It's easy to feel at home in Mitford. In these high, green hills, the air is pure, the village is charming, and the people are generally lovable. Yet Father Tim, the bachelor rector, has more than he can handle--with church secretary Emma Garrett managing his every move, a lovable but unloved boy named Dooley thrust into his care, and the charm of a new neighbor who effects surprising change in his stick-in-the-mud habits.

The seventh novel of Karon's beloved series is now available in paperback. Father Tim and Cynthia are back home in Mitford, where they find change in the air: a haircut price war that takes no prisoners and a risky new menu item at the Grill.

Having pursued intellectual matters all of his life, Father Tim discovers the joys of working with his hands when he discovers a worn-out nativity scene and begins to restore it.

"Over the course of ten Mitford novels, fans have kept a special place in their hearts for Dooley Kavanagh, first seen in At Home in Mitford as a barefoot, freckle-faced boy in filthy overalls. Now, Father Tim Kavanagh's adopted son has graduated from vet school and opened his own animal clinic. Since money will be tight for a while, maybe he and Lace Harper, his once and future soul mate, should keep their wedding simple. So the plan is to eliminate...

Father Tim, the Episcopal rector, and his talented and vivacious wife, Cynthia, are pondering the murky uncertainties of retirement. They're also trying to locate the scattered siblings of Dooley Barlowe, the mountain boy they love as their own. A brash new mayoral candidate is calling for aggressive development, and a tough survivor must hunker down for the fight of her life. Worse, the Sweet Stuff Bakery may be closing, and a suspicious real estate...

After twelve years of wrestling with the conflicts of retirement, Father Tim Kavanagh realizes he doesn't need a steady job to prove himself. Then he's given one. As for what it proves, heaven only knows. It's life as usual in Mitford. A beloved town character lands a front-page obituary, but who was it, exactly, who died? And what about the former mayor, born the year Lindbergh landed in Paris, who is still running for office? All this, of course,...

Anticipating a relaxing retirement, Father Tim returns to his hometown for the first time in decades when he receives an anonymous summons, an event that leads to his discovery of long-buried secrets and new people.

In 'Esther's gift', after Esther Bolick calculates the cost of baking one of her famous Orange Marmalade cakes, she decides to cut back on her gift giving. It takes the lyrics of a Christmas carol to help remind her of what a gift really means.