THE CHRISTMAS DILEMMA: Release Day Blog Post Featuring Author Sarah Vance-Tompkins!

Christmas Times Two

My husband and I share similar Christmas memories despite having grown up hundreds of miles apart. On Christmas morning when he was a little kid, my husband and his younger sisters were all required to put on their best clothes, pile in the car and drive from Connecticut to their grandparents’ house in Yonkers. As soon as they arrived, they were gathered around a table with their large extended family for a gut-busting Christmas dinner. After dinner their mom would herd them all back into the car because their day was far from over. Next stop, White Plains.  Every year she begged her parents not to make any food. And without fail every year when they arrived, a Christmas day feast was already prepared and spread out on the table set with the best linen. There was no arguing about it. The family was having two Christmases. No, if ands or buts. 

I had a similar experience growing up in the north woods of Michigan. My mom and dad and I celebrated Christmas twice — separately at my mom’s parents’ house and then again at my dad’s mom’s house. The only difference my grandparents lived only a few miles apart. The drive between the two houses winds through a stand of maple trees, dipping down into a pine-filled valley, and finally skirting the Lake Michigan shore. As far back as I can remember, I sat in the backseat of the car, knowing I was the luckiest person alive. 

We’d eat dinner at Grandma’s house with all my cousins, aunts and uncles at the table. Then Mom would swear me and Dad to secrecy, and we’d return to her parents’ house for a second Christmas dinner. It wasn’t until my grandparents divorced, and we were faced with the prospect of three Christmas dinners that my mom finally called a halt to the Christmas Day gluttony and established our own family traditions at home. 

How do you hold onto memories of Christmas past and make new Christmas traditions? That is the struggle at the heart of the many problems facing Eli Adair and Audrey Elliott, the main characters, in my new book The Christmas Dilemma. Audrey would like to wrap herself up in her childhood Christmas memories and stay there. But Eli is haunted by his Christmas memories. He wants to forget the holidays. They’re drawn together but will he be able to get past his trauma in time for them to create new Christmas memories and have a happily ever after together? 

In the end, Christmas is the time to rediscovery love, hope and joy. My best wishes to you and yours this year, and every year at the holidays.

xoxo,
Sarah 

About the Author.

Sarah Vance-Tompkins was born in a small town in northern Michigan. She received an MFA in Film Production from the University of Southern California, and went on to work in feature film development for ten years. Prior to film school, she worked as an on-air radio personality. She is a lifetime reader of romance and is excited to be writing in the genre. She and her husband live in Southern California with a glaring of unruly cats.

 


Cozy Up With These November Releases! (Plus – enter our GIVEAWAY!)

Read more about our new releases for November!

GIVEAWAY: We will pick ONE winner to receive a digital book of their choice from the November releases. Comment down below saying which book you’re looking most forward to reading! Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. The winner will be randomly selected at the end of the month.

The Christmas Dilemma
by Sarah Vance-Tompkins (American Heart
)

Release Date: November 1, 2023
The Adair Family, Book 3

Skipping Christmas is easy. But it’s impossible to deny your heart…

Eli Adair is the first call whenever his family and friends need a hand. But this Christmas, he has no obligations, so he’s taking a break from the stress of big family celebrations. No presents under the tree. No stockings by the fireplace. No twinkling lights.

All he wants is to be home alone at Hillcrest House.

Travel nurse Audrey Elliott is returning to Christmas Tree Cove hoping for a big holiday celebration like the ones on her grandparents’ farm—all she has left of happier times before her mom’s condition lost those memories. Candy canes. Gingerbread houses. Holiday carols.

All Audrey wants is a place to call home for Christmas.

When a high school friend assures her there’s plenty of room at Hillcrest House, it seems like all her Christmas dreams are coming true until she discovers she’ll be living with Eli, the boy she’s never forgotten. Or the first kiss they shared.

Eli and Audrey are about to discover whether December is about reliving traditions—or making new ones.

The Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle
by Anne McAllister (Montana Born
)

Release Date: November 2, 2023
Cowboy, Come Home, Book 3

The last present he expected – a nearly two-year-old son!

Deke Malone never gave a thought to having kids – until the day Zack came into his life. Now he can’t imagine not being a dad. It’s not easy, but it’s the best thing he’s ever done. It’s the hardest, too, because it takes him back to Montana for the holidays  – to give his son a family and make peace with his own father if he can. He never expects to run into widow Erin Jones.

Once upon a time, when they were barely more than kids, Erin was madly in love with Deke – while he thought she was his best friend.  A lot has changed in fifteen years. Erin’s a widow now, with a young family of her own and a wealth of loving memories behind her. Could she really be so lucky the second time around?

Deke thinks it’s their first real chance.  Besides, it’s Christmas. And isn’t that the season of miracles . . . and love?

The Cowboy’s Christmas Homecoming
by Sinclair Jayne (Montana Born
)

Release Date: November 6, 2023
The Coyote Cowboys of Montana, Book 3

She’s the one who got away, but now that this cowboy’s home for Christmas, does he have a second chance with his first love?

After years in special forces, soldier Rohan Telford has exchanged his helmet and flak jacket for his Stetson and heads home to Marietta, Montana to try to regain his place working his family’s thriving cattle ranch. He has one final task to carry out for his fallen team leader. Unfortunately, it involves facing the woman he loved but left. Rohan’s never forgotten Ginny, but she’s never forgiven him.

Following the death of her father, single mother and teacher Virginia ‘Ginny’ Lane has never felt less like celebrating the holidays. Still grieving, she’s determined to fulfill her father’s legacy and corral local volunteers to help her open the Harry’s House Annex, a teen center. She’s short on Christmas spirit and that’s before her ex–high school sweetheart Rohan Telford saunters up like twelve years and a messy break up never happened.

Virginia only remembers the bad, but Rohan’s determined to remind her of how good they still are.

The Billionaire Cowgirl’s Christmas
by Kris Bock (Texas Born
)

Release Date: November 7, 2023
The Accidental Billionaire Cowboys, Book 5

Playing the lottery was just for fun, but with the one-billion-dollar win, life gets complicated.

It’s been nearly a year since widowed Texas Rancher Ava Tomlinson won the lottery. And while her four adult sons have found love, Ava feels unsettled this Christmas. She’s giving her sons more privacy, but she’s especially lonely due to a rift in her once tight circle of friends. Ava’s not anticipating a romance when a handsome, younger survey geologist arrives at the ranch to work through the holidays. He’s sexy and fun, but only offering temporary.

North Rabe’s career keeps him on the road. His plans of working through the holidays are derailed when Ava includes him in family dinners and festive plans in Last Stand. He’s quickly smitten and finally has a glimpse of a family life he lost long ago. Does he dare attempt to lay down roots? And if so, how can he convince Ava and her protective sons he’s after her heart, not her money?

Christmas at Embthwaite Farm
by Kate Hewitt (Holiday
)

Release Date: November 8, 2023
The Mowbray Sisters, Book 2

Welcome to Embthwaite Farm, a charming English home in North Yorkshire, belonging to the fractured Mowbray family

With older sister Rachel home to help run the family farm and navigate their father’s terminal illness, Harriet Mowbray feels untethered, yet surprisingly free. She wants to embrace her future but continually trips over the insecurities and hurts from her fraught family relationships. When a mysterious millionaire purchases a derelict manor home to renovate into a hotel set to open before Christmas, Harriet pushes herself out of her comfort zone and approaches the owner to become a client for her fledging bakery business.

Former gaming entrepreneur Quinn Tyler has sunk everything into this new venture, and Harriet finds him utterly unexpected. Confident, impulsive and fun, he sweeps Harriet off her feet and their friendship blossoms to Harriet’s surprise and delight. As they work together on the hotel’s finishing touches, Harriet and Quinn battle their insecurities and demons and make surprising revelations as they build their fledgling relationship.

As Christmas looms, will they have the strength of conviction to fight for the hotel—and their newfound love?

An Angel for Christmas
by Lara Van Hulzen (American Heart
)

Release Date: November 9, 2023
The Endicotts of Silver Bay, Book 4

It’ll take a Christmas miracle to convince this grinch to give love another chance.

When her family moves across the country to Silver Bay, California, Angelica Endicott loyally follows. As the youngest in the Endicott clan, she’s gone her entire life with something to prove. Family is everything to Angelica, who has put her artistic dreams on hold in favor of dedicating herself to the family company.

Silver Bay local Garrett Christmas never planned to settle down in his small coastal hometown, much less as a divorced, single dad to help his father following an injury. Raising his daughter, Lia, on his own and running his father’s saloon is plenty for Garrett, who’s placed his hopes of owning his own Napa Valley vineyard firmly in his rearview mirror.

Fate keeps bringing Angelica and Garrett together and, despite their differences, they can’t deny the sparks. Determined to show Garrett there’s more to her than meets the eye, Angelica proposes a plan to expand his business by New Year’s. As they work together, can Angelica’s fiery spirit and the magic of Christmas melt the ice around Garrett’s heart?

Merry Little Heartbreak
by Stella Holt (American Heart
)

Release Date: November 14, 2023
Legacy of the Maguires, Book 5

This year, they’re unwrapping the truth for Christmas…

Drake Maguire’s first love dumped him right before they were to move cross country for medical school. Now he’s made a name for himself as a plastic surgeon to LA’s wealthiest, even if it bores him. But this Christmas, he returns home to Virginia to pitch in at the same hospital as his ex. Could this be a restart for his career and his heart?

Margo Monroe can’t believe her bad luck. December should be a time to string twinkle lights and stockings in her ER, but instead, she’s dodging Drake’s questions and her urge to run her fingers through his hair. Yes, they broke each other’s hearts last time—yet perhaps throwing in the towel was a mistake.

But flirting leads to more than just words, and Margo needs her head in the game if she wants to expand her career in the new year. Are their emotions merely on call for the holidays, or is this attraction a symptom of something far merrier?

 


A POINSETTIA PARADISE CHRISTMAS – Release Day Blog Post by Author Janine Amesta!

I’ve always had a very complicated relationship with Christmas. Of course, as a kid, I would get excited at the prospect of waking up to gifts. But it was fairly common for my parents to tell my sister and I to adjust our expectations because there was never a lot of money. One year, my mom and I stopped at a small Christmas tree stand in order to “just look.” If we bought a tree, it was always the type my mom referred to as the Charlie Brown variety, meaning we’d find the smallest, saddest tree on the lot that was hopefully within our budget. There was an older woman working there and soon after walking in, she complimented my mother on her coat, a thrift store wool garment she’d cleaned until it looked brand new. This particular coat was a beautiful shade of emerald green, it wasn’t surprising it had caught the woman’s eye. Ten minutes later, we were walking out with a beautiful Christmas tree and without my mom’s emerald green wool coat because she had traded it for the tree. I often think about that wool coat and whether it was worth it for a small bit of Christmas tree magic.

If one were to ask Natalie, the main character in my book A Poinsettia Paradise Christmas, she would say definitely not. After a few weeks, the tree would be dead and then you’d have no tree and no wool coat. She’s a character who’s been shaped by my realist, cynical side, a person who doesn’t understand the point of being sentimental about things. It’s unfortunate then to find herself working in a sentimental town like Placerville, a place that holds tightly onto its historical roots, and surrounded by the most sentimental of all people. Perhaps some people would agree with her. Many things feel so fleeting that you sometimes wonder what’s the whole point. It’s easy to get sucked into a hopeless rut, where you’re struggling to find something that lasts.

But maybe that’s the whole point of being sentimental, especially during the holidays. We grab and hold onto things because familiarity brings comfort. And even if we predictably make sugar cookies every holiday season, it’s something we look forward to because it reminds us of all the times we’ve made sugar cookies before and the memories connected to it. It’s not about the cookies themselves but the comfort the task brings to us in its familiarity, giving us something we can depend on.

These are the lessons Natalie learns. Christmas and trees and ornaments may not be important to her, but the association to certain people, like to her love interest Mason, is what creates happiness and significance for her. This is a type of sentimentality she can live with. It’s not about the exciting parts of the holiday that we build up in our head, but rather the smaller things and memories with the people we love. This is what makes the season special. 

All these years later, I have no idea what gifts I found under that beautiful Christmas tree that year, but I do remember going to that lot with my mother, her sacrifice, and that bright green wool coat—all to bring us a little bit of Christmas magic.

About the Author.

Headshot of author janine amestaJanine Amesta is a California girl who now lives in the high desert of Oregon with her husband and their cat, Hitchcock. She studied screenwriting in college, but her moody thrillers always had way too much flirty banter. She’s a master at jigsaw puzzles, skilled at embroidery, and critiques bad movies on Twitter.

 


Add Tule Publishing’s First 10 Films to Your “Must Watch List” as Part of our #Tule10 Anniversary!

Tule Publishing has hit a milestone 10 years and we’re celebrating all month long with showcasing some of our first 10’s! Learn more about our first 10 authors, meet our first 10 cowboys and cowgirls, watch our first 10 films, and maybe find yourself wrapped up dreaming of the holidays with our first 10 Christmas stories!

We are so thankful for each of you for continuing to put your faith in us to continue bringing you amazing reads. You are a crucial part to our success and we couldn’t have made it to our 10th anniversary without you! We hope you stick around all month for more celebratory blogs and are looking forward to another 10 years – cheers!

Add Tule Publishing’s First 10 Films to Your “Must Watch” List. The following Tule books have been turned into films:

Hallmark: 2017

Hallmark: 2017

Hallmark: 2018

Hallmark: 2019

Hallmark: 2020

GAC Family: 2021 (Filmed as “An Autumn Romance“)

Hallmark: 2021

Hallmark: 2021

GAC Family: 2021

GAC Family: 2021

. . . . . . . . . .

Thanks for stopping by to check out the first 10 films of Tule Publishing! Here’s to a great year of #Tule10!


THE TEXAS COWBOY’S CHRISTMAS MIRACLE – New Release Blog Post Featuring Author Debra Holt!

Wow… the last book in my series, Texas Heritage, has now launched and the baby is off and running. It is a bittersweet feeling when the last page is done in the manuscript and you send the words and characters off into the unknown. Do all authors feel the same? In my estimation, it is never easy. 

People ask me how I come up with my ideas for stories time after time. There is no set equation to follow. Some have looked at me as if I might have lost my mind along the way. But a snippet of conversation can pop into my head…a title of a book yet to be written can grab my brain’s attention… a couple I see walking into a restaurant together… so many ways the stories have had their beginnings in my mind and then find their way onto my laptop. And once they do, I hang on for a wild ride. I begin a chapter thinking I know where I am going. But I have often been surprised by the detours and back roads that emerge to engage my attention. The journey is always a wonderful mystery.

This last series began with me sitting on a bench at a small roadside pullout as the sun was just clearing a ridge to the east and the morning mist was swirling along the ground and whispering upwards and over the sleek backs of the dozen or so mares and their young colts beside them as they visited the morning watering tank with the slow grinding of a windmill above their heads. They were gorgeous creatures with bloodlines back to the days of the Conquistadores who roamed over this part of Texas centuries before. I would make the drive from the city to that spot to take photos and just sit and admire the beauty before me. Dreaming of what life must be like on such a vast ranch as the one before me. Then one day a story came to me. And before I knew it, words went onto pages and the Burkitt family and the mega ranch, Aces High, came into the world.

I already miss those characters. But those books led me to meeting some of those really great people who lived alongside those magnificent creatures and they invited me to learn more and actually opened doors to me that just might lead to more books along that series’ future. One never knows where the writer’s pen will take an author. But it is an amazing journey and turning the next page will always be exciting to me. Happy writing…and reading…to one and all!

Debra

About the Author.

Born and raised in the Lone Star state of Texas, Debra grew up among horses, cowboys, wide open spaces, and real Texas Rangers.  Pride in her state and ancestry knows no bounds and it is these heroes and heroines she loves to write about the most.  She also draws upon a variety of life experiences including working with abused children, caring for baby animals at a major zoo, and planning high-end weddings (ah, romance!).

Debra’s real pride and joys, however, are her son, an aspiring film actor, and a daughter with aspirations to join the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (more story ideas!)  When she isn’t busy writing about tall Texans and feisty heroines, she can be found cheering on her Texas Tech Red Raiders, or heading off on another cruise adventure.  She read her first romance…Janet Dailey’s Fiesta San Antonio, over thirty years ago and became hooked on the genre. Writing contemporary western romances,  is both her passion and dream come true, and she hopes her books will bring smiles…and sighs…to all who believe in happily-ever-after’s.

 


CHRISTMAS IN RIVER’S EDGE – Release Day Blog Post Featuring Author Nan Reinhardt!

Christmas is a time of great expectations—don’t we all go into the season looking forward to time spent with family and friends, attending parties and giving gifts, decorating our houses and inhaling the lovely scents of pumpkin pie and fresh-cut pine? 

In Christmas in River’s Edge, Jenny Weaver and her son, Luke, are anticipating doing all the wonderful things that the little river town has in store each year during the holidays. The Candlelight Walk, the Christmas Parade, hot chocolate and sugar cookies on the River Walk, Santa’s arrival on the big old fire truck, and Aidan Flaherty’s annual Christmas Eve show. Holiday traditions abound in River’s Edge!

Jenny is delighting in the holiday preparations. But amidst all the merrymaking, real life comes in with Luke’s dad, Jenny’s ex, dealing with alcoholism and her sister Jo so far away in North Carolina. As much as Jenny loves seeing Jo so happy with her scientist fiancé, Alex, and her other sister, Jasmine crazy in love with her carpenter, Eli, she can’t help feeling a twinge of envy. The holidays bring home the fact that, although she has Luke and her loving family, Jenny’s life feels very small. There is no one special in her life. Nothing extraordinary.

But when high school friend Gabe Dawson comes back into her life, she’s wary—not sure she wants to bring  a globe-trotting archeologist who’s never been a parent or a husband before in her and Luke’s life. However, Gabe manages to be a stable, peaceful influence, all the while encouraging Jenny to discover herself and her passion—writing novels for tweens. Maybe there’s something to be said for old friends and for finding pleasure in the little things… Jenny must search her heart this holiday season to know what’s next for her and Luke.

We all go into the holidays with great expectations, but let’s remember that maybe what we long for isn’t found in the extraordinary; perhaps it’s found in the very ordinary. In a family dinner, in the hanging of holiday decorations, in watching your child put a special ornament on the Christmas tree, and in simply sitting quietly by the fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate, a good book, and someone you love. 

What is your favorite ordinary joy at the holiday season? 

About the Author

Nan Reinhardt headshot wearing blue shirtNan Reinhardt is a USA Today bestselling author of sweet, small-town romantic fiction for Tule Publishing. Her day job is working as a freelance copyeditor and proofreader, however, writing is Nan’s first and most enduring passion. She can’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t writing—she wrote her first romance novel at the age of ten and is still writing, but now from the viewpoint of a wiser, slightly rumpled, woman in her prime. Nan lives in the Midwest with her husband of 50 years, where they split their time between a house in the city and a cottage on a lake. Talk to Nan at: [email protected]

 


WITH LOVE MONTANA – Anthology Release Blog Post Featuring Author Debra Salonen!

Hello, lovely Tuligans! Long time no hear from me, but I’m back with a fun new project called With Love, Montana – Big Sky Mavericks and Friends Box Set.

I love Montana, even though I’ve barely scratched the surface of the state map with my travels there. In 2021 and again this year, my husband and I were asked to help ferry our two youngest granddaughters home from a month-long visit with their paternal aunt, uncle, and cousins in Wisdom, Montana. We actually jumped at the chance to stock up the RV and head out.

The first trip included traveling through the eastern passage of Idaho along the Salmon River. So much green beauty and water. (Since we live above the Central Valley of California, water is a BIG deal.) We took our time, visiting Idaho Falls, Craters of the Moon, and Arco, Idaho, before quietly slipping past an active wild fire on Highway 43 to drop into Big Hole Valley.

Our second trip in late June/early July of this year included a visit to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and 4 nights just outside of Glacier National Park. I swear, exploring this gorgeous area could become a full-time job, except for the winters. ;-)

We were fortunate to book a boat ride on Lake McDonald. And, I really can’t explain how thrilled I was to include as this gorgeous lake as the background of the cover for my new box set: WITH LOVE, MONTANA

Here’s a video I tried to shoot from the boat (The wind carried my narration away much of the time).

On our last day in this area, we enjoyed a delightful visit with my friend and fellow Tule Publishing author C.J. Carmichael and her husband, Mike, at their gorgeous cottage on Flathead Lake. I can’t wait to go back!

The next day we headed south to Wisdom. We saw so much beauty along the way it really was impossible to adequately describe or photograph. But a fabulous landscape isn’t the only thing Montana has going for it. While in Wisdom, we were treated to a joyous small-town 4th of July celebration. It truly was community at its best, and if I let my imagination go, I could almost envision Marietta and all my characters strolling about. 

When we got home from this trip, I immediately sat down at my desk and put together a proposal for my Tule editor. “What if we make a box set of my Big Sky Mavericks (the Zabrinski family) books and their newcomer, best friends, retired smokejumpers (Love, Montana)?”  I presented my proposal at a Tule Authors’ Retreat in San Juan Capistrano a few weeks later and Team Tule said, “Yes.”

I’m so excited about this box set on two fronts: one, I love the cover because every time I look at it, I’m teleported back to Glacier NP, and, two, because backlist books are NEW to someone who hasn’t read them, yet. And, while not every author wants to commit their books to a single revenue source (in this case, Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing), I’ve had good luck reaching new readers through KDP’s Kindle UNLIMITED program. Avid readers appreciate the No-risk advantage. If they download a box set and can’t get into it, they simply release it back into the wild. ;-) 

This will be a limited-time experiment, so even if you’ve read a book or two in this series, here’s your chance to fill in the gaps and hang out for an extended visit to Montana. Enjoy!

If you’d like to check it out, you can sample it for free here.

Happy reading.

Deb

About the Author.

Former award-winning newspaper journalist Debra Salonen is a nationally bestselling author with 26 published novels for Harlequin’s Superromance and American lines and one single title release for Harlequin Signature. Several of her titles were nominated for “Best Superromance,” including UNTIL HE MET RACHEL, which took home that honor in 2010. Debra was named Romantic Times Reviewer’s Career Achievement “Series Storyteller of the Year” in 2006. Debra lives in the foothills near Yosemite National Park in California with her husband and two dogs. Luckily, her two children and three grandchildren live close by to keep Debra connected to the real world.


Tule Author Q&A: Robyn Neeley reflects on “Jingle Jammies” becoming a Hallmark movie!

Robyn Neeley stopped by the Tule blog to discuss her book “Jingle Jammies” becoming a Hallmark film (Christmas by Design) and its premier this month!

Your book “Jingle Jammies” has been made into a Hallmark film, what was your reaction when you heard the news?
To say that I am incredibly excited is an understatement. I was at work when I learned the news and jumped high out of my seat, eyes wide, hand over mouth in disbelief. After a lot of cheering, I went to the Hallmark Channel website to check out the movie’s webpage. It was when I saw the character names “Charlotte” and “Spencer” next to the actors who play them that I LOST it, and the tears began to flow! That was the moment I’d been waiting for for over a year and had envisioned in 2020 when I first started writing the book. Seeing my character names next to the actors, I knew that my dream had just come true. I’ll never forget it!

 

What are you most excited to see in Hallmark’s film adaptation of “Jingle Jammies”?
I seriously can’t wait to see all the wonderful changes made to adapt this into film. Of course, I’m going to be looking out for any similarities to the book and “Easter egg” moments. I’m already doing that with the photos on the Hallmark Channel website. I spotted in one of the publicity photos a drink dispenser with some type of holiday green drink, and it just so happens I have a Grinch hot chocolate in Jingle Jammies. I also noticed that there is a Dee Dee character in a similar occupation to the one in Jingle Jammies. (I zoomed in on the actress’s name tag for that one and was pleasantly surprised that it in fact reads, Dee Dee.:)

 

How did you decide on holiday pajamas being the center focus of “Jingle Jammies“?
With the creative guidance from the Tule editorial team, we played with several elements to the original pitch including changing the occupation of one of the main characters from a handbag designer to popular sleepwear designer of the season’s must-have Christmas jammies. I thought that suggestion was brilliant and so original! People love showing off their Christmas jammies and for many families, it’s one of their time-honored traditions. You never see anyone miserable sporting their jammies! I leaned into this element of Christmas that I found super fun. I even got to design – in my head – a pajama line, which I had a blast writing. If I knew how to sew, I’d be showing them off this holiday season!

 

How are you celebrating the premier?
I’m hoping to surprise my mom who is just over the moon about all of this. She’s a huge Hallmark fan, and we’ve watched so many Hallmark movies together over the years. She lives in another state, and it would be so special if I could watch the premiere with her.

 

If not Christmas, what other holiday would you write about?
I really enjoy writing stories set around the fall season in general, but every year, just when I’m thinking about writing a different holiday romance, I see a dog in Christmas pajamas; or my town’s Christmas square strung in lights; or the Starbuck’s signature red cups and BAM; I get pulled back into the fabulous Christmas allure once again. There’s something so magical; and so hopeful; and just so perfect about falling in love during the Christmas holidays. Am I right? It really is a wonderful time.

Thank you for having me, and I sincerely hope Tule readers will tune in to watch Christmas by Design on Hallmark on October 27 at 8 p.m./7 p.m.!

About the Author.

Robyn Neeley is an east coast gal who loves to explore super cute small towns; watches way more reality TV than she cares to admit; can’t live without Dunkin Donuts coffee; and has never met a Christmas cookie she didn’t like. She writes contemporary romance with heart and humor. Sign up for her e-newsletter at www.robynneeley.com.

 


MERRY CHRISTMAS, MONTANA – Release Day Blog Post Featuring Author Elsa Winckler!

It’s release day for Merry Christmas, Montana, the final story in the Millers of Marietta series. I had so much fun planning Riley’s and Mitch’s story, not only because I fell a little bit in love with the hero myself while writing him, but also because it’s a Christmas story.

I love everything about Christmas – the trees, the lights, the songs, the decorations, buying presents for the grandkiddies, baking cookies, planning the menu, welcoming the kids home. 

I’m from South Africa, so for us Christmas means long, hot summer days and braais, the Afrikaans word for “barbeque”. Most South African boys can braai before they can talk! It’s the time of year when schools close and people go on holiday. Christmas for us, like everywhere else, is also more than just a holiday, it’s a time for cherished traditions, heart-warming moments and family. 

And have I mentioned how much I love Christmas songs? Even though most of them don’t make any sense in sunny South Africa! When writing this story, though, I had the delightful opportunity to “escape” to Marietta, Montana where Christmas is actually “white”, where words like “reindeer” and “sleighbells” and “sleigh ride” and “snowman” are indeed the appropriate words to use in a Christmas song!

In this story Mitch and Riley find the courage to give love another chance, to step out of their comfort zones and find happiness – my wish for all of you this year.

Thank you for all the messages and reviews – I so appreciate your feedback. 

Whether you’re in front of a fireplace or on a beach, I hope you’ll enjoy this story!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

About the Author.

Author Elsa Winckler headshotI have been reading love stories for as long as I can remember and when I ‘met’ the classic authors like Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, Henry James The Brontë sisters, etc. during my Honours studies, I was hooked for life. 

I married my college boyfriend and soul mate and after 43 years, 3 interesting and wonderful children and 3 beautiful grandchildren, he still makes me weak in the knees. We are fortunate to live in the picturesque little seaside village of Betty’s Bay, South Africa with the ocean a block away and a beautiful mountain right behind us. And although life so far has not always been an easy ride, it has always been an exciting and interesting one! 

I like the heroines in my stories to be beautiful, feisty, independent and headstrong.  And the heroes must be strong but possess a generous amount of sensitivity. They are of course, also gorgeous!  My stories typically incorporate the family background of the characters to better understand where they come from and who they are when we meet them in the story. 


Meet Tule Publishing’s First 10 Cowgirls as Part of our #Tule10 Anniversary!

Tule Publishing has hit a milestone 10 years and we’re celebrating all month long with showcasing some of our first 10’s! Learn more about our first 10 authors, meet our first 10 cowboys and cowgirls, and maybe find yourself wrapped up dreaming of the holidays with our first 10 Christmas stories!

We are so thankful for each of you for continuing to put your faith in us to continue bringing you amazing reads. You are a crucial part to our success and we couldn’t have made it to our 10th anniversary without you! We hope you stick around all month for more celebratory blogs and are looking forward to another 10 years – cheers!

Meet Tule Publishing’s First 10 Cowgirls

Big Sky Mavericks, Book 1
Big Marietta Fair, Book 2

Some dreams come with a big price tag.

Bailey Jenkins left her hometown of Marietta, Montana at eighteen, poised to take college and the rodeo world by storm–despite Paul Zabrinski. On the eve of her great escape, at the top of the Ferris Wheel at the Big Marietta Fair, he invoked his great-grandmother Hilda’s curse. “If you do this, Bailey Jenkins, I will hate you forever. And I’ll call on my great-grandmother to curse you. She was a Gypsy witch, you know.”

Fifteen years later, Bailey’s back–shattered, humbled by fate and bruised at the soul level but determined to rebuild–once she helps her parents get back on their feet. She didn’t expect Paul Zabrinski to meet her plane, but seeing him strong, handsome and successful is somehow fitting. After all, Bailey didn’t need Paul’s gypsy great-grandmother to put a curse on her–Bailey already had the worst luck on the planet.

Never say never.

One look at Bailey Jenkins–his first love, the woman he adored…and cursed–and every emotion Paul Zabrinski felt fifteen years earlier comes rushing back. The love of his life broke his heart and made him hate her…or so he thought. The line between love and hate is very narrow, with only so much room for forgiveness. But Paul Zabrinski owns Big Z Hardware and Construction. If anyone is capable of building a bridge for them to cross together, it’s him.

Carrigans of the Circle C, Book 5

For years Callan Carrigan has been her father’s right hand man, so when her dad’s will names city slicker Court McAllister the new owner of The Circle C Ranch, Callan feels betrayed on every level.

Then she and her sisters find their mother’s diaries, hidden from them by their father since their mother’s accidental death 18 years ago, and the shocking revelations explain a lot. Reeling, Callan seeks refuge in the local saloon, where it seems no one can reach her, until Court offers her a challenge.

If she agrees to be foreman at the Circle C for one year, he’ll deed the ranch back to her and her sisters. The deal seems too sweet at first—until Callan realizes Court has his eyes on something she protects even more than her family’s land—her heart.

Wildflower Ranch, Book 4

Australian cowgirl Bridie Willis travels to Montana to escape the pain of losing her father. Headstrong and determined, she plans to spend the summer alone photographing wild animals. Instead she finds herself saddled with a stubborn cowboy as a back-country guide.

Ethan Morgan has been shaped by a childhood spent on the run. Cautious, steady and conservative, he is tasked with ensuring the beautiful, risk taking cowgirl doesn’t ditch him or come to any harm.

But the biggest challenge Ethan must face is to accept how Bridie makes him feel. And the biggest risk Bridie must take is to trust in her heart.

Wildflower Ranch, Book 6

Headstrong cowgirl Peta Dixon has put her life on hold this Christmas to prove she can run her ranch as well as any man. There isn’t anything she can’t ride, fix, or stare down, and the only things to scare her are long hemlines and sky-high heels.

Self-made rancher Garrett Ross normally doesn’t take orders – he gives them. But when asked to step in to act as a temporary foreman on a Montana ranch over the holidays, he can’t refuse.

Yet when Garrett meets the beautiful and stubborn ranch owner, he realizes he’s signed on for a whole lot of trouble. Cynical and jaded, he has no time for feelings. And when Peta meets the man she’s to share her life with until Christmas, she discovers she no longer wants to be the person others expect her to be…

Will the rancher finally listen to his heart and admit he can’t live without a certain straight-talking cowgirl?

The Gallaghers of Montana, Book 5

He knows who she is…but she doesn’t

PI Mitch Hardeman is an expert at finding people, so when Glenna Gallagher disappears from the ranch where she works, her brothers hire Mitch to find her. He thinks his job is done after he tracks her down, but Glenna doesn’t know him, and she doesn’t remember her brothers or even her real name. Mitch must earn the beautiful cowgirl’s trust so he can bring her back home.

She doesn’t know who she is… but she knows who she wants

With traumatic amnesia caused by a bus accident, Glenna Gallagher knows nothing of her life before that day. She only knows she’s in danger, and that Mitch offers protection and the truth about her identity. But once home in Marietta, her memories are still missing. Can she convince Mitch that she doesn’t need to remember her past to know he’s the only man she wants? And will she regain her memory in time to save herself and the man she loves from the danger that follows her?

Blackberry Cove Cowboys, Book 1

When Kendall Kelly‘s career as the free spirited punk country crossover queen ends in a fiery ball of doom and humiliation, she has no place to go but back to her hometown Blackberry Cove, California, where she abandoned her secret husband years ago without so much as a note. She’s hoping to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and finally cut the last tie to the only man she ever loved.

As part owner of Kelly Family Farms, Damian Sloan has spent the last few years rebuilding the floundering business into a growing organic farm. He thought he’d moved on from his broken heart, but when Kendall barges back into his life—broken but beautiful as ever—he soon realizes he hasn’t forgotten. Or forgiven. Kendall threatens everything he’s built, but he can’t quite turn her away.

Damian and Kendall must put aside their differences for the success of the farm they both depend on. Maybe, in the process, they can rebuild what they tragically lost.

The Tremaynes of Texas, Book 4

What happens when a tenacious sheriff takes on a determined cowgirl and her champion bull?

It’s never easy to make it in a man’s world, and cowgirl Tori Tremayne has chased the same dream most of her life—producing a champion bucking bull on the pro rodeo circuit. With her prize bull Maximus, she’s so close to winning top prize in the finals this year she can taste it. She can’t afford any distractions, especially not the tall, dark and swoony sheriff she’s admired all her life.

Sheriff Gray Dalton has been in love with Tori since they were kids. He doesn’t want to change Tori or derail her goals, but he does want to combine their dreams—build a life and family with her while she continues to pursue her career and passion. Gray knows he has to shake Tori up so that he can step out of the friend zone she’s so determined to keep him in.

Can Gray prove to Tori that with him she can have it all—career, love and a family?

The Hartman Brothers, Book 3

She has a lot to prove and won’t get distracted by a cowboy again…

Barrel racer Ella James Sanders has one goal for her breakout year in Pro Rodeo—to make it to the National Finals Rodeo and prove to her hometown that she’s more than a girl raised on the wrong side of town. But her dream quickly crashes when an accident injures her and her horse, ending her rodeo season and leaving her in the care of the man who carelessly broke her heart years ago.

Cowboy and veterinarian Ty Hartman knows what it’s like to be rejected by those close to him. Ty’s loved Ella since high school, but she’s rejected him twice so he’s resolved to keep his distance and protect his heart…until an accident forces Ella and her horse into his life and he can’t step aside. As he cares for the feisty cowgirl, he feels himself falling for her again.

Can he convince this cowgirl that not only is he a man she can trust, but that he’s also a man she could love?

Texas True, Book 4

They’re made for each other, he just needs to prove it.

Pilot Nate Kershaw may be one of Whiskey River’s biggest players, but from the moment he met cowgirl Damaris Walker, he was smitten. After sharing a searing kiss years ago, she made her feelings clear so Nate doesn’t dare press for more than friendship. No other woman can win his heart, so when his beloved grandmother tells him her dearest wish is to see him settled down, Nate decides it’s the perfect opportunity to convince Damaris they’re meant to be.

After a devastating betrayal years ago, Damaris is still unable to trust or risk her heart—especially with a charming lady-killer like Nate. Against her common sense, she agrees to be Nate’s fake girlfriend and finds herself falling for him harder than she did two years ago.

When Damaris learns Nate has been deceiving her about his true feelings, her fears and trust issues reignite. Will Nate be able to convince Damaris to overcome the pain of the past and take a risk on forever—with him?

The Raffertys of Last Stand, Book 4

Sometimes the line between love and hate is blurry…

Cody Rafferty and Britt Roth may have grown up on adjacent Hill Country ranches, but they’ve always been oil and water. Britt knows it’s because Cody’s a tech nerd who doesn’t get the ranch life she loves. Cody knows it’s because Britt’s a single-minded cowgirl, who lives to complain about the technology he loves. Their families claim it’s because they were born within minutes of each other.

They’ve declared one truce in their lives—when Cody’s father was KIA overseas. Neither of them expected there would be another, but when Cody suspects a crash of his test drone spooked Britt’s champion barrel racing horse, endangering her life and future, he calls a second truce. Prodded by guilt, he steps up to take care of Britt and her beloved horse. Britt balks, but Cody’s hard to refuse even for a tough cowgirl. Forced together, they learn surprising things about each other neither ever knew.

Can these two lifetime adversaries learn to get along, especially when they realize that the sparks that fly between them aren’t fueled only by anger?

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Thanks for stopping by to meet the first 10 cowgirls of Tule Publishing! Here’s to a great year of #Tule10!