Title: Christmastime in Harbor Falls
Author: Maddie James
Genre: Contemporary Romance / Holiday
Book Blurb:
Christmastime in Harbor Falls shares four romantic stories set during the Christmas holidays in Harbor Falls. Chef Suzie Hart Matthews provides continuity between the stories with her personal blog posts and occasional matchmaking antics. This boxed set includes exclusive content not found anywhere else! Take My Heart - When Shelley Hart ran off and married her sister's fiancé, the whole town of Harbor Falls was in a twitter. Two years later, her only recourse is to go home for the holidays. Will her sister, Suzie, forgive her? And what about that boy she left behind? The Christmas Nanny - All Wynter Holley wants for Christmas is to be cast in a significant role in the upcoming Harbor Falls Actor's Playhouse production. What she gets is a gig playing nanny to four children who belong to the director of the play. But she's an actor, not a nanny. Can Wyn play-act her way out of this nanny business? One More Kiss - New Year's Eve is just around the corner and Emma Jo Baker has tried every trick in the book to land a date for the annual New Year's Bash at Falls Lake Lodge. Has her perfect date been right under her nose, all along? Not This Christmas - When Nora Patterson rear-ends Reverend Rock Peters' SUV on a snowy secluded mountain, she finds herself temporarily snowbound with the attractive minister. Is this Christmas Eve collision somehow the answer to her prayers?
Excerpt:
There were a million things she could feel right now, but Shelley pushed every one of them into some gray area of her brain. Matt was one. She could not deal with Matt Branson today. Not now.
The day had been too long. She was exhausted, emotional, and hungry again, not to mention frustrated with the crying babies in the back seat. Tired from fighting the snow and her emotions, she chose not to think any longer, just to do. So that is what she did.
She drove straight down Lake Road, turned into her sister, Suzie’s drive, slanted her gaze at the sign that read, Welcome to Sweet Hart Inn, and prayed that she would be exactly that—welcomed.
She doubted it.
She knew the way even though she had never been to the house since Suzie had turned it into a bed and breakfast. Their Aunt Donna had lived there for all of Shelley’s growing up years until she passed away—not long after she and Cliff had eloped and settled their lives into Dalton Springs. Shelley hadn’t attended her aunt’s funeral, either, and she felt a pang of guilt because of it. But things were as they were then, and there was nothing she could do about it now. What she was doing was what needed to be done—making amends, she hoped, with her sister and family—and that’s all she could do.
Right now, at least. Any other past transgressions she’d deal with in time. Matt’s face flashed into her mind’s eye at that moment and just as quickly, she pushed the image away.
Not now.
The gray, snowy night matched her somber mood perfectly. The snow had stopped for a while. A couple of inches piled up around Suzie’s front porch. She pulled alongside the house, and not bothering with anything but her purse and the girls, headed up the sidewalk. Karly was in her arms, her soft head resting on her shoulder. Katie toddled along beside her, holding her hand.
“Be careful of the ice, honey,” she said to her oldest.
“Yes, Mommy.”
Tears sprang to her eyes again at the sweet child. She loved her girls so much, and now that they had arrived at this decisive moment—as she navigated the steps up to Suzie’s front porch with her most precious cargo—she wanted only one thing. She wanted Suzie to love her girls as much as she did.
Even if she didn’t accept Shelley, maybe she’d accept her girls.
Too much to expect, probably.
With every emotion known to woman ready to cackle up and spill over inside of her, Shelley swallowed her pride and moved forward onto the porch. A cascade of greenery and lights arched over the front door. Beyond in the sidelights of the door, she could see someone milling about. Soft Christmas music met her ears, and she could smell cookies baking.
Peanut butter with chocolate drops.
That notion made her smile. This was the Suzie she remembered.
If only…
The door swung abruptly open. “Shelley? Oh my God!”
Her sister stood there, framed by holly and twinkling lights, a questioning expression on her face. Her strawberry blond hair was piled high on her head. She had flour on her face and was wiping her hands on her apron. A little boy clung to her leg.
Tears poured. “Suzie,” Shelley sobbed. “I’m so sorry. I am so, so sorry for everything. I am…”
Suzie grasped her sister and pulled her into the house, tears streaming down her face. “Come here, you,” she whispered and kicked the door shut behind her. “Just come here.”
Shelley sobbed on her sister’s shoulder, and Suzie, always the gracious hostess, let her. She hugged her with several years’ worth of longing, trapping the girls in their embrace.
“I’ve been so worried about you,” Suzie whispered, pulling back to look into her face. She gently thumbed away tears from Shelley’s eyes and then turned to both girls, cupping first Karly’s small face in her hands, and leaning down to do the same with Katie. “You are both so beautiful,” she said softly.
Next, she grasped the little boy’s hand that still clutched her leg. Shelley guessed he was a little younger than Karly.
Crouching, she said to the boy. “Petey, these are your cousins, Katie and Karly. Say hello?”
Petey turned his face into his mother’s leg. Katie burrowed a little closer into her own mother.
Straightening then, Suzie looked long into Shelley’s face and whispered, “Merry Christmas, Shelley. We have a lot of catching up to do but let’s put one thing to rest right now. The past is the past. And I am so very glad that you’re here.”
Shelley sobbed, relief washing over her.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
On sale for 99 cents for e-copy!
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/christmastime-in-harbor-falls-holiday-boxed-set/id1492937473
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/christmastime-in-harbor-falls-maddie-james/1136597811
Universal Buy Links: https://books2read.com/christmasinharborfalls
Buy Direct from Maddie: https://payhip.com/b/DtmJ
Why is your featured book a must-read?
This holiday box set includes four Christmas novellas set in the small mountain town of Harbor Falls. Along with these four novellas, readers get exclusive content not found anywhere else!
This set is perfect for readers who want to try out books in the 15-book Harbor Falls Romance series. Who can resist four holiday stories for less than the price of one? (Beware, you’ll want to read all 15 before you know it!)
Enter to win an e-book bundle of all 27 books featured in the Black Friday Book Deals:
Open Internationally.
Runs November 27 – December 2, 2020.
Winner will be drawn on December 3, 2020.
Author Biography:
Maddie James writes to silence the people in her head—if only they wouldn’t all talk at once!
From flirty contemporary romance to darker erotic titles—often mixed with a dash of suspense or a hint of paranormal—James pens stories that frequently blend a variety of romantic sub-genres. The happily-ever-after, of course, is non-negotiable.
Affaire de Coeur says, “James shows a special talent for traditional romance,” and RT Book Reviews claims, “James deftly combines romance and suspense.” Maddie is the award-winning author of over fifty titles of fiction—from short stories to novels—and a Top 100 Amazon Bestselling Author. Learn more at http://www.maddiejames.net.
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