The Lantern on Maple Street
(2025)(The fourth book in the Porchlight Promises series)
A novel by Lila Montgomery
The Lantern on Maple Street
Porchlight Promises — Book Four
By Lila Montgomery
Hannah Reed returns to Sweetwater Ridge with one suitcase, an old iron lantern, and a quiet determination to do what feels like the bravest thing she’s ever tried: come home. After years of restless city life and a long season of prayer for steadiness, she steps onto Main Street and finds the town exactly as she remembers it — older trees, the familiar scent of coffee and lemon polish, and Shepherd’s Books catching the afternoon light like a promise. She brings more than a lantern; she brings a plan to open a reading room in the old livery, a place where hymnals and storybooks can rest on the same shelves and children can learn what belonging looks like when it is practiced every day.
The work of making a place for others becomes the work of making a place for herself. Amelia Hart, who keeps the bookstore with steady hands and gentle humor, welcomes Hannah back like family. Wes Carter lifts heavy crates and keeps the friendly kind of silence that makes a person feel safe. Luke Mercer, the carpenter whose quiet patience steadies beams and hearts alike, offers his strength without hurry. Together, they rebuild shelves and prepare the lantern for the Lantern Light festival — an evening when the town sets a light in every window to remind one another that community is a decision, not a reward.
As Hannah cleans soot from the lantern glass and tucks hymnals into a rescued guest book, she discovers that healing is slower and kinder than the dramatic fixes she once imagined. Caring for children who gather to hear stories, bargaining over paint colors, and listening to the small confessions of neighbors teach Hannah how tenderness grows from faithful habit. Yet beneath the steady rhythm of work and prayer, old wounds and unanswered questions linger. Hannah must reckon with the choices that sent her away, the pride that kept her from asking for help, and the fragile hope that real love might look like patience and shared labor rather than lightning strikes and grand gestures.
Warm, faith-affirming, and wholly contemporary, The Lantern on Maple Street is a story about second chances, neighborly devotion, and the unexpected courage of returning. It celebrates the quiet ministries of everyday life — the reading corner for a shy child, a repaired steeple that will hold a congregation’s song, a lantern in a window that serves as a small covenant. If you cherish clean, wholesome romances where relationships are grown through service, prayer, and steady kindness, Hannah’s gentle journey will light the way and leave you believing in the soft power of home.
Includes community festivals, a bookstore turned reading room, hands-on carpentry that becomes courtship, and a tender romance rooted in faith and shared purpose. Porchlight Promises continues to honor the healing that comes when a town chooses to keep its lights for those who find the dark.
Genre: Romance
Porchlight Promises — Book Four
By Lila Montgomery
Hannah Reed returns to Sweetwater Ridge with one suitcase, an old iron lantern, and a quiet determination to do what feels like the bravest thing she’s ever tried: come home. After years of restless city life and a long season of prayer for steadiness, she steps onto Main Street and finds the town exactly as she remembers it — older trees, the familiar scent of coffee and lemon polish, and Shepherd’s Books catching the afternoon light like a promise. She brings more than a lantern; she brings a plan to open a reading room in the old livery, a place where hymnals and storybooks can rest on the same shelves and children can learn what belonging looks like when it is practiced every day.
The work of making a place for others becomes the work of making a place for herself. Amelia Hart, who keeps the bookstore with steady hands and gentle humor, welcomes Hannah back like family. Wes Carter lifts heavy crates and keeps the friendly kind of silence that makes a person feel safe. Luke Mercer, the carpenter whose quiet patience steadies beams and hearts alike, offers his strength without hurry. Together, they rebuild shelves and prepare the lantern for the Lantern Light festival — an evening when the town sets a light in every window to remind one another that community is a decision, not a reward.
As Hannah cleans soot from the lantern glass and tucks hymnals into a rescued guest book, she discovers that healing is slower and kinder than the dramatic fixes she once imagined. Caring for children who gather to hear stories, bargaining over paint colors, and listening to the small confessions of neighbors teach Hannah how tenderness grows from faithful habit. Yet beneath the steady rhythm of work and prayer, old wounds and unanswered questions linger. Hannah must reckon with the choices that sent her away, the pride that kept her from asking for help, and the fragile hope that real love might look like patience and shared labor rather than lightning strikes and grand gestures.
Warm, faith-affirming, and wholly contemporary, The Lantern on Maple Street is a story about second chances, neighborly devotion, and the unexpected courage of returning. It celebrates the quiet ministries of everyday life — the reading corner for a shy child, a repaired steeple that will hold a congregation’s song, a lantern in a window that serves as a small covenant. If you cherish clean, wholesome romances where relationships are grown through service, prayer, and steady kindness, Hannah’s gentle journey will light the way and leave you believing in the soft power of home.
Includes community festivals, a bookstore turned reading room, hands-on carpentry that becomes courtship, and a tender romance rooted in faith and shared purpose. Porchlight Promises continues to honor the healing that comes when a town chooses to keep its lights for those who find the dark.
Genre: Romance
Used availability for Lila Montgomery's The Lantern on Maple Street