Eight bestselling
Christian authors…
Eight brand new Christmas romance novellas…
Eight brand new Christmas romance novellas…
Q: Tell us about the featured book.
A: Oh! The
Weather Outside is Frightful is the story of CJ and Hannah, two characters
who came to the forefront in Burnin’ For You is book #3 in my Montana Fire
trilogy. In that book, Hannah and CJ
survived a terrible plane crash, and Frightful picks up their story five months
later as they are putting their lives back together. Neither can admit how much
they’ve fallen for the other one…and it’ll take another crazy night of tragedy
and survival to help them face the truth. An epic romantic adventure during a
blizzard in Montana !
Q: What is appealing
about a bed and breakfast as a place to stay?
A: I've been to several
and what I enjoyed the most about the ones I stayed in was they were historical
homes. The one in Natchez , Mississippi , was a plantation home from the
19th century. I love history and there was so much in the bed and breakfast
places I stay. Another one I stayed in Colorado
was an old high school converted. A very neat place, but then I was a teacher
for twenty seven years.
Kimberly Rae Jordan – The Wonder of His Love
Q: Can you tell me a
little bit about the characters in your story, The Wonder of His Love and what inspired them?
A: In The Wonder of His Love, we are
introduced to Noella Sanderson and Ian Kinnaird. After growing up in the foster
system and having very little control of her life, Noella is very much in
control of things now and has a definite plan for her life. It is a plan,
however, that doesn’t include Ian Kinnaird because he doesn’t fit the
requirements she has for the man she plans to marry. But for some reason, Ian
seems to feel that he can, in fact, be that person. He is determined to help
her see that love and security aren’t mutually exclusive.
Noella’s character came
to me rather slowly as I created the series Fostered by Love—of which The Wonder of His Love is the first
book. The premise of the series helped me prep her back story and develop the
driving need she has to be in control of all aspects of her life. At the time I
began thinking of this story, my daughter was in the midst of preparing to move
to Scotland
for a year. Being surrounded by a lot of information about the country made me
think it would be fun to have a character who was Scottish. As plans have
continued with my daughter, the character of Ian has also been fleshed out.
I’ve spent time watching vlogs by people from Scotland in hopes of being able to
capture the way they speak so I can accurately portray that with Ian. He also
has a few surprises that have popped up as I’ve held mental conversations with
him.
No, the voices in my
head don’t mean I’m crazy, just that I’m a writer. *grin*
I hope that readers
will enjoy Noella and Ian’s story and fall in love with them the way I have.
I find it more
difficult to write a standalone book than I do a series, so when I had the
opportunity to do two Christmas boxed sets, I started to think about how I
could connect them. As it turned out, a series I’m currently working on had a
few secondary characters that would tie in well together, so I decided to
create a new series called Fostered by Love. I have planned for this series to
have four books starting with The Wonder
of His Love which is in the Candy Cane Kisses boxed set.
In The Wonder of His Love, we will meet Noella Sanderson and three of
her foster siblings.
Autumn Macarthur – Calm and Bright
A: I always find that
as I write, God uses the situation my characters are in to teach me the
spiritual lessons I need to learn, too! Though I’ve never been in quite the
same situation as Maddie is in Calm and
Bright, there’s a lot there that I can relate to, and I hope readers will
relate to as well.
One doesn’t need to go
through divorce to experience the need to let go of anger and forgive someone
we love who has hurt us. And we often have to deal with juggling conflicting
things that seem equally important and right. For Maddie, it’s choosing behind
staying with a husband who puts his high-flying career first, vs her longing to
give their son a simpler and more grounded life as well as providing care for
her beloved aging grandmother. Thankfully, though Maddie can’t see the way
though her conflict, God has a plan for her and her family, as I trust He has a
plan for the highest good of each of us!
Lesley Ann McDaniel – Heavenly Peace
Q: What was the
inspiration for this story?
A: Several years ago, I
was working as the wardrobe head for the small stage at the Seattle Repertory
Theatre. It was Christmastime, and one of the actresses told me a story about
helping her son pick out a tag from a Giving Tree. The tag was from a little
girl who made an unusual and gut-wrenching request. "All I want for
Christmas is...." I won't tell you what the request was, but it got me
thinking a writer's favorite question; What if?
So in Heavenly Peace,
my main character, Valerie, finds herself in exactly that position. How is she
going to help make this little girl's Christmas wish come true, when it will
require nothing short of a miracle?
Jan Thompson – Wish You Joy
A: Wish You Joy is book 9 in my Savannah Sweethearts series. The
entire series is set primarily in the coastal city of Savannah ,
Georgia , and on the nearby Tybee Island
on the Atlantic Cost. I tend to choose places that I have been to because it
gives me an excuse to take another vacation a.k.a. book research trip. No,
seriously, Savannah is one of my favorite places
in the world, and from the very early stages of this 10-book series, I knew I
had to write about Savannah .
In Book 9, Wish You Joy, we spend
Christmas in Savannah .
It rarely snows in Savannah ,
but the winter chill is there. I hope this novella will warm our readers’
hearts as we read about how the Untermeyers and the Therouxes weather this
Christmas with the next generation at loggerheads with each other.
Marion Ueckermann – A Husband for Holly
Q: How did you choose
your characters’ names?
A:The heroine’s name
for this book came easy. A Husband for
Holly is Book 4 of a seven-book series titled Seven Suitors for Seven
Sisters. Each story is about one of the Blume sisters. Their father is a
horticulturist, and because of their surname (not to mention his wife, her
mother, and her grandmother’s names), they decided to name each of their seven
daughters after flowers. As this is a Christmas story, it was natural for this
heroine to be named Holly.
The hero was a little
more difficult. His first name came naturally. One of the little quirks I’ve
worked into this series is that each hero is modeled on a Biblical hero, ie. he
has a similar name, and has characteristics and/or happenings in his life
similar to the Bible hero. Again, Christmas played a huge role in naming my
hero. Christopher is modelled on Christ. His surname was quite a challenge and
changed several times. It wasn’t until I found the perfect image for the back
cover of my print book that I finally decided on his surname. The hero is
Scottish, and I wanted to portray this on the back cover. When I researched the
tartan the cover model was wearing, I discovered it was Stewart tartan. I
therefore had no option but to make him a Stewart, and tartan or not, it was
the perfect choice.
Suzette Williams – Maid for Marriage
A: Part of the idea
behind Maid for Marriage was
remembering a friend from high school whose parents had arranged a marriage for
her. I met up with this friend on Facebook years later and couldn't help but
ask if she ended up marrying the person her parents had arranged for her to marry.
She said, “No.”
This friend had also
just gone through a recent divorce, so it made me wonder whether arranged
marriages worked any better than just meeting and falling in love. Perhaps the
sense of commitment because your family has expectations plays a part. I don't
know. I do know we’ve always told our children, “Don’t marry the person you can
live with. Marry the person you can’t live without!”
Candy Cane Kisses releases on
September 27th! Not only wonderful holiday reading with 8 all-new Christian
contemporary romances, but also your chance to win a $50 gift card and 8 other
ebooks in the launch sweepstakes! Enter now at http://bit.ly/CCKentries
Sorry, sweepstakes entry open to US residents only, closes October 2nd 2016.
Sorry, sweepstakes entry open to US residents only, closes October 2nd 2016.
Thank you, for sharing this new collection with us. What a wonderful selection! I know my readers will want to get a copy when it releases.
Readers, in addition to this wonderful contest, leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the ebook from this blog. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)
Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.
The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.
If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:
32 comments:
I live in south eastern Virginia. This looks like a wonderful collection of books that I need to read. Thank you for this chance.
CherylB1987 AT hotmail DOT com
Thanks so much for featuring the set today, Lena! I enjoyed reading the other authors sharing the backgrounds to their novellas. :)
I do hope readers will love the set. And if you live in the US, please do enter the sweepstakes if you haven't yet!
All the best in the draw, Cheryl. I hope you get to read all ths stories in Candy Canes Kisses.
What a wonderful collection. I would love to be so lucky. If not, someone else will be very happy. Thanks for the chance.
Linda in CA
lkish77123 at gmail dot com
Hope you get to read the collection, Linda. Thanks for stopping by.
Wow is all I can say!
Melanie Backus, TX
Melanie, the set's on release special of just 99c until October 2nd. That's another thing to say wow about :) Hope you get to read this great collection of stories.
I live in Oklahoma -- about 50 miles north of Tulsa. However, I am originally from New Mexico - Tucumcari & Albuquerque.
I loved these questions, and answers, about the stories. They sure have piqued my interest and made me want to read them for sure.
donna (dot) durnell (at) sbcglobal (dot) net
I live in Oklahoma -- about 50 miles north of Tulsa. However, I am originally from New Mexico - Tucumcari & Albuquerque.
I loved these questions, and answers, about the stories. They sure have piqued my interest and made me want to read them for sure.
donna (dot) durnell (at) sbcglobal (dot) net
i would love to win angela in ky
Donna, so glad you loved the short interview with each of the authors. Hope you get to read all the stories in the Candy Cane Kisses box set.
Angela, thanks for stopping by. All the best in the draw for Candy Cane Kisses.
I would love to win an ebook copy. I love books set during Christmas.
Blessings from Indiana.
Cindy W.
HEY ALL. Thanks for stopping by!!! Hope you enjoy the novellas...we sure had fun writing them. Xo! Susie May
Hi, Donna E. I live in Tulsa. I wanted to say hi to everyone. I'm excited about this new novella collection and the ladies in this with me are super!!
I love these kind of collections. Sounds like a great one.
Beth in Montana
And we love writing Christmas books, Cindy. Hope you get to read this set.
We've been hard at work on this set for a few months, Beth. It's a great collection with great authors.
This set of books looks so appealing and snuggle-up-warm-and-cozy reads. I recognize several of the authors as those whose books I've read previously and would look forward with familiar delight to reading theirs. I'd also look forward to becoming acquainted with the other authors whose work I'm not acquainted with. And Christmas books are always a favorite of mine.
I'm slap-dab in the middle of North Carolina and love our wondereful beaches and beautiful old mountains.
Vera
Hi! It's Vera again. I just realized that the contest is for an e-copy of the book. So since I don't read ebooks, I guess I'll need to be removed from the contest. Best wishes.
This is such a fun way to celebrate the release of our ebook set!Every time I look at it, I get a little jolt of Christmas cheer. Happy reading, everyone!
Vera, I'm sorry we don't have a paperback available. We looked at doing one, but it would be huge and crazy expensive. Regretfully we had to cancel that idea. :(
But each of the authors may well release their solo titles as paperbacks, so keep an eye out for that!
Please do still enter the sweepstakes, a separate contest Lena linked to right at the end of the post! Although part of the prize is ebooks, there's also a gift card as the main prize!
oh, fun! I love Christmas stories. thanks
live in ND
Christmas stories are awesome, Apple. Us writers have to get into the mood for Christmas from around May / June each year to get those stories ready, so , it's Christmas almost all year round for us :)
Fabulous!
Clarksville VA
Thank you for this fantastic giveaway!
Connie from KY
cps1950(at)gmail(dot)com
What a great giveaway!
Lourdes Long Island NY
Enter me in your awesome giveaway!!
Conway SC.
Fantastic is a great word to describe this giveaway. Thank you to all involved.
~Amanda J from FL
Sounds like a wonderful collection. Thank you for the chance to win.
Brenda in VA
Abigail, Connie, Lourdes, Sharon, Amanda, Brenda, thank you ladies for stopping by. All the best in the draw. If you're worried you might not win, the 99c until 2 October on this set is still a winner. Should you win the copy on offer here, you could always opt to gift it to someone else.
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