awakens the older feelings, and he somehow knows Sarah wouldn’t mind.

     The bridge too far? Paul is an active, believing, grace-clinging Christian. And Jill cannot surrender her will to anybody, least of all a God who never showed any interest in her.

     They begin to date, cautiously and chastely, as Paul prays for her soul and life. Faith is the only thing standing between them, but it’s the biggest – until he comes face-to-face with the biggest betrayal of his life.

     Will Paul and Jill find their happy-ever-after, or will the hurt run too deep?

     “Hilltop Reunion: is the second book in the Hilltop series. It follows Hilltop Christmas, the story of Jane Archer and the Rev. Noah Hastings.

     Hilltop Reunion takes place just before Christmas, and much of it centers around the annual Hilltop Christmas Festival, a three-day celebration focusing on Christ, not Santa. At the Festival, relationships are mended over a cup of cocoa or a sleigh ride. Errant children come home, marriages are healed, in an event that is more than the sum of its parts.

WHY NEWHAMPSHIRE?

     My beloved White Mountains get to make another appearance. They’re almost another character, like the Oregon Trail or the “red earth of Tara,” as the rough terrain and hardy winters help shape my characters’ characters.

     And my stories beget new characters. Stephanie, the young single mom in the first two “Hilltop” books, has been making noises about her own book for a while now. Who am I to say no? Look for Steph’s story, “Hilltop Wedding,” within the next two years.

“Welcome to Hilltop, the Town That Heals.”

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ABOUT KATHLEEN BAILEY

Kathleen Bailey is a journalist and novelist with 40 years’ experience in the nonfiction, newspaper, and inspirational fields. Born in 1951, she was a child in the 50s, a teen in the 60s, a young adult in the 70s, and a young mom in the 80s. It’s been a turbulent, colorful time to grow up, and she’s enjoyed every minute of it and written about most of it. She publishes historical Western fiction with Pelican/White Rose Publishing and contemporary Christmas stories with Elk Lake Publishing. She’s also the co-author of four nonfiction local history books with Arcadia Publishing. Learn more at her website:

https://kathleendbailey.weebly.com/

From the author’s website:

Continuing to enjoy the life of a published author, if a little late in life. I've published eleven books in five years, if you count novellas, and why not? I've worked with three different publishers. I publish Western historical romance with Pelican Book Group out of New Mexico, Christmas contemporary romance with Elk Lake Publishing of Plymouth, Mass., and nonfiction local history for Arcadia Publishing.
"The History Lover's Guide to New Hampshire" debuted March 18, 2025, see above, and "A Hilltop Reunion" with Elk Lake, see below, is now available. A time of productivity and fulfillment. 
?Here's the link! https://www.amazon.com/Hilltop-Reunion-Book-2-ebook/dp/B0FMSW14WQ/ref=sr_1_1

MY REVIEW *****

What does one expect from a small-town, heart-warming story? Romance … true. This has it and more. The author expertly weaves the heartstrings scenes with hard-hitting truths of life’s ups and downs. She portrays a believable character in Jill. As a former social worker myself, I’m well acquainted with the neglect issues from a hoarder and alcoholic. No wonder Jill has a hard time accepting Hilltop folks to welcome her home, nonetheless, find interest in a God she feels has abandoned her. This author is a talented writer, and I look forward to reading future books by her.