Tag Archives: Christmas

Merriest Christmas Wishes from Author Anne McAllister.

Remember the song, It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas? I’m happy to say that it’s not looking like it around here — at least as far as dire winter temperatures and snow everywhere goes. Not a typical Montana Christmas at all.

Last year we had that Christmas look from the last week in October until the middle of May. 

This year – grass!

Probably won’t last, but it’s made life a lot easier, the roads less icy, and dog walking less precarious. The skiers among us aren’t thrilled, but they remain philosophical. There’s still plenty to do.

Somehow, though, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of time for writing. That’s probably just as well as I’m rewriting a scene set on a cruise ship in the middle of summer. The powers of imagination are getting a workout.

I remember it being that way when I was writing The Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle, too. Something about the publishing industry lends itself to things being seasonally out of whack. Authors are forever writing winter scenes when it’s sweltering outside or beach scenes after we’ve just shoveled half a foot of snow off the walk. 

I was thinking about that while I was walking the dog a little while ago. I was also thinking about how Christmas memories knit together over the years. My husband and I shared lunch this afternoon with one of our sons – the one who inspired a scene that gave rise to The Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle

Spoiler alert!

He was a year-and-a-half old that Christmas and as it was the first year he was really engaged in what was going on, he was amazed by and enchanted with the lights and the Christmas tree — so much so that a couple of days after we put it up and decorated it, I awoke in the middle of the night to discover a faint unexpected glow of light coming from the living room downstairs. 

Going down to investigate, I found him kneeling on the floor staring up in awe at the multi-colored lights on the Christmas tree – lights he’d managed to find and plug in by himself in the dark after having climbed out of his crib and coming downstairs to do so. 

As long as I live, I will never forget the expression on his face. 

He doesn’t remember doing it, of course. But he understands those sorts of memories now because he is a father himself.

If I go back today and re-read that scene, I experience all over again what it was like to see him as a small boy, to recall his expression of awe. I remember, too, the joy I got when I wrote the scene when Deke and Erin found Deke’s little son, Zack, doing the same thing in The Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle

Talking to my son about it today, we found ourselves reminiscing even more, weaving together other memories of Christmases past – like the one where we walked through snow past our knees to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, and the one where dear friends gave the boys an ET sock-em inflatable that they absolutely loved, and the one where seven of us went to choose a Christmas tree, and all of us  — amazingly — agreed it was perfect, only to carry it all the way home to discover it wouldn’t – couldn’t! – stand up!  So we walked it back and traded it in on a short fat tree that resembled a cross between a furry green tumbleweed and a popcorn ball. Not all those memories made it into books. But the one that did brought back a host of other memories as well. 

That’s the gift of writing – and reading – I think. We have the opportunity to remember, to reimagine, to retell stories, to reconnect the past and the present and so many moments and people in between.

When I wrote The Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle, it connected me to memories of my children, and to my own childhood. Telling that story connected me, through Deke and his sisters and their relationship with their own dad, to family tensions that as a child I sometimes felt and didn’t understand. 

Not everything is perfect all the time. Yes, holidays can bring a lot of joy. But they also have the potential to bring sadness, misunderstanding and hurt. Deke and his father caused a lot of that for each other over the years. They might have gone on doing it if they hadn’t faced the past – and each other — if they hadn’t dared to share more of themselves than they’d ever dared to share before. It wasn’t easy.  I’m not sure they ever would have done it without Zack. 

Christmas wasn’t easy for Erin, either. Widowed now, with three young kids, she had a lot on her plate. She brought a lot of memories back home that winter, most of them good. It wasn’t the past that was hurting Erin. It was the future that looked bleak. 

Deke and Erin helped each other. Erin’s children and Zack helped them both.

Christmas is a time to look with awe and wonder at possibilities just as my son did all those years ago – just as Zack does in The Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle. It’s a time to take a deep breath, to cut each other some slack, to smile more often, to wish each other joy, to remember the good things with gratitude, and to face the future with hope. 

I wish you all the joys of the season however you celebrate. Thank you for sharing a few minutes of your day with me. If you exchange gifts, I hope you get lots of books, lots of happy endings, and lots of love!

-Anne McAllister

About the Author.

Author headshot of Anne McAllisterYears ago someone told Anne McAllister that the recipe for happiness was a good man, a big old house, a bunch of kids and dogs, and a job you loved that allows you to read.  And write.  She totally agrees.

Now, one good man, one big old house (since traded for a slightly smaller house. Look, no attic!) a bunch of kids (and even more grandkids) and dogs (and one bionic cat) and seventy books, she’s still reading.  And writing.  And happier than ever.

Over thirty plus years Anne has written long and short contemporary romances, single titles and series, novellas and a time-travel for Harlequin Mills & Boon and for Tule Publishing. She’s had two RITA winning books and nine more RITA finalists as well as awards from Romantic Times and Midwest Fiction Writers. One of the joys of writing is that sometimes, when she can’t go back in person, she can go back in her mind and her heart and her books.

Time for Something Sweet! Check out Denise Wheatley’s Favorite Sugar Cookie Recipe!

Delicious recipes straight from the kitchens of your favorite Tule authors.

Happy holidays! My name is Denise N. Wheatley, and I am here to share with you one of my favorite dessert recipes—Denise’s Darling Christmas Sugar Cookies. But before I do that, here’s a bit about me:

I love the art of storytelling and happily ever afters, and published my first romance novel in 2004. Since then I have written (and ghostwritten) over twenty books. I signed with Tule Publishing in 2019 and wrote A Fearless Fairytale series, along with two holiday novels, Christmas in Full Bloom and Love at the Icicle Café

The Christmas season is by far my favorite time of the year as I love spending it with family. We gather together to share fond memories while preparing delicious recipes. For me, that’s my beloved sugar cookies. 

My joy of baking inspired Love at the Icicle Café. The book centers around a cozy café known for its savory dishes and delicious desserts. I grew up with a mother who also loved to bake, so writing a story filled with vivid descriptions of yummy treats was an absolute pleasure.

Denise’s Darling Buttercream Frosted Lemon Sugar Cookies

Today I’ll be sharing details on how to prepare these buttercream frosted lemon sugar cookies, topped with red and green sparkling sugar. For this recipe, you’ll need:

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature 
  • 2 cups of sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon extract
  • 1 tablespoon of lemon zest
  • 3 cups of flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon of salt
  • Sparkling red and green sugar

How to prepare:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar for 4 minutes until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, lemon extract, and lemon zest. Stir to combine.
  3. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix just until combined.
  4. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour
  5. Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick, cut with holiday-shaped cookie cutters
  6. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet, then place cookies on top
  7. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned

While the cookies are baking, prepare the frosting. Below are the ingredients and instructions:

  • 2 cups of confectionery sugar
  • 1/2 stick of salted butter, room temperature 
  • 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons of milk
  1. Mix the ingredients together with a beater until light and fluffy 
  2. Ready to use!

Once your cookies have cooled, ice them, sprinkle the sugar on top, and enjoy!

– Denise

I do hope that you’ll try this recipe during the holiday season and enjoy spending time with your loved ones. If you would like to stay connected with me, here’s how:

Tule Publishing Author Page  |  TikTok  |  Facebook  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  My Blog

Tule Author Kate Hewitt Shares Her Thoughts on Traditional Christmas Pudding!

Delicious recipes straight from the kitchens of your favorite Tule authors.

When I moved to the UK twelve years ago, I was a bit taken aback by a lot of things, but nothing quite left me as flummoxed as Christmas pudding, that unique and ubiquitous festive dessert! Brits have an unusual thing about celebratory desserts—traditionally any celebration requires a fruit cake, made with raisins, sultanas, currants, and candied peel. Add a very thick, hard layer of marzipan icing, and you’ve got what people bring out for birthdays, baptisms, anniversaries, you name it! I think, as Great Britain becomes inevitably more Americanized, the tradition of this kind of cake is fading a bit, and the classic vanilla or chocolate sponge is coming more into vogue—but Christmas pudding is still brought out on December 25th!

If you don’t like dried fruit, it’s probably not your thing, but there is something truly magnificent and Dickensian about the Christmas pudding, brought out perfectly molded on a platter and then doused in brandy or rum and set alight—yes, really! My husband has a special silver spoon he heats over a candle until the brandy bursts into blue flame, which he thens pours over the pudding. It’s quite a sight to see. As for eating… well, anything tastes delicious with lashings of brandy butter or cream.

Below I am sharing Mary Berry, the undisputed Queen of British Baking’s recipe for Christmas pudding. I make mine at the end of November, and feed it a tablespoon of rum per week until Christmas. On the day, you boil it for a couple of hours, upend it on a dish, and then, yes, set it on fire! Truly an experience for the senses. 

Ingredients

For the pudding

For the brandy butter

To serve

Recipe tips  |  How-to-videos

Method

  1. Measure the sultanas, raisins, apricots and apple into a bowl with the orange juice. Add the measured brandy (rum or sherry), stir and leave to marinate for about one hour.
  2. Put the measured butter, sugar and grated orange rind into a large bowl and cream together with a wooden spoon or a hand-held whisk until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little of the measured flour if the mixture starts to curdle.
  3. Sift together the flour and mixed spice, then fold into the creamed mixture with the breadcrumbs and the nuts. Add the soaked dried fruits with their soaking liquid and stir well.
  4. Generously butter a 1.4 litre/2½ pint pudding basin. Cut a small disc of foil or baking parchment and press into the base of the basin.
  5. Spoon into the prepared pudding basin and press the mixture down with the back of a spoon. Cover the pudding with a layer of baking parchment paper and foil, both pleated across the middle to allow for expansion. Tie securely with string and trim off excess paper and foil with scissors.
  6. To steam, put the pudding in the top of a steamer filled with simmering water, cover with a lid and steam for eight hours, topping up the water as necessary.
  7. To boil the pudding, put a metal jam jar lid, or metal pan lid, into the base of a large pan to act as a trivet. Place a long, doubled strip of foil in the pan, between the trivet and the pudding basin, ensuring the ends of the strip reach up and hang over the edges of the pan. This will help you to lift the heavy pudding basin out of the pan of hot water when it has finished cooking.
  8. Lower the pudding onto the trivet and pour in enough boiling water to come half way up the side of the bowl. Cover with a lid, bring the water back to the boil, then simmer for about seven hours, until the pudding is a glorious deep brown colour, topping up the water as necessary.
  9. For the brandy butter, place the butter into a mixing bowl and cream with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy – or for speed use an electric hand-held mixer. Beat in the sieved icing sugar until smooth, then add brandy, rum or cognac, to taste. Spoon into a serving dish, cover and set aside in the fridge.
  10. When cooked through, remove the pudding from the pan and cool completely. Discard the paper and foil and replace with fresh. Store in a cool, dry place.
  11. To serve, on Christmas Day, steam or boil the pudding for about two hours to reheat. Turn the pudding onto a serving plate. To flame, warm the brandy or rum in a small pan, pour it over the hot pudding and set light to it. Serve with brandy butter.

Enjoy! And Happy Holidays!
Kate Hewitt

About the Author.

Kate Hewitt wrote her first story at the age of five, simply because her older brother had written one and she thought she could do it too. That story was one sentence long—fortunately, they have become a bit more detailed as she’s grown older.

She studied drama in college and shortly after graduation moved to New York City to pursue a career in theatre. This was derailed by something far better—meeting the man of her dreams who happened also to be her older brother’s childhood friend.

Ten days after their wedding they moved to England, where Kate worked a variety of different jobs—drama teacher, editorial assistant, church youth worker, secretary, and finally mother.

When her oldest daughter was one year old, she sold her first short story to a British magazine, The People’s Friend. Since then she has written many stories and serials as well as novels. In 2007 she received ‘The Call’ from Mills & Boon for her first Harlequin Presents novel, The Italian’s Chosen Wife. Since then she has written over 25 books for Harlequin, and also writes women’s fiction for Carina UK and Lion Hudson Press. She loves writing stories that both tackle tough issues and celebrate the redeeming power of love.

Besides writing, she enjoys reading, traveling, and learning to knit—it’s an ongoing process and she’s made a lot of scarves.

Kate lives in a tiny village on the northwest coast of England with her husband, five young children, and an overly affectionate Golden Retriever.

 

Check Out Tule Publishing’s First 10 Christmas Books 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!

 

Celebrate the Holidays With the First 10 Christmas Releases of Tule Publishing:

 

 

Sweet Gingery Molasses Cookies from Kris Bock’s “Accidental Billionaire Cowboys” Series!

Delicious recipes straight from the kitchens of your favorite Tule authors.

This is one of my favorite cookies, perfect for the cooler winter weather in the northern hemisphere. This has the usual warming spices, plus crystallized ginger for an extra kick. The characters make these cookies in The Billionaire Cowboy’s Christmas, book 1 in the Accidental Billionaire Cowboys sweet romance series. Who wouldn’t want to be a billionaire? Turns out winning the lottery causes as many problems as it solves.

Enjoy!
– Kris Bock

 

 

 

 

Gingery Molasses Cookies 

These molasses cookies get an extra kick with two kinds of ginger! Note that this recipe needs to be chilled before baking. Liquid molasses makes the cookie batter very soft. Chilling creates a firm dough. 

Ingredients:

¾ cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

¼ cup molasses

1 egg

2 cups flour 

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon cloves

½ cup chopped crystallized ginger

Tip: Dark molasses gives the cookies a stronger molasses flavor. Light or mild molasses provides less flavor. 

Directions:

  1. In a large bowl, mix the butter, sugar, molasses, and egg.
  2. Stir together the flour, salt, baking soda, and all spices. Pour this into the butter mixture and blend well. Stir in the crystallized ginger.
  3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. 
  4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray the cups of a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Scoop spoonfuls of dough and roll them into 2-inch balls in your hands. Place each ball in the cup of a muffin tin.
  5. For soft, gooey cookies, bake about 10 minutes, until the edges look firm but the middle is still very soft. For crisper cookies, bake 12-14 minutes, until they look firm in the middle. 
  6. Rest the cookies in the muffin tin for five minutes. Then remove the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container.

 

Tip: You can also make these cookies on a regular baking sheet. They spread a lot though, so using the muffin pan results in thicker cookies.

 

In the Accidental Billionaire Cowboys series, a Texas ranching family wins a billion-dollar lottery. They’re advised to go into hiding, but they have animals needing care. They’ll have to stay and fend off envious friends, scammers, and fortune hunters. Can they build new dreams and find love amidst the chaos?

Readers say:

“I was hooked from the start. This book series just keeps getting better.” 

“Kris has created a beautiful family with special significant others. I highly recommend this book and series.” – BookBub Reviews

Kris Bock writes romance, mystery, and suspense. In the Accidental Detective series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty. The Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series features the employees and customers at a cat café. Watch as they fall in love with each other and shelter cats. Sign up for the Kris Bock newsletter and get a free Furrever Friends novella, a printable copy of “22 recipes from the cat café” and an Accidental Detective short story, plus fun content about cats, announcements of new books, sales, and more.

Kris also writes a series with her brother, scriptwriter Douglas J Eboch, who wrote the original screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama. The Felony Melanie series follows the crazy antics of Melanie, Jake, and their friends a decade before the events of the movie. Sign up for the romantic comedy newsletter to get a short story preview or find the books at all E-book retailers.

Find Kris: Website  |  Blog  |  Twitter/X  |  Instagram  |  TikTok  |  Facebook  |  GoodReads Author Page  |  BookBub  |  Amazon US page or Amazon UK page

Slay Bells Ring 7-Layer Cookies Recipe from Tess Harrison’s Briar Patch Bakery!

Delicious recipes straight from the kitchens of your favorite Tule authors.

Tess Harrison is a secondary character in my Wedding Bell Mysteries cozy mystery series. She owns the Briar Patch Bakery, which is across the street from (main character) Maddie Bell’s Blissful Beginnings Bridal Boutique. Every morning before Maddie opens the shop, she goes to the Briar Patch Bakery and writes two pages in her Aubrey Christiansen cozy mystery series and then has a cup of coffee with Hemlock, North Carolina’s hunky police chief Jackson Bradley. Maddie claims the chief is helping her with police procedures for her books, but people are starting to suspect that Tess’s Famous Seven Layer Cookies aren’t the only sweet the chief craves.

In real life, my grandma made Seven Layer Cookies every Christmas. I would always look forward to that wax-paper-lined holiday tin that was filled to the brim with these delicious treats. Now, I carry on this tradition and make them for my family during the holidays.

Enjoy!

– Nancy Robards Thompson

 

The Briar Patch’s Famous Seven-Layer Cookies

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs 

1/2 cup butter melted 

1 (14-ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk  (NOT evaporated milk)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 

1 cup butterscotch-flavored chips 

1 1/3 cups flaked coconut 

1 cup chopped nuts or for a festive look add holiday-colored sprinkles.

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees F for glass baking pan). In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and butter; mix well. Press the crumb mixture firmly in the bottom of a 13×9-inch baking pan. 

Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the crumb/crust mixture. Layer evenly with remaining ingredients; press down firmly with a fork. 

Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Chill if desired. Cut into bars or diamonds. Store covered at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

AN ANGEL FOR CHRISTMAS: Release Day Blog Post Featuring Author Lara Van Hulzen!

It’s release day for An Angel For Christmas, the fourth and final book in my Endicotts of Silver Bay series

As a writer, it’s always tough to say goodbye to characters you spend so much time with. As much as I start out with details about their lives, the characters take on a life of their own, adding pieces of themselves that are revealed as I write. 

Garrett Christmas is a character I’ve had in my head for a while. Readers get a first glimpse of him in my book, Saving Drew, as owner of the local saloon. He shows up from time to time in following books, and he ended up being someone I wanted to know more. Someone who I felt deserved a love story.

Angelica Endicott is the youngest of the Endicott siblings and is the last of the family to move to Silver Bay. With lots of energy and spice, I felt she was the perfect match for Garrett – the perfect person to draw him out of his (perceived) grumpy shell. 

Christmas is my favorite time of year and I was thrilled when Garrett and Angelica’s love story fell into that season.  While I plan to get lost in Hallmark Christmas movies and devour my stack of Christmas romance novels to read, I hope you are surrounded by all the things and people you love this holiday season.

Happy Reading,
Lara

About the Author.

Writing stories since she was a young girl, Lara’s dream of being a novelist became a reality with her Men of Honor Series.

An avid reader, she worked as a book reviewer for 18 years with various organizations. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a Masters of Divinity in Chaplaincy. Lara loves tea, baseball and living in Idaho with her husband and Great Dane.

CHRISTMAS AT EMBTHWAITE FARM: Release Day Blog Post Featuring Author Kate Hewitt!

The Joy and Pain of Christmas

There are so many things I love about Christmas—carols, cookies, stockings, decorations, the sense of being cozily tucked up with your loved ones all around. Now that three of my children are out of the house, welcoming them back home is another wonderful part of the Christmas season, and I cherish the days we are together, even if the house does feel a little crowded! 

I also know that Christmas can be a difficult time for many people, when the loss of loved ones can be deeply felt. My father died eight years ago, just two days before Christmas, and so the season now brings the painful and poignant nostalgia of remembering and missing him.

Christmas at Embthwaite Farm is a bit like that—as a story it celebrates the beauty and wonder of Christmas, especially in the North Yorkshire moors, a gorgeous part of England, and there are a lot of Christmas cookies featured in the story! But it also deals with the pain and hurt that the Christmas season can so often bring in terms of relationships whose brokenness can be felt especially in the festive season. 

Harriet Mowbray has always felt as if her father didn’t love her, and that truth becomes painfully real over the Christmas season. Fortunately, she has the gorgeous distraction of Quinn Taylor, the handsome and eccentric hotelier who hires her to bake cookies for his country house hotel’s Christmas party. But like anyone else, Quinn has his own heartaches, and Harriet will have to help him find his Christmas joy this season, as well, with the help of their family and friends. 

Cookies and Christmas trees aside, the Christmas season is about hope—the hope of light coming into the world. Quinn and Harriet both find that light in their story, and I hope you do, as well. 

Happy Reading,
Kate

About the Author.

Kate Hewitt wrote her first story at the age of five, simply because her older brother had written one and she thought she could do it too. That story was one sentence long—fortunately, they have become a bit more detailed as she’s grown older.

She studied drama in college and shortly after graduation moved to New York City to pursue a career in theatre. This was derailed by something far better—meeting the man of her dreams who happened also to be her older brother’s childhood friend.

Ten days after their wedding they moved to England, where Kate worked a variety of different jobs—drama teacher, editorial assistant, church youth worker, secretary, and finally mother. Read the rest of Kate’s bio here.

 

THE BILLIONAIRE COWGIRL’S CHRISTMAS: Release Day Blog Post Featuring Author Kris Bock

In the Accidental Billionaire Cowboys series, a Texas ranching family wins a billion-dollar lottery. They’re advised to go into hiding, but they have animals needing care. They’ll have to stay and fend off envious friends, scammers, and fortune hunters. Can they build new dreams and find love amidst the chaos?

Readers say:

“I was hooked from the start. This book series just keeps getting better.” 

“Kris has created a beautiful family with special significant others. I highly recommend this book and series.” – BookBub Reviews

The Billionaire Cowgirl’s Christmas (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 as the holidays approach. She’s adjusting to giving her sons more privacy and lonely due to a rift in her once tight circle of friends. Romance is the last thing on her mind when a handsome, younger survey geologist arrives on the ranch to work through the holidays. Their friendship is unexpected and delightful, but she won’t risk a broken heart by starting a romance with a man who’s hitting the road soon – even if she could trust he’s not a gold digger.

North Rabe’s career keeps him on the road. His plans of working through Christmas are derailed when Ava includes him in family dinners and holiday events in Last Stand. For the first time, he has a glimpse of a family life long missing. Ava is sweet, smart, generous and hard-working, and he’s quickly smitten. Is it finally time to put down roots? And if so, how can he prove he wants Ava’s heart, not her money?

This is a holiday book, so they eat well! At Thanksgiving, that includes “three kinds of pie and a sopapilla cheesecake.” Here H‑E‑B shares a Texas Thanksgiving Menu with a sopapilla cheesecake recipe.

Readers say:

“All of these books have been marvelous.”

“This book proves you’re never too old for love. This is a well written story with great characters. It is a story about family, friends and love. This book is the perfect way to end this series.” 

Quick Peek:

“I’m a grandmother, or near enough with Daisy’s baby,” Ava said. 

She could hardly believe it. Maybe because it had happened so quickly, her youngest falling in love with a lovely young woman who already had a baby. But she wasn’t especially young to be a grandmother. Her older boys had simply taken their time settling down.

“That’s a good thing, right?” North asked.

“Oh, of course. It’s just I’m turning sixty soon, and I don’t feel sixty.” Her face heated, but she wanted to get that out there in case he had any incorrect notions about her age.

“How old do you feel?” 

She pondered the question as she watched the milk swirl in the pot, turning darker as the chocolate melted. Life had rushed by, decades gone in a blink. Inside she still felt like a young woman, even if the outside didn’t match. 

“Twenty-seven?” she said. “Except at twenty-seven I had young children and I was frazzled and sleep deprived all the time. Eighteen? But I was completely different then, full of hope and nerves and dreams of starting a family. When I was fifty my husband died, and that was the worst year of my life.” She gave a reluctant laugh. “Maybe I do feel sixty, because maybe this is how sixty feels.”

“I guess all of those ages are still inside you.”

Who wouldn’t want to be a billionaire? Turns out winning the lottery causes as many problems as it solves. Get the Accidental Billionaire Cowboys sweet romance series in print or ebook.

About the Author.

Kris Bock headshot

Kris Bock writes romance, mystery, and suspense. In the Accidental Detective series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty. The Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series features the employees and customers at a cat café. Watch as they fall in love with each other and shelter cats. 

Sign up for the Kris Bock newsletter and get a free Furrever Friends novella, a printable copy of “22 recipes from the cat café” and an Accidental Detective short story, plus fun content about cats, announcements of new books, sales, and more.

Kris also writes a series with her brother, scriptwriter Douglas J Eboch, who wrote the original screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama. The Felony Melanie series follows the crazy antics of Melanie, Jake, and their friends a decade before the events of the movie. Sign up for the romantic comedy newsletter to get a short story preview or find the books at all E-book retailers.

Find Kris:

Website  |  Blog  |  Twitter/X  |  Instagram  |  TikTok  |  Facebook  |  GoodReads Author Page  |  BookBub  |  Amazon US page or Amazon UK page

THE COWBOY’S CHRISTMAS HOMECOMING: Release Day Blog Post Featuring Author Sinclair Jayne! (Plus a Giveaway!)

Merry Christmas in November,

I love writing Christmas romances. Christmas always holds this breathless sense of fun and magic for me. I grew up mostly as an only child, and our family was small, and I always longed to have one of those big Christmas Eves or Christmas days full of family playing games in the snow, cooking together, telling stories, family dinners and baking cookies, snuggling by a fire before attending a Christmas Eve candlelight ceremony. I never got that Christmas, until I started writing Christmas stories set in Marietta. 

If you read The Cowboy’s Christmas Homecoming and my first Christmas romance ever—The Christmas Challenge, you will see a theme—lots of snow, finding family/family reunion, forgiveness, giving and also, finding joy in the small moments. My characters enjoy the Marietta Stroll, making or viewing gingerbread houses, visiting Santa, picking out and decorating a tree, a sleigh ride, Sage’s hot chocolate and letting go of the pain that sometimes haunt their pasts so that they can embrace and happier, more fulfilling future (and of course, find love). 

The Cowboy’s Christmas Homecoming is book 3 in my Coyote Cowboys of Montana series. I created Rohan Telford, a Special Forces years ago when I wrote Cowboy Come Home as part of the 79th Copper Mountain Rodeo multi-author series. In that book, I wanted to give my cowboy, Boone Telford,  a big, loving family full of high achievers because I wanted my young hero to struggle (I know I’m mean) to create his place on the ranch when he arrives home feeling that he hasn’t achieved all that he set out to do.

Rohan Telford has been pushing to have his HEA for a while, and when I was brainstorming the Coyote Cowboys of Montana series with Jane Porter, I knew that one of my Coyote Cowboys was going to be Rohan. But when? I settled on Christmas because of the spiritual elements and also the strong pull of community and family. He has been alienated for years by his choices and action and isn’t sure how he’s going to fit in at home now. He’s so different after a decade plus of service far from his ranching roots.

Because he was coming home, I wanted my heroine—Virginia Lane—to be a hometown girl, his high school sweetheart. She stayed while he left, and now they have a second chance if they are brave enough to take it. Rohan has come home join his family on the ranch, not sure if there is a place for him, but first, he has a task—a promise he needs to carry out for his fallen team leader, and because Christmas is a time of giving, I wanted Rohan to give a lot. Rohan thinks he just has to hand over a letter to his high school guidance counselor, but just like his two Coyote Cowboy brothers who returned to Marietta before him, Rohan must dig deep to accomplish so much more. 

I hope you enjoy Rohan and Gin’s love story.

For four holiday-themed books (The Christmas Challenge is not pictured), a Coyote plush and reader swag, and a $10 Starbucks gift card, tell me of ways you enjoy giving back or doing something special for someone during the holiday season in the comments section! Also, I’d love it if you’d sign up for my newsletter, I’m going to be shaking things up on it starting the first of the year when I start writing my new series Southern Love Spells, and I’m going to need some help with recipes. You can sign up here. https://sinclairjayne.com

About the Author.

Sinclair Sawhney is a former journalist and middle school teacher who holds a BA in Political Science and K-8 teaching certificate from the University of California, Irvine and a MS in Education with an emphasis in teaching writing from the University of Washington. She has worked as Senior Editor with Tule Publishing for over seven years. Writing as Sinclair Jayne she’s published fifteen short contemporary romances with Tule Publishing with another four books being released in 2021. Married for over twenty-four years, she has two children, and when she isn’t writing or editing, she and her husband, Deepak, are hosting wine tastings of their pinot noir and pinot noir rose at their vineyard Roshni, which is a Hindi word for light-filled, located in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Shaandaar!