My Favorite Holiday

 Post by Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Image (C) Doris McCraw

As we approach 2025 and the Holiday Season, I wanted to take some time to talk about my favorite Holiday.

With the Christmas Quilt Bride books arriving, you might think my favorite Holiday is Christmas. While I do enjoy that day, my favorite Holiday is Thanksgiving.

Why Thanksgiving? 

There are no expectations for anyone but yourself and the gift of thanks you have for the life you've been given. Oh, I can hear people say, my life, AAAK, but hear me out. Even when things are horrid, there are ways of seeing that are not rose-colored glasses, but an appreciation that one has survived, has friends, been gifted the beauty of nature. 

Image (C) Doris McCraw

So this year as with every year I celebrate this Holiday with gratitude for the many wonderful, big and small things that make up my life. 

To all those reading this, thank you for being here. To all who don't see this, I still am grateful for you.

I am also grateful to be a part of this group and the authors who tell the stories only they can tell. The world needs people like you. Please remember to support the authors and check out the stories they have offered or are releasing soon.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris

A Christmas Dream

 

When I was a little girl, my mom and grandma both enjoyed looking through magazines. As I got older, I also loved thumbing through the glossy pages. It was in a magazine Grandma had shared with Mom that an article featured a story about the beautiful Biltmore House of Asheville, North Carolina.

Mom mentioned more than once that she wished she could visit it someday, but that didn’t happen in her lifetime.

Years later, though, my husband and I took a holiday trip and toured the incredible Biltmore Estate.

When we walked through the impressive entry doors, the part of my heart where memories of my mama reside whispered, “We finally made it!” As we explored the house, I felt like she was right there with me, every bit as awed as I felt by the Biltmore.

Captain Cavedweller and I were thoroughly blown away by the Biltmore. From the stables and gift shops, to the restaurants and displays, everything was amazing and elevated to the next level.

The house, though, is something beyond the description of mere words. One needs to step into a world most of us can’t begin to imagine to fully experience what it is like to visit this incredible historical wonder.

If you’ve never heard of the Biltmore, I encourage you to read more about it. Constructed in the late 1890s by George Vanderbilt, the Biltmore is a 250-room French chateau filled with priceless treasures. Stepping inside the doors is taking a step into a different time where hospitality, luxury, and beauty reigned.

By the time we returned home from our trip, the idea for a series inspired by the Biltmore was beginning to grow, and blossomed into the Hudson House Holiday series.

Hudson House draws inspiration from the Biltmore and a much smaller mansion located in Portland, Oregon, called the Pittock Mansion. I hope as you read the story that the house and estate joined the cast of characters in your mind, because that is how it is intended.

The series follows the Hudson family through several generations, starting with Brant Hudson in 1892, and ending with Alex Hudson in 2024!

He came to build the house of his dreams, but found a home for his heart.

After an extensive search for the ideal location to build a house he’s spent years designing, Brant Hudson knows he’s found the perfect site the moment he sets foot on the land near Silver Bluff, Oregon. However, frustrating delays leave him laboring alongside the very crew he hired to finish the house in time for Christmas. His work leads the woman who catches his eye to believe he’s a carpenter rather than the owner of the grand manor.

Holland Drake grew up on a farm, but she aspires to secure a position as a housemaid at Hudson House. While delivering lunch to her brother at the worksite, the door opens to a job when Holland encounters a strikingly handsome carpenter whose charm captivates her. Soon, Holland discovers the enchanting man is none other than the owner of the house and her new employer.

As the holiday season arrives amid a flurry of excitement and possibilities, Holland and Brant face choices that could change their lives forever. Will fear hold them back from stepping into the future together, or will their Christmas dreams of love come true?

A Christmas Dream is the first book in the Hudson House Holiday series of wholesome, heartwarming Christmas romances full of the joy of the season.

USA Today Bestselling Author Shanna Hatfield is a farm girl who loves to write character-driven romances with relatable heroes and heroines. Her sweet historical and contemporary romances are filled with sarcasm, humor, hope, and hunky heroes.

When Shanna isn’t dreaming up unforgettable characters, twisting plots, or covertly seeking dark, decadent chocolate, she hangs out with her beloved husband, Captain Cavedweller.

1893-A Year of Highs and Lows by Zina Abbott

At one point in my book, Phoebe, part of the Christmas Quilt Brides series, the following conversation takes place:

(Phoebe): “Do you remember the World’s Columbian Exhibition held in 1893? Did you have the opportunity to view it?”

          “The Chicago World’s Fair?   I was aware of it taking place. Unfortunately, my sister and I were busy with preparing for and participating in the Land Run at that same time, so I was unable to attend.” Her tone slightly acerbic, Marigold kept her gaze on her stitching.

          “Oh.” Wondering if she had said something wrong, Phoebe swallowed. Then again, 1893 had been the year the great financial panic they were still experiencing had started. Perhaps the two Calloway sisters had been negatively affected to the point that the expense of visiting the exhibition was prohibitive.

Although the above snippet is from a scene that takes place in 1896, my grouping of four books from two multi-author projects set in New Ponca, Oklahoma Territory, starts by featuring the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet Land Run of 1893 (Joshua’s Bride). I decided to feature 1893, since for many Americans, it was a year of highs and lows.

On March 4 – The presidential term for Benjamin Harrison ended. At that point, Grover Cleveland took office as U.S. President.   

On May 1 – the 1893 World’s Fair, better known at the time as the World’s Columbian Exposition, opened to the public in Chicago, Illinois. The fair remained open through October. The first U.S. commemorative postage stamps and coins were issued for this exposition.

 The 1896 Broadway melodrama The War of Wealth was inspired by the panic of 1893

On May 5 – A crash on the New York Stock Exchange started a depression. A precursor to this financial downturn was the passage of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1890. This law required the U.S. Treasury to buy silver with a special issue of Treasury Notes (Coin) that could that could be redeemed for either silver or gold. This created a substantial expansion in the volume of circulating dollars without a proportionate growth in the gold stock. The crash in the silver dollar's bullion value in the 1890s from 80 cents to approximately 50 cents increased public anxiety on their continued ability to convert silver dollars and banknotes into gold. The result was a run on the Treasury's gold stock.

Although the country had experienced economic depressions on a regular basis every decade or two, the Panic of 1893, as it came to be known, was particularly intense. It continued through 1896.

On July 22 – After having admired the view from the top of Pikes Peak near Colorado Springs, Colorado, Katharine Lee Bates wrote the patriotic song, “America the Beautiful,” still frequently sung today.

On August 7 – the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was repealed.

On August 19 – President Cleveland finally issues the proclamation for the Cherokee Strip Land Run.

On August 27 – The Sea Islands Hurricane struck Savanah, Charleston, and the Sea Islands, killing between 1,000 and 2,000 people.

On September 19 – The 1893 Cherokee Strip Land Run began.

The change in presidential administrations in March became a significant factor for many low-income Americans desperate for land. The previous Harrison administration had approved earlier land runs in what had been Indian Territory, and which was intended to become part of the new Oklahoma Territory, formed after the first large run on 1889. This administration also started the process of acquiring the land in what was known as the Cherokee Strip and Cherokee Outlet for an additional land run. The Cherokee Outlet was not part of the Cherokee reservation, but it was west of their reservation land and controlled by the Cherokee tribe, who leased it out to cattlemen, many of them white Americans. The land was vacated, but the process stalled once Cleveland came into office. Many land-starved Americans waited impatiently for the opportunity to claim farm land.

On September 21 – Brothers Charles and Frank Duryea drive the first gasoline-powered motorcar in America on public roads in Springfield, Massachusetts. The following is another excerpt from my upcoming book. The scene is between my hero, Graham, and his father:

          “Automobiles? You mean those glorified velocipedes that bounce around on bicycle tires and are powered by a one-cylinder engine? I’ve seen a few around the city, and I’m not favorably impressed. Especially with their tendency to backfire, they make too much noise, which scares the horses and creates havoc in the streets. They break down too often, too.” Richard shook his head. “They are a temporary novelty, Son. Before long, the phase will pass.”

          “I don’t believe so, Father. They have their good points. They do not need daily feeding and maintenance, like horses or mules. No mucking out stalls, and no animal droppings on the street.” Graham had raised his eyebrows with a knowing look.

          “Perhaps not, but that engine exhaust can be almost as noxious as a street full of horse apples. As for going any distance, the tires do not hold up while traveling the rough roads, especially between towns. Automobiles will end up being nothing more than aggrandized toys.” Richard dismissed the topic with a fling of his hand through the air.

On December 8 – The National Education Association releases the final report from the “Committee of Ten” at the Columbia University conference recommending standardization of the high school curriculum.         

This is a partial list of events for 1893. More can be found on Wikipedia by CLICKING HERE

 

Although not all of the above events of 1893 played a role in my next historical romance, Phoebe, several did. This book is now on pre-order and scheduled for release on November 15, 2024. 

To find the book description and pre-order link, please CLICK HERE

A "Sleighing Song" perhaps more popular today than it was it was in 1857

Is November too soon to be singing Jingle Bells and envisioning swirling flakes of snow that once signaled the beginning of sleigh season? My heroine in my new release, A Sleigh Ride for Georgia, wouldn’t think so. As a native of Tennessee, I find the idea of drifting snow and sleigh rides romantic and magical. She’s thrilled when the man she is corresponding with entices her with the promise of sleigh rides.

https://americanheritageusa.com/new-designs-and-images/jingle-bells-sheet-music-open-sleigh-ride/

The song "Jingle Bells" became popular after first being published in 1857 under "One Horse Open Sleigh" by James Lord Pierpontthough. The song was written in the popular style of the time in the genre of "sleighing songs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bells

“Jingle Bells” is now a Yuletide staple; there is no mention of Christmas or any other holiday in the song. Some historical accounts report that the tune was performed for a Thanksgiving service at the church of either Pierpont’s father or brother. The song was so well received that the children repeated the performance at the Christmas service that year. The title was changed to “Jingle Bells” two years later, and it has remained a Christmas standard ever since.

The song was first recorded in 1889 on an Edison cylinder.

Listen to the First Christmas Song Ever Recorded here.


The words and music to the famous Christmas carol would have been familiar to those pioneers living in the 19th century. The heroine in my new story, Georgia, can well imagine snuggling underneath multiple blankets and embracing the serene beauty of the snow-white fields as they made their way to her new home. The ride is smooth, the landscape looks bright and clean, and the jingling sleigh bells make the ride feel magical.

Dashing through the snow

In a one-horse open sleigh
O’er the hills we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bob tail ring
Making spirits bright
Oh what sport to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight!
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Winter_Sleigh_Ride_with_Mountains_in_Background_by_Charles_E._Beckett.jpg

Excerpt:
“I agree that Robert Browning's quote sums things up nicely. My heart is full as I dream of experiencing our courtship in person. I look forward to the sleigh ride you promised, where we will speed across the snowy landscape underneath a thousand stars sparkling against the midnight sky.”

Unfortunately for our hero and heroine, there’s more than the hint of snow in the air as duplicity rules the day. Georgia’s intended groom is more practical than most and a bit of a recluse. “Whose idea was it to let this woman think it's safe to traipse around at night in the middle of winter? Any sleigh I’ve got in the livery is for renting out to the locals or hauling heavy loads. The only time I make an exception is for an emergency.”

New Release: A Sleigh Ride for Georgia
Free on Kindle Unlimited

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D32LX394

Livery owner Joshua Jenkins admittedly enjoys horses more than people. Since his father and stepmother’s premature death, his focus expanded to caring for his younger sisters. The last thing he needs is a wife. Unfortunately, his family thinks differently and interceded on his behalf.

"It was my family's idea to invite this woman to marry me under false pretenses. Now, they need to help get me out of this mess. I don't have time for romance. I'm sure not about to traipse around on a star-gazing sleigh ride. My sleighs are for renting out to the locals or hauling heavy loads. The only time I venture out in the winter at night is for an emergency."

Connect with Kimberly:

Fans of historical romance set in the late 19th -century will enjoy stories combining, History, Humor, and Romance, emphasizing Faith, Friends, and Good, Clean Fun.

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A 1917 Cookbook and More!

 I love books! I collect them, and have an antique book collection that I adore. One gem I found years ago was a book entitled, A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband. I thought it would be hilarious, and it is, but it's in reality, a cookbook! It follows a newly married couples journey (along with the wife's many recipes) and is actually fun to read. They did a reprint in 1932 and updated the recipes for "modern" readers. But still, even the revised edition makes for a fun read. 

Bettina and Bob must struggle through their interfering relatives, nosy neighbors, and of course making some new friends and hosting parties. Betinna has a recipe for all of these occasions and it's hilarious when her mother gets involved. This was a great concept for a cook book and I've not seen it done anywhere else. 

It's also a glimpse into what life was like almost a hundred years ago. From fashion to cars to different prices on things. There's even some house hold tips, such as this one for cantaloupe. Poor Mrs. Dixon, a neighbor, has bought three large cantaloupes and is lamenting to Bettina how her cut up cantaloupe is making everything in her ice box smell like cantaloupe.

"Of course they must be very cold when served," Betinna said. "But I never prepare them till just before the meal. I put them in the ice box whole, in a paper sack, taking care that the mouth of the sack is closed. They become very cold that way, and at the same time, can't affect the other food."

"I'm so glad you told me that, Bettina," Mrs. Dixon said. "I've learned a great many things from you, haven't I? Oh, yes, another thing puzzles me. I like chipped ice served in and with the cantaloupe, and I don't own any tool for preparing the ice. I do fix it somehow, of course, but I've wondered how other people manage..."

And the discussion turns to ice shavers and salt sacks. Lots of tips and tricks told in a fun conversation between two characters in the book. 

These old cook books are fun to go through, and publishers have taken old cook books and updated them for modern ingredients and ovens. So if you're feeling adventurous sometime, and happen to run across one like A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband, pick it up. They make for some fun reading!

Until Next Time

Kit

BETTER THAN PIE FOR THANKSGIVING by Marisa Masterson

 

Don’t be fooled this Thanksgiving by an image of a Pilgrim holding a pumpkin pie. It never happened.

Pumpkin but not pumpkin pie—that is likely what colonists new to the United States ate. Why no pie? I will explain, but first let me share about the pumpkin’s history in the Americas.

Squash and pumpkins originated south of the United States. The oldest seeds have been found in Mexico, so it was a plant that was brought into North America,

Many indigenous people groups relied on it in their diet. They ate the seeds, flesh, flowers, and even the leaves. Little wonder those people who landed at Plymouth Rock discovered how useful the humble pumpkin would be for them.

Colonist in my country’s history came to rely on the pumpkin as a staple in their diet. The seeds were dried from those first pumpkins shared by native tribes and planted. It was easy to grow, and the vines produced a great deal of fruit.

Europeans enjoyed spiced pies. The immigrants brought those recipes with them. Only, wheat was not readily available. They could not make pie crust. Instead, they substituted a spiced custard baked inside a pumpkin shell nestled in the coals of a fire for the desserts they remembered from their home country.

The heroine in my new release, Custard Pumpkin by Claire, makes this very thing:

Mrs. Zehnder had shared a recipe with her yesterday. She told her to create a custard and add nutmeg and cinnamon to it. Poured into a hollow pumpkin, it would bake in the ashes.

Claire watched her husband inhale the aroma. The pumpkin nestled in the fireplace. She had heaped the hot coals around it, careful not to let any get into the open top where the custard browned.

Making the custard had required every egg she had in her small bowl. Hans had bought her four hens and a cow while they were still in Saginaw. She was blessed to have them. Many people in the community did not have the money to buy animals.

The recipe had used up her small store of sugar. She hoped the men might travel to Saginaw soon for supplies. Last evening, she had heard the three men discuss a trip upriver to do that.

When she serves her custard, my heroine will also scoop out part of the baked orange flesh of the large fruit. It is the beginning of our traditional pumpkin pie.  

By the way, I include a recipe for the custard baked in the shell in my new release. It is modernized and ready for you to enjoy this Thanksgiving.

Available Now in Amazon. Free with Kindle Unlimited:

His guilt separates them. Can a mystery create a bond of love between this couple forced into an unwanted marriage?

For Claire's small German village, it is a black summer. Typhoid hits the townspeople and surrounding farms. With Claire's parents dead, she struggles to know how she will survive.

When a call for volunteers goes through her part of Germany—a chance to settle in Michigan and Christianize the local tribe—she seizes the opportunity. She hopes to forge a new future--one filled with possibility rather than starvation.

As a single woman, she must travel as the unpaid servant to a couple, the young carpenter Hans Mueller and his wife. Unfortunately, Claire's prospects change radically when the man's wife dies during the voyage. The minister of their group pushes Hans and her into marriage. Reluctant but determined, she agrees.

She and her husband arrive in a new land carrying their old grief. Hans ignores Claire. She is sure he hugs his grief for his wife. He throws himself into the work of building the settlement for their community. She is at a loss on how to be a wife to a man who does not want one. Instead, she spends her time befriending women from the Chippewa tribe.

Mischief and outright vandalism threaten the settlement. Are the Chippewa—the people Claire views as friends—responsible? What can stop the sudden surge of hate that springs up in the missionary community they founded to reach out to the indigenous people?

Claire and Hans are determined to discover who wants to drive away the German immigrants. But at what cost? And why does a certain fur trapper target the women in their settlement?

Discover how custard pumpkin plays a role in allowing this couple to reveal their hidden passion for one another. If you enjoy well-researched historical romance with a cozy mystery, grab your copy of the book now.

Find Your Next Favorite Read Now!

Look what our authors published in October!

 

Our authors have been busy writing your next favorite story.

Look what we published in October!

 

Escalope by Emma: Old Timey Holiday Kitchen Book 31

By Linda Carroll-Bradd

     Schoolteacher Emma Forsyth faces challenges in her fifth year of teaching in Astoria, Oregon. A few disruptive students create an unbalanced classroom—a situation she dislikes. Knowing not all students learn by reading and writing, she devises hands-on activities and out of the schoolhouse experiences to engage them. Since her best friend, Berdina, married into the Stefanssen family, Emma has been included in family events. Maybe she’ll ask Torger—Berdina’s brother-in-law—to take her students out on his boat to learn about ocean life. Surely, for a day’s outing, she can keep her infatuation—a foolish whimsy because teachers can’t court—hidden from the confident man who looks completely ease on the deck of his boat.
     Boat captain Torger Stefannssen is still learning the ins-and-outs of helming the second boat in his family’s fishing business. He believes a man should be in a good financial position before he asks to court the woman who has caught his eye. Last year, his family embraced the schoolteacher, so he’s conflicted about his tender feelings for this woman his brothers treat like another sister. So far, he’s kept his distance while being aware of her presence when she’s near. But when presented with her request for his help, he cannot say no to this lively, generous woman. Will that one change to his plan snowball into so much more?

Release date: Sesptember 24, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DFZH98LF

Mail-Order Blacksmith: Honorable Husbands

P. Creeden

Honorable Husband Series.
Even independent women can need a helping hand now and then. More than muscles and rugged good looks, this bride needs a blacksmith and only the honorable need apply...but is that what they'll get?

Mail-Order Blacksmith
With the passing of her father in the war, Sadie Cahill finds herself running the town’s livery on her own. A falling out with her blacksmith leaves her in desperate need. But is she desperate enough to marry one?

Release date: October 10, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQ2K4DC4

 

Lily Lassoes the Lawman (Uncertain Sweethearts Book 3)

By Marisa Masterson

Return to Fox Creek with this latest addition to the Uncertain Sweethearts series!

     He followed a hunch and found a woman worth loving. Too bad she had walked on the wrong side of the law one time too many.
      Lily Calhoun loved two things in this world—her son and her café. She had a chance at a fresh start, a clean slate with a new name. Lillian Perkins was gone.
       She had loved poorly and lost. She would not risk her heart again. Or so she thought. Then he came to town.
       Travis Strickland had a tough time believing what his eyes told him. The beautiful café owner was Dirk Perkins’ widow. He could not credit this innocent-appearing woman as being someone who had traveled with a murderous gang of thieves.
      No matter what his mind argued, Travis knew the truth. Lily was the woman who had disappeared with a trunk filled with stolen gold. All too soon, he expected Perkins’ brother would find her and reclaim the gold.
      When Perkins appeared, he would be in Fox Creek to arrest him. He was a duly sworn United States marshal. Somehow, he would clear Lilly of any charges and pin the blame on the gang’s leader.
      What begins as a job for Travis quickly heats up into attraction and love. Can he save Lily and her son from the monster who is hot on her trail? Will her mistake as a fifteen-year-old shatter Lily’s chance at lasting love?

Release date: October 15, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D6RSTPD3

 

Lemon Cookies by Lisbeth: Old Timey Holiday Kitchen Book 32

By Zina Abbott

     Much to Elizabeth Jewell’s disappointment, she failed to capture Arnie’s affections. All along, his heart had belonged to her sister. The lemon cookies she prepared for Christmas dessert had been a flop. At least his cousin, Roy, had appreciated the trick she played. In spite of everyone else angry at her for trying to make her sister look bad in an attempt to get her way, thanks to Roy, she survived the Christmas debacle.
     Following Roy’s suggestion, she starts a business making and selling hand pies. First, though, she chooses to shed her reputation of “Little Betsy,” the immature younger Jewell daughter. She informs all that from now on, she is to be addressed as Lisbeth. Determined to become a businesswoman instead of a flighty female focused only on fashion and gossip, she soon finds herself enjoying greater respect and self-esteem. However, she often wonders—will she ever find a man who will love her?
     As the holidays approach, Lisbeth wonders if Roy, still working on a railroad crew, will be able to get off work long enough to join his family and hers for Christmas dinner. Hoping she will see him again, she plans to once more make her lemon cookies. After all, in exchange for him helping her out of the trouble she brought on herself the previous year, she promised that this year she would make a whole batch just for him.

Release date: October 15, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DF6446S6

Mrs. Pettigrew's Christmas Match (Holiday Matchmaking Book 1)

By Kit Morgan

A young woman down on her luck
A rich young man
And one eccentric matchmaker
     After the famous Mrs. Pettigrew's first husband, Xavier, passed, the matchmaker found little interest in matchmaking. That is until she hires Chastity Eastwick as her new maid, and thinks her neighbor Dalton Simpson the perfect match for her! Toss in a rival for Dalton's affections and Mrs. Pettigrew's own odd eccentricities, and the hilarity begins! Especially when Mrs. Pettigrew fails to mention to Dalton that Chastity is a maid at all. He thinks she's a house guest!
     Enjoy this sweet historical western full of fun and laughter!

Release date: October 16, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DK7T12HY

Gunnar's New Bride: Mountain Men and Mail-Order Brides

By Linda Carroll-Bradd

      Logging camp owner Gunnar Hallbjorn has spent the last two years focused on ensuring the business he inherited from his uncle continues succeeding. A recent visit from a newlywed cousin demonstrates how much a wife would add to his bachelor life. He imagines how coming home to a hot meal and pleasant conversation will be better than eating in the camp’s dining hall with two dozen bachelors. As he writes his ad for the matrimonial newspaper, he envisions a demure Scandinavian girl like he remembers from back home.
      Baker Blasa Eberhard struggles to keep a roof over her and her younger brother’s head due to their father’s gambling habit. Faced with an ultimatum from her father to either marry his business associate or someone else because he can only afford to support his son and himself, she enters into a correspondence to become a mail-order bride. Bank agents arrive to take possession of the house, because mortgage is in default. Blasa has no choice but to pawn her mother’s jewelry to buy train tickets to Colorado. How will Mister Hallbjorn react when she shows up on his doorstep? Will he still want to marry when she has her brother in tow?

Release Date: October 31, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D34TW77L

 

 

Not all of our authors make their books available on pre-order. However, for those who do, those advance sales go a long way toward boosting their sales rankings. 

Here are future releases:

November Pre-orders:

 

Custard Pumpkin by Claire: Old Timey Holiday Kitchen Book 34

By Marisa Masterson

      Their joint cause allows them to drift apart. Can a mystery create a bond of love between them?
     For Claire's small German village, it is a black summer. Typhoid hits the townspeople and surrounding farms with a vengeance. With Claire's parents dead, she struggles to know how she will survive.
      When a call for volunteers goes through her part of Germany—a chance to settle in Michigan and Christianize the local tribe—she seizes the opportunity. She hopes to forge a new future--one filled with possibility rather than starvation.
     As a single woman, she must travel as the unpaid servant to the only other couple going from her village, the young preacher Hans Mueller and his wife. Unfortunately, Claire's prospects change radically when the man's wife perishes in the epidemic. The reverend offers marriage as a way for Claire to travel with him. Reluctant but determined, she agrees.
      She and her husband arrive in a new land carrying their old grief. Hans has not left behind his grief for the wife he so recently lost. He throws himself into the work of building the settlement for their community. Claire is at a loss on how to be a wife to a man who does not want one. Instead, she spends her time with women from the Chippewa tribe.
      Mischief and then outright vandalism threatens the settlement. Are the Chippewa—the people Claire views as friends—responsible? What can stop the sudden surge of hate that springs up in the missionary community founded to spread the love of Christ?
      Finally, Claire and Hans are united in a way not even marriage had brought about. They are determined to discover who wants to drive away the German immigrants, but at what cost? Perhaps one or both of their lives.
     Discover how custard pumpkin plays a role in not only bringing peace and forging a bond between the Chippewa and the settlement but also winning the heart of Claire’s groom. Sink into a comfy spot and enjoy this sweet historical romance today.

Release date: November 5, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCT43RHY

 

Ivy: Christmas Quilt Brides Book 18

By Jo-Ann Roberts

     Years ago, Lily Sutton was drawn to the new orphan boy in town. Unfortunately, she soon became the unfortunate victim of Grady Walsh’s mischievous deeds in school.
    Lily is back home in Harmony, Kansas for good but is she willing and able to forgive the boy who made her childhood unbearable?
     Grady Walsh lost his heart to the sweet girl the day she gave him a quilt. Can this boy-turned-man make up for the reckless actions of his youth?
     Or will another steal her away before they have a chance to discover a kind of love that might just heal the pain from the past?

Release date: November 8, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DG4LTGGC

 

A Christmas Dream: A Wholesome Holiday Romance (Hudson House Holiday Book 1)

  By Shanna Hatfield

He came to build the house of his dreams, but found a home for his heart.

     After an extensive search for the ideal location to build a house he’s spent years designing, Brant Hudson knows he’s found the perfect site the moment he sets foot on the land near Silver Bluff, Oregon. However, frustrating delays leave him laboring alongside the very crew he hired to finish the house in time for Christmas. His work leads the woman who catches his eye to believe he’s a carpenter rather than the owner of the grand manor.

     Holland Drake grew up on a farm, but she aspires to secure a position as a housemaid at Hudson House. While delivering lunch to her brother at the worksite, the door opens to a job when Holland encounters a strikingly handsome carpenter whose charm captivates her. Soon, Holland discovers the enchanting man is none other than the owner of the house and her new employer.

     As the holiday season arrives amid a flurry of excitement and possibilities, Holland and Brant face choices that could change their lives forever. Will fear hold them back from stepping into the future together, or will their Christmas dreams of love come true?

     A Christmas Dream is the first book in the Hudson House Holiday series of wholesome, heartwarming Christmas romances full of the joy of the season.

Release date: November 14, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DLBTDWGN

 

Phoebe : Christmas Quilt Brides Book 19

By Zina Abbott

     After Phoebe Wilton’s days as a student at the Calloway Girls’ Academy in New Ponca, Oklahoma Territory, ended, she knew she would not be welcomed home to live with her parents. In recent years, they kept their social and travel calendar busy to the point that they only managed to bring her home one month of the year. Undecided about whether or not she wishes to attend a co-educational college or a normal school to train as a teacher, she accepts the position of teaching assistant at the academy. At least for the present, she continues to live and work with people who appreciate her contributions and with whom she has developed deep friendships.
     Increasingly, Phoebe wonders about her future. One thing she refuses to allow is for her parents to foist her off on a son of one of families in their social set in order advance her father’s business interests and her mother’s social standing. Is she destined to live out her life as a spinster schoolteacher? Or, can she someday hope for love and marriage with a man of her choosing?

Release date: November 15, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DG31SDXD

 

A Rancher for Christmas: Confederate Widows, Spinsters, and Proxy Brides

By Linda Carroll-Bradd

Dunn MacDoughall faces a dilemma more ornery than a stubborn bull. To meet the stipulations of his granddad’s will and receive the deed to his three-thousand-acre Montana ranch, he has to marry by his twenty-eighth birthday. With only four months until the deadline, he resorts to using the services of a matchmaker. He’s desperate enough to put no restrictions on the woman’s background and agrees to a proxy marriage—as long as she arrives before fall roundup.

Ex-cotton heiress, Angelina Beauregard can barely rub two nickels together as a seamstress in post-war Bossier Parish, Louisiana. The war stole her father, brothers, and fiancé, but Angelina is determined its aftermath won’t steal her future. She seeks a proxy marriage with a man far away from her Southern homeland so she can finally get rid of memories that haunt her. But when she arrives and discovers her groom is a Yankee, is Angelina’s heart big enough to accept their fundamental differences?

Release Date: November 20, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D1DYHV3B

 

 A Surprise for Christmas: Confederate Widows, Spinsters, and Proxy Brides

By Zina Abbott

     Analia Cantrill and what remained of her family fled the South as the Yankees approached South Carolina. They took refuge with her aunt’s family in Baltimore. Following her mother’s death, circumstances all but force Analia out. With nothing left to draw her back to the South, she decides to seek a husband in the West—hopefully one who will leave the difficulties of the War Between the States in the past and accept her situation.

     Jeffrey Holden struggles to overcome his hatred for the Southern rebels responsible for the death of his older brother. After corresponding with several women, some stopped writing after he admitted a war injury now required him to walk with a cane. Others he rejected because they were from the South. He decided upon Miss Cantrill from Baltimore. Even though Maryland still allowed slavery during the war years, it stayed with the Union. The woman’s uncle rose to the rank of captain in the Union Army. Surely, she was an acceptable choice.

   Analia feels a sense of unease when, in the same letter with her fare to join him, Jeffrey expresses his happiness over finding a nice Northern bride. She suspects, once he hears her speak and discovers who she brings with her, he will be in for a big surprise.

Release Date: November 27, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D1LVNY3L

 

December Pre-orders:

 

A Pony for Christmas: Western Christmas Magic

by P. Creeden

     Will hope, love, and peace make its way to the western frontier this year and help someone in desperate need of the spirit of Christmas?

     Little Susan Price has never spoken a word. Her father, Wayne Price, has never quite understood how to bring his child out of her shell, but has fully accepted her as she is. But at five years old, he’s worried how other children will respond to little Susie’s silence. Christmas is coming, and he really doesn’t even know what he might get her for a gift. Through it all, his stalwart mother has plans to help both his son and granddaughter. Perhaps finding a wife and mother might be the cure to all their ills.

     Eleanor Hunter’s father runs the livery in Golden, Colorado and she’s always been one of his hardest workers. When a black pony comes to town with a man who is ready to shoot it, she stops him and buys the pony for a dollar. Now her father wants to know what she’s going to do with the feral thing. But the more time she spends with the pony, the more she realizes that he just needs confidence, love, and trust. And she’s happy to give him both. If only it were so easy to get the man who she’s been in love with for five years to trust her as well. But then his mother steps in.

Release date: December 1, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DFVP33DN

Minda: Christmas Quilt Brides Book 22

By Linda Carroll-Bradd

     Philadelphia socialite Minda Gayle Harleigh is still in hiding. Wishing to avoid the social shame of being jilted at the altar like her cousin, she embraces a leap year tradition so she can be the one asking. At the summer gala for the Penn Sailing Club Regatta, surrounded by family and friends, she proposes marriage to her beau. Ernst Heinrich III refuses, telling her she has stripped him of his dignity. Now she’s scouring matrimonial newspapers to find someone out West who knows nothing of her background and her inappropriate boldness.
     Montana farmer Kunz Lambrecht has barely won back his standing in the Butte City German community after rejecting a mail-order bride almost three years earlier. No one accepted his rationale that someone with hearing loss could be in danger on a farm. Again, he places an ad in Brides by Mail and is amazed to connect with an Eastern woman who is visiting his town the following month.
     But when the two meet, will they hide behind their past mistakes, or will they see their correspondence connection for the real possibility it presents?

Release date: December 13, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DG6H5486

Trifle by Tilde: Old Timey Holiday Kitchen: Book 36

By P. Creeden

     Tilde Visser has only one dream for Christmas, to live in a house again and bake a Trifle for her mother. Until now, her family has been living with other Dutch in tent communities. But when there’s a robbery in their small town and one of the Dutch are blamed, the whole community lands in an uproar. Then Samuel, the kind baker who has been helping the Dutch, gets involved in the trouble as well.
     Tilde must find a way to clear Samuel’s name before there’s a territory dispute, and help everyone find peace before Christmas. But she might just find love as well…

Release date: December 17, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DHV6YL9K

Mack: Christmas Quilt Bride Book 23

By Angela Raines

     Colin "Mack" McCullough was in the wrong place at the wrong time and at age 14 was sent to prison. Now, eight years later, out of prison, he is offered a shot at redemption: by escorting Myra Aldridge safely to Denver, a high-stakes job that could help him rebuild his life. But the question lingers—was he hired because of his past, or despite it? Either way, danger was bound to follow.
     It wasn’t that Myra Aldridge hated traveling—it was that her father made all the decisions without asking her. At almost eighteen she felt old enough to make her own choices, and the last thing she needed was some hired escort watching her every move and telling her what to do.

Release date: December 20, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DKYB6YVL

 

A Recluse for Christmas : Confederate Widows, Spinsters, and Proxy Brides

By Kimberly Grist

Join these Southern Belles on a Christmas journey to bridge the North and the South. Pasts fade and futures ignite amidst prairie snowflakes under western skies. Before each love story can unfold, the bride and groom are wed by proxy—having never met. Wounded souls find redemption in the bitter winter winds, and love’s embrace is the gift that warms their hearts. Find tales of hope, healing, and holiday joy as these Southern Belles, left alone by the war’s harsh realities, navigate cultural differences to forge new lives wed to their western, Yankee grooms. Will every heart discover the true spirit of Christmas and defy expectations? Fall in love right along with every star-crossed couple when you immerse yourself in each of these sweet holiday romances today!

Release date: December 23, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZK49D8B