Book picks similar to
The Elves by David Shockley


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Meet Me Under the Mistletoe


Abby Clements - 2012
    Laurie is living in London and dedicated to her career, keeping track of her friends on Facebook. Rachel is seemingly living the family idyll in a cottage in Yorkshire - except she worries her marriage is starting to show cracks. When Rachel's mother in law falls ill and needs treatment in London, and Laurie decides she needs to get away for a break, a house swap falls into place. Soon Rachel is braving the mean streets of London while trying to keep her family together, while Laurie tries to figure out how to work an Aga and befriend the locals - and forget the man who seems intent on breaking her heart. Will their relationships survive this test? And will they make it home in time for Christmas?

Forever Beside You in Time


Bess McBride - 2013
    Immediately upon arrival, she heads to Kensington Gardens for a picnic lunch under the shade of a maple tree bearing the initials of some long-forgotten lovers. Exhausted from the long flight to London, she falls asleep and wakes to find herself somehow thrust back in time to 1902. Jonathan Saunders, a wealthy Edwardian businessman, finds her and takes the dazed and confused woman under his wing, introducing her to his family and friends as an American cousin. How can Aurie help but fall in love with this handsome man of a bygone era? And how can she find her way home to her own time? Newly engaged Jonathan Saunders is fascinated by this mysteriously lost and confused American woman and vows to protect her. When Aurie decides to pursue her original plan--touring the British Isles--Jonathan follows her across England and Wales, his fiancee hot on his heels. He knows he can't have it all, but he doesn't want it all. He just wants Aurora.

Mary Indiana


Anneke Campbell - 2004
    There’s just GOTTA be an explanation.But it’s not coming from Mary, as she’s quickly dubbed. She seems to have taken a vow of silence. So it’s up to the citizens of Bellingham to make their own miracles—or at least their own myths. The new celeb is instantly surrounded by hangers-on, miracle-seekers, paparazzi, preachers, and promoters—to hilarious effect.But are they dealing with an angel here, or someone playing an angle? Con, in a word, or icon? And by the way, what’s up with that strange light in the sky? Could be she came off a spaceship.Neither sacred nor profane, nor even paranormal, Campbell’s beautifully written book is at once funny and wise, a savvy story of how myths are made, how minds twist and turn around the extraordinary, how the human organism just can’t help grabbing for the supernatural, whether out of the spiritual need for a miracle or a mundane desire for cash.Think Barbara Kingsolver, Margaret Atwood, Anne Tyler, only really really funny.

The Amish Christmas Scrooge


Hannah Schrock - 2018
     Jacob King has learned to look out for himself. After being raised in a poor home and losing both his parents by the time he was eighteen, Jacob vowed never to love again. He pursued his wealth and security with no regard for anyone other than himself. Naomi Miller is twenty-five and has no plans to wed in the near future. She works as a seamstress to help her parents make ends meet all the while taking care of her ill little sister Emma. Her family needs her and Naomi has no plans to leave them to cope on their own. When Jacob finds the Miller children playing near his yard whilst Naomi watches, something inside him warms for the first time in years. The more he tries to ignore Naomi and the feelings she awakens in him the more Jacob realizes she might just be the woman to melt his frozen heart. An unexpected blizzard befalls Naomi as she heads to town to fetch medicine for her ailing sister, will she get back home in time to save her sister, or will she endanger her own life? How will Naomi survive the blizzard that threatens her life and consequently Emma’s? Will Jacob finally lower the walls that guard his heart? Can Naomi follow her heart with a clear conscience towards her family responsibilities? This sweet Amish romance is sure to warm your heart during this holiday season.

An Angel for Christmas


Heather Graham - 2011
    Still, year after year, they gather together in the Blue Ridge Mountains to try to make the season merry and bright. But this year is an especially strained one, with Shayne's impending divorce, Morwenna's slavish devotion to work and Bobby's reluctance to face what life has to offer. They've never felt less like a family.Then, in the midst of a snowy sibling shouting match, a mysterious stranger appears. He could be a criminal, a madman—or something far more unexpected. Despite their fears and the growing danger in the dark woods around them, the MacDougals take a leap of faith. But when another stranger arrives on the mountainside, they don't know which of them to believe. One of these men can't be trusted. And one is about to bring Christmas into their hearts.

Night Terrors


Mark Lukens - 2014
    And she's suffered from night terrors where a shadowy man pursues her. The Shadow Man found her once before when she was sixteen years old and slaughtered her parents. And now, nine years later, he's found her again.The Shadow Man is killing people as he works his way closer to Tara. She can see the murders through his eyes, the clues left behind, and he wants it that way. He takes things from each victim: blood, skin, and other items he needs for his bizarre ritual. But it's all leading up to the most important and central piece of the ritual - Tara.Tara wants to run. She wants to hide - it's what she's always done. But she makes a decision to fight back, to stop the Shadow Man before he kills again.

The Christmasaurus


Tom Fletcher - 2016
    It's about how they meet one Christmas Eve and have a magical adventure. It's about friendship and families, sleigh bells and Santa, singing elves and flying reindeer, music and magic. It's about discovering your heart's true desire, and learning that the impossible might just be possible.

In Time for Christmas


Heather Blanton - 2013
    God has one waiting … a hundred years in the past. In Time for Christmas -- a Novella, is the story of Charlene Williams, a woman trapped in a dangerously abusive marriage. Disappointed that God hasn’t gotten her out of it, or even hears her prayers at all, she has shut down emotionally. When husband Dale becomes suspicious of her daily chats with the mailman, he whisks her out of town and abandons her on his family’s ranch—an isolated, dilapidated place no one has lived on for over forty years. With the promise that he’ll be back in a few days, he knocks her unconscious and leaves.Charlene wakes up on the ranch—a hundred years in the past. Almost instantly she is drawn to Billy Page, Dale’s great grandfather. The connection is powerful and mysterious, but should she risk falling in love with a ghost? What’s going on here? Is Charlene dead, dreaming, in a coma, or simply experiencing a gift from her heavenly father? She’ll learn one thing for certain: God does see the tears of his children.

Humbugs and Heartstrings


Catherine Ferguson - 2014
    Perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan and Lucy Diamond.Two ex-friends. One Christmas to remember …Bobbie's boss Carol is a real misery-guts, dedicated to making the lives of everyone around her unhappy in pursuit of every last penny. What makes it worse is that the two women have history: once they were best friends.When handsome hotelier Charlie steps into the frame the two women go to battle as one sees a romantic future ahead and the other a possible lifeboat for her business. With wonderful warmth and humour, and the odd mince pie fight, the women are forced to confront their shared past, the turbulent present and, most importantly, the potential of the future.

The Rock - Rites of Betrayal (Fallen Earth Book 7)


Michael R. Stark - 2016
    The nights are dark, the days a stumbling venture from one horror to the next. In one place, William Hill stands in the center of a town where the scattered remains of the dead lie next to the road like litter tossed from passing cars, where the search for the living fails to turn up even one soul. Infected by a parasite destined to steal his mind, hunted by the Chosen, and dogged by a beautiful woman who claims to be an elf, he sometimes wonders if life can get any stranger. Then Daniel offers a glimpse of the coming world, a place where cavorting beasts feast upon the dead, where dragons haunt nearby forests, where the hordes crawl from the ground by the millions and sweep across the earth. The elf says she needs his blood to repair the rift between worlds, to finally put an end to the madness. He doesn't mind donating a little to the cause, but the more he hears, the more he doubts her intentions and the more the ceremony sounds like a full-scale sacrifice. In the end, William discovers that he can count on nothing, not even his sanity.

Secret Santa


Anne Osborn Poelman - 2000
    In the depths of the Great Depression, poor families like the Van Slotens are lucky to have a roof over their heads. Work is scarce, and there hasn't been enough of it to provide even the necessities, let alone a luxury like a holiday celebration. But when Tom, the oldest son, takes it into his head to provide a Christmas for his family, the stage is set for a story that will warm your heart and restore your faith in the true spirit of the season!

In a Holidaze


Christina Lauren - 2020
    She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions.But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world—the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awake…she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again. With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop—and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.Jam-packed with yuletide cheer, an unforgettable cast of characters, and Christina Lauren’s trademark hijinks, this swoon-worthy romantic read will make you believe in the power of wishes and the magic of the holidays.

Remembering Christmas


Dan Walsh - 2011
    He works hard, plays hard, and answers to no one. So when his mother calls on Thanksgiving weekend begging him to come home after his stepfather has a stroke, Rick is more than a little reluctant. He's never liked Art and resents the man's presence in his life, despite the fact that his own father abandoned the family when Rick was just twelve. When what was supposed to be just a couple days helping out at the family bookstore turns into weeks of cashing out old ladies and running off the homeless man who keep hanging about, Rick's attitude sours even more.Still, slowly but surely, the little bookstore and its quirky patrons--as well as the lovely young woman who works at his side each day--work their magic on him, revealing to Rick the truth about his family, his own life, and the true meaning of Christmas. With skillful storytelling, Dan Walsh creates a Christmas story will have readers remembering every good and perfect gift of Christmas.

The Christmas Escape


Melissa Hill - 2019
     Libby is feeling taken for granted and unappreciated. As always, the festive decorating, food shopping and arrangements for the yearly family Christmas get-together have been left to her - probably because she’s the only one of her siblings who’s still single. Even though her boss has tasked her with a marketing presentation for an important client due the week before Christmas, her family expect her to be on call for their every domestic whim. But when their thoughtlessness results in Libby losing her big shot at promotion, it’s the last straw. Thoroughly fed up, she makes an impulsive decision to get away and spend the holidays on her own this year; somewhere a world away from small-town Christmas Central ...

A Mistletoe Match for the White Duchess


Patricia Haverton - 2019
     Having grown up in the shadow of her glamorous cousin, she has resigned herself to a life of solitude. Until she attracts the attention of someone she’d never dare dream of. For Jonathan Allen, Duke of Ekhard, being back in England means the resurgence of painful memories. When a Christmas ball finds him dancing with his best friend’s sister he realizes not only that his wounds are still fresh, but also that he is undeniably attracted to her. After a riding accident leaves Isolde injured, Jonathan comes to a startling conclusion: the thought of losing her is too much to bear. When her father announces her betrothal to his business partner, Isolde is left with a terrible choice: marry him or see her whole family ruined. And then, the fates deliver the final blow in the form of a terrible rumor: Jonathan has been playing her for a fool all along... *If you like powerful Dukes, loving Duchesses and a marvelous depiction of the majestic Regency and Victorian era, then A Mistletoe Match for the White Duchess is the novel for you. This is Patricia Haverton's 4th novel, a historical Regency romance novel of 80,000 words (around 400 pages). No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a sweet happily ever after. Pick up "A Mistletoe Match for the White Duchess" today to discover Patricia's captivating story!