Holiday Literary

Sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge has an emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and yet to come. The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim. A Christmas Carol has never been out of print and has been adapted to film, opera, and other media.

Christmas is coming and Marty and his rescued pup, Shiloh, are sure glad about that - for their town is low on love and understanding, and they hope that the joy of the holiday will bring with it the generosity of spirit that's so lacking. It's been a year since Marty Preston rescued Shiloh from Judd Travers and his cruel ways, and since then, Marty and Shiloh have been inseparable. Anywhere Marty goes, the beagle's at his side, and Marty couldn't be happier about that. Even Judd has been working to improve his reputation.

Yes! Old Scrooge is dead, to begin with.... In this romance sequel to Charles Dickens' beloved classic, A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge dies suddenly just days before Christmas. Tiny Tim, now a young man who lost his sweetheart love, Becky, battles anger and lost faith with the new loss of his best friend. Scrooge’s ghost returns to to teach Tim a much needed lesson about faith...and the real meaning of Christmas!

At thirty-three, nurse Heather is desperately waiting for her romantic life to begin. Then she meets handsome, strong Anthony and is sure she’s found the one. Brushing any doubts aside, she projects all her hopes for true love onto him. Meanwhile, at a yoga retreat in Spain, happy-go-lucky Joe can’t believe his luck when he meets vivacious, witty Amy. She’s the sharpest, most beautiful woman he has ever dated, and the fact that she’s interested in him feels like a dream come true.

Perched in the far corner of a run-down New England mall, the Red Lobster hasn't been making its numbers, and headquarters has pulled the plug. But manager Manny DeLeon still needs to navigate a tricky last shift. With only four shopping days left until Christmas, Manny must convince his near-mutinous staff to hunker down and serve the final onslaught of hungry retirees, lunatics, and holiday office parties.

Meet Tom. Or Dr O’Grady, as he used to be called. When you pass him on the street, most people don’t even give him a second glance. You see, Tom isn’t living his best life. Burdened by grief, he’s only got his loyal dog, Bette Davis, for company and a rucksack containing his whole world. Then there’s Ruth and her son, DJ, who no longer have a place to call home. But Ruth believes that you can change the world by helping one person at a time - and Tom needs her help. There are a thousand ways to find your home - you just need to be brave enough to look for them.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… and for Heather Andrews, security manager at Timberwoods Mall, undoubtedly the busiest. But this Christmas, Heather has more to contend with than frazzled parents and disgruntled Santas. Angela Steinhart, a young woman who designed the mall’s spectacular holiday displays, has had a premonition that tragedy will strike on Christmas Eve. And Angela’s visions have a habit of coming true. Heather would love to dismiss the warning as holiday stress. But the more she gets to know the quiet, lonely Angela, the more she trusts her.

Eight White Nights is an unforgettable journey through that enchanted terrain where passion and fear and the sheer craving to ask for love and to show love can forever alter who we are. A man in his late twenties goes to a large Christmas party in Manhattan where a woman introduces herself with three words: "I am Clara." Over the following seven days, they meet every evening at the same cinema.

Welcome to Christmas, Colorado, a charming small town where the beloved sheriff will need a Christmas miracle to convince a hotshot city girl to believe in the magic of the holidays. Resort developer Madison Lane is about to lose the one thing she loves most in the world - her job. Dubbed "The Grinch Who Killed Christmas", Madison spoiled a deal that would turn quaint Christmas, Colorado, into a tourist's winter wonderland. Now the citizens want her fired but the company gives her one last chance, sending Madison to the small town to restore the holiday cheer.

When Lucie Kennington flees the bright lights of London for the quiet Derbyshire countryside, she’s shocked to discover that the heir to the Bluebell Castle estate is far from the wizened employer she expected. In fact, Arthur Ludworth might just be the most handsome man Lucie’s ever laid eyes on - and a terrible distraction! So when she stumbles across a legendary painting feared lost for centuries, she can’t believe her luck - perhaps this is the hidden treasure to save Arthur and his family from ruin?

Melanie McLaughlin desperately wants to adopt two orphaned siblings and give them a real home for Christmas. A just-for-the-holiday marriage to Bryce Landry fits her plan perfectly...until unexpected sparks have Melanie dreaming of forever by his side....

After the death of his mother, Michael Keddington finds employment at the Arcadia nursing home, where he befriends Esther, a reclusive but beautiful elderly woman who lives in mourning for her youth and lost love. "Do you suppose life gives us second chances?" Esther asks Michael one day. "I don't know. But we'd probably just make the same mistake over again," he concludes. Michael faces his own challenges when he loses his greatest love, Faye.

During the winter solstice, on the shortest day and longest night of the year, the ancient burial chamber at Newgrange is empowered. Its mystifying source is a haunting tale told by locals. Professor O’Kelly believes an archaeologist’s job is to make known only what can be proved. He is undeterred by ghost stories, idle speculation, and caution. Much to the chagrin of the living souls in County Meath. As well as those entombed in the sacred darkness of Newgrange itself. They’re determined to protect the secret of the light, guarded for more than 5,000 years.

Life is about to change forever.... Heather is finally back on Hope Street after running from the memories for so long. She hasn’t bumped into many neighbours yet, but with her upcoming wedding to plan there’s plenty to keep her busy! Fran is still trying to get used to a life without her husband by her side. It’s hard enough raising two children on her own - she doesn’t have time to even think about dating.... Pamela is fed up with being taken for granted by her grown-up children and grumbling husband. She’s ready to shake things up a little, but will her family even notice?

Beth Reynolds loved growing up close to Eleanor's Emporium – a bric-a-brac shop full of wonders on Lavender Bay. Devastated to learn that Eleanor has died, she returns home from London immediately and is shocked to discover that the elderly lady has left the shop to her! Vowing to restore it to its former glory, she only intends to stay until the end of the season. Although the longer she spends in the colourful seaside town, the more she falls back in love with everything she left behind... and quite possibly, with her best friend Eliza's older brother, local chef Sam Barnes!

In "Coventry's Christmas", Rebecca Hagan Lee offers a charming new story. With Christmas approaching, Amabel Thurston is ordered from the family home by her father's widow and must seek the protection of her guardian, Deverel Brookfield, eighth Marquess of Coventry. Unfortunately, the Devil of Coventry has little use for Christmas and even less for proper young ladies.

A new baby is on the way for Ethic and Alani, but the stress of her high-risk pregnancy is weighing on the couple heavily. When the routine of their love changes, Alani's hormones send them on an emotional roller coaster filled with suspicion and miscommunication. With challenges from the children they have already on the horizon and Ethic's involvement with Nyair's city council run, things in the Okafor household are in disarray.

Christmas morning, 1969. All 11-year-old Esme Munroe wants for Christmas is for her mother to be on one of her 'good' days - and, secretly, for a velvet riding hat. So when she finds an assortment of wet towels and dirty plates in her stocking, she's just relieved Father Christmas remembered to stop at The Lodge this year. But later that day Esme's mother disappears in the heavy snow. Even more mysteriously, only the Earl of Culcairn seems to know where she might have gone.

Brodie Logan had thought her marriage to Colin was a match made in heaven. But now her once-loving husband is distant and unfriendly so she makes the life-changing decision to leave him. She moves into Chestnuts, a ramshackle old house in Liverpool inherited from her mother. Deciding to let out the rooms to lodgers, three very different women come to join Brodie. Life at Chestnuts seems idyllic. But nothing lasts forever....

A continuation of the popular Very Christmas Series, this collection brings together the best French Christmas stories of all time in an elegant and vibrant collection featuring classics by Guy de Maupassant and Alphonse Daudet, plus stories by the esteemed 20th-century author Irène Némirovsky and contemporary writers Dominique Fabre and Jean-Philippe Blondel.