Congratulations!

Your book, Christmas in Evergreen, has been chosen as Best Book in the Category of Suspense, in the NABE Pinnacle Book Achievement Award Winners for Winter 2024.

Al Galasso

Winter 2024 Pinnacle Book Achievement Awards

Book Link

Synopsis:

“My husband, Steve, and I have always had a great relationship, married, for the last five years. He’s a private investigator, and I have my artwork. Much of his work involved using a special laptop, one that was rugged and lockable, in his home office and I had my art studio where I could lose myself in painting and creativity. Life was wonderful, until the day I read a completely chilling and startling “Hit List” on his computer screen. Confusion ran supreme in my brain and then it hit me. My name was at the top of that list! Wait! What? No! Never! Yet I read “Kim Daily” plain as day. What would you do if you found out you were the next target on your husband’s hit list? Steve intentionally left his laptop open for me to read. He simply can’t be an assassin! I would know. Or would I? No! That’s impossible! Steve has been the kindest husband for five years and he was a crack ass private investigator; not an assassin. Yet why was my name at the top of his hit list? Why did he even have a hit list? My mind reeling in shock, I had to do something to stay alive! Think, Kim, think! Get your best game on right now as time is running out!” 

Daisy

5.0 out of 5 stars The Heart of Evergreen Book 1

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2024

Christmas in Evergreen is a story that grabs a reader from page one with a hook that never let’s go. Kim discovers the unthinkable. Staring back on her husband’s laptop is a hit list. Shock wraps around Kim as she sees her name sits at the top. Accepting the truth of this discovery, Kim flees for her life. The reader goes along worrying and fearing each step of the way. Expect to gulp extra breaths of air as you turn the pages.

With the help of others, Kim escapes to the town of Evergreen. She grabs the opportunity to begin anew…if that’s even possible.

The author has set the wheels in motion for Evergreen to become an enthralling and exciting series. The best is yet to come!

Adele Royce

5.0 out of 5 stars Plot-twisting Action Plus Heartwarming Romance

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2024

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In Mary L. Schmidt’s latest novel, she pulls the reader into a sinister assassination plot that threatens her main character, the courageous and beautiful, Kim. When Kim’s perfect life is disrupted by the discovery her husband might just be trying to off her, she takes matters into her own hands. What results is a deep dive into a new life Kim never expected but might just be the light at the end of the tunnel. There is something for everyone in this heart-stopping thriller-turned romance. I can’t wait for the sequel!

Reader Editor

5.0 out of 5 stars The Suspense Builds and Then…. Wow!

Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2024

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Christmas in Evergreen: Heart of Evergreen Book 1, by Mary L. Schmidt, an author who has a flair for detail and slowly building up to a stunning, unexpected, and life-changing occurrence. A story of how two women become friends through adversity, and how they progress in their lives. I cannot say more of what brought these two women together and how they fared after a tragedy without creating a spoiler. What I can say is that the character, Kim, flees for her life after inadvertently seeing something devastating on her husband’s laptop. I had high hopes this story would go another way, but it did not and Kim and her friend become bonded forever as they bring together the shattered pieces of the puzzle of their new lives. These women are strong and determined to make the most of what they are left with.

Again, Schmidt’s flair for detail brings us into a scene as if we are present with the characters. Her writing also shows evidence that she researches her topics, or perhaps builds many of her scenes from knowledge she already possesses. Since this seems to be the start of a series, I believe it will be an exciting one. This certainly cannot be the only life changing occurrence in these characters lives, so I am looking forward to the next book to see what life throws at these to women.