Lady in the Window

Kate Grace Mystery #1

by Maryann Ridini Spencer

Thirty-year-old Kate Grace is a successful lifestyle writer for a popular magazine in New York City. She has everything she could ever want — a loving family, friends, and the man of her dreams. But when several unforeseen events threaten to upend her world, a friend comes to the rescue, offering Kate respite to mend her broken heart in the ancient, magic paradise that is Hanalei, Kauai. On the beautiful beaches of Hawaii, she ends up finding more than she bargained for – new life, new love, and synchronicities sent from beyond. Please note that this second edition of “Lady in the Window,” published by Santa Rosa Press in 2019, is the Christian version of the book.

320 pages, Hardcover

Published May 9, 2017

About the author

Maryann Ridini Spencer (https://MaryannRidiniSpencer.com) named Author of the Year for Christian Fiction at the 2025 International Impact Book Awards Gala in Hollywood, is an award-winning screenwriter/producer, author, food and lifestyle journalist, and TV host of the Telly Award-winning Simply Delicious Living with Maryann®, PBS-TV, and YouTube.com/MaryannRidiniSpencer).

As an author, Maryann has penned the award-winning, best-selling Kate Grace novels (Lady in the Window, The Paradise Table, Secrets of Grace Manor, and Under the Tropical Skies). The first book in Maryann's Lavender Hill Cove mystery series, Lavender Hill Cove, was honored with a 2024 Book Excellence Award for Christian Fiction, and the second book, Once Upon a Cove Christmas, was a 2025 Christlit Book Award Winner and a 2025 International Impact Book Award Winner for Christian Fiction. Garden of the Mystical Rose is the third book in the series.

Maryann's latest nonfiction book, The Mary Garden, ranked #3 in Christian Poetry on Amazon Kindle. She is also the author of the Simply Delicious Living with Maryann—Entrées cookbook (2019) and Country Skies: Prayerful Bible Meditations for Morning & Evening (2019), under the pseudonym KG Stevens (Kate Grace Stevens, her leading character in Maryann's Lady in the Window series).

Maryann's first novel, Lady in the Window (2017/2019) is a 2017 Best Book Awards: Fiction: Romance winner and finalist "Fiction: Chick Lit/Women's Literature," a 2018 American Fiction Visionary Award winner, and 2019 Hawai'i Book Publishers Association Ka Palapala Po'okela Awards–Aloha From Across the Sea Award Finalist. Her second novel, The Paradise Table (2019), became an Amazon bestseller and was placed as a finalist at the American Book Fest in the "Fiction: Multicultural" and "Fiction: Inspirational" categories. Her third book, Secrets of Grace Manor (2021), is a 2021 Best Book Finalist and Amazon Bestseller, and her latest, Under the Tropical Skies (2022), ranked in Amazon's top 10 "Hot New Releases." Author of the Simply Delicious Living with Maryann®—Entrée cookbook (2019), Maryann continues to write new novels, nonfiction, and screenplays.

As a member of the Writers Guild of America West and the Producers Guild of America, Maryann has made significant contributions to the film industry. Her work spans across numerous TV movies and series on networks like CBS, USA Networks, SyFy Channel, Showtime, CNN, Time Warner Cable, and PBS-TV. Maryann's most celebrated project is the critically-acclaimed, award-winning rating hit, 'The Lost Valentine,' which she co-produced and wrote. The 2012 film, starring Betty White and Jennifer Love Hewitt, won the night in ratings with over 15 million viewers and held the position as CBS-TV's highest-rated movie for five years after the premiere. It has since become a Hallmark Hall Fame classic and part of Hallmark's DVD Gold Crown Collector's edition, airing annually on Hallmark channels.

Maryann has also worked as a freelance lifestyle and food writer and contributing editor for such publications as Palm Springs Life Magazine, Desert Magazine, Ventura County Star, and Los Angeles Magazine. Maryann loves to chat and get feedback from her readers. Please learn more about Maryann at http://maryannridinispencer.com and her award-winning healthy & and joyous living blog: http://simplydeliciousliving.com. and please find out more about Maryann at http://maryannridinispencer.com, her award-winning healthy & joyous living blog: http://simplydeliciousliving.com, and Amazon Author Page: Page: https://www.amazon.com/Maryann-Ridini...

While Maryann's professional achievements are impressive, her personal interests are equally captivating. Her passions in life (besides writing) are her family and friends, playing in her kitchen developing new recipes, spending as much time as possible in Hawaii, and blogging her recipes and creative and joyous living inspirations at

Reviews

[Vicki Spillman]

This was a beautifully written book. Very detailed. I could see and feel Hawaii as I was reading this book. The beach, tropical plants, restaurants and museums were described at length. I would recommend this book to anyone who would want to read a pleasant and fantastic book. I normally don't read romance books. I felt there was just enough romance but not too much.

[Maryann Spencer]

In "Lady in the Window" (2017 Best Book Award Winner, Fiction: Romance) the main character Kate Grace faces the trials and tribulations we all face at times in our lives — betrayal, the death of a loved one, and the desire to find and experience one's authentic path both personally and professionally. Originally, I was going to set the book in a different location. However, during a trip to Hanalei, Kauai, I knew — because of the book's mystical and spiritual elements — that the "mana" or "spirit" that embodies the land of ALOHA would be the perfect setting for Kate's healing journey. As I wrote this book, so many amazing "synchronicities" unfolded in my own life, and as authors sometimes do, I incorporated some of these happenings into the book.

The second edition of “Lady in the Window,” by Maryann Ridini Spencer, published by Santa Rosa Press in 2019, is the Christian version of "Lady in the Window."

While I was writing "Lady in the Window," the idea for the sequel book, "The Paradise Table," (2019) came to me. The same thing happened while I was writing "The Paradise Table," and now I'm on the third book in the series, "The Secrets of Grace Manor." While my books are listed under Literature/Fiction and Women's Contemporary Fiction, they usually incorporate some romance as well as mystery so you can be sure many more "mysteries" will be unfolding in future books!

I sincerely hope you enjoy the journey with me! I would love to hear from you!!

Mahalo and with ALOHA,
Maryann

[Lee]

Trite, poorly written, poorly written and formulaic. Can't say enough bad things about it.

[Jolie Whitehead]

This is a very light feel good kind of book.

[Constance Hood]

A sweet beyond the veil romance, reminiscent of one of those delicious Hawaiian cocktails. Wonderfully sensual writing.

[Jo Ann]

Gripping...

[Cindy]

Easy read...enjoyable but very predictable.

[B Ware]

Did not like. Read like a romance novel. Unsophisticated writing.