Hello, everyone, and welcome to our Cowboys & Mistletoes celebration! This year, we’re doing things a little differently—spreading our celebration over two weeks instead of one. For this first week, we’re thrilled to introduce a fun new Christmas series, Christmas Stocking Sweethearts, which we wrote specifically for this event. The connecting thread for the series is that the hero or heroine of each book is a former student of the same piano teacher, Melody Nightingale. At the opening of each book, the hero or heroine receives a package from Melody containing a very personal, handcrafted Christmas stocking and a letter written on the back of the sheet music for a Christmas carol.
Once we had our premise, we realized it would be helpful to explain a bit of the backstory about who Melody Nightingale was and why she would send these gifts to her former students. That’s how this first story came to be. I’m very pleased to present to you Melody’s story.
CHRISTMAS STOCKING SWEETHEARTS Book #1!
CHRISTMAS MELODY kicks things off with a story that not only introduces Melody, but gives us a peek into who the characters in the other books were as children
Stitching melodies of love, one stocking at a time…
In 1854 Nightingale, Texas, nineteen-year-old Melody Nightingale feels trapped by her family’s expectations. As the only daughter of the town’s founding family, she’s expected to make an advantageous marriage and take her place in society. Instead of attending the endless round of tea parties, Melody longs to share her love of music with others. She also has no interest in the eligible suitors her mother parades before her, she’d much rather discuss her favorite books with shopkeeper John Hartley.
When she discovers her housekeeper’s daughter secretly playing the piano, Melody makes an impulsive decision to give the child lessons—a choice that defies the strict social boundaries of her time. And in doing so she helps shy young Zoe find her confidence through music.
Melody realizes she’s finally found her own path, one that leads far from her family’s carefully laid plans. Ignoring her parents’ disapproval, she becomes the town’s piano teacher. It’s a calling that she pursues with great enjoyment and passion, eventually touching the lives of hundreds of students. And perhaps even that kind-hearted shopkeeper…
This heartwarming story of love, music, and finding one’s true path launches the Christmas Stocking Sweethearts series, introducing readers to the remarkable woman whose handmade gifts will touch lives for decades to come.
From now through the end of the year, this book will be available for only 99 cents!
PURCHASE HERE
Yes, we know. It’s that time of year when we sometimes feel less kind than we should.
Re-write the sentence in red to something less naughty and more nice. For example:
NAUGHTY: “Grandma’s eggnog is too thick and chunky.”
NICE: “Isn’t it wonderful Grandma is still with us to make her eggnog?”
THE TREE IS LOSING NEEDLES.
You might win this piano ornament that plays
Hark The Herald Angels Sing!
All entries will be eligible for our oh-so-beautiful Grand Prize, too!
Winners announced Sunday, December 15!
(USA Winners only, please.)
Winnie Griggs is the author of Historical (and occasionally Contemporary) romances that focus on Small Towns, Big Hearts, Amazing Grace. She is also a list maker, a lover of dragonflies and holds an advanced degree in the art of procrastination.
Three of Winnie’s books have been nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, and one of those nominations resulted in a win.
Winnie loves to hear from readers. You can connect with her on facebook at www.facebook.com/WinnieGriggs.Author or email her at winnie@winniegriggs.com.
I we watered the tree regularly, we could stop the tree from losing so many needles.
Interesting take on the ‘nice’ option 🙂
Our fresh tree is fragrant and beautiful. We water it daily and our tree skirt looks festive and catches any needles that fall.
You paid a lovely word picture!
The aging Christmas tree still filled the house with a wonderful scent.
Lovely
I love having a live Christmas tree, it fills the house with the refreshing scent of pine. I don’t even mind cleaning the needles that fall off, it’s worth it to have such a beautiful tree.
A very positive outlook!
With all the beautiful ornaments and fresh pine scent, you barely notice the fact that you are losing needles.
Oh, you all are so very good at this!
Isn’t it wonderful that this Christmas tree has brought us so much joy, given us such happy memories, and made this Christmas special?
So sweet
A live Christmas tree would have been nice but with asthma the rich pine scent would not have been such a good idea so we settle for a fake one that we put together every year and make it look beautiful.
Nice! Hi
It’s a joy to clean up the dishes with my daughter after our wonderful Christmas feast! I’ll be tired tomorrow! LOL
And I loved Melody’s story! Can’t wait to read the others!
Oh thank you for those lovely words! Made my afternoon!
Isn’t it great to have a fresh tree to start the Christmas season!
Nice spin!
The tree is losing needles so why not pick them up and make something crafty with them like a wreath.
The Crafters angle, good work!
Even though our Christmas tree is losing a few needles, this is the best tree and Christmas we have ever had!
Love it!
The tree is losing needles, but it is much better than an artificial one, because it smells very good!
Very nice!
The tree has beautiful soft needles and a wonderful fragrance this year
Soft needles would be nice 🙂
The tree is losing needles, but maybe we can collect them and make some wreaths for those in need of one!
Thinking of others – The true Christmas spirit!
The tree is so beautiful even if a few needles have begun to fall off the lights and ornaments still sparkle.
I love a tree that sparkles!
Our tree, even though it is starting to lose needles, is one of the prettiest and fullest we have ever had!
Well Done!
Even though it might have been messy and dropped needles I still prefer the real trees we used to decorate. They just smelled like Christmas!!
Nostalgic!
The tree is beautiful this year with the all the pretty ornaments.
Nice!
The beautiful tree is adding decor to the floor with its lovely needles.
Love it 🙂
Even though our real tree is losing a few needles it is still lovely and brings back so many beautiful memories when we were kids and would go out and cut down our own tree and bring it home.
Well done!
But who cares? We still love it and anyway, we have a broom.
Sweet and practical 🙂
I love a real Christmas tree – it smells so good and we are so blessed to be able to have one! I love collecting the “spare” needles it gives us to add to the simmering potpourri.
A very nice spin to put on things – Love it
Aren’t we blessed to live in a time with electricity! Electric lights to light up our Christmas tree, and the power of a vacuum to clean up any needles that may fall. 🙂
The best of both worlds 🙂
Our Christmas tree is lovely with it’s tree skirt surrounding it. The needles that fall into it makes the house smell heavenly!
Finding the silver lining…
The tree is the most wondrous sight with a scent that is cozy and warm my heart and soul.
Turning a blind eye to those messy needles is one way to go 🙂
I really enjoyed our Christmas tree this year.
Nice approach
Even though the tree is losing needles, the fresh pine scent will linger for while.
I like it!
Needles, needles? Who needs needles? With less needles on the tree there is more room for the ornaments Granny Dot sent me until the day she went to heaven above.
Very good view of that silver lining
I enjoy my real tree even with dry needles and all. The beauty and enjoyment of this gives me calm and hope.
Very nice
I still want a live tree this Christmas even if it loses it needles because I love the natural pine smell of it.
Girl who knows what she likes and it’s willing to stand up for it 🙂
The needles from the Christmas tree are providing a bed for the nativity animals to rest.
Very nice, original approach to the problem
The tree is losing a few needles, but watering improved its health
Spoken like a true problem solver!
My cat loves the fallen needles… such a fun toy to play with.
Fun fun!
The needles on the tree smell so nice.
Thanks for the chance to win these prizes. I just finished Sarah Lamb’s book yesterday. I truly enjoyed it and can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
So glad you’re enjoying the series. Hearing that makes me very happy
I’m sure if we remember to keep the tree watered and check it often then we will be able to enjoy the lovely needles that will stay on the tree. So we can experience the spectacular ornaments and lights!
Very forward thinking, I like it
“Isn’t it wonderful to have a real live Christmas tree this year? Even if it loses a few needles here and there, look at that beauty.”
Spoken like a true nature lover
The tree is losing its needles but oh my! the pine scent just makes the house smell so Christmasy?
I don’t know why that put my last name twice in the comment !
Lol – The system does that sometimes, I’m not sure why either
I just love the way a real tree looks and smells decorated for Christmas! Picking up the needles is so worth it.
Good positivity!
We are so blessed to have such a beautiful tree. Thank you so much. God bless you.
You’re quite welcome and bless you too
I use needles to sew my tree made out of fabric.
🙂
The tree is sharing with me! I’ll pick up all of the needles, tie them in little bundles, and spread them throughout the house to make all of the rooms smell like the outdoors!
Nice!
When the tree starts to loose its needles, just add more water and watch it turn green again.
Sounds like you must be a problem solver
A live tree smells amazing and reminds us of God’s creations just for us.
God truly blesses us an amazing ways
The needles are falling but Christmas is still coming.
Absolutely!
We found out when I was a kid that my youngest sister was allergic to pine so from then on we have had the fake tree along with the color wheel to make things more fun and colorful and now I have pre-lit tree with different color lights in my opinion whether you have a real tree or fake tree I still celebrate the real reason for Christmas which is Jesus. Love that quilt it’s so beautiful hopefully I win it
JoAnne truly did an amazing job didn’t she
The tree is loosing its needles so now it won’t be so heavy to carry out after Christmas.
This is going to be a fun week. Ordered Christmas Melody Nov. 18. Can’t wait to have them all so I can binge read the series. Thank you.
So glad you’re excited about the series. We had a lot of fun writing it
The scent of our Christmas tree is so refreshing, I hardly even noticed the needles on our tree skirt!
🙂
The house sure smells good with this Christmas tree.
I like it!
Having family surrounding us at Christmas as we all enjoy the smell of the tree, the beauty of the ornaments makes cleaning up pine needles a joy.
Very sweet
The tree still has so many needles and is so lovely.
Looking on the bright side
Let me add some water to the tree’s water container for you, Mom.
Very helpful, nice!
The smell of our fresh pine Christmas tree fills the house so nicely that I don’t even mind vacuuming all the pine needles that fall.
Seeing the silver lining
A tree’s needles drop like happy tears,
letting you know that this is such a wonderful magical time of the year!
Very poetic, I love it!
Our tree losing needles just makes me think of the sweet and precious Charlie Brown Christmas tree.
The tree is drying out, but it still looks beautiful with all the ornaments and lights!
Nice!
The tree is losing needles, but doesn’t it smell wonderful?
A wonderful redirect of thoughts
I love a live tree! Despite the extra “mess”, there’s nothing that smells like Christmas, as the smell of an Evergreen in my home!
Wonderful
I love our green carpet. It’s exactly the same color as the needles falling from the Christmas tree.
Makes them easier to ignore 🙂
I have wonderful memories of cutting down our Christmas tree. The family bonded around decorating it’s fragrant boughs not worrying about a few dropped needles.
I haven’t participated in a tree cutting for decades but still have fond memories of that time…
The entire room smells like Christmas courtesy of the tree.
Everyone seems to love the smell of a Christmas tree!
The tree is losing needles. We can collect them and make sachets and be reminded of Christmas.
Nice memory invoker!
When the tree loses its needles it’s like a having the famous Charlie Brown tree!
Love it!!!
The tree is losing it’s needles, but what a great reminder of finding just the right tree in the woods to cut down & decorate. Many memories were made! I don’t even mind cleaning them up 🙂
Sweet memories are always wonderful treasures
The tree was doing its best to add to the ambience by adding fragrant , all natural green glitter to the surroundings.
Nice!
The tree may be loosing its needles, but the lights and ornaments still bring out its beauty.
Love the focus on the beauty
The tree looks lovely.
short and sweet
How I love the piney scent of a real Christmas tree!
Scent seems to be the most beloved aspect
“O Christmas Tree … O Christmas Tree, How lovely are your branches … “, I’ve spread a tree skirt to catch your needles! No Problem.
The tree may be losing needles, but it sure smells good in here!!
I love the smell of those pine needles on the floor! They remind me of the days when my parents were alive, Santa Claus was very real, and a Christmas stocking was waiting on Christmas morning!