Family Saga Southern

Joseph Lazare grows up believing his black hair and olive skin come from a Spanish grandmother, and he’s shocked to learn she was an enslaved African. At 13, Joseph allows racial prejudice to limit his future and chooses the seminary. At 23, he is ordained “a priest forever”. When he meets Tessa Conley, a devout Irish immigrant who shares his passions for music and botany, Joseph’s ordered world cracks at its foundation. He must conceal his true feelings as Tessa marries another man—a plantation owner who treats her like property.

Christmas is only weeks away, but no one in Mt. Hope is feeling very festive. Main Street is on the verge of becoming a ghost town. Leona believes resurrecting the annual Christmas parade is the only way to give the dying small town a second chance. But Leona's extravagant plan hits a snag when she realizes there's no one to play Santa . . . unless the scruffy drifter the wind blew in was sent by God.