Welcome to Dickens—a quaint New England town bustling with excitement and anticipation for the upcoming Christmas holiday. We have the annual tree lighting in the town square, a snowman building competition, ice skating on Grosvenor’s Pond, and horse-drawn sleigh rides. You’re welcome to cut down your own Christmas tree at Gridley Meadows, or join in the caroling on the Common.
Dickens offers an abundance of heartfelt wishes, a few much needed miracles, and—quite possibly—a touch of magic! Families reunite, new friends are made, and old flames take a second chance at happiness. All while celebrating this most joyful time of the year.
Join us as our best selling and award winning authors fill your holiday stocking with ten brand new novellas ranging from sweet to sassy, including:
Millie’s Awesome Holiday Miracle by Top 100 Author Nancy Fraser ~ She’s an overworked single mom struggling to make ends meet. He’s the handsome CEO who’s come to Dickens to save—or close—the toy factory. Can one precocious little girl bring a couple of much-needed miracles to the people she cares about most?
Miracle At Holly Hill Inn by Top 100 Author Maddie James ~ Ariana is looking for the perfect Christmas village. Instead, she finds the town Scrooge. Will two days snowbound together at Holly Hill Inn bring them closer together, or send them each on their merry way?
Holiday Hearts by Top 100 Author Caroline Clemmons ~ Laura Jordan’s beauty and sense of humor are more apparent than her sharp mind, soft heart, and strict code of right and wrong. Ward Callahan has avoided romantic complications to throw himself into building his ad agency. Once he meets Laura, he falls hard but must convince her that dating her boss is not inappropriate. Can he convince her he doesn’t want her heart only for the holidays, but forever?
The Tinsel Tango by Best Selling Author Bonnie Edwards ~ Brenna needs some R&R over Christmas in Dickens. Tango lessons from mysterious Jett…Smith? may bring her everything her heart desires, but his secrets may kill the love they find.
Wisdom of the Heart by USA Today Best Selling Author Liz Flaherty ~ They were best friends who fell in love, but that was high school. Life and families and other loves had happened since that dear and distant time. They're friends again, comfortable with each other and having so much fun at Christmas time in Dickens. They're not still in love, but...wait...could it be happening again?
Operation Snowball by Best Selling Author Kathryn Hills ~ Returning to small town life is hard for Army veteran John Gridley. The last thing he expects to find is love with the beautiful widow, Heather Murphy. Can the perfect Christmas tree and a missing cat named Snowball bring them together despite meddling townsfolk?
Angel Kisses and Holiday Wishes by Best Selling Author Peggy Jaeger ~ When Sage left town 18 years ago, she left Keith's heart in tatters. Now she's back, and he's wondering if they can put the past behind them and rekindle the love they lost.
Holly’s Wish by Top 100 Author Kathleen Lawless ~ What if the girl who got away is actually standing right in front of you? Years earlier, Nico and Holly shared one magical Christmas Eve. She never stopped wishing he’d find where she left her number.
When he does, is it too late?
Holiday Heart Wishes by Award Winning Author Lucinda Race ~ On her way into Dickens to visit family, Vera picks up Tony, a stranded motorist. Rather than part ways when they arrive, they discover their loved ones are intent on getting married. Can they slow down the older couple's rush to the altar? Or, will holiday heart wishes come true for everyone?
Santa’s Wish by Best Selling Author Jan Scarbrough ~ Will Christmas magic help them overcome Roz’s career ambitions and Cooper’s grief, and bring them together for a second chance at love?
About Wisdom of the Heart...
They held each other’s hearts twenty years before as teenagers, but life intervened. Now they’re both back in Dickens, finding new friendship in an old place. Fee’s daughter and Jed’s stepsons are mostly grown, so they’re both in good emotional places.
But Fee wants to stay in Dickens forever, running Silver Threads and Golden Needles, her quilt shop, and Jed wants to stay on the road and in the air as a photojournalist. Can they find a way to meet in the middle?
~Try an Excerpt!~
“Jed?”
His head swung, the silky light brown hair still shaggy, still straight. How she’d envied him that hair. His eyes, the same blue as an afternoon storm cloud, met hers. “Fiadh.”
Only he and her mother had called her by her full name, and she still loved the way the Fee-ya came off his tongue. “You’re here,” she said. Nothing like stating the obvious. She shook her head at her own inanity and stepped out from behind the table. “I’m so glad to see you.”
He met her between the flannel and the fleece, and there was no question that they would hug each other. He had stolen her heart and then broken it all those years ago, but he’d also uncovered courage in her she hadn’t thought she possessed. She’d understood when and why he’d left. The secret had kept her from looking for him later, from seeking a new beginning from the place they had stopped.
“You look wonderful.” The squint lines she’d always told him he’d get from looking through viewfinders had materialized, but he wore them well. He was broader than he was as a kid, but still built like the basketball player he’d been. She’d kept up with him, buying the travel books and coffee table books he contributed to or written and copies of magazines that featured his photography. She’d even gone to a book-signing once, for The Other Side, his book on bridges, but had left when he entered the room with his wife on his arm.
She’d known he married, and even hoped for a chance to meet his wife, but when the time came, she couldn’t do it. Her relationship with Jed Healy was something so personal and private she couldn’t share it with anyone. If there was a part of her that mourned the fact that he’d fallen in love with someone else, she chose not to acknowledge it.
“So do you.” He held her hands, spreading her arms so he could look at her. He didn’t seem to notice the silver threading through her red hair, the waistline that seemed to be disappearing no matter what she did to retain it. What he did notice, though, didn’t surprise her at all.
When he touched the tea stain near her collarbone, the texture of his fingers warmed her right through the fabric of her green cotton sweater. “I’m glad to see not everything has changed,” he said, laughter crinkling the lines around his eyes. “You still enjoy what you’re drinking.”
“Fully,” she said solemnly. “I don’t have a single article of clothing that hasn’t enjoyed it with me.” She slapped lightly at his fingers, then held them in hers. “It’s so good to see you. Are you staying out at the camp over the holidays? Is your family coming?”
His smile slipped a little. “I’m staying at the camp, but no one’s coming. Can we have dinner while I’m here, though, and catch up?”
“Of course. I’ll even cook if you can get your courage up, Healy.”
“Count on it.”
He still held her hand…or she held his. She couldn’t have said which. And his smile…she loved that smile as much as she had a lifetime ago. She wondered where his wife was, if they had children—
“Mom?” Ailey’s feet on the stairs at the back of the shop announced her entrance into the room. “Mrs. Lindstrom’s quilt is done, but it’s still on the quilter. I’m meeting the girls for tacos at Los Tres Caminos, okay? I won’t be home late.”
“Sure.” Fee stretched her free hand toward her daughter. “I want you to meet Jed Healy, a real blast from the past you never knew I had. Jed, this is my daughter Ailey.”
Anthology Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/DickensChristmas
Love the excerpt, Liz! Best of luck with this.
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