Christmas is quickly approaching. If you're looking to get in a few great reads beforehand (or gift them to someone else), I thought I'd help you out with a list of Christmas-themed novels. Happy reading!
This Year, Christmas Comes Just in Time
As a first-year law associate, Sydney Batson knows she will be updating your resume by New Years if she loses her current case. So when her grandmother gets inexplicably ill when she's in court, Sydney arranges for a cab to get her to the clinic.
The last thing cab driver Finn Parrish wants is to be saddled with a wheelchair-bound old lady with dementia. But because Miss Callie reminds him of his own mother, whom he failed miserably in her last days, he can't say no when she keeps calling him for rides. Once a successful gourmet chef, Finn's biggest concern now is paying his rent, but half the time Callie doesn't remember to pay him. And as she starts to feel better, she leads him on a wild-goose chase to find a Christmas date for her granddaughter.
When Finn meets Sydney, he's quite sure she's never needed help finding a date. Does Miss Callie have an ulterior motive, or is this just a mission driven by delusions? he's going to do whatever he can to help fulfill Callie's Christmas wish. He just never expected to be a vital part of it
Someone's sweet on revenge…
Christmas is Bailey King's favorite time of year. For her first Yuletide in Harvest, Ohio, the former big-city chocolatier is recreating a cherished holiday treat: peppermint combined with melted white chocolate. But her sugar high plummets when her former boyfriend walks into the candy shop she now runs with her Amish grandmother. New York celebrity chef Eric Sharp and his TV crew have arrived to film an authentic Amish Christmas. Bailey's not about to let her beloved town — and Swissmen Sweets — be turned into a soundbite. Unfortunately, she gets more publicity than she bargained for when Eric's executive producer was found strangled to death — and Eric's the prime suspect.
With Bailey's sheriff deputy boyfriend out to prove Eric's guilt, her bad-boy ex tries to sweet-talk her into helping him clear his name … and rekindle their romance to boost ratings for show. Now, between a surplus of suspects and a victim who wasn't who she seemed, Bailey's edging dangerously close to a killer who isn't looking to bring joy to the world — or to Bailey — this deadly Noel…
Angels are all around us — especially at Christmas!
Greg Bennett hates Christmas. Divorced, almost friendless, and about to lose his business, he has no time for what he considers sentimental nonsense. It takes three irrepressible angels to show him the truth. Shirley, Goodness and Mercy shall follow him — until he learns what Christmas is all about. Those Christmas Angels come down to earth again to respond to Anne Fletcher's prayer request. She wants her son, Roy, to meet a special woman — and the angels contrive to throw Julie Wclcoff in his path (literally). Another Christmas, another angelic rescue. The three heaven-sent messengers reunite a divorced couple, bring peace of mind to an elderly man, and grant a little boy's fondest wish. Because there is always joy Where Angels Go. Three classic stories of hope and seasonal chair from Debbie Macomber, Official Storyteller of Christmas!
This Christmas could be her last…Unless Covert Operations shield her.
Prosecutor and single mom Melinda Steele thought her nightmare ended when her abusive husband died, but now someone wants her dead by Christmas. Navy SEAL turned security operative Noah Cason needs her to get justice in his sister's disappearance, but first you'll have to keep her alive. And his mission shifts from difficult to almost impossible when Melinda reveals who she suspects is really after her.
As Christmas nears, John Baxter makes a bold gesture — he invites a stranger to share Christmas Eve dinner with his family. But not just any stranger. This woman is the recipient of his daughter Erin's heart. John knows the invitation will impact each of his adult kids and their families. But will they choose to embrace their guest? And how will the woman's presence affect his granddaughter — the one who feels the loss of her mother most keenly?
Kendra Bryant, John's surprising guest, has been given a second chance at life, but at great cost to the Baxter family. Maybe meeting them will instill some much-needed peace into her life. And maybe Christmas Eve dinner will even help heal Kendra's failing marriage.
Meanwhile, Maddie West's job at the local theater has her working alongside an amazing guy. But Maddie knows she has to keep him at a distance or risk exposing a secret she's hidden for years. In a moment of faith, she sends up a desperate prayer for help. What happens next leaves Maddie — and the entire Baxter family — shocked at God's perfect grace and timing.
With no memory, who can she trust?
Robin Hardy survived an explosion in her university lab — but her memories are gone. With danger lurking behind every Christmas tree, she needs shelter from the attackers she can't identify. She'll trust fellow professor Toby Potter to safely hide her away. But when his secrets come between them, the truth could mean the difference between life and death this holiday season.
After her grandmother's death, Sammie finds herself thinking about the Christmas Coin and all the sweet memories attached to it. She decides to take a trip back to her grandmother's house in Holly Hamlet, Vermont to find it. With the impending sale of the house, all Sammie wants as a keepsake of her grandmother is the coin and the story that she still holds close to her heart. With fifty years of possessions tucked inside the house, she realizes she has her work cut out for her. When the little girl next door innocently mentions the Christmas story, Sammie realizes that Ally could be the key to her finding the Christmas coin. As the weekend goes by, Sammie becomes attached to Ally, and subsequently her single father Jack. Her plans begin to change more than she could have imagined.
Jack Stevens had heard about the impending arrival of his neighbor Mary Holt's granddaughter. Seeing her bright red hair and immaculate red Mustang, he knows a woman like that is just making a quick stop to get whatever it is she came to Holly Hamlet for. But as he and his six-year-old daughter Ally spend time with Sammie, he begins to see her in a different light. As he finds himself inviting Sammie to join he and Ally in their Christmas traditions, he worries about his little girl. She's already had one woman walk out on her life. Sammie had told him she was only in town for a day or two. Seeing his daughter's attachment to Sammie, and ignoring his own growing feelings for her, he's worried about Ally's heart breaking when Sammie leaves town.
Will a decades-old tradition and the sparkle of Christmas work its magic on two people who both need a gift that can't fit under the tree?
Beloved, bestselling author of Amish fiction, Wanda E. Brunstetter takes readers on a journey in 1850 along the California Trail.
Only the brave — or foolhardy — would attempt a cross-country journey late in the season. Three wagons meet up in Independence, Missouri, in April 1850, and their owners decide to keep forging ahead despite many setbacks and delays. December finds them in the Sierra Nevada Mountains when a sudden snowstorm traps them, obscuring the trail.
Cynthia Cooper is traveling with her mother and the man she has promised to marry. But as Christmas is upon them and they are hunkered down in a small cabin, she is forced to reevaluate her reasons for planning to marry fellow-traveler Walter Prentice. When a widowed father heading to a California ranch and gold prospector both show an interest in Cynthia, she weighs her dreams for marriage alongside her responsibility to care for her mother. Can love win over her timid heart?
Will marriage save her family?
Bethany Martin has until Christmas to prove to the Amish community that she can raise her siblings — including her mischievous brother, without a husband. Then handsome newcomer Michael Shelter arise, winning over Bethany's siblings. He might be the answer to their prayers, but Michael has a troubled past. Can Bethany love a man with secrets … even if it's the only thing keeping her family together?
Rich with candlelit memories of another time, these old-fashioned works from classic authors invite you to a feast of Christmas nostalgia.
Stories and poetry have been part of the Christmas season for generations, reminding us that the heart of the holiday never changes. A Vintage Christmas is a unique collection of lesser-known Christmas tales, reflections, and poems from beloved authors across the centuries.
Discover the charming story from L. M. Montgomery about love and sacrifice in a a little log house. See Christmas through the eyes of a child in a New England Colonial Village with Harriet Beecher Stowe. Remember the reason Christ came to earth in the poetry of Anne Brontë. Share with your family the delightful letter Mark Twain wrote a Santa Claus to his three-year-old daughter.
This beautiful treasury takes us back to the fireside, simple gifts, and warm family moments of Christmases past as we cherish the timeless truths and joys of the season.
A Vintage Christmas includes stories from Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain, L. M. Montgomery, and Selma Lagerlof, as well as poems from John Milton, Christina Rossetti, William Makepeace Thackeray, Anne Brontë, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Everyone in town knows Emerald Crest, the green granite mansion atop the highest hill, and the legendary, lavish Christmas festivities that used to light up the nights--and the silence that followed when the parties abruptly stopped many years ago. And everyone has heard whispers about the reclusive, mysterous master of the manor, Henry Lafferty the Second.
When eleven-year-old Julia Russell steps into the great house for the first time and meets Mr. Lafferty, the entire course of her life shifts. He's nothing at all like the rumors she's heard from neighbors and classmates. He's kind and extraordinarily talented--he also happens to be deaf and use a wheelchair. And when she overhears a secret about him, Julia decides it's time for the town to bring Christmas back to Emerald Crest--an act that will change them all forever.
Oh Leslie, these books look really good! I love your review on each book. You have couple suspense books in the list, yay. :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for your list! Merry Christmas!
Glad you enjoyed the list. I had fun compiling it.
DeleteSuspense/Romantic Suspense books are some of my faves :)
Thanks! I hope you have a wonder Christmas, as well. Happy reading!