Small-Town Christmas: Sweet, Faith-Filled, Clean Romances

Five sweet romances to bring you Small-Town Christmas and warm your heart! For the first time, all romances set in Rios Azules, including a complete series, are published in one large collection.

SEASON OF LOVE. Opposites-attract romance! Feuding co-chefs have to put their differences aside before Christmas to give their siblings a great reception. A ruined wedding and failed business are not on the menu. But romance just might be…

SEASON OF AFFECTION. A woman in jeopardy, bodyguard, and second chance romance! A celebrity in peril and the small-town boy who crushed her heart years ago. Can a Christmas reunion bring them a second chance at love?

SEASON OF MIRACLES. Opposites-attract sports romance! New beginning or new heartbreak? A shy nurse starts over in a small town after breaking up with a demanding celebrity. The last thing she wants is to fall for her patient’s grandson, a pro football player set on reaching sports glory.

SEASON OF JOY. A single dad, second chance romance with a plus-size heroine! A successful travel reporter returns home for the holidays, and sparks fly between her and her first crush, now a single father. When his youngest son writes a letter to God asking for a Mom for Christmas, she agrees to help him find the right woman. But can this reunion be a second chance for these best friends?

SEASON OF HOPE. Redemption romance! A single mother’s quiet life with her little daughter is disrupted when a notorious former football player moves next door. Angry and lost after forced retirement, he surprises himself by getting involved in a small community and falling for his redhead neighbor. Can they help each other heal, or will their hearts be broken again?

These books were previously published as solos. Several books were published in sets, except for SEASON OF AFFECTION, which is brand-new. This set contains religious themes. If this offends you, please steer clear. Everyone else, please read on!

my point of view:

I have been so blessed to have read each of the novels in this amazing Christmas set by Alexa Verde, and I would have to say my favorite one is….yeah, well, I can’t chose, lol! All of the stories have a strong faith based message, and of course a happily ever after!

Have you ever wanted to ‘disappear’ into a book? Well, this set will be right up your alley, a beautiful collecgtion of stories that all revolve around the holidays, what more could ask for? 

Alexa’s books always touch my heart, but the Christmas ones are just that much better, and to get them all in one boxed set (over 700 pages!) for just 99 cents is a gift you just can’t help but treat yourself to!

About Alexa Verde   

Want to win a $5.00 Amazon giftcard from Alexa Verde?? Then comment below and tell us what your favorite Christmas tradition is to enter! Contest wil run for two full weeks and winner will be notified via email!

 Alden’s Always: Tales from Biders Clump Book 14

Alden Quaide has known little more than hard work and life on the trail. A cowhand, wrangler, and bronc buster, Alden has seen a lot of the country, but he wants to see more. With a little savings, a good horse, and a spirit of adventure, he sets out to see the Nation’s first National Park and find his dreams. When a chance encounter with tragedy and responsibilities he never expected, Alden needs to find the closest port in a storm. Will he find what he needs in Biders Clump as his life of adventure turns to a life of care?

Clara Cuthbert has been quietly wasting away in her father’s stately home, but when he passes away leaving her everything, she knows adventure is on the horizon. Setting her affairs in order, the now independent Clara sets out to see the wonders her nation has to offer, but will a helping heart and a chance at love derail her plans?

Find out in this sweet clean historical western romance.

my point of view:

I just adored this book! This story is listed as number 14, but it is a stand alone sotry, as I have not had the pleasure of reading the previous 13 tales, but thoroughly enjoyed this story!

Alden is one of the sweetest hero’s I have come across in a long time, such a big heart he has! I could totally relate to his seeking out his dreams when he could….but how can you leave behind two precious children, even if they are perfect strangers!

Enter one Clara Cuthbert….she is one of my favorite new characters! I love historical stories where the heroine is not some helpless female, but strong and independent! Of course, being independently wealthy certainly doesn’t hurt, lol! Clara’s character is so down to earth and inspiring, one would never guess the lifestyle she was raised in. I simply adored how she wanted so much to help Alden, but still was able to allow him his dignity as a “man in charge”. 

I hope you all give this amazing story the opportunity to enter your heart as it did mine!

About Danni Roan    

Some of today’s best-selling Christian authors weave five completely new, unique, interconnected stories where once jilted lovers find worth more precious than gold.

Christmas Mercy by Jaycee Weaver
As the web of lies that kept Rob away from Vera and their daughter unravels, the months following his return test their capacity for mercy, forgiveness, and a second chance at love.

The Seven Year Glitch by Hallee Bridgeman
Seven years earlier, Timothy left Leanne at the altar stealing years of happiness. Leanne rescues him from a rooftop in a floodplain and it is clear there is much more to the story. Can their love redeem the hurts of the past to rescue their future?

Laughing All the Way by Lesley Ann McDaniel
When Jessica’s friends put her up to “fixing” their commitment phobic co-worker, Conner, she doesn’t take them very seriously. Conner doesn’t know whether to laugh at Jessica or tell her to mind her own business.

Ghosted at the Altar by Chautona Havig
After his fiancée, Brenna, abandons Mitchell on their wedding day, she insists she loves him and still wants to marry him. As truths come to light, her little sister, Lauren, turns sleuth to solve the mystery of why Brenna ghosted Mitchell at the altar.

Five Gold Rings by Amanda Tru
When three relationship-challenged couples wish for Christmas weddings, commitment coach, Oliver, teams up with a wedding planner, TeraLyn, to help make their marriage dreams come true.

my point of view:

I was so excited to see a new Crossroads collection come out! I have adored these books from the very first one, It is a great way to get a book by a favorite author or two, and get intoduced to some new authors as well! The best part of these collections, though, is the revisiting of some memorable places and characters!

This particular set has quickly become my favorite, each story can easily stand alone, but the theme throughout the books centers on second chances and having been “left at the altar” in one way or another. These stories deal with our own trust in God and others, and how to open our hearts again to reach out once more. I found it interesting how in some of these stories, both parties were the victims of ooutside sources who lied or manipulated things to cause a rift between the two main charachters. This is not always something yuou see in Christian Fiction, and it was handled quite beautifully by the authors in these instances.

The other common thread you need to find for yourself as you get to the final story, it really is a nice bonus that ties all of the books together! You really cannot pass up a boxed set like this one for only 99 cents, and if you haven’t read any of these authors yet, you are in for a real treat – of course if you are already fans of these amazing writers, then you certainly won’t want to miss these stories!

If you haven’t had the chance to read the Crossroads series, you can find them all right here:

The Cedar Key: A Small Town Southern Contemporary by Stephenia H. McGee

Could the key to Casey’s future be hidden in someone else’s past?

Casey Adams unexpectedly inherits an old Victorian house full of other people’s memories. Stuck in a quirky little Mississippi town, Casey’s hope for a fresh start died as soon she had to lay the grandmother she’d just met to rest.

But Grandma Ida carried secrets beyond the grave.

Before her death Ida carefully planned a trail of clues to help Casey unlock the Macintyre family secrets and finally explain why they abandoned her. But each of Ida’s letters will only come from Casey’s handsome—and often frustrating—new neighbor. As Casey pieces together the stories behind the objects filling her grandmother’s house, she embarks on a heart-stirring journey that rattles her foundations, ignites her faith, and leads her to a startling discovery that will reshape her future. But only if she can face the lies that have been slowly tearing her apart.

my point of view:

Such a lovely story of a woman searching to belong… I especially enjoyed the glimpses into the past as Casey made her way through all the “steps” her grandmother left behind for her. 

I was blessed to get a copy of this amazing story and enjoyed every moment of it! I just knew this was my type of story, from the Victorian era home I have always dreamed of having, to a true ancestry going back for many years!  Stephenia always does an an amazing job of story telling in all her historical novels, I was so excited to get to be an early reader for this new contemporary!

Now I want to learn to quilt, lol! But, seriously, a truly amazing novel of finding yourself while looking into the past! I loved it!

About Stephenia H McGee:                                                          
Best-selling author of Christian novels, Stephenia H. McGee writes stories of faith, hope, and healing set in the Deep South. When she’s not twirling around in hoop skirts, reading, or sipping sweet tea on the front porch, she’s a homeschool mom of two boys, writer, dreamer, and husband spoiler. Visit her at www.StepheniaMcGee.com for books and updates.

Marry Me for Real, Cowboy: a fake engagement Montana Ranches Christian Romance (Cavanagh Cowboys Romance Book 1)

A desperate kiss results in a fake marriage proposal from a hunky rodeo cowboy in this Montana Ranches Christian Romance.
Adam Cavanagh’s rodeo championship tastes like dirt after a competitor’s critical injury, but going home to his family’s Montana ranch isn’t much of an improvement. If not even the coveted trophy earns his stepfather’s respect, what will it take?

Riley Dunning’s quick thinking is all that’s keeping her body, soul, and principles together, but demanding a kiss from a hunky cowboy to deter the weirdo following her might be taking things too far… especially when the cowboy comes up with a risky plan that might offer them both stability. If it doesn’t backfire completely.

Will a fake engagement give Adam and Riley the leg up they each need, or will the cost to their hearts be too high? Because neither believes the other will want to marry them… for real.

About the Cavanagh Cowboys Romance series

The Cavanagh brothers might be rivals in many ways, but at their ranch? There they cowboy up, keeping the horses fresh, the cattle in tip-top condition, and their twin teenage sisters (mostly) out of trouble. Romance comes knocking at Rockstead Ranch — not once, but six times — in this Montana Ranches Christian Romance series.

my point of view:

Okay, you all know that Valerie is one of my favorite author’s of all time, but in all honesty, it is an absolute honor to be able to post this review on my blog and for Celebrate Lit!

There is always something fun about pretend romance stories, but it is even more so when the couple are complete strangers! I mean, how in the owrld can they convince people they are engaged when they know nothing about one another?

I’ll be the first to admit, I never really thought cowboys were my thing, having grown up a city girl and all, but just like the series this story sprang from, I have grown to love them. Valerie Comer has such a way with words….and getting to the very heart of character’s…that you can’t help but be pulled in to the story on going for the ride! You always know there will be a great happily ever after, I mean, it’s Christian Fiction, right? What I really love though, is how Valerie grows the characters within the story and makes you yearn for more! 

This journey takes us to through ranch life, sibling rivalries, family strife….and of course Faith. We had glimpses of the Cavanaugh famile from Saddle Springs series, but this first book really takes you into the center of the family, and you find yourself wanting to learn all about Adam’s parent’s history and what about the rest of the siblings? Good thing Valerie Comer plans to keep writing this series, asn I cannot get enough of them!

About Valerie Comer            

She’s waiting for her someday. He thinks his has already come and gone.

After spending the past five years caring for her ill grandfather, Grace Calvano is eager to honor his memory by turning his stately old house in Hope Springs into a bed-and-breakfast. All she has to do is fend off her mama, who keeps pressuring her to come home to Tennessee, marry the new youth pastor, and start raising a passel of children. Sure, Grace wants to settle down and marry someday. But only when God sees fit to send Mr. Right her way. Until then, she’s content to wait.

After a career- and relationship-ending injury, former NFL quarterback Levi Donovan is sure his someday has already come and gone. Returning to Hope Springs for the summer to help out at his dad’s construction company is not his idea of a bright future. But maybe it will be a chance to make up for lost time with his brother—and to make his dad proud at last.

The day Levi shows up to help renovate her bed-and-breakfast, Grace is sure of one thing—she and God must have gotten their wires crossed when she asked him to send Mr. Right to her doorstep. Because the motorcycle-riding, football-playing bad boy is the very definition of Mr. Wrong.

But as they get to know one another, Grace is challenged to rethink everything she thought she wanted. Can she and Levi move past their own plans to let God give them the someday neither has dared to hope for?

my point of view:

I just adore books in a series, it is so fun getting to know people and a place until you feel like you are a part of the story! This is how I feel about Hope Springs. Valerie brings this community to life and the characters are so real I feel as though I could visit and spend time with them all! With each new book I think oh, now this one is my favorite, lol, and truthfully, they are all wonderful! There has always been something in each of her books that makes me feel like Valerie wrote it just “for me” lol, and this case is no different.

As most of you know I am a huge football fan, so Levi jumped off the page for me perfectly. What most people don’t know is that since I was a young girl, I had always harbored a secret dream of running a B&B – in Wisconson too – and so this book fit me to a ‘T’. In fact, it was book I read many – many – years ago about turning an old house into a B&B in Door County that stayed with me all these years. Reading this story of Grace and Levi brought all of that back to me and then-some.

I simply adore the way Valerie brings such a powerful message of faith and God into all of her writings, and for that I am forever grateful. Anytime I can read a story and it has me running to my Bible to read more scripture is a win-win for me, and it will be for you too! If you haven’t read any of her Hope Springs books, I highly encourage you to do so – right away, lol! Currently Not Until Someday is only $0.99, so you should click here and take advantage of that pricing before it changes!

About Valerie M. Bodden       

Valerie M. Bodden has three great loves: Jesus, her family, and books. And chocolate (okay, four great loves). She writes emotion-filled Christian fiction that weaves real-life problems, real-life people, and real-life faith. Her characters may (okay, will) experience some heartache along the way, but true to her tendencies as a hopeless romantic, she will always give them a happy ending. Valerie is living out her happily ever after with her high-school-sweetheart-turned-husband and their four children in snowy Wisconsin. Visit her at www.valeriembodden.com to get your free short story today.

Show Me a Marriage of Convenience

An ex-player cowboy with a little son, the boy’s shy plus-size aunt, and a reluctant modern marriage of convenience only the boy is excited about… A sweet, clean, wholesome romance with a happily-ever-after!

After three near-death experiences in one day-okay, maybe burning dinner and falling from a tree shouldn’t count-Kade Clark worries about his son’s future if he’s not around to protect him. The last thing he wants is for his son to become a bargaining chip between a con artist grandfather and a ruthless ex trying to get their hands on the family fortune. So Kade agrees to a crazy proposal from the woman his child adores. But as a former foster kid, Kade learned to walk away before getting hurt. Can he now learn to stay and love?

Heather Johnson dreams of a real marriage with the man her sister abandoned, not a fake one. But the rumor is Kade might leave their small town again and take her darling nephew with him. She’s reluctant to trust a womanizer-husband or not. If she allows love for him to ignite her heart, will her marshmallow-soft heart become roasted and burned?

Cowboy Crossing Romances series set in a small town in the Show Me State is about curvy forty-something women and the swoon-worthy single dad cowboys who love them, though sometimes those rugged handsome men might need a nudge-or a push.

my point of view: 

Okay, you guys know me well enough to know how much I adore books with children, but this story is soooo wonderful and I absolutely adored these characters! Heather is such a brave soul to put her heart on the line in trying to keep her promise to her dad and keep her heart intact at the same time! I have no idea how ard it would be to contstanly be living in the shadow of your own sister, but Heather has a heart so big you cannot help but fall in love with her. If only Kade would open his eyes, lol! Both of these charachters have a lot of growing to do, and trusting God is the key to it all.

Alexa has a beautiful way of bringing the people to life right off the page and making you feel as if you are right there with them in every situation. It’s so refreshing to read a story about characters closer to 40 then their teens, and a plus size heroine is always fun! I am so excited over this new series from Alexa and cannot wait to read more of these stories form the Show Me state!

About Alexa Verde       

Glimpses of God: a summer devotional for women

Spiritual Seasons are like Natural Seasons

Creator God made the world in which we live. He placed the moon and stars in the sky, the rivers and oceans on the earth. He also created seasons throughout the year. Each season is defined by specific features and attributes that are common.

As Christ-followers we experience spiritual seasons. Though these seasons do not come in order like seasons in nature, each spiritual season we experience is defined by certain features also.

This devotional is focused on summer—both calendar and spiritual. Our spiritual summer is a time of growth, hard work, and relaxation as we nurture and care for the new things that were planted in our spiritual spring and allow them to ripen or mature.

This book is a part of the four-book Glimpses of God devotional series.

my point of view:

This is a lovely devotional, I am so blessed to have been given this ebook for review. I found myself truly able to get more out of my daily bible reading and more thought provoking insite into my devotioans as well. I truly found myself thinking about bits and pieces of what I read all day long, and even days afterward something would trigger my memory.

I also enjoyed the way it was based on a season of the year, we all go through seasons in our life, and this brought the devotional even more to life for me. I look forward to reading more of these devotionals from these lovely authors!

About Shirley Crowder     

The Crushing Depths 

When an accident claims the life of an oil-rig worker on the first drilling platform off the North Carolina coast, Coast Guard investigators Rissi Dawson and Mason Rogers are sent to take the case. Tensions surrounding the oil rig are high and the death has everyone on edge. Environmental activists are threatening to do whatever it takes to stop the structure from being completed, while rumors are being whispered about ancient curses surrounding this part of the ocean.

Mounting evidence shows the death may not have been an accident at all. Was he killed by one of the activists or, perhaps more frighteningly, a member of his own crew? Rissi and Mason have to sort through not only a plethora of suspects, but also their own past and attraction to each other.

Just as the case seems like it’ll break open, worse news arrives. A tropical storm has turned their way and soon they’re cut off from any rescue–and right where the killer wants them. It’s a race to discover his identity before he eliminates the threat they pose.

my point of view:

This is my first book by Dani Pettrey – but I can promise you, it will not be my last!. There was a lot of action packed suspense throughout the entire book, and this really kept me on the edge of my seat. One of the main things I liked about the story is the element of faith in every aspect. Nearly all of the characters are Christians, and they show that in their daily lives.

Rissi and Mason make for a great romantic component to the story. For me, the romance did not seem over powering, the suspense and mystery took precedence with the romantic entanglements more of a side story. Don’t get me wrong, the romance is sweet, and the glimpses into their shared childhood simply touched my heart. I really adored seeing their relationship come full circle.

The mystery of the “cursed” oil rig was quite interesting and complex, I kept thinking it was headed in one direction, then the author turns it around on you, which is a great thing for me. I am not much of a fan if I can figure out the plot too early, and this story had me going to nearly the very end! The author does leave openings for future stories involving this group of co workers / friends, and I am looking forward to reading about them when they come out!

About Dani Pettrey    

Penelope Hunter loves her job as the events manager at one of Savannah’s premier historic venues–until her ex-fiancé walks into her office with his new bride-to-be. To make matters worse, a scheming social matriarch is intent on seeing Penelope fired, especially if she insists on being seen with Tucker Westbrook.

Since returning from serving two tours in the Middle East, Tucker has built a thriving security company. His work is nearly as stabilizing as his friendship with Penelope, who has been by his side since childhood. But when the lone candidate for county sheriff goads him, Tucker loses his cool and ends up on the ballot–and on the receiving end of a smear campaign claiming the Westbrooks were traitors to the South.

To clear his name, Tucker and Penelope must join forces to find the truth behind a 150-year-old lost treasure. But the more time they spend together, the closer she comes to losing her job–and falling helplessly in love.

my point of view:

Oh my goodness, I cannot tell you how excited I was to finally get to read this story! I just love the whole series Liz Johnson has done for Savannah – one of my favorite places in the world!

This third installment truly is one of the best! I adored both Penelope and Tucker from the very first page, and they are the sweetest of friends together. The beauty of their shared history and love for one another is just heart warming. They way they would do anything for one another is so special, I can almost see why they’d be afraid to lose this amazing friendship by bringing romance into the relationship, lol! But, hey, this is a romance novel, sooooo…..

Now, add to this delicious mix a real life treasure hunt through historic Savannah! What a treat this novel is! Reading how they explore all the historic streets and squares throughout Savannah makes me want to plan my next trip to this beautiful city! I love history, and I love family ancestral plots, so getting a glimpse of what life was like for a Southern family during the Civil War in the diary and letters they find was almost like getting two books in one.

I highly encourage you to grab this new release as soon as possible, you do not need to have read the previous two in the series, as this stands alone quite well, but they are a treat to read too!

About Liz Johnson