Kara Lennox
A Second Chance

Book 11 in the Hotel Marchand series, 2007


Hi, Charlotte,

Thanks for your last e-mail updating me about the family. It’s been so hectic here lately, I haven’t had time to write, but I’m not complaining. The B and B’s still full most of the time, and if that’s not enough to keep me busy, the upcoming Cajun musical festival is. Local businesses are planning to have display booths on the opera house grounds, so I’ll be doing something to promote La Petite Maison.

You’d be surprised at the caliber of Indigo’s few businesses. There’s a woman here named Loretta Castille who’s started up a bakery specializing in artisanal breads. She’s been supplying La Petite Maison with all our baked goods, and they rival anything you can find in New Orleans-everything from cranberry-walnut muffins to olive bread. Loretta’s great. She’s a single mom with a really precocious daughter, Zara. I’ll miss them both once my probation’s up and I move on. Until then, I’ll keep putting all my energy into La Petite Maison so Grand-mère Celeste and the rest of you will believe that I really have turned my life around. I’ll never get so much as a parking ticket for the rest of my life.

Love to you all,

Luc


Dear Reader,

When Hurricane Katrina hit, like everyone else, I felt just awful. Not only did hundreds of people lose their lives and thousands more their homes, but one of my favorite cities was changed irrevocably. Since I’m a Texan, Louisiana is my close neighbor, and I’ve been there more than a dozen times-trips with my parents when I was a little girl, wild weekends when I was in college, writers conferences and camping trips as an adult. My husband proposed to me in New Orleans.

But it’s not just New Orleans. The Louisiana swamps hold a strange appeal for me-all that Spanish moss, funky Cajun cafés and little shacks deep in the woods, and plantation homes. A few years ago, I bicycled across southern Louisiana and saw the state from a whole new perspective.

I want to hold tight to my memories and think of Louisiana and New Orleans as I knew it-which is how I depicted the area in this book. When I make mention of the hurricane damage, I emphasize the resilient spirit of Louisianans, and the rebuilding. I hope that by the time you read this book, my predictions are reality.

Sincerely,

Kara Lennox

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