Christmas Short Stories Anthology

What do you do when you see children whose lives are so bad it breaks your heart? One woman took a risk. What she saw was none of her business. But to love...was her business. From the author of a Top-100 Free eBook for Kindle, "Killing of Train-Man Brown" and "The Christmas Mirror: Santa's Last Letter to a Wonderful Child" (number-one in two categories in both the US and UK).

This collection of short stories by notable Australian author Mary Grant Bruce (1878-1958) reflects on Australian experiences of summertime. Infused with the smells, sounds, and textures of Australian life during the Christmas season, these stories also highlight the strengths and yearnings of their characters.

Dr. Lauren Spencer is having a hard time finding the Christmas spirit, but when a terrible accident necessitates the need to try to save a woman's life, she and the members of a small community will come to learn the true meaning of the holiday spirit.

Christmas hadn't been celebrated in this old New England Puritan Church for years. Not until Nathan Stoddard arrived at work one morning, Christmas morning, to see an old man knock upon the door and have the door of the empty church flung open. Nathan rushes to a window at the rear of the church only to peer in to see the interior of the church filled with people dressed from a bygone era decorating the church. A lovely ghost story by Anna Wales Abbot.

From the internationally best-selling author of The Alchemist comes The Pine Tree at St. Martin, a never-before-published Christmas parable for the ages. Fans of Paulo Coelho will immediately recognize the master storyteller's incomparable voice, and will treasure this story's simplicity and poignancy for many Christmas seasons to come.

When Torah Blake retreats to a backcountry mountain hut on Christmas Eve, she doesn't expect to reunite with her old boyfriend, Cale Jamison. Cale, a world-traveling photographer for a snowboarding magazine, appears in the midst of a wicked snowstorm, taking Torah's breath away. Old feelings rekindle and Torah finds herself in a whirlwind of risky emotions. Will Torah decide to give love another chance? Or will Cale leave her on Christmas, breaking her heart again?

A collection of classic Christmas stories, including:

• 1. "The Royal Truffle Hunt" by Anthony Thorn
• 2. "A Christmas Dream and How it Came True" by Louisa Mae Alcott
• 3. "The Sabots of Little Wolff" by Francois Coppee
• 4. "A Christmas Guest" by Selma Lanerlof
• 5. "The Christmas Goblins" by Charles Dickens
• 6. "At Christmas Time" by Anton Chehkov
• 7. "The Heavenly Christmas Tree" by Fydor Dostoyevsky

A stay-at-home mom, Ruth has been busy steering her family toward Christmas. All of this comes to a screeching halt, though, when she hears words she would never have thought possible coming over her phone.

After Joel splashes mud from his utility truck on a pretty woman who works at the mall, he wonders how he can ever make it up to her. Holli Segal can't wait for her first big break to design the Christmas display window for Schroder Toys. But when a circuit breaker blows, she's sunk. Will Joel be able to light up Holli's Christmas in more ways than one

Very much in the style of L. Frank Baum ( The Wizard of Oz), this story shows that Harry Potter was not the first remarkably popular world hit in junior literature. A Kidnapped Santa Claus, a fun fantasy, is actually a continuation of the first novel Baum wrote in this vein, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. In it, he charts his hero's life from a foundling in the forest to becoming all children's favorite uncle. This story, though, has the advantage of brevity.

Cami McClure is spending the holidays with her best friend, Genie Wainwright Taylor, in Hawaii. Will Cami find love in paradise, or will it slip through her fingers?

Annie and Willie's Prayer was written by Sophia P. Snow in 1884 and has since become a family tradition for many. It's a heartwarming story of how two children help teach their father the true meaning of Christmas.

It's two days before Christmas Eve, and the Mills family is under siege. Nine-year-old Will is used to the annual battle with Ysolda Povenmire and her devil dog, but what, pray tell, do the FBI and CIA have to do with things? Fearlessly risking life and limb, the brave youngster follows first one clue and then another, until they lead him to the biggest surprise of all and the best Mills family Christmas ever! So grab a couple of gingerbread men, a flask of hot cocoa, and your mittens, and come along for the ride. Internationally beloved, From Women's Pen author Angel Nichols has produced yet another charming Christmas tale, and you won't want to miss it.

Novelista ruso, uno de los más importantes de la literatura universal, que escudriñó hasta el fondo de la mente y el corazón humanos, y cuya obra narrativa ejerció una profunda influencia en todos los ámbitos de la cultura moderna.

This is a Dickens Christmas story of remembrance, in the tradition of people remembering their past. In this case, the poor relation at a holiday feast given by a rich relation tells the story of his life, dominated by his being his own worst enemy through being soft and credulous as opposed to hard and sharp. The rich relation funds him in a meager amount and Michael, the poor relation, thinks he should not go first in anything, including telling stories around the Christmas fire, but is encouraged to do so.

Linda Grant, beset by medical bills and other pressing obligations, tells her children that they will not be celebrating Christmas this year. Older Keith takes the news in stride, while younger Teddy angrily insists he will have his Christmas turkey one way or another. When the neighborhood schoolteacher drops by to extend an invitation to Christmas dinner from Cornelia Millar, Linda's estranged cousin, it begins to look as if Christmas will happen after all.

"A Christmas Tree" is perhaps best described as Dickens' "other" Christmas story. This is an elderly narrator's reminiscence of holidays past, each incident inspired by the gifts and toys that decorate the traditional tree. There is a range of appeal in the story itself, from snug memories of beloved toys to the passing along of eerie stories surrounding various childhood haunts.

In "A Christmas Turkey", a poor family works hard to figure out how they can celebrate Christmas. When the father is unable to provide a turkey, the children venture out into the world, working to earn enough money to pool their resources and purchase one for the Christmas table.

A short inspirational story about a single mother and a very special Christmas.

Christmas on Big Rattle is a rugged story of an unlikely gift exchange - even if only one knew that gifts would be exchanged. Archer invited his friend Sacobie into his cabin where the exchange would take place. It was only on Christmas morning that Archer discovered the exchange. Was it robbery or generosity?