It’s been an amazing two weeks of fun and games, and we’ve loved sharing our Christmas stories with all of you, too. We’ve read your funny and touching comments, and we’re thrilled that so many of you came over to join us.
Now that Cowboys & Mistletoe is winding down, it’s time to announce our winners!
Week One
Christmas Stocking Sweethearts
NAUGHTY TO NICE Game
Prize: Piano Ornament
Winnie Griggs
Joannie Sico
Pam Crooks
Bridgette Shippy
Sarah Lamb
Vickie J
Jo-Ann Roberts
Trixie O
Cheryl Pierson
Sarah Gunter
Kit Morgan
Janice Cole Hopkins
Linda Broday
Connie L
Carrie McCauley
Winnie Griggs
Rhonda Fox
Cathy McDavid
Laura Michelle Delgado
Week Two
Christmas Books on Parade
CAPTION THIS! Game
Prize: $10 Amazon Gift Card
Kit Morgan
Corinne Baltazar
Sarah Lamb
Lori Smanski
Shanna Hatfield
Roxanne C
Jo-Ann Roberts
Mary Garback
Jill Kemerer
Alicia Haney
Mary Connealy
Colleen
Winnie Griggs
Bridget
Grand Prize! Grand Prize! Grand Prize! Grand Prize! Grand Prize!
All entrants were eligible to win a beautiful, hand-made quilt by Jo-Ann Roberts!
Our Grand Prize Winner is:
Megan
CONGRATULATIONS to all of our winners!
Watch for our emails. We’ll contact each of you for the information we need to send your prize.
Thank you all for joining us and making our annual Cowboys & Mistletoe celebration a huge success!
Greetings! Before I tell you my book news I want to take a moment to send each of you early wishes for a very Merry and Blessed Christmas. We truly appreciate you, our readers, more than words can say.
Now, on to the book news and giveaways! This year I have not one but two books to celebrate the Christmas season with – one Amish and one historical.
AN AMISH CHRISTMAS MATCH Book 1, Sweetbrier Creek
Can one Amish woman give a struggling widower with five rowdy boys a helping hand—and chance at love—this Christmas season?
Phoebe Kropf knows everyone thinks she’s a bit odd—and more than a little accident-prone. She doesn’t understand why they fuss over her at home rather than see her as a bright, independent Amish woman. So when a friend asks Phoebe to help care for a house full of young men in nearby Sweetbrier Creek, she leaps at the chance to prove she’s more than her shortcomings . . .
Widower Seth Beiler is in over his head – as the oldest in an all male household of six brothers and with a backlog of Christmas orders to fulfill, he’s ready to admit he needs help. What he was looking for was someone to assist with cooking and cleaning, he wasn’t expecting a housekeeper as unconventional—or lovely—as Phoebe. Yet her warm care and shared holiday traditions win their hearts one by one. And soon the farmhouse finally starts to feel like home again. When the Christmas season and Phoebe’s time there is nearly at an end, will Seth convince her that the greatest gift would be her staying . . . as part of their family?
HEAR HAROLD’S ANGEL SING Book 8, Christmas Stocking Sweethearts
One silent child. Two lonely hearts. Three lives changed by a Texas Christmas.
Emma Garland has worked hard to rebuild her life and reputation after a very public, painful rejection years ago. Now Crossvine’s respected piano teacher, she’s content with her quiet life—until the day she confronts Marshal Harold Winters about keeping his traumatized, silent niece in his office near the jail cells while he works.
Despite some misgivings, Emma agrees to help care for Lucy while the marshal’s housekeeper is away. Her own childhood struggles with a stammer help her understand Lucy’s pain, but Emma is determined to maintain professional distance. She knows all too well how quickly a woman of her status can become the subject of town gossip.
When Emma receives a beautiful handmade Christmas stocking from her former piano teacher, its message that “Music Speaks” touches something deep within her. As she, Lucy, and Harold work together decorating for Christmas, she finds her carefully constructed walls crumbling. But with long-buried secrets threatening their growing bond, Emma must decide if the promise of love is worth risking her heart again.
The other fillies let me play with them. Even though it’s a different kind of book for me.
Amanda Star returns to her childhood home, the Star Inn, in time for Christmas. Her father had passed away, and he’d left her the beloved inn. He’d always told her not to take on the running of it. It had consumed his life, and her mother’s life, until the stress had killed her beloved mother. But Amanda had always loved the inn.
Now she’s back to sell the inn as her father had wished. But she finds her old love of the place, and she finds out why her father had sent her away. She finds a man who helps keep the inn running, too, and when he stirs a different kind of love, she knows she has to stay.
Whee! Christmas is almost here, and I’m loving all these Cowboys & Mistletoe posts! I, too, have a Christmas book out now. THE COWBOY’S CHRISTMAS TREASURES is the fourth book in my Wyoming Legacies series with Love Inspired. Think a cowboy with a painful past, a single-mom heroine trying to raise toddler identical twin girls, and a small-town in Wyoming full of the Christmas feels!
Making peace with his past… To be a part of their future
After his father’s heart attack, ranch hand Dean McCaffrey has no choice but to temporarily take over the family business—while hiding a shameful secret. But he doesn’t expect to fall for pretty widow Brooke Dewitt and her twin toddlers while remodeling their house. Brooke is counting on Dean to make her home wheelchair-accessible by Christmas. And soon she’s dreaming of a life with the handsome cowboy. But with both their futures uncertain, can they overcome their fears…and place their trust in love?
Happy Holidays, y’all! Goodness Christmas is only two weeks away…where does the time go? 2024 has been a very busy year for me. I wrote five books…three within the span of four months. Whew! I know other authors are far more prolific than I but then again family milestones impacted my writing schedule. A new grandbaby! Grandson’s college graduation and wedding! A fall foliage trip to New England! Adoption finalized! Son & daughter-in-law moving to North Carolina!
All that being said, I’d like to introduce my three Christmas books and tell you about them.
A Sleigh Ride For Claire – With Christmas on the horizon, Claire McAllister has far too much to do to entertain dreams of a husband and family. Even if she feels inclined to help Lincoln Wyse outwit his three mischievous young daughters, it’s impossible to imagine the handsome widower seeing her as anything but a scolding schoolteacher.
Even though the pretty schoolteacher never turned a favorable eye to him, Linc Wyse’s heart skipped a beat whenever she pinned him with her mesmerizing green eyes. Beautiful or not, Claire McAllister was a meddling spinster who placed judgments on him and his family.
Yet, neither one can imagine how three little, mischievous matchmakers and a magical Christmas Eve sleigh ride will open their eyes to love…or how the Lord will awaken their faith and hope.
Ivy – Christmas Quilt Bride –Years ago, Ivy Sutton was drawn to the new orphan boy in town. Unfortunately, she soon became the focus of Grady Walsh’s mischievous deeds in school.
Ivy 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. Now, as a well-liked and respected tradesman in Harmony, can he 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 heal the pain from the past?
Holly In His Heart –What is a boy to do when he is trying to play matchmaker for his father? Seven-year-old Danny Stone is working hard to help his lonely widower father find love again. When a pretty, new teacher moves to Angel Falls, Danny believes she is the perfect choice. But so far, his matchmaking attempts have not been successful until a snowstorm hits and strands Miss Holly at their farm.
Fleeing an ill-fated relationship, Holly Ross accepts an interim teaching position in Angel Falls, Kansas. During the first week, she is knocked down by a stranger, and his rude behavior raises her annoyance when he insists he saved her life…not that she believed she needed saving. When she discovers Jesse Stone is the father of one of her students, she vows to give the man a wide berth. But when Danny leaves behind a scarf belonging to his late mother, she makes a decision that will alter her Christmas plans…and her life.
Since his wife’s passing, Jesse Stone has no interest nor time for romance. With a herd, a ranch, and a seven-year-old son to raise, the last thing he needs is ungrateful criticism from a woman he saved from being hit by a wagon. His irritation grows when he discovers Holly Ross is the new teacher his son keeps praising…and the feeling is mutual. So, she is the last person he expects to see at his door at the start of a blizzard.
Will a dose of Mother Nature’s magic, along with a bit of divine intervention make a little boy’s Christmas wish come true?
There you have it…these three sweet historical romances are filled with family & friends, joy, second chances, and the magic of finding love at this most wonderful time of the year!
Provide your best caption for the picture below – humorous, thoughtful or poignant – to be entered in the drawing.
All entries will be eligible for our oh-so-beautiful Grand Prize, too!
I’m excited to share with you my new Christmas books. It’s been a busy writing year. I’ve published 13 new books this year, as well as a few short stories, and I’ve loved writing each one of them!
Last December, Captain Cavedweller and I were able to cross one trip off our travel bucket list – seeing the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. That visit inspired me to write a new holiday series of books set in a beautiful home on the Columbia River in Oregon. The four books follow four generations of the Hudson family, beginning with Brant Hudson, who builds Hudson House, and the feisty woman who captures his heart.
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.
Will Christmas spark a romance that blooms into lasting love?
After losing his brother and part of himself on a French battlefield during the Great War, Kase Hudson seeks refuge from the haunting memories at his childhood home. He finds solace in carving wooden Santa figurines in his workshop in the stables that he sends to gift shops to sell. Kase distances himself from his family’s unwanted sympathy until his sister, Sarah, arrives for the holidays with her vibrant friend. He never expected beautiful Dori to breathe warmth and joy into the house right along with his heart.
With no family of her own, photographer Dori Stanford eagerly accepts Sarah Hudson’s invitation to join her for Christmas at her family’s home in Oregon. The two friends travel from their college in California to Silver Bluff, excited to spend the holidays at Hudson House. Once they arrive, Dori makes it her mission to connect with Sarah’s sullen brother, Kase, and draws him into the wonder of the season.
Will her persistence and encouragement be the spark Kase needs to step out of the past and into his future—possibly one that includes Dori?
A Christmas Spark is the second book in the Hudson House Holiday series of wholesome, heartwarming Christmas romances full of the joy of the season.
Will a Christmas romance lead two searching hearts to a lifetime love?
Bound to the Hudson House family estate, Vienna Hudson strives to uphold the legacy her grandparents established. When she’s not busy preserving her heritage or managing the family corporation, she steals away for horseback rides across the sprawling grounds—until a chance encounter with a handsome stranger turns her world upside down.
Surveyor Sam Bishop is tasked with plotting a new interstate through the Silver Bluff area. He faces a significant challenge when his calls to an elusive landowner go unanswered, prompting an impromptu visit to Hudson House. Excited to explore the beautiful acreage, nothing could prepare him for Vienna’s fiery welcome—armed with a pistol and a courageous spirit.
As holiday bells ring across the estate, Vienna and Sam work together to navigate the complexities of both the road project and the ever-evolving feelings dancing between them. Will the pair find a way to embrace their unexpected connection? Or will the pressures of responsibility and ambition tear them apart before they realize love is the most precious gift of the season?
A Christmas Love is the third book in the Hudson House Holiday series of wholesome, heartwarming Christmas romances full of the joy of the season.
A heartfelt holiday tale of a family’s legacy that leads two hearts to love.
Reeling from the recent death of his father, Alex Hudson returns to Silver Bluff to protect his family’s legacy. Upon reaching Hudson House, he discovers the once-vibrant estate all but abandoned. On top of that, his conniving aunts seem intent on seizing his inheritance. In search of support, Alex turns to a local attorney. There, he meets a woman who becomes an ally, friend, and the one person who can give him hope and a place to belong.
Nori Laroux enjoys working as a partner at her father’s law firm. However, when he entrusts an important client to her care, Nori finds herself grappling with her feelings for Alex Hudson from the moment they meet. Committed to protecting his inheritance, she is determined to help Alex preserve the legacy of Hudson House, even if it means risking her own heart in the process.
When Alex suggests the idea of reopening the historic home for a Christmas celebration, Nori and her family eagerly step in to help deck the halls and fill Hudson House with cheer.
Will the holiday season bring Alex and Nori to the discovery that hope is a special gift and that love is the most treasured of all?
A Christmas Hope is the fourth book in the Hudson House Holiday series of wholesome, heartwarming Christmas romances full of the joy of the season.
I also have a new book in my Rodeo Romance series.
It was so fun to write because the heroes are funny guys and Mending Christmas includes a few scenes of Billy (the hero) and Beth (the heroine) babysitting her best friend’s three lively youngsters. The book releases December 12!
When life throws them together, will love mend the broken pieces of their hearts?
Injuries are an inevitable part of the job for rodeo bullfighter Billy Clark. But when a feisty bull tosses him over the fence, Billy lands at the feet of a captivating woman. In that moment, he concludes the pain might be a small price to pay just to experience her gentle touch again. Having grown up as an orphan, Billy has struggled with loneliness his whole life. Yet, the way this woman gazes at him ignites a flicker of hope that he might one day find love.
After years of working in a bustling big city emergency room, Dr. Beth Moore desperately needs a break. She retreats to Twin Falls, Idaho, and settles into the house she recently inherited from her grandfather. When her best friend, Sierra, talks her into attending a local rodeo, Beth never expected to have an injured cowboy land at her feet much less to be so attracted to the charming man.
Concerned about Billy’s recovery, Beth travels with the rodeo stock company to keep an eye on him, while he unwittingly teaches her about the importance of embracing happiness. Will their budding friendship begin to mend the broken pieces of their hearts?
Mending Christmas is a wholesome holiday western filled with heartfelt moments, humor, and a tender romance.
I also wrote a brand new short story for this collection of historical Christian romances from a group of amazing authors, including our own Karen Witemeyer!
The best part – it’s free!
Beneath A Christmas Sky is my contribution. If you’ve read any of my Pendleton Petticoats stories, you’ll be thrilled to see old friends, like Riley and Bertie Walsh and Steve the Mule, make appearances in this heartwarming holiday romance.
Provide your best caption for the picture below – humorous, thoughtful or poignant – to be entered in the drawing.
All entries will be eligible for our oh-so-beautiful Grand Prize, too!
Christmas is my favorite season. There’s such a happiness and joy that seems to fill the air! Maybe that’s why I ended up writing a total of three Christmas books. I love a happy holiday story.
But, do you know what else? I know not everyone has friends or family or joy or happiness at Christmas. In fact, it can be a lonely thing. So, before I tell you about my two books, I want to take a moment to say that if you are hurting in this holiday season, I’m giving you a hug and sending love your way. I hope you can feel it, because my Christmas wish is that everyone can feel loved. Isn’t that actually why we all love romance? We enjoy that wonderful warm glow. Sometimes we really need it. And I know I don’t have to explain that further, because you completely understand.
But, I wanted to honor the fact that sometimes people have difficulties this time of year, in Letters to Santa, but especially in Letters to Santa. I’m terrible at accidently giving away spoilers, so I’m just going to share the blurb.
Will hope, love, and peace make it’s way to the western frontier this year and help someone in desperate need of the spirit of Christmas?
Edith Clarkson is determined to bring Christmas joy to others—no matter that her own heart is aching. When her boss—someone she considered a friend—humiliates her, she decides it’s silly, but she’ll send a letter to Santa for help. After all, if a Christmas wish were to come true, wouldn’t it be from him?
George Alcott didn’t mean to bring his best friend to tears. It had been a trying week—one full of people taking advantage of him. Often tongue tied around Edith, the things he wants to say always come out wrong. Though George wants to make amends, he doesn’t know how. Like always.
As Christmas draws closer, a mysterious letter writer—posing as Santa—helps Edith’s wishes come true. She learns there is still not only hope, but also kindness offered by strangers. But when Edith reveals her greatest wish of all, and the letter writer is unmasked, will things ever be the same again?
I’d also like to share my other wintery title this year! You might have already read my post on A Sleigh Ride for Charlotte. Like many, Charlotte’s gone through hard times. She’s tried to keep her head up, but in moments, her heartache breaks through. Shhh. Mine does too.
Chances are you know that aching feeling too. I’m sorry you’ve felt that way, in the past or in the present. But, that means you understand how Charlotte feels. She’s also so focused and determined that if she doesn’t have this one thing…nothing will go well for her. Sheesh, it’s like I’m looking in a mirror sometimes! But, and here I go, almost spoiling things…sometimes when we don’t get what we want, we get something so much better, don’t we? Here’s Charlotte’s story.
Sometimes the simple choice isn’t easy.
Charlotte Harrison dreams of being part of the winter festival, where romance fills the air and new starts are made. Penniless after her family was swindled, she’s always stayed home, unwilling to be looked at with pity. But this year Charlotte is desperate and willing to do whatever it takes to be there when she hears the most eligible man in town has his eye on her.
New to town, Dr. Justin Davis is in dire need of someone to assist him at his practice. When Charlotte is suggested, it seems like an opportunity for them both. At first, he simply wants to help her financial situation. But against his better judgment, he falls in love with her. Worst of all, the man she desires is someone he can’t stand, and he might have just sent her straight into his arms.
Through a series of surprising events, Charlotte learns that not everyone is as they seem, and when she goes to give her heart away, she’s faced with uncertainty. Who is she going to choose? The man she’s been longing for? Or the man who truly loves her?
Before you enter my giveaway, I want to end with one more hug for you and the deepest wish that this holiday season, you have moments of love, happiness, contentment, joy, comfort, and all of the best things that could happen sprinkled throughout. I’m sending love and wishes for you that way.
<3 Sarah
Provide your best caption for the picture below – humorous, thoughtful or poignant – to be entered in the drawing.
All entries will be eligible for our oh-so-beautiful Grand Prize, too!
It’s that time of year when wonderful Christmas books abound! And who doesn’t like a great holiday romance? I’m reading several now. Yes, I’m one of those people that will read two or three books at once! I’ve written a fair share of holiday books over the years. I even have an entire series of romances set around the holidays called The Holiday Mail-Order Brides. But this year, I’ve done a couple historicals set around Christmas, and two contemporaries! Here’s a little more about the books. The one you were introduced to last week. A Child for Christmas, part of our Petticoats & Pistols group’s Christmas Stocking Sweetheart Series. The other Christmas books I have this year are:
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!
The next two books of mine are contemporary. One is part of a series of cute, fun, novellas that have been releasing every week.
Christmas magic sparkles in small towns but can love bloom under the mistletoe?
Molly Sherwood has watched all her friends, including her own sister, find their happily ever after. But not her. She’s fresh out of college and despairing how to make a living with her new art degree. So when her sister, the new owner of the town’s famous Christmas House asks for some help with decorating, she gladly gives it as a distraction. But she’s not the only one helping. Edwina Dilly, the previous owner of the house digs out something called The Mistletoe Clause, which states that if a couple kisses three times under the mistletoe in the presence of The Mistletoe Clause, then they have to confess their feelings for one another. Molly thinks it’s cute, but a bunch of hooey. Or is it?
Sam Newell is beginning to despair of ever finding a woman to love. No one wants a simple antique dealer/furniture restorer. Good grief, it’s not like he’s asking for the moon. But in a small town, the pickings can be slim. Then Sam finds out Molly Sherwood is back in town. He’s always liked her. But with his cousin (now married to Molly’s sister) telling her he can get her a job in New York City, she’ll wind up with the same mindset of the other women he’s dated. He won’t be good enough for her. Well fine, he’ll beat her to the punch and make sure he shows no interest in her. Little does he know that a certain meddling matchmaker has other ideas.
Both my contemporaries take place in towns made famous in my historicals! It was fun to revisit my towns and see how they’ve changes for modern day! My next Christmas book is included in an anthology of romantic comedy done by eight authors. So you can not only read my story, but the others as well! The anthology is called December Dreams, and the stories are all loads of fun! Here’s a little more about my book:
Talia Davenport hasn’t been back to Clear Creek in eight years. And for good reason.
Instead, she makes her home in Los Angeles, is a fitness guru, and tries to live her life to the fullest. But was she? When she goes home to Clear Creek for Christmas and has to deal with someone who’s been a thorn in her side for years, she begins to see that maybe her life wasn’t what she thought it was, and that forgiveness goes a long way. Toss in a few nudges from some eccentric elderly innkeepers playing matchmaker, and the fun begins! But for Talia, forgiving is one thing, forgetting another. Can she open her heart to the happiness she’s always wanted, and with the least likely person to boot?
I’m so excited to be part of Christmas Stocking Sweethearts – my first participation in a collection with my fellow Petticoats and Pistols fillies. Little known fact, I wrote western historicals early in my writing career before switching to contemporaries. I’m thrilled to be returning to one of my favorite romance genres. And the story also happens to be set in one of my favorite time periods: the early 1900s.
A widow struggling to save her home
A cowboy sworn to protect his family
A Christmas neither will ever forget…
Merry Ann Bright may be pint-sized, but she’s chock-full of gumption. For the last three years, she’s fended off a wealthy and greedy neighbor bent on acquiring her land by hook or by crook — emphasis on the crook. The last thing she needs is more trouble. But when she unexpectedly encounters a family in dire straits, how can she turn her back on them?
Thèo Cartier is a man on a mission. Once he’s seen his sister-in-law and young nephew safely home, he’ll return to Texas and help his aging father run the ranch. The lovely widow Merry is a distraction he can ill afford. Especially when her roots are firmly planted a thousand miles from his own.
Can Christmastime, the shared love of favorite carols, and a special heirloom stocking show two people convinced they have no future together that anything is possible…if they just open their hearts?
I hope you’re enjoying these books as much as we enjoyed writing them. When we started working on this series we each picked a Christmas carol as a theme or inspiration for our story. As I was looking through a list of Christmas carols to inspire me I came across “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing!” and I immediately pictured the premise of my story – a little girl with a nickname of Angel who had stopped speaking due to a tragedy and her guardian’s dearest Christmas wish was to hear her speak again. And thus Hear Harold’s Angel Sing was born!
CHRISTMAS STOCKING SWEETHEARTS Book #8!
HEAR HAROLD’S ANGEL SING
One silent child. Two lonely hearts. Three lives changed by a Texas Christmas.
Emma Garland has worked hard to rebuild her life and reputation after a very public, painful rejection years ago. Now Crossvine’s respected piano teacher, she’s content with her quiet life—until the day she confronts Marshal Harold Winters about keeping his traumatized, silent niece in his office near the jail cells while he works.
Despite some misgivings, Emma agrees to help care for Lucy while the marshal’s housekeeper is away. Her own childhood struggles with a stammer help her understand Lucy’s pain, but Emma is determined to maintain professional distance. She knows all too well how quickly a woman of her status can become the subject of town gossip.
When Emma receives a beautiful handmade Christmas stocking from her former piano teacher, its message that “Music Speaks” touches something deep within her. As she, Lucy, and Harold work together decorating for Christmas, she finds her carefully constructed walls crumbling. But with long-buried secrets threatening their growing bond, Emma must decide if the promise of love is worth risking her heart again.
