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Santa's Holiday Spectacular
by Fern Michaels
Christmas is so much more than tinsel, lights, and mistletoe. For onetime high school pals Amy, Frankie, Rachael and Nina, being together for the holidays has become a cherished tradition, whether they're taking a trip or staying close to home. There's something special about giving back during the holiday season too, which is why Frankie is so dismayed when she learns that Salvation Army buckets are being pilfered all over town. Amy, Rachael, and Nina quickly agree to help her track down the thieves. It might not be their usual gathering, but it promises to be an adventure, especially when they bump into two women on a very similar quest.
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The Mistletoe Mystery: A Maid Novella
by Nita Prose
Molly the Maid has a whole new mystery to solve in this heartwarming novella from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid and The Mystery Guest. [Molly is] the most interesting (and endearing) main character in a long time.--Stephen King, on The Maid Molly Gray has always loved the holidays. When Molly was a child, her gran went to great lengths to make the season merry and bright, full of cherished traditions. The first few Christmases without Gran were hard on Molly, but this year, her beloved boyfriend and fellow festive spirit, Juan Manuel, is intent on making the season Molly's mofinst joyful yet. But when a Secret Santa gift exchange at the Regency Grand Hotel raises questions about who Molly can and cannot trust, she dives headfirst into solving her most consequential--and personal--mystery yet. Molly has a bad feeling about things, and she starts to wonder: has she yet again mistaken a frog for a prince? A heartwarming, magical story about the true spirit of the season, The Mistletoe Mystery reminds us that love is the greatest mystery of all.
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A Home for the Holidays
by Taylor Hahn
For wedding singer Mel Hart, the holidays have always retained a certain magic. Her mother Connie always managed to pull off spectacular Santa hijinx that convinced Mel to keep believing in Santa way longer than other kids. Those moments meant everything to Mel because the rest of the year, life was unpredictable because of her mother's alcohol use. But two weeks before Christmas, Mel gets a call from the hospital: her mother has died. Then a woman shows up on Mel's doorstep, claiming to be Connie's estranged best friend, promising to tell Mel a different narrative--one in which Connie was almost a famous country music star, if only a man hadn't gotten in the way. Instead of spending Christmas alone in her dead mother's lonely house, Mel agrees to stay with Barb for the holidays, finding herself in the middle of Barb's lovely but complicated family, uncovering secrets from the present and the past, while fighting an attraction to Barb's handsome but in-the-middle-of-a-divorce son--
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Holidays on Ice
by David Sedaris
David Sedaris's beloved holiday collection is new again with six more pieces, including a never before published story. Along with such favorites as the diaries of a Macy's elf and the annals of two very competitive families, are Sedaris's tales of tardy trick-or-treaters (Us and Them); the difficulties of explaining the Easter Bunny to the French (Jesus Shaves); what to do when you've been locked out in a snowstorm (Let It Snow); the puzzling Christmas traditions of other nations (Six to Eight Black Men); what Halloween at the medical examiner's looks like (The Monster Mash); and a barnyard secret Santa scheme gone awry (Cow and Turkey). No matter what your favorite holiday, you won't want to miss celebrating it with the author who has been called one of the funniest writers alive (Economist).
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A Christmas Duet
by Debbie Macomber
A solo holiday trip inspires one woman to rediscover her passion--and remember that, sometimes, duets are more fun--in this romantic Christmas novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber.A perfectly delicious Christmas bonbon of a novel.--Mary Kay Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of The Santa Suit and Bright Lights, Big Christmas Hailey Morgan's life has always revolved around music. She once had big dreams of becoming a professional songwriter, but the reality of life has led her to working as an assistant high school band teacher in Portland. As the holidays approach, Hailey dreads the annual tradition of spending Christmas with her family and dodging her mother's meddling questions about her love life. When Hailey's close friend offers her the use of her family's empty cabin for a rejuvenating solo holiday retreat, Hailey finally decides to do something to make herself happy. However, her arrival in the small town of Podunk, Oregon, is anything but peaceful when she discovers the cabin has been invaded by several wild animals. Luckily, Jay, the son of the town's main store proprietor--and an incredibly handsome and charming former musician to boot--is more than willing to help. Soon Hailey and Jay are nearly inseparable, chopping down and decorating a Christmas tree, sipping hot cocoa in front of a cozy fire, and best of all, playing music together. Jay's positive feedback and encouragement inspire Hailey to believe she might succeed as a songwriter after all. But even in her snow-dusted oasis, family holiday drama still finds Hailey, interrupting and threatening her newfound peace and confidence. Meanwhile revelations from Jay present complications of their own. Suddenly her Christmas paradise has become a winter storm and Hailey must weather through the challenges to stand up for herself and embrace the holiday spirit.
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It's a Wonderful Woof: A Chet & Bernie Mystery
by Spencer Quinn
Spencer Quinn's It's a Wonderful Woof presents a holiday adventure for Chet the dog, the most lovable narrator in crime fiction (Boston Globe), and his human partner, PI Bernie Little. Holiday time in the Valley, and in the holiday spirit--despite the dismal shape of the finances at the Little Detective Agency--Bernie refers a potential client to Victor Klovsky, a fellow private eye. It's also true that the case--promising lots of online research but little action--doesn't appeal to Bernie, while it seems perfect for Victor, who is not cut out for rough stuff. But Victor disappears in a rough-stuff way, and when he doesn't show up at his mom's to light the Hanukkah candles, she hires Chet and Bernie to find him. They soon discover that Victor's client has also vanished. The trail leads to the ruins of a mission called Nuestra Señora de los Saguaros, dating back to the earliest Spanish explorers. Some very dangerous people are interested in the old mission. Does some dusty archive hold the secret of a previously unknown art treasure, possibly buried for centuries? What does the Flight into Egypt--when Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus fled Herod--have to do with saguaros, the Sonoran desert cactus? No one is better than Chet at nosing out buried secrets, but before he can, he and Bernie are forced to take flight themselves, chased through a Christmas Eve blizzard by a murderous foe who loves art all too much.
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Christmas in Bethel
by Richard Paul Evans
From Richard Paul Evans, the New York Times bestselling author of The Christmas Promise and The Christmas Box--the most popular holiday tale since Tiny Tim (Newsweek)--a new novel celebrating the life-changing power of the holiday spirit. Leigh Beth Stilton has never liked the holidays. After growing up in an unstable home, escaping an abusive marriage, and witnessing daily tragedies as an EMT, Leigh just can't bring herself to care about Christmas cheer. In fact, she's so convinced she's not worth loving that one winter's eve, she decides she can't go on--until she comes across a book called Bethel and starts to read. Leigh is unfamiliar with the author, J.D. Harper, but his words speak directly to her. She's never felt so seen and understood, and this connection gives her the strength to carry on. She avidly reads every novel Harper has written, and when he comes to town for a book signing, she jumps at the opportunity to meet the writer who means so much to her. In a twist of fate, Leigh runs into J.D. in a coffee shop, and the two immediately click. Before she knows it, she's swept up in a whirlwind of fancy dinners, exciting travel, and the attention of the man whose work has been so meaningful to her. But she's leery after a lifetime of pain and when she discovers that J.D. hasn't been completely honest, her hopes are dashed. Can they find their way back to each other and can Leigh learn to trust her heart?
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A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Stories
by Charles Dickens
A delightful holiday collection that includes A Christmas Carol and other classic Charles Dickens Christmas stories. As much a part of Christmas as mistletoe and carolers, Dickens' A Christmas Carol was once read publicly on Christmas Eve each year by Dickens himself. This heartwarming tale continues to stir in us the same feelings of repentance, forgiveness, and love that transformed Ebenezer Scrooge from grumbling, Bah! Humbug! to sharing Tiny Tim's happy God bless us, every one! Dickens's other Christmas stories prove as rich as his most famous. A Christmas Tree describes a Victorian Christmas as seen through a child's delighted eyes. Christmas Dinner celebrates the reunion of a divided family, while the Christmas chapters from The Pickwick Papers move from the exhilaration of a Christmas wedding to a shivery ghost story that foreshadows the spirits seen by Scrooge. Warmly nostalgic and beautifully written, the Christmas stories of Charles Dickens deserve a very special place in our memories and our hearts.
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Murder on Mistletoe Lane
by Clara McKenna
American heiress Stella Kendrick and her husband, British aristocrat Viscount Lyndy Lyndhurst, prepare to celebrate their first Christmas together as newlyweds in Clara McKenna's latest historical mystery set in England's New Forest region at the turn of the 20th century.
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Three Holidays and a Wedding
by Uzma Jalaluddin
As strangers and seatmates Maryam Aziz and Anna Gibson fly to Toronto over the holidays--Maryam to her sister's impromptu wedding, and Anna to meet her boyfriend's wealthy family for the first time--neither expect that severe turbulence will scare them into confessing their deepest hopes and fears to one another. At least they'll never see each other again. And the love of Maryam's life, Saif, wasn't sitting two rows behind them hearing it all. Oops. An emergency landing finds Anna, Saif, Maryam, and her sister's entire bridal party snowbound at the quirky Snow Falls Inn in a picture-perfect town, where fate has Anna's actor-crush filming a holiday romance. As Maryam finds the courage to open her heart to Saif, and Anna feels the magic of being snowbound with an unexpected new love--both women soon realize there's no place they'd rather be for the holidays.
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