‘Tis The Season for Holiday Romances ..... ..... ..... by Debora (Deb) Noone w/a Delsora Lowe

     I think I have been doing more reading than writing lately. It didn’t help the writing cause to have my computer in the shop for almost three weeks. Now trying to get back in writing mode with only a week before my daughter and her family arrive for the holidays and “camp out” at my son’s house, about a forty-minute drive away. Presents, menu planning, and reserving time to see family will be priority for the next few weeks. Plus, getting to a few varsity hockey games for my in-state grandson.

Having said that, my Kindle will be my respite.

As usual, I have purchased more holiday books than I can read before 2025 roars in. But I am one to read holiday books all year round – especially in the colder, darker months of January and February. And I love reading holiday books for other holidays through the year.

I also love writing holiday short romances. I was privileged to sell both an Easter and a Thanksgiving story to Woman’s World this year – one of my BIG writing goals for 2024. Fingers crossed... I hope to release a book with short romances (around an 8-minute read for each,) sometime in 2025!

Here’s to Happy Holidays to all! And don’t forget to start thinking about personal and professional goals for 2025.

Books I have read so far:

  
December 2, 2024

  

November 25, 2024

November 11, 2024

November 14, 2024

December 16, 2019

November 18, 2024

November 4, 2024

November 1, 2024

Books I plan to read ASAP:
And… I am sure I may spot a few more that I want to send to my e-reader before 2024 ends. As I said, a sucker for holiday romances.

November 5, 2019

 

November 8, 2022

September 11, 2024

 

And to help with holiday prep - the 2nd edition cookie cookbook for the Dicken's series - ENJOY!

 

October 31, 2024

 

 

Do you love reading holiday books?

Do you set personal goals at the beginning of each new year? And do you try to stick to them? Or run out of paying attention to goals before the year is out?

 

In case you are interested in another holiday book or three…

Holiday Hitchhiker

Amazon

Books 2 Read

The Inn on Gooseneck Lane
also in print

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Apple

 

Come Dance with Me

Amazon

Books2Read

~ cottages to cabins ~ keep the home fires burning ~

Delsora Lowe writes small town sweet and spicy romances and contemporary westerns, from the mountains of Colorado to the shores of Maine.

Author of the Starlight Grille series, Serenity Harbor Maine novellas, and the Cowboys of Mineral Springs series, Lowe has also authored short romances for Woman’s World magazine (most recently, an Easter romance in the April 1, 2024 edition.) The Love Left Behind is a Hartford Estates, R.I. wedding novella with Book 2 on the way. A Christmas novel (The Inn at Gooseneck Lane) and novella (Holiday Hitchhiker – the youngest brother of the Mineral Spring’s ranching family) were the most recent releases. Look for book 3 of the cowboy’s series, as well as book 2 of the Hartford Estates series, to be released in 2025.

Reading, Reading, Reading ... Holiday Stories ... by Delsora Lowe

‘Tis the Season—

Time to read holiday stories, watch holiday movies, and get in the mood for holiday cooking, present wrapping, cutting down the perfect tree, hanging lights, colorful bulbs, and nostalgic ornaments, decorating the front door with a wreath, delivering fresh baked cookies to neighbors and co-workers, or whatever holidays and holiday traditions your family practices.

For those who know me well, you know it ‘tis also the season to marathon watch holiday movies and read seasonal books.

Exciting for me is to introduce my two holiday books released this season. But I also want to share the holiday books that are either read, with some on preorder or waiting to be read on my e-reader. This is not geared as a recommendation blog, but to share with you the titles and covers that drew me in enough to purchase and read. I, of course, looked up my favorite authors and grabbed their holiday books, but I also found many new-to-me authors.

So here goes, in no special order—my reads for 2022.

 2022 Holiday Reads

Christmas Reunion (Christmas in Angels Glen) by Sue Ward Drake (Oct 2022)

A sweet reunion, second chance at love, enemies to lovers, holiday romance. Stranded in a blizzard together, as adults the two get to know each other again. A stand alone novella that is part of a 3-book series.

The Fireman's Christmas Wish (The Lange Brothers, Book 3) by Nan Reinhardt (Oct 2022)

Setting out to help an old friend get over his dislike of the holidays, she has her work cut out for her. The two end up on an adventure that includes getting to know each other better and finally recognizing what they had each missed over the years.

The Baker’s Heart (A Balsam Grove Christmas Book 1) by Marianne Rice (Oct 2022)

Professional enemies become partners and more in a sweet tale of finding what was missing in life and finding each other during the holidays.

Holiday Heart Wishes by Lucinda Rice (2021)

Caught in a storm, the two meet when one rescues the other. A surprise brings them together to spend Christmas week together.

Christmas Town Bake-off: A 7-book Connected Holiday Romance Collection (Oct 2022) by Melinda Curtis, Anna J. Stewart, Cari Lynn Webb, Beth Carpenter, Cheryl Harper, LeAnne Bristow, Tanya Agler

Another annual Christmas town anthology with the familiar setting and some repeat town characters, plus a magical gazebo. Love these collections that I have read over the years.

 

Charming a Fairytale Cowboy by Katie Lane (Aug 2022)

A fairytale, fake romance with a delicious cowboy. He doesn’t know what he has gotten into when he makes a trip from the big city to a small town and meets his Cinderella. A fun book about two trying to pass off a fake relationship to the heroine’s family. Not easy with all her big brothers watching over her.

If You Believe in Love by Luanna Stewart (Nov 2022)

Sparks fly immediately when two are caught in a blizzard, alone in an inn with only the chef who shows up for meals. But peace and quiet of enjoying the snow, and pitching in to run the deserted inn during the week before Christmas doesn’t last long, when a cast of disruptive characters descend to share holiday cheer!

The Bells of St. Dickens: A Dicken’s Holiday Romance (A Dicken’s Holiday Romance, Book 10) by Judy Kentrus (Oct 2022)

A second chance at love, as two join together to repair the town’s old church bells in an historic landmark. Throw in Mrs. Claus, the Grinch, adorable children, and lots of holiday fudge, and you can’t help but have a sweet holiday romance.

Snow Place Like Holly Pointe by Cindy Kirk (Dec 2022)

Two friends from childhood meet up after many years. Some things have changed. Some things have not. But overcoming adversity with someone in your court is foreign to both. Finding a true partner is an unexpected and cherished holiday gift for old friends. And experiencing the true meaning of an involved and caring small town whose residents, after being tested, still know how to open their hearts for common good lead to happy endings all around.

Rocking the Cowboy’s Christmas (Rowdy Ranch Book 4) by Vicki Lewis Thompson (Nov 2022)

Love at first sight. Add in a cute baby who meets Santa for the first time, a romantic sleigh ride, loving, but meddling families, and two people finding themselves as they work through basing a relationship on barely knowing each other, and you have a fun ride of a holiday love story.

Seabreeze Christmas (Summer Beach Book 4) by Jan Moran

A lovely second-chance at building a new life, resurrecting a business, reconnecting with family, and finding new love. Add in an involved and sometimes interfering town of wonderful characters, a hint of a magical, Christmas fantasy, and this book will warm your heart and vault you into the holiday spirit.

Have you read holiday books yet? If so, let us know which ones you enjoyed!

 

VISIT RTG AGAIN: Tuesday, December 20 for the rest of my holiday reading list! I have an even longer list. Now I better get back to my reading!

 

MY 2022 HOLIDAY BOOKS

 

The Inn on Gooseneck Lane

 Amazon

The Inn on Gooseneck Lane - Kindle edition by Lowe, Delsora. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

 Barnes & Noble

                         The Inn on Gooseneck Lane by Delsora Lowe | NOOK Book (eBook) | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

                    Apple Books

                 The Inn on Gooseneck Lane on Apple Books

 

Holiday Hitchhiker

Here's The Link

~ cottages to cabins ~ keep the home fires burning ~

Delsora Lowe writes small town sweet and spicy romances and contemporary westerns from the mountains of Colorado to the shores of Maine.

Author of the Starlight Grille series, Serenity Harbor Maine novellas, and the Cowboys of Mineral Springs series, Lowe has also authored short romances for Woman’s World magazine. Her newest novella is The Love Left Behind. Look for both a Christmas novel (The Inn at Gooseneck Lane) and novella (Holiday Hitchhiker) later this fall.

 

Social Media Links:
Author website: www.delsoralowe.com
Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/delsoraloweauthor/community/
Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Delsora-Lowe/e/B01M61OM39/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Books2Read Author page: https://www.books2read.com/ap/8GWm98/Delsora-Lowe
BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/delsora-lowe-93c6987f-129d-483d-9f5a-abe603876518
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16045986.Delsora_Lowe
Instagram: #delsoralowe / https://www.instagram.com/delsoralowe/

 

Book Covers: Attributed to each author.

A Holiday Box Set...by Kristin Wallace

In honor of our Holiday Reads theme, I’m highlighting my book…or rather books. I’m working on a box set with my 3 Shellwater Key Christmas tales. This calls for new covers, which are being designed now. 

Christmas In Shellwater Key

I’m excited to revisit these fun & touching novellas set in the Florida beach town of Shellwater Key. The main stories in the series center around 3 friends who revive the old Paradise Dinner Theatre. These holiday novellas venture beyond the theatre.

Here’s a little preview….

Finding You At Christmas

She’s going to find her destiny this Christmas…

After years of looking out for everyone else, preacher’s daughter Janie Worthy is ready to get a life of her own. But on the way to her first date, her car decides to quit, and a stranger on a motorcycle becomes her savior. The short time she spends with Caleb Montgomery on the side of the road might be the most romantic interlude Janie can remember. Of course, it’s all a fantasy, and soon Caleb is riding off into the night.

Until he shows up again in her hometown of Shellwater Key. When Caleb decides to stay in town for Christmas, Janie can’t help but wonder if she is the reason. Except people don’t fall in love in one night…Right? As the holidays kick into high gear, Janie must find the courage to move beyond past guilt to embrace the future and open the best Christmas present she could ever find.

Falling For You At Christmas

A nativity story for the modern day…

Pregnant and alone at Christmas, Cassie Stevens decides to take a holiday vacation in Shellwater Key before her baby girl is born. Then she discovers her reservation is lost and there is literally no room left at the inn. Thankfully, single inkeeper, Jared Lathem, offers to let Cassie stay with him and his young daughter. She won't have to sleep in a manger, but being in close poximity to the gorgeous Jared might be dangerous t her piece of mind...and heart.

But the magic of the season can change everything. Cassie is suddenly surrounded by a group of friends, who all seem have names relating to another important birth long ago. And when Christmas Eve brings an unexpected delivery, Cassie will discover that miracles are still possible even in modern times. 

Loving You At Christmas

This Christmas will become the opening act for her holiday happily ever after…

Annaliese Matheson once had the perfect life, with a successful career on Broadway and a loving husband who was her greatest champion. Then her husband died. Devastated, she left the stage behind and only returned when her best friend, Grayson Kendall, asked her to perform at The Paradise Dinner Theatre in tiny Shellwater Key, Florida.

Annaliese is convinced she’ll never love again, but when she steps in to direct to Middle School Christmas Show, nothing will ever be the same. A man unlike any she’s known awakens her buried heart, giving her a second chance at forever with the last person she would have expected. It will take a miracle for Annaliese to let someone else in and embrace happiness again...but then it is Christmas.

The box set will be up soon so be on the lookout for it!

Kristin Wallace is the USA Today Best Selling Author of inspirational and sweet contemporary romance filled with “Love, Laughter and a Leap of Faith”. The Christmas in Shellwater Key boxes et will release this winter. 

A Great Holiday Read by Lynn Lovegreen

It’s the time of year when people are looking for holiday romances. My friend Mercy Zephyr has written a sweet contemporary transgender romance that I really enjoyed reading. Here’s my interview with Mercy:

How did you come to write this book?

This is the first book I wrote. It was coming up on the holidays, and I felt left out of the festivities; transgender women don't exactly get written into Hallmark specials. Every Thanksgiving, there's a Thanksgiving dinner me and my husband go to for all the people in the community whose family have rejected them, so that feeling is there; Plus, a lot of us feel like we're not going to find love, and I touch on that in the book, but it's important to have hope, so I wanted to give some of that hope away to people who needed it. Not only that, but a lot of cisgender people who read it found it to be a great read and learned a lot, too.

I agree, I had fun reading it and learned a lot myself! I know you published this book, and some of our readers are interested in that process. How did that happen for you?

The story popped into my head, and I wrote it out, self-edited it, studied how to create a cover and designed it myself, then set up my web presence and published it late on Christmas Eve last year. That's a pretty terrible time to publish a Christmas story, since nobody will really notice it until after Christmas, but it took longer than I thought it would at first.

These things always do! What are your plans for future novels?

Unveiling Ms. Claus has a bit of tasteful heat in it, since so much of the book is about Amber's relationship with herself and her own body, and she just couldn't show that without taking her bits out for a spin.

Since then, I've moved to writing low heat. I've seen queer authors be stigmatized for the intensively sexualized content in their books, even when they are writing in ways that are really very tame. An M/F story with very mild sex in it, nothing graphic at all, is totally acceptable. Change the couple to two women or another LGBTQIA identity and without a single word changing, people start treating it as high heat or erotica. My next books don't even have a sex scene to be misinterpreted like that. 

I might write some more holiday pieces in the future as I get more comfortable with my production schedules, but right now, I'm working on three more books; one of them should be on Amazon by November 15th or so, give or take. That's Transpire Together, a sweet small town second chance in the shadow of the 2018 bathroom bill fight, with a trans man and a cis woman. The next one... February, I think. Also small town, friends to lovers, with a twist on a fake relationship. It is going to bring in Alaska Native representation and asexual spectrum topics, and it's a lesbian story. I want to mix things up there. 

Unveiling Ms. Claus

Doctors cannot be in relationships with their patients. Who knew how much that would hurt?

Rejected by her parents as an adult, Amber Claus is starting life anew from nothing, as a woman. When she meets a man who feels like he could be The One, things feel hopeful...until she meets him as the doctor helping her to transition. And doctors can't date patients.

But she won't need help forever, and she's earned some Christmas cheer…

Mercy Zephyr (she/her) was born and raised in the Mat-Su Valley, where her and her husband of eleven years live today. Together, they enjoy bicycling, spending time with her supportive parents, and spoiling their grandchild and each other. She is an asexual transgender woman of Athabaskan descent who transitioned alongside her husband. She writes sweet, optimistic #ownvoices romance with a spoonful of humor and a dash of grit, centering transgender and sometimes asexual characters. 

Website and Newsletter: http://www.mercyzephyr.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/MercyZephyr)

https://books2read.com/ap/nzgEKJ/Mercy-Zephyr

Lynn Lovegreen grew up in Alaska, and still lives there. Her young adult historical romances are set in the Alaska Gold Rush, a great time for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com.

"Let It Snow"

by Diana McCollum

This year for November Romancing the Genres are reviewing Christmas books. I chose “Let It Snow”, by Nancy Thayer. I had never read anything by Nancy Thayer, so she was a new author for me.

It’s a sweet Christmas story which takes place on Nantucket Island. The heroine Christina Antonioni is a gift shop owner in one of the ‘sheds’ on the wharf. The other shop owners are her friends and they are an eclectic bunch.

Christina befriends a ten year old girl who had tried to shoplift from her store. She hires the young girl and becomes her friend. Wink, the young girl, helps with unpacking the Christmas shipments and decorating the store. 

Wink lives with her Grandfather while her mother is going through a divorce on the mainland. Turns out the wealthy Grandfather, Mr. Bittlesman, is the new landlord to the shops on the wharf. Mr. Bittlesman is a Scrooge, and plans on raising the rents the first of the year. This would put all the shop owners out of business.

Wink introduces Christina to her Uncle Andy who has recently moved to the island. With the  help of Wink’s Uncle who is not only a handsome, but charming bachelor, Christina feels this will be the best Christmas ever. The only hitch to their budding romance is Andy’s father Mr. Bittlesman. 

Christina hosts a tree decoration party for her friends. Her parents passed and she doesn’t have any brothers or sisters. Her shop and her friends and Nantucket are the most important things in her life.

Mimi, Jacob and Harriet, the other shop owners, along with Christina try various ways to soften up Mr. Bittlesman to no avail. Finally, they dress in Victorian clothes and go Christmas caroling at Mr. Bittleman’s mansion. Unbeknownst to them, his wife who had passed was a wonderful soprano singer. This touched his heart and he sends a Christmas letter to the shop owners reducing their rent by twenty-percent!

This story gives the reader a real feel for living on Nantucket Island, especially during the winter and holidays.

Andy is such a kind and considerate boyfriend. He gets the shop owners together with his own family to have a surprise Christmas Eve party for Christina at her house.  He doesn’t want her first Christmas Eve without her mom or aunt to be spent alone. This was a very touching scene. 

 

She is invited to Christmas dinner the next day at Mr. Bittlesman’s house with Andy, Wink and the rest of the family.

Andy and Christina’s relationship develops over the first couple weeks leading up to Christmas Day. A sweet slow romance, with of course, a happily ever after! 

The themes of friendship, love, family and self-discovery in “Let It Snow”, keeps the plot moving and insures it is a holiday story to remember.

My Christmas I remember fondly is when my family lived on Guam. We got to go swimming in the ocean which was amazing.

The other Christmas was when I was first married and lived in MI across the street from a family with seven children. 3 foot of snow and no one could get to town to see Santa. I dressed in my Husband's red hunting suit, pillow stuffed inside, black boots and red hat, makeshift white beard, and I was Santa for a night! The wonder on their little faces made me feel so good. I had fun!

Will you share a Christmas memory with us?

My New Holiday Romance by Kristin Wallace #NewRelease

Very happy to announce that my latest book has now officially released. It's a Christmas romance that originally launched as part of the Sweet Christmas Kisses 5 box set (which you can download for only 99 cents), but now I am publishing my story as a single title. 

SECOND CHANCE CHRISTMAS is part of my Palm Cove Tales series. It’s the follow-up to the Heiress Games trilogy, which launched this spring. This tale features desperate single mom, Mia Reynolds, the cousin of security expert Damon Grant (who appeared in the Heiress Games books). Mia has been hiding a very big secret about her daughter and now the truth is about to be revealed. 

Ten years ago, Mia Reynolds and Winthrop Barrington spent one magical Christmas together. Until lies and manipulation at the hands of Win’s wealthy family tore them apart and left Mia to raise a daughter on her own. Now, both of them have returned to their hometown of Palm Cove, Florida. Once they uncover the truth about what happened, can Mia and Win rediscover the love they once lost and celebrate a Second Chance Christmas with their daughter?



Excerpt:

Chapter Two

            Winthrop Barrington hadn’t been sure how he would feel upon seeing Mia again. Fury had been his first guess. Anger at her betrayal certainly. Regret at what might have been perhaps. Maybe even sadness over the memories that still snuck up on him when he least expected it. Memories that were all wrapped up in Christmas bows and twinkling lights.

            He had not expected the gut-wrenching pain. Just looking at her hurt, but he couldn’t direct his eyes away. He could have gazed at her for centuries and never tired of the view. Her red-gold hair, those glorious golden eyes, the creamy skin, and a figure that had once made him stupid. Stupid enough to believe that a guy from the South-side could love a girl from the North-side. Boy, had Mia proven him wrong.

            Mia’s sister, Chloe Reynolds, was eyeing both of them with suspicion. “Mia, what’s going on?” 

            “I’d say they know each other better than I thought,” Serena Douglas drawled in an arch tone. “Better than you let on the other day, Win.”

Win thoughthe’d known Mia, but as it turned out, she’d been someone else entirely. “We’ve met,” was his only confession. 

What else could he say with Serena Douglas and Mia’s sister standing there, watching with equal parts disbelief, bemusement and suspicion? He couldn’t exactly blurt out the truth. That he’d spent one Christmas ten years ago enthralled with a girl from the proverbial wrong side of the tracks. That he’d lost his head, and heart, and then she’d vanished without a word. She hadn’t gone alone, either, but left town with her old boyfriend, Brock Thompson.

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Kristin Wallace is a USA Today bestselling author of inspirational and sweet contemporary romance filled with “Love, Laughter and a Leap of Faith”. She is the author of 3 popular series, Covington Falls Chronicles, Shellwater Key Tales and Palm Cove Tales. Look for Serena and Damon's story, Second Chance Hero, coming soon!