Christmas Town Bake-Off
Box Set 7 in Heartwarming Christmas Town
Welcome back to Christmas Town!
This year, you’re invited to the Christmas Town Bake-Off! Holly House, one of Christmas Town’s oldest homes and landmarks, needs a significant face-lift and upgrades before becoming the town’s new museum and historical preservation site. It’ll take a lot of holiday magic and special ingredients to pull off Christmas Town’s first holiday baking fundraiser competition, but residents are up to the challenge, even if it means being the target of some holiday matchmaking by the Knotty Elves.
You’re invited to the event which features seven new romances mixed in with the flour, sugar, and fun of bake-off competitions. From prelims to the crowning of a champion baker, this collection of connected, sweet romances from Harlequin Heartwarming authors will warm your heart.
On your mark, get set, bake...Christmas Town style!
Here’s an excerpt from Melinda’s contribution to the collection.
Excerpt:
“When did gingerbread houses stop looking like gingerbread houses?” Fannie Frazier asked her sister as they claimed a corner table at The Tea Pot early on Saturday morning a few weeks before Christmas.
“When adults started entering gingerbread competitions.” Mina Frazier Faulkner laughed, slowly spinning the plate of cranberry crumble muffins they’d ordered as if trying to pick the best option of the two. Her light brown hair fell straight and smooth from beneath her red and white knit cap.
Fannie suspected her hair, the same light brown as her sister’s, might be wind-blown and tangled.
“I take it you peeked at the gingerbread competition you’re judging today.” Mina spun the plate again.
“Yes.” Fannie contemplated the muffins under Mina’s review. She knew they were exactly alike.
Since Gina Banning had purchased The Tea Pot from her aunt, the bakery case had become a work of art. Every cookie, every muffin, every scone and brownie were of equal portion size and goodness. If Gina had entered the Christmas Town Bake-Off, she would have won, hands down.
Fannie wasn’t so sure she could say the same for herself. And she was a national cooking celebrity who was judging the event!
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree filled the popular coffee shop with more energy than Fannie could muster before caffeine. It had been a long week. And next week, her fate at the network was going to be determined. Would her TV cooking show be cancelled or renewed? Fannie wasn’t sure. Or even optimistic. Why was it taking so long for the network to make a decision?
Speaking of which, Mina hadn’t chosen a muffin.
“Take this one.” Fannie pointed to the muffin nearest her, unable to take her older sister’s indecision any longer. “It’s got more crumble.” And her sister loved sweet toppings.
Mina studied Fannie a moment, and then took the other muffin farthest away from Fannie. “You look like you’re holding something back from me.”
Yes. That my career is about to tank.
But Fannie wasn’t ready to share that with her family just yet. A distraction was in order. And a tease was most effective.
“I’m not the Grinch sneaking around Whoville trying to ruin Christmas.” Fannie shook her head and pulled the remaining muffin apart. It had just the right amount of cranberries and air pockets to promise a sweet, light taste.
Kudos to Gina.
Fannie put off taking a bite. She wasn’t done teasing her sister. “You ask me to meet you for coffee but don’t trust me, a chef, to recommend a muffin.” She tsked. “Now, if Master Chef Kyle Marconi had told you which muffin to pick, you’d have taken his recommendation.” Her sister and Kyle had been high school sweethearts, both a few years ahead of her in school.
Kyle was currently judging the Christmas Town Bake-Off and Gingerbread Competition with Fannie.
Fannie stuffed a piece of muffin in her mouth, trying not to let the man get to her and not doing a very good job of it. Three years his junior, she’d adored Kyle and that crush had carried over to today. She’d been doing her best to avoid him because she was certain he considered her success due more to luck than skill. The network seemed to share that view. She was very ninety percent sure her cooking show was about to be cancelled. Just in time for Christmas.
The Story Behind the Story
Anna J. Stewart is a huge Great British Baking Show fan. She had the idea of creating a bake-off in Christmas Town. This was a super fun project because I didn’t begin my story until I read the six that came before it. This is one of our most popular sets. Fa-la-la-la-la-bake!
Amazon (now in Kindle Unlimited)
Barnes & Noble (print only)
Learn about other installments in the series HERE.
