CANDY CANE KISSES - 8 Bestselling Christian Authors - One Free Book on This Blog, Plus More

Candy Cane Kisses – 8 Book Box Set

Eight bestselling Christian authors…
Eight brand new Christmas romance novellas…

 

Susan May Warren – Oh! The Weather Outside is Frightful

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!

  

Margaret Daley – Deadly Night, Silent Night

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

Q: How much of yourself did you write into your characters in this story?

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

Q: How do you choose your settings for each book?

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

Q: Have you ever met anyone who whose parents had arranged a marriage for them?

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.

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.)

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