Book picks similar to
The Christmas Diary by Elyse Douglas


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I'll Be Home For Christmas: Four Inspirational Holiday Novellas


Belle Calhoune - 2017
    Four Best-selling authors of Christian romance bring you heartwarming stories filled with holiday cheer and romance under the mistletoe. A Hope Valley Christmas by Belle Calhoune. Mallory Jefferson has returned to her hometown of Hope Valley to spend Christmas with her family. Having been let go from her teaching position and ending things with her boyfriend, Mallory is a bit adrift. When she runs into her high school crush, Colton James, Mallory is embarrassed about her attempts to win his heart back in the day. When Colton asks her to pretend to be his girlfriend to make his dying grandfather happy, Mallory finds herself impulsively saying yes. Colton James is a rancher who dreams of settling down and living out his dreams. When he runs into Mallory, Colton can’t believe how much she’s changed. When she agrees to be his pretend girlfriend, Colton is shocked to discover that his feelings for her are way deeper than he’d ever imagined possible. Can something pretend turn into something real just in time for a very Merry Christmas? Sugarplums and Second Chances by Jill Kemerer. Former NFL star, Chase McGill, invites his teammate's widow, Courtney Trudesta, to spend Christmas in his guest cottage after her mother dies. Courtney faithfully wrote him letters every week while he was in prison for attempting to avenge the murder of the mother of his son, Wyatt. Chase wants to be there for Courtney the way she was for him. But there's more to Christmas than sugarplums and wishful thinking. If they trust God's plan, they'll have a second chance at happiness...with each other. A Brilliant Christmas by Allie Pleiter. Zoe Walters pours her heart and soul into the community arts center she runs. Her kids could benefit so much from the brilliant talents of animator Nigel Langdon—if he weren’t such a legendary grump. The next six weeks of his artist-in-residency look like they’ll ruin Zoe’s Christmas for sure. And certainly, things get off to a rocky start until Zoe discovers the great big heart—and the deep hurt—Nigel’s been hiding under that crusty exterior. It turns out Nigel can see through to Zoe’s deepest wounds as well. When the arts center is threatened, Nigel and Zoe come together not only to save the organization, but to discover a love and the brilliant Christmas no one ever expected Seashell Santa by Lenora Worth. When high school sweethearts Rick Houston and Willa Kincaid reunite in Key West per a deathbed request, they discover that they didn't really know each other at all. But Christmas in paradise just might bring them together for good this time.

Seven Days of Us


Francesca Hornak - 2017
    Even Emma and Andrew’s elder daughter—who is usually off saving the world—will be joining them at Weyfield Hall, their aging country estate. But Olivia, a doctor, is only coming home because she has to. Having just returned from treating an epidemic abroad, she’s been told she must stay in quarantine for a week…and so too should her family. For the next seven days, the Birches are locked down, cut off from the rest of humanity—and even decent Wi-Fi—and forced into each other’s orbits. Younger, unabashedly frivolous daughter Phoebe is fixated on her upcoming wedding, while Olivia deals with the culture shock of being immersed in first-world problems. As Andrew sequesters himself in his study writing scathing restaurant reviews and remembering his glory days as a war correspondent, Emma hides a secret that will turn the whole family upside down. In close proximity, not much can stay hidden for long, and as revelations and long-held tensions come to light, nothing is more shocking than the unexpected guest who’s about to arrive…

The 13th Gift: A True Story of a Christmas Miracle


Joanne Huist Smith - 2014
    But 12 days before Christmas, presents begin appearing on her doorstep with notes from their "True Friends." As the Smiths came together to solve the mystery of who the gifts were from, they began to thaw out from their grief and come together again as a family. This true story about the power of random acts of kindness will warm the heart, a beautiful reminder of the miracles of Christmas and the gift of family during the holiday season.

Newness and Wonder: A Small Town Holiday Romance


Alexis Lynne - 2018
    After years of saving, she finally put an offer on the old place only to have it beaten by an out of towner whose plans for her childhood home are sketchy, at least in Tara’s mind. When she meets the man, however, nothing about him says villain, but will her disappointment and bitter past allow for a future with the one who stole all her dreams? Justin Hunter gave up his life in Manhattan to give his young sister a childhood free of stress and complications. Fixing up the old farmhouse would give them a chance to bond and build the happy home neither of them ever had. When Justin meets a beautiful artist and loses his heart instantly, “complicated” becomes an understatement. Can he convince her to believe in a new dream, one that includes him and a young girl who needs her? Spend the holidays in Sylvan Hills, North Carolina, where the scenery is beautiful, the people are quirky, and love finds you when you least expect it.

Eight Days of Christmas


Starla DeKruyf - 2021
    She wants in and out unscathed. Unlikely. A decade ago, she headed to New York and hasn’t looked back. Now she must explain her disappearing act to not only her family, but the high-school sweetheart she left behind as well.Enter Leo Hoffman. He’s frosty after striving—and failing—to forget Isabella, the only woman capable of jingling his bells. Since his brother is marrying her sister, Leo is forced to celebrate Eight Days of Christmas with Isabella and her family—a tradition where they perform a different holiday activity each day leading up to December 25th.Soon, their close proximity brings back memories—and the inability to keep their hands off one another. There’s only one problem. Isabella’s ex unexpectedly enters the equation, and she faces a difficult choice. Listen to her heart or her head? Isabella will need to decide, once and for all, where she belongs.Perfect for fans of IN A HOLIDAZE and SWEET HOME ALABAMA, this second-chance/enemies-to-lovers romance will have you swooning and reminiscing of first loves.

Holly Bough Cottage (Holiday Cottage #2)


Cindy Gunderson - 2021
    Facing the possibility of spending Christmas alone—or even worse, at her over-eager parent’s—she booked a two-week stay at the first affordable, well-rated winter retreat she could find: Holly Bough Cottage in the Colorado Rockies. With her interior design business slowing down over the holidays, Liv can practically smell the pine trees and warm apple cider, but most importantly? She won’t have to face anyone for at least fourteen days. Jonah wasn’t planning on being anywhere but home for Christmas, but when the owners of the Cottages posted on a community board that their handyman injured himself, he decided to pull them a solid. It didn’t hurt that they were offering a free stay and double the daily rate he usually made as a middle-school science teacher. When Liv discovers that the man who came to replace her thermostat is staying in the next cottage over, she finds herself looking for opportunities to sit on the porch while answering emails. Even if it is thirty below. Jonah, battling ghosts of his own, can’t help but walk the long way to the office in the hopes of catching a moment with her. With Liv's heart still raw from past wounds and Jonah hiding a past life that could ruin any budding relationship, their initial attraction doesn't seem to stand a chance. Will their unexpected meeting during the most magical of times be enough to open their hearts to loving and trusting again? If you adore cozy Christmas memories, down-to-earth characters, and sweet romance, you'll love Gunderson's heartwarming holiday tale.

One Day in December


Josie Silver - 2018
    Ten chances. One unforgettable love story.Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn't exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there's a moment of pure magic... and then her bus drives away.Certain they're fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn't find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they "reunite" at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It's Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered. One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming and immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness.Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780525574682.

Christmas at the Lakeside Resort


Susan Schild - 2018
    Her fiancé has just called off their Christmas wedding, and she’s been evicted from her darling chicken coop cottage. When her estranged father dies and leaves her eight rustic guest cabins on Heron Lake, Jenny seizes the chance to make a new life. She packs up her dogs, her miniature horse and her beat up Airstream trailer and moves to the lake.Short on time and money, Jenny and her contractor, widower Luke, work feverishly to renovate the cabins in time for the festive holiday event she’s promised her very first guests. When an unexpected blizzard snows them in and jeopardizes the resort’s opening, Jenny and Luke work to save the event and, along the way, find true love… and the magic of Christmas.“A warm-hearted, charming Christmas story you won’t want to miss…"Judith Keim, Best-selling Author of the Beach House Hotel Series

Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Jumper


Debbie Johnson - 2015
    All dreamy brown eyes and 6’5” of gorgeousness, the man is hotter and more delicious than a freshly baked mince pie.Though Maggie always thought it’s a truth universally acknowledged that you never kiss a man in a Christmas jumper?The next FABULOUS book from Debbie Johnson, author of best-selling Christmas number one, ‘Cold Feet at Christmas’ and the summer hit ‘Pippa’s Cornish Dream’.

The Christmas Swap


Sandy Barker - 2020
    Chloe, Jules, and Lucy meet at a Maui resort kids' club, aged 11, forging a lifelong friendship spanning two decades and three continents.Twenty-two years later, they decide to swap Christmases, none of them expecting the hilarity and romantic escapades that will ensue.Chloe from Melbourne spends her Christmas with Lucy's mum and dad in a sleepy village in Oxfordshire, England, stunned to the core when she discovers who grew up across the road from Lucy.Lucy, who has jetted off to snowy Colorado for her dream-come-true white Christmas, is taken into the fold of Jules's loud and brash family, discovering more about herself in a few short days than she has in years.And Jules leaves the cold climes of Colorado to spend a balmy 'Orphan's Christmas' with Chloe's friends in Melbourne, finding that time away from her mundane life is just what she needed.Join these three lovable women as they each get a Christmas to surpass their wildest dreams.

Sweet and Sassy Christmas - A Time for Romance


Mimi BarbourSusan Jean Ricci - 2017
    Eleven holiday romances to captivate and seduce. NYT & USA Today bestselling authors have joined together to bring you tales from early America, abandoned puppies, military heroes, doctors and more. Get a warm drink, find a comfy seat, and enjoy an armchair cruise into the world of Christmas lovers and their unique stories. Mimi Barbour ~ Together for Christmas ~ Is her spirit enough to win over the workaholic she's invaded? Taylor Lee ~ Blue Christmas ~ Even blue Christmases can be Red HOT! Jacquie Biggar ~ The Sheriff Meets His Match ~ When a jaded sheriff is drawn to an exasperating woman in trouble, anything can happen. Dani Haviland ~ Catching Christmas ~ Only love could be sweeter than freedom. Natalie Ann ~ Road to Reality ~ When dreams come true! Mona Risk ~ Her Christmas Cruise ~ The fiancé is a cheater and the wedding is off. But the would-be honeymoon may be her best Christmas present! Cynthia Cooke ~ A Wolf Magic Christmas ~ Come to us, Rena. We've been waiting for you. Tamara Ferguson ~ A Kiss Beneath a Christmas Star ~ Will the magic of a Christmas kiss convince two future stars that fate has always meant for them to be together? Susan Jean Ricci ~ The Sugar Ticket ~ Two midlife adolescents learn how to gently overcome their marital hurdles, especially with Christmas and a special birthday on the horizon. Alicia Street ~His Christmas Promise ~ A sweet romance about a losing a dog and finding love at Christmas. Suzanne Jenkins ~ My Christmas Romance ~ Life changing events during Christmas prove you never know what the next day may bring, including a chance of love.

A Marriage Carol


Chris Fabry - 2011
    Over time they have drifted apart; the sparks are dead. Marlee is convinced she married the wrong man, and Jake feels tied down to the wrong woman. Jake is distant and tired of being controlled, while Marlee is tired of being the only one trying to the save their marriage. They go to bed Christmas Eve, in separate rooms, each rationalizing... life is too short to be miserable... love shouldn't hurt like this... their marriage must end for happiness to return.But then something peculiar happens: The ghosts of Marriage Past, Marriage Present, and Marriage Future reveal to them their past choices and present realities, and how their future might look if they do not change their stories.Jake and Marlee experience a Christmas gift that will radically change their thinking and cause them to look at marriage not for what they can get out of it, but for what God can do in and through their marriage.

Christmas at the Red Door Inn


Liz Johnson - 2018
    Two friends. Three days to fall in love. Lifelong islander Brooke Kane doesn’t know what to do with her college degree, her dreams, or her future, but she knows better than to venture far from home when there’s a storm brewing. But a promise to check on Rose’s Red Door Inn prompts Brooke to venture out. By the time she arrives at the inn, the snow is knee-deep and visibility almost non-existent. She settles in to spend a few days alone at the inn until a familiar figure appears at the door. Father Chuck O’Flannigan has never felt like a bigger fool. So focused on his recent decision to leave Prince Edward Island, he’s caught unaware by the blizzard while on a walk. He can only see the inn’s red door, a promise of safety. But when he discovers that Brooke—the only woman who could tempt him to stay on the island—is also taking refuge there, he knows he’s in trouble. With Christmas only three days away, Brooke is determined that they’ll celebrate—even if it’s just the two of them. Happy to play Scrooge to her Tiny Tim, Chuck wiles away his hours dreaming of a return to Ireland—praying that God may have plans for him there. After all, God seems to have forgotten him in North Rustico. But as Brooke brings Christmas to life, her joy makes him wonder if God may not have forgotten him. In fact, God may have big plans for both of them—if they can only survive Christmas at the Red Door Inn.

Snowflakes Over Holly Cove


Lucy Coleman - 2018
     As the snowflakes start to fall, the village of Holly Cove welcomes a new tenant to the beautiful old cottage on the beach... For lifestyle magazine journaist Tia Armstrong, relationships, as well as Christmas, have lost all their magic. Yet Tia is up against a Christmas deadline for her latest article 'Love is, actually, all around'... So Tia heads to Holly Cove where the restorative sea air, and rugged stranger Nic, slowly but surely start mending her broken heart. Tia didn't expect a white Christmas, and she certainly never dared dream that all her Chiristmas wishes might just come true... Set in Caswell Bay on the stunningly rugged Gower Coast, the cottage nestles amid the limestone cliffs and the woodlands; the emotions run as turbulently as the wind-swept sea. As cosy as a marshmallow-topped cup of cocoa, fall in love with a heart-warming festive story from the bestselling author of The French Adventure. What readers are saying about Lucy Coleman... 'I adored this book. A wonderful escapist read ... For me, it's a 5 star read!' Katherine, Katherine's Book Universe. 'I adored this beautifully written tale. The score is a well deserved and easy 5* out of 5*' Ginger Book Geek. 'This book gives you all the feels. It'll make you want to move to France and start a new life ... Lucy Coleman has a way of writing where it feels like you're actually there standing beside Anna and you mentally really feel involved in the story' Stacey, The Cosiest Corner.

Eight Perfect Hours


Lia Louis - 2021
    But fate seems to have different plans.On a snowy evening in March, 30-something Noelle Butterby is on her way back from an event at her old college when disaster strikes. With a blizzard closing off roads, she finds herself stranded, alone in her car, without food, drink, or a working charger for her phone. All seems lost until Sam Attwood, a handsome American stranger also trapped in a nearby car, knocks on her window and offers assistance. What follows is eight perfect hours together, until morning arrives and the roads finally clear. The two strangers part, positive they’ll never see each other again, but fate, it seems, has a different plan. As the two keep serendipitously bumping into one another, they begin to realize that perhaps there truly is no such thing as coincidence. With plenty of charming twists and turns and Lia Louis’s “bold, standout voice” (Gillian McAllister, author of The Good Sister), Eight Perfect Hours is a gorgeously crafted novel that will make you believe in the power of fate.