Book excerpt: Fairbrook is a town tailor-made for the holidays, with beautiful old houses dotting quaintly named streets like Sugar Plum Lane and Nutcracker Court. But cash-strapped single mom Carly Westbrook worries about providing a merry Christmas for her boys. Their run-ins with cranky neighbor Max Tolliver, an aspiring novelist stricken with writer's block, don't help. Between losing his muse and the Westbrook boys wreaking havoc in his once orderly life, Max could use a Christmas miracle. Fortunately, the Diamond Lils, a ladies group who meet weekly to play poker and socialize, are looking to do some good deeds--and they think a little matchmaking for Carly is a perfect place to start. . . "This is a solid Christmas read, firmly in the spirit of the holiday." --Publishers Weekly "For fans of Debbie Macomber." –Library Journal