Christmas, Actually
Box Set 1 in Heartwarming Christmas Town
Welcome to Christmas Town, Maine!
Grab your mug of hot chocolate, your favorite fuzzy blanket, and get ready for a dose of holiday spirit! Here are three connected, sweet holiday romances set in charming Christmas Town where local legend has it that a kiss beneath the gazebo on the town square during the holiday season means a wedding in the new year.
The Banning siblings are in need of a little magic this holiday season, the kind that brings love and happy-ever-afters. There's Jack, a trauma surgeon who would prefer working to dealing with memories of his time in service. Then there's Callie, a grade school teacher who's trying to fill the void left by her mother and volunteering too much around town. And finally, there's Nick, one of the town's handymen. He's got an unrequited crush on the owner of The Tea Pot and is going to great lengths to get a date with her this Christmas.
Excerpt:
Gina Vernay stopped believing in holiday magic when she was seven.
She stopped helping to set up the Christmas pageant when she was eight.
When she was thirteen, she stopped pretending to care about the pageant, and at eighteen she stopped coming altogether.
Since then, she’d pretty much stopped stepping out of her comfort zone. Period.
Until now.
In the wee hours of Christmas Eve morning, Gina stood at the edge of the town square and traced the deep, jagged scar that ran from her left temple to her jawline with the tip of a gloved finger, as if her touch could erase the past. The small ball of worry, the one that hadn’t let her sleep last night, expanded like bread dough in her chest, pressing against her lungs.
I should have told him.
Snow fell silently, blanketing the square and the balsam firs lining it. The trees, gazebo and surrounding quaint old buildings were draped in holiday lights. The town square looked like a snow globe, beautifully pristine and peaceful. The wind swirled around her, stealing her worried breath.
A whistled tune drifted through the darkness. “Jingle Bells.”
A block away, a figure appeared on Taylor Street. Nick Banning, the town handyman and whistler.
Gina sucked in cold, much-needed air. There was too much to do today for her to wallow in what-ifs. She hadn’t told him and this afternoon she’d face the consequences.
Carefully, Gina walked along the snowy sidewalk toward The Tea Pot. She’d bought the corner shop from her aunt last summer, trading in safe columns of numbers and isolated cubicles for early morning pastry making and running the place where everyone in town gathered.
Arriving at her doorstep just as she did, Nick finished a whistled chorus, his breath mingling with snowflakes. “Morning.” He had a boxy tool bag slung over his shoulder. Holiday lights softly illuminated his handsome, reassuring features. Nick was one of the few people in the world who made Gina feel at ease, despite her scar.
She hurried to unlock the door and get them out of the cold. Once inside, she scuffed her boot soles across the extra-large doormat, ridding them of snow. “When I asked you to show up first thing, I didn’t really think you’d show up this early...whistling.”
“No reason not to whistle.” He stomped the snow from his feet, first on the outside grill, then on the inside mat. “Big day today.”
She had the distinct impression that he knew she had a date this afternoon and was teasing her about it. Gina flipped on the lights and peered at Nick.
He tugged off his knit cap and slid it into a coat pocket, revealing short dark hair, a gaze that didn’t mock and a familiar, lopsided grin.
Nick caught her staring. His grin widened. “What? You forgot today’s Christmas Eve? The annual Christmas pageant? The night Santa Claus comes to town?”
“No...I...no.” Of course, he didn’t know about her blind date.
Well, it wasn’t exactly a blind date. In her continued quest to de-comfort zone herself, she’d signed up for an online dating service and had been instant messaging a guy named Football20 for a week. He was going to introduce himself to her in person this afternoon. They planned to have coffee together. That is, if he didn’t take one look at her scar and bail.
The Story Behind the Story
I was having a conversation with Anna Adams and Anna J. Stewart about writing a holiday novella series. Anna Adams happened to mention how much she adored the movie Love, Actually. Turns out we all adore that movie! And that was how this series was born. We wanted every box set to contain connected storylines.
Amazon (now in Kindle Unlimited)
Barnes & Noble (print only)
Learn about the next box set HERE.
