Looking for a holiday gift for those who love holiday fiction/romance? Check out these featured books...
In The St. Nick of Time by K.M. Daughters
All the Sullivans are good cops? The last Sullivan is a girl. Can she stack up against the boys? Kay Sullivan Lynch, reinstated to the Chicago Police Department after two years as a widowed mom of four, not only plans to excel on the force, but to show her brothers--who opposed her return to "the job'' that she's up to the challenge. Captain Flynn Dowd, battling demons of his own, empathizes with Kay's struggles--but Sidewalk Santas collecting for the hungry are dropping dead all over Chicago. No apparent motive, no identifiable MO. It's up to Kay and Flynn to stop the "Santa Slayer." As they race against time to stop the killer, Kay's grief-deadened senses awaken to Flynn's overwhelming sexual magnetism. But when he becomes more than just her partner, will her kids' opposition force her to choose between motherhood and her man?
A Chicago Christmas Collection by Aubrey Wynne
Christmas in the windy city of Chicago with two award-winning stories to warm your heart for the holiday season.
Dante’s Gift Kathleen James has put her practical side away for once and looks forward to the perfect romantic evening: an intimate dinner with the man of her dreams—and an engagement ring. She is not prepared to hear that he wants to bring his grandmother back from Italy to live with him.
Dominic Lawrence has planned this marriage proposal for six months. Nothing can go wrong—until his Nonna calls. Now he must interrupt the tenderest night of Katie’s life with the news that another woman will be under their roof. When Antonia’s sister dies, she finds herself longing to be back in the states. An Italian wartime bride from the ‘40s, she knows how precious love can be. Can her own story of an American soldier and a very special collie once again bring two hearts together at Christmas? Merry Christmas, Henry Henry, a shy and talented artist, moonlights as a security guard at a museum and loses his heart to a beautiful, melancholy woman in a painting. As his obsession grows, he finds a kindred soul who helps him in his search for happiness. On Christmas Eve, Henry dares to take a chance on love and fulfill his dream.
Waiting for a Miracle by Jennifer Wilck
Benjamin Cohen, widowed father of six-year-old Jessie, is doing his best to hold it together through order and routine. The last thing he needs is his matchmaker mother to set him up with her next door neighbor, no matter how attractive she is. Rachel Schaecter's dream of becoming a foster mother is right within her grasp, until her meddlesome neighbor tries to set her up with her handsome son. What's worse? He's the father of her favorite kindergarten student! She can't afford to let anything come between her and her dream, no matter how gorgeous he may be. Can these two determined people trust in the miracle of Hanukkah to let love and light into their lives?
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/waiting-for-a-miracle-jennifer-wilck/1134117349?ean=2940161018385
Tangled in Tinsel by N. Jade Grey
Sugar Plum fairies eat your heart out. Madison Reynolds has visions of a different kind dancing in her head. Home for the holidays in Cedar Bend, Colorado, Madison must focus on helping her bedridden pregnant sister, not fantasize about the one who got away. But how is she supposed to forget about her high school crush when she bumps into him at every turn? From the moment Ryder Sanders untangled the reindeer antlers from Madison's hair his Christmas season appeared brighter. The time spent in her company leaves him more smitten. So, why does she still treat him as if he has cooties? They're not in high school anymore. Can the two find a forever love? Or will their wishes melt away like icing on a Christmas treat?
Sommerville Holidays Too by Vicki Batman
Love blossoms in the small town of Sommerville in these heartwarming holiday tales, filled with fun and forever possibilities. The Great Fruitcake Bake-off: When five-time baking champion Samantha Greene teams up with new neighbor, Dixon Roberts, for The Great Fruitcake Bake-off, they discover baking a prize-winning entry is complicated, bad guys are plotting to take the crown, and first prize isn't just about a ribbon. Christmas Romeo: When two feuding co-workers win Christmas river cruises at the company holiday party, they discover each other isn’t so bad after all. Twinkle Lights: When the owner of a Christmas tree stand, which benefits the children’s hospital, has a heart attack, a do-gooder and a reformed high school delinquent turned lawyer show their holiday spirit and staff the business. The twosome meet the challenges of running the establishment and begin to fall for each other. Yet, when the revenue goes missing, fingers are pointed.
Holidays, Inc. by Rachelle Paige Campbell
Former child actress, Danielle "Dani" Winter, left Hollywood to transform an old cinema into a dinner theater, seeing the project as her chance to take control of her future. The middle-of-nowhere location in Wisconsin is a perfect escape from backstabbing celebrity friends. The small town welcomes her help with open arms, but one man questions her plan. After unsuccessful writing stints on both coasts, Paul Howell returns home to New Hope. He's shocked to discover that his sister has sold the family business to a beautiful woman. With the encouragement of his neighbors, he reluctantly agrees to write Dani's next musical. Working together, they discover more similarities than differences and grow close. When Dani's former best friend and America's sweetheart, Kara Kensington arrives, their blossoming relationship is threatened in more ways than one.
GOBBLEDY by Lis Anna-Langston
Ever since eleven-year-old Dexter Duckworth and his brother, Dougal, lost their mom, everything has been different. But “different” takes on a whole new meaning when, one day just before Christmas (or Kissmas, as they call it), Dexter finds a golden rock in the forest that hatches into an adorable alien. Gobbledy is smarter than he seems and is lost on planet Earth. Before long, Gobbledy takes Dexter, Dougal, and their best friend Fi on an adventure of friendship, family, and loss—one that requires them all to stay out of trouble, protect Gobbledy from a shadowy group called the Planetary Society, and prepare for their school’s Winter Extravaganza Play, where Dexter has to be a dreaded Gingerbread Man.
Gobbledy is a fun-filled holiday story that adds up to two brothers, three friends, unlimited jars of peanut butter, a ketchup factory, and one little alien far, far from home.
Wrapped Up with You by Claire Marti
When cocky financial genius Rafael Cruz is forced to partner with his snarky office
rival Phoebe Hollingsworth to land a prestigious new client, nothing goes as
planned. At work, they ignore each other, but at the Jingle Ball, their unexpected
chemistry changes the game. Will their secret holiday hook-up ruin the deal or is it
the start of a deeper connection?
Peppermints & Packages by Marianne Rice
For the past few years, April Johnson has watched her brothers and sister fall in love and marry, and now she wants that for herself as well. When Noah Donner steps into April Johnson’s veterinary clinic a few days after Christmas in need of someone to adopt his ailing grandfather’s schnauzer, there is no way she can say no to those blue-green eyes and Captain America shoulders. Noah’s, not the pooch’s, although little Pookie’s eyes have her in a puddle, too. And it’s just her luck that the kind-hearted soldier is being deployed in a few weeks. Noah is overwhelmed with gratitude when he learns April is visiting his grandfather while he’s away. And when the letters and care packages start arriving, Noah can’t help the feelings that grow for her. When he returns for the holidays and sees April in person, he gets to witness her generosity and smiles firsthand. She’s even more beautiful--inside and out--in person than she is in her letters. But has he misinterpreted her acts of kindness or could there be something more between them than peppermints and packages?
Amazon: smarturl.it/peppermintspackages
All others: https://books2read.com/u/bPKYOJ
A Christmas Smile by Kathy Otten
Tom Montgomery returned to Virginia after years in a Yankee prison camp, to discover the wife who said she’d love him forever had mistakenly learned he’d been killed, and married another man. Seven years later Tom returns to his family home in Texas to find Elizabeth living at his grandfather’s ranch. Can a Christmas miracle heal the pain of betrayal and bring their two hearts together again?
Two Hearts for Christmas by Annalisa Russo
Baker Maisie Quinn opens Blissful Bites and finally realizes her dream—a business she loves and life in a charming small town with her two children. And if she wins the Three-County Christmas Bake-Off, the generous prize money will be a godsend to her meager budget.
When Wade Bennett becomes the new sheriff in town, he plans to care for his widowed mother and put aside money for world travel. So romance isn't on his mind, but seeing Maisie brings back memories of when he thought she might be the one.
As dreams confront reality, the holiday turns serious for the unwary couple, and heavenly helpers have only a few weeks to assist two determined souls get what they want for Christmas.
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/two-hearts-for-christmas-annalisa-russo/1137565724?ean=2940162845249
Eight Nights to Win Her Heart by Roni Denholtz
Roslyn Stein is convinced that her boyfriend Ben Jaffe will never marry. Ben’s parents’ contentious divorce left him with emotional scars. But Ben doesn’t want to lose Roslyn. So he asks her to give him the eight nights of Hanukkah, to prove he really does love her and deserves another chance. As they light the candles on the menorah each night, Roslyn struggles with the decision of whether to let him back into her life. And Ben realizes how much she really does mean to him.
Will Ben be able to win Roslyn’s heart again?
June: The Pianist by Judy Ann Davis
A sweet Christmas novella to warm your heart! When concert pianist June Westberry inherits her late grandfather’s music shop, she returns to her small hometown in New York to renovate and manage it. But she never expects to clash with the town’s ornery old music teacher, Nettie Jones who demands she find a lost, fifty-year-old holiday musical score. Single parent and contractor, Leo Ciaffonni, enjoys restoring old buildings, and the A# Music Shop with its pretty new owner is no exception. When he’s injured, June finds herself caring for Leo and helping his little daughter bake cookies for her class. As the holidays close in and the shop’s renovations continue, the problems June tries hard to solve only seem to become more chaotic. A# Sharp Music Shop is broken into. A harvest recital for her new students requires multifaceted planning. And the perpetrator and the lost musical score have not been found. Will she be able to find peace and order in her new life this Christmas—and the love she’s always dreamed of?
Barnes and Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/june-the-pianist-judy-ann-davis/1134527287
Adelene: The Violinist by Judy Ann Davis
A joyful novella to brighten your day! Adelene Almanza, an accomplished violinist and Spanish teacher, has only one Christmas wish—to buy an old decrepit schoolhouse and create a teen and literacy center in her small hometown of Bluestone Bluff, New York. When she tries to attend the sale of the building, she is injured and must rely on her old boyfriend and owner of a construction company, Clay Ciaffonni, to help purchase the building and help with the renovations. But money is tight, and a demolition and salvage company is pressuring her to give up and sell. Despite an act of vandalism, mounting costs, and a stray puppy, the couple pushes forward to restore the structure to its natural beauty. Will they discover the long-forgotten secrets of the old schoolhouse hidden away in its boarded-up attic? And will the sparks of love ignite a second time for Adelene and Clay?
Barnes and Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/adelene-the-violinist-judy-ann-davis/1135037904?ean=2940163681815
Lucy: The Clarinetist by Judy Ann Davis
Lucy Ciaffonni wants nothing more than to start her own public relations firm, but she’s stuck at the local bank performing dreary communications and advertising duties. When her best friend and computer guru, Andre Almanza, buys an area farm to create a barn theater, Lucy is pulled into the mystery of discovering where a rare, German, H.F. Kayser clarinet was hidden on the property during Prohibition. Andre Almanza has always adored Lucy from afar. He hopes she’ll take the position of barn theater manager. When she agrees to help him renovate the barn and update and furnish his huge Victorian house, he is delighted—that is, until the entire town becomes involved in locating the missing antique instrument. To complicate matters, there are ruthless people who want to recover the expensive clarinet and cash in on its legend and value. Will Lucy and Andre locate the clarinet and finally acknowledge the sparks of romance that have been smoldering between them for the longest time? Will it be the perfect Christmas?
Barnes and Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lucy-the-clarinetist-judy-ann-davis/1137760488?ean=2940164432140
A Regency Christmas Anthology by Susan Payne
A Regency Christmas Story Penelope Cooper struggled to maintain a proper place in society, but found herself a failure after hearing of her brother Christopher's gambling debt. As a gentleman, he must pay them immediately. If Penelope can't convince the Marquess of Leighton to wait for his money, more than Christmas is endangered. The Best Christmas Present Lord Williamsburg found something intriguing about one debutante and after meeting her widowed mother, he understood why. Could he begin a liaison with the widow while seeking a marriage with a more appropriately aged debutante? Sugar Plum Christmas Lord Hedley had discovered a sweet tooth and not just for the delicious confections furnished by Gunters Tea Shop. The young female bakery chef had made an impression as well. Could she be tempted to bake for him alone?
Mistletoe, Mobsters & Mozzarella by Peggy Jaeger
Finding a body in the freezer of the family deli isn’t the way Madonna San Valentino planned to start her day. Adding insult to injury, the investigating detective is the one guy she’s never been able to forget. After seven minutes of heaven in the back seat of his car when they were teenagers, Tony Roma skipped town without so much as a thanks for the memory. Just when Madonna thinks the present situation can’t get any worse, Tony is ordered to go undercover at the deli to ferret out a killer. Forced to work together, she vows to keep their relationship cool and professional. But with the sexy, longing looks he tosses her at every turn, Madonna’s resolve is weakening. With Christmas drawing closer and Tony’s investigation taking an unexpected turn, Madonna is at her wit’s end. Can she really be falling for him again? And will he wind up leaving her broken hearted and alone like the last time?
Peggy’s online store: https://peggyjaeger.com/peggys-2020-holiday-book-store-open-until-12-15-2020/
Amazon Kindle (CA): https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08FZX4B1V
Amazon Kindle (US): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FZX4B1V
Mistletoe Kisses Box Set by Heidi Vanlandingham
Music and Moonlight
Living in picturesque Saint Charles, Missouri, orphan Jillian Simpson, loves Christmas, but she loves Graham Rogers more. She prays when he returns from Philadelphia he will see her for the woman she is and not the girl he left behind so many years ago. When that day finally arrives, her hopes are dashed when he doesn’t seem to notice her at all.
Graham Rogers used to believe Christmas was magical, but living with his uppity grandfather while attending school in Philadelphia has changed him. Upon his return home, his plans to woo Jillian are ruined when a woman from his past arrives claiming to be his fiancée and his promised job in a prestigious law firm falls through.
With Jillian’s heart breaking, she announces she’s moving to California, but will the magic of Christmas be strong enough to bring these two together again before she leaves?
Sleighbells and Snowflakes
Railroad heiress Isabelle Baker is more concerned with helping orphans than finding a husband, but when her parents force her to make a suitable match whether she likes it or not, Isabelle realizes she doesn’t want a marriage of convenience. She wants love.
When his father retires, Phillip Dobson feels obligated and pressured to take over as a partner in the family law firm, but when Isabelle approaches him for help adopting a crippled orphan, will the scales of justice weigh in favor of losing his position or losing his heart?
Angels and Ivy
Having lost her parents at Christmastime, the holiday season is one of heartache and longing for Grace Shepherd. One by one, as her friends find love and begin families of their own, Grace’s own desires for family and love resurface, but is she willing to open her heart once again?
Douglas Campbell has it all—family, friends, and money—but doesn’t appreciate any of it. When Grace catches his eye, through her disapproving gaze he sees what he has become and vows to prove his worthiness.
Will Douglas revert back to his wild ways or will loving Grace and being loved redeem his selfish heart and give them both a chance to treasure the greatest gift of all?
Nutcrackers and Sugarplums
Looking for a new beginning after losing her family to the Confederacy, Alicia Price opens Sugarplums Bakery in the quaint town of Saint Charles. Overwhelmed by her instant success and large volume of Christmas orders, she surprises herself by hiring a vagabond to help her out.
Gideon Sinclair threw away his future when he enlisted in the Confederate Army. Constantly moving from town to town, he is always on the lookout for peace and a place to settle down. Maybe, just maybe…he has found both when he agrees to work for the feisty, red head who owns the bakery.
Yet, just when he thinks his life is turning around, he is arrested on Christmas Eve for crimes he did not commit. Will Alicia be able to look beyond his past and give him the holiday miracle he so desperately wants?
Something in the Air by Regina Jeffers
Courting Lord Whitmire: A Regency May-December Romance At the bend of the path, an unexpected meeting.
She is all May.
He is December. But loves knows not time. Colonel Lord Andrew Whitmire has returned to England after spending fifteen years in service to his country. In truth, he would prefer to be anywhere but home. Before he departed England, his late wife, from an arranged marriage, had cuckolded him in a scandal that had set Society’s tongues wagging. His daughter, Matilda, who was reared by his father, enjoys calling him "Father" in the most annoying ways. Unfortunately, his future is the viscountcy, and Andrew knows his duty to both the title and his child. He imagines himself the last of his line until he encounters Miss Verity Coopersmith, the niece of his dearest friend, the man who had saved Andrew’s life at Waterloo. Miss Coopersmith sets Whitmire's world spinning out of control. She is truly everything he did not know he required in his life. However, she is twenty-two years his junior, young enough to be his daughter, but all he can think is she is absolute perfection. Last Woman Standing: A Clean Regency Romance She is simply his grandmother's companion.
However, when the Christmas ball ends, the last woman standing wins the marquess. JACKSON SHAW, the Marquess of Rivens, never considered the “gypsy blessing” presented to his family during the time of Henry VIII truly a blessing. He viewed it more as a curse. According to the “blessing,” in his thirtieth year, at the Christmas ball hosted by his family, he was to choose a wife among the women attending. The catch was he possessed no choice in the matter. His wife was to be the one who proved herself to be his perfect match, according to the gypsy’s provisions: a woman who would bring prosperity to his land by her love of nature and her generous heart. In his opinion, none of the women vying for his hand appeared to care for anything but themselves. EVELYN HAWTHORNE comes to River’s End to serve as the companion to the Marchioness of Rivens, his lordship’s grandmother. However, Lady Rivens has more than companionship in mind when she employs the girl, whose late father was a renown horticulturalist. The marchioness means to gather Gerald Hawthorne’s rare specimens to prevent those with less scrupulous ideas from purchasing Hawthorne’s conservatory, and, thereby, stealing away what little choice her grandson has in naming a wife, for all the potential brides must present the Rivenses with a rare flower to demonstrate the lady’s love of nature. Little does the marchioness know Hawthorne’s daughter might not only know something of nature, but be the person to fulfill the gypsy’s blessing.
Christmas Deadline by Pam Binder
If Holly Lane can't finish her romance novel by Christmas, she must return the advance she spent to pay off her parents' mortgage. Reluctantly she agrees to collaborate with English mystery author Noel Atterberry to finish the book.
Working together in Noel's English manor, they feel the same heat of attraction as their fictional hero and heroine. But for Noel romance means heartbreak. With Holly, and in the novel they are co-writing together, he rejects a happy ending and demands their characters die in a fiery car crash. Will Holly and Noel manage to write a happily-ever-after for their fictional couple—and themselves—by their Christmas deadline?