Title: Christmas at Miss Moonshine's Emporium
Authors: Helena Fairfax, Mary Jayne Baker, Sophie Claire, Jacqui Cooper, Angela Wren, Marie Laval, Kate Field, Helen Pollard, Melinda Hammond
Genre: Holiday Romance, Heart-Warming Anthology
Book Blurb:
There’s something magical about Miss Moonshine’s Wonderful Emporium, and at Christmas she brings an added sparkle to the inhabitants of the pretty Yorkshire town of Haven Bridge. Customers who step over her threshold find an eccentric collection of gifts, but Miss Moonshine has a rare knack for providing exactly what they need: a strange Advent calendar whose doors give a glimpse of a happy ending; a vintage typewriter that types a ghostly message from Christmas past; a mirror in a silver case that reflects the person you’d like to be.
Step inside Miss Moonshine’s quirky shop, and the thing you need most for Christmas will be right there, waiting for you...
Nine novelists from Yorkshire and Lancashire, including best-selling and award-winning authors, have joined together to create this collection of uplifting festive stories guaranteed to warm your heart. This intriguing mix of historical and contemporary romances will make you laugh, cry, and believe in the magic of Christmas.
Excerpt from How to Save Christmas By Kate Field:
The road swung to the left, and there, at last, was the sight that Tabitha had been longing to see for the last few, dark miles. A farmhouse lay just across the fields, and the lights blazing from the windows lifted her spirits, which had begun to waver as she’d left behind the streets of Haven Bridge and plunged deeper into the countryside. She turned off the road as her headlights picked out a tatty sign for Broad View Farm, bumped along a narrow track, and finally pulled up with a sigh of relief on the gravel outside the front door.
She left the car, wrapping her scarf more tightly round her as the biting December wind tried to creep through the wool, and knocked on the front door. No answer. She checked the instructions on her phone again. She was in the right place, at the right time. There was supposed to be a warm welcome waiting for her. But she knocked three more times, and no one came to the door.
Lights shone from the two downstairs windows. Surely that meant someone was at home? Tabitha peered through the one on the left of the front door. It looked into a living room, a cosy place with a roaring open fire, squashy sofas and books abandoned on the coffee table. A large Christmas tree smothered in tinsel and baubles filled one corner of the room. There was no one inside. She crossed to the window on the right, cupped her hands round her face and pressed her nose to the glass.
She recoiled as she spotted a man, standing completely still, gazing right at her. She smiled and lifted her hand in a friendly wave, but he didn’t react, and peering again, she realised that while he was facing the window, his gaze was focused inwards rather than outside. He didn’t appear to like what he saw; deep frown lines scored his forehead and his shoulders hunched forwards, as if weighed down by an invisible burden.
Tabitha stood transfixed, and then, as she was wondering whether she dared bang on the glass and disturb him, a child ran in to the room – a girl of about six, her face full of laughter. The transformation was instant; the man switched on like the lights on a Christmas tree, sparkling with life as he scooped the girl into his arms. He was younger than Tabitha had initially thought, perhaps mid-thirties like herself, not bad looking when he smiled with such tangible love softening his features…
Tabitha drew back, waited a moment, then knocked on the front door again. This time, the door opened, and the man she’d seen in the kitchen stared out at her in silence.
‘Hello! I’m Tabitha Grey… I’ve rented the Chicken House for Christmas. Are you Rob?’
He nodded, but a look of dismay passed over his face.
‘Oh, bol –’ He stopped as the sound of skipping feet behind him announced the arrival of the little girl, who grasped his hand and stared at Tabitha curiously. ‘Is that today? I thought you were arriving tomorrow. I was going to light the fire…’ He sighed, pulled down two coats from the pegs behind the door, and bundled the girl into one and himself into the other. ‘It’s across the yard. I’ll show you the way.’
He grabbed a large torch from the hall table and led the way round the side of the house, over a cobbled courtyard, through a gate, and down a short path until the beam of his torch lit a small, stone building. He pushed open the door and flicked on the light. Tabitha followed him in and looked round quickly, her worries rushing away. The welcome might not have been as warm as the website had claimed, but this place was exactly as advertised. The door opened into an open plan, rectangular room, with a log burner and sofas at one end, and a compact kitchen with a breakfast bar and two stools at the other. A steep flight of stairs presumably led up to the bedroom and bathroom. It was perfect. Except…
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Helena Fairfax :
Mary Jayne Baker :
Sophie Claire :
Jacqui Cooper :
Angela Wren :
Marie Laval :
Kate Field :
Helen Pollard :
Melinda Hammond :
What we love most about the holiday season:
There are many things that we all love about Christmas and the holiday season - being with family, giving presents, singing carols, snuggling in front of a glowing fire, snow and the time to take stock and think.
Why is your featured book a must-read to get you in the holiday mood?
In the words of one reviewer, the book is 'simply sublime.' This reviewer enjoyed 'the whole collection immensely, although it brought tears' to her eyes more often than expected. She goes on to say that 'the world would be' a much better place 'if we could all shop at Miss Moonshine's Emporium' for real.
Giveaway:
Enter to win a $50 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
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Open internationally.
Runs July 1 – July 31.
Drawing will be held on August 1.
Author Biography:
Christmas at Miss Moonshine's Emporium is an anthology put together by a group of romantic novelists and short story writers from Yorkshire and Lancashire in the north of England. The group meet regularly in the little town of Hebden Bridge, and this location, lying as it does on the moors near the border between the two counties, led to the group name Authors on the Edge.
Authors on the Edge members are Mary Jayne Baker, Sophie Claire, Jacqui Cooper, Helena Fairfax, Kate Field, Melinda Hammond, Marie Laval, Helen Pollard, and Angela Wren.
Many mince pies were consumed by these authors in the making of this anthology.
Social Media Links:
Jacqui Cooper's short stories appear in popular women’s magazines, including Woman’s Weekly, The People’s Friend and Take a Break