Title: A Home for Christmas Author: Katie Eagan Schenck Genre: Contemporary Christmas Romance
Brad has just one wish this Christmas: to find a real home. Having lost his parents before joining the Marines, he misses that sense of belonging and family. When he meets an introverted flight attendant on his journey to start his civilian life, he wonders if this might be his chance.
After a messy divorce, Shelly has decided the only person allowed within the brittle walls of her broken heart is her daughter, Lilly. At least, until she meets a friendly man who hails from her hometown while working a routine flight. When she learns he needs a place to stay, she offers the apartment over her garage out of the kindness of her heart – and her desperate need for extra cash.
Even as Brad endears himself to Shelly by saving the town’s Christmas pageant, she attempts to keep her distance to protect the fragile stability she’s built since her divorce. But Brad’s willingness to walk the fine line between what Shelly’s heart wants and what her head allows slowly wears down her resolve. And when Brad receives a job offer near the only family he has left, Shelly must decide whether she’s willing to risk her heart again before he leaves her home, and her life, for good.
“Shopping at the store, helping to unload the car, breakfast and the dishes this morning, offering to help with the pageant.” Shelly ticked off the considerate things he had done for her in his short time at her home. A laugh bubbled up in her throat. “And not pressing charges for colliding with you!”
“Well, the statute of limitations hasn’t run out on that last one yet. But in all seriousness, I’m happy to help. I like to be useful. Lilly gave me the sheet music for the pageant, and I plan to spend some time today going over it.” He followed her into the house and set the bags down in the kitchen. “I hope I didn’t make things awkward for you, though.”
“Awkward?” Shelly asked, puzzled. “How would you have made things awkward?”
“At the store, with Donna?”
Heat rose in her face, and Shelly pivoted toward the counter to hide it. “Oh. That.” Her fingers fumbled with the bags as she sorted through them. “I used to be more of a regular at the store when I was married, and I guess I got to know Donna pretty well. Her husband is also the mayor, so we see each other a lot at town events. She noticed when my visits became more sporadic and my groceries lighter, even though I never actually said anything. It didn’t take long for word to spread about the divorce.” She focused on unpacking the groceries and putting them away. “But you did nothing wrong. I honestly hadn’t even considered how it might look to bring you until she started talking.”
“I take it you haven’t brought many other men grocery shopping with you?”
Her hand froze midway to a shelf. Was this his way of asking if she was dating anyone? Wary, she glanced at him. “I, uh, I don’t normally have company when I go shopping, except Lilly.”
“Then I’m honored.” His blue eyes were sincere.
She resumed her work of restocking her kitchen, though her heartbeat irregularly in her chest. It was such a strange question to be asked, and yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling there was a deeper meaning behind it and his response. Her head was spinning as she put the rest of the groceries away.
“I think I’ll head back to my room and try to make heads or tails of the pageant music. Come and get me when Lilly gets home, and I’ll be happy to play lumberjack.” With a charming smile, Brad took his share of the groceries and headed back to his room, leaving Shelly to overthink their entire conversation.
Debut author, Katie Eagan Schenck, writes sweet romance that warms the heart and gives all the feels. When she’s not writing fiction, she’s either working on regulations for the federal government or binging Hallmark movies. She lives in Maryland with her husband, daughter, and their three cats.
“When a Chaos mage fights, only blood and scorched earth remain.”
Mage War Chronicles
Some victories are more costly than others, and Ina was the one that paid the price.
Determined to rescue her dragon, the newly appointed royal witch embarks on a gruelling journey through the wintery Grey Mountains. The weather is not her only obstacle, as the enemy forces gathered in the kobold mines have only one goal.
To capture the Chaos mage and deliver her to the heart of the mountain.
With the help of Sa’Ren, Ina arrives at Castle Liath almost unscathed, but her joy is short-lived, as its granite walls hide a shocking revelation.
With blossoming love shattered by a possessive dragon’s claim and an impossible mission to fulfil, will the mysterious Blessing of the Mountain help or hinder her efforts to protect Cornovii?
Immerse yourself in the second book of Season’s War, where passion mix with cruelty and the world-changing power is buried deep in the ancient tomb guarded by the stern Mountain God.
They charged again, but Ina was prepared, and she released her vipers, one wrapping around her sword, another coiling around her, acting as a shield. Mar and Ren exchanged grins and attacked. The clash of steel from Ina’s sword parrying Mar’s attack was a sharp counterpoint to the hiss of magic as Ren’s strike was repelled by the viper protecting her body. Her protagonists instinctively controlled their assault, allowing Ina to learn how to fight, but she was soon sweating and panting from wielding both magic and sword in combat. Too proud to stop, Ina fought on, despite waves of dizziness and nausea, barely hearing the cheers from their audience. Just on the brink of fainting, a sudden commotion interrupted the sparring.
‘My chickens! A beast is eating my chickens!’
A serf from the household ran onto the training field and pleaded with Alleron.
‘My lord, help us. A beast is eating the chickens.’
Ina was trying to catch her breath, and the servant’s words made little sense, but she followed everyone as they followed the lord of Liath and the distraught woman.
As they arrived at the kitchen garden, Ina skidded to a halt, eyes wide in shock at the sight of her horse, perched on the poultry house like an animated gargoyle, watching the panicked chickens run around, occasionally snatching one when it came too close, consuming it messily and with great enthusiasm. Before she could collect her thoughts, two soldiers approached the horse and tried to grab its reins, but with a disdainful shake of her head, Zjawa twisted around and leapt over their heads, trotting happily over to Ina to beg for a cuddle.
Ina looked at her ‘horse’, who dropped a half-eaten chicken at her feet, shook her mane, and whinnied happily. The witch sighed deeply and looked down. As her gaze rested on Zjawa’s feet, Ina frowned, perplexed, watching her mount pawing at the ground. Her horse had five toes where a hoof should be, each ending with a sharp talon that easily tore through the grass underneath. Ina looked at the other feet, studying the bunched fingers, their claws almost like a normal hoof.
‘What the hell are you?’ the witch asked, looking at the horse, her question met with an amused animal stare.
‘She is an orein.’ Ina heard Alleron’s mournful voice behind her and turned around to look at him. The witch noticed Ayni heading in their direction with an unreadable facial expression.
The dragon nodded respectfully to the horse, taking a long look at the mare before turning to Ina.
‘Care to tell us how a mere human earned the blessing of the mountains?’ Ina’s head snapped up at those words, and a chill ran down her spine when her gaze met the assessing stare of the dragoness.
Olena Nikitin is our pen name. We are an enthusiastic couple of writers who are fascinated by the fantasy/paranormal romance genre and decided to write a book we would love to read
Behind the Pen name:
Olga – is Polish, armed with a wicked sense of humour and typical Slavic pessimism she is the wicked witch from the East. She has written stories since childhood, initially mostly about her work. As an emergency physician, she always has a story to tell and often not much time to write.
Mark is a typical English gentleman whose charm, refined taste and an impressive collection of books were tempting enough to make Olga leave her homeland. Don’t tease him too much; this man has an impressive sword collection and he knows how to use it. He also can fix everything, including Polish syntax in English writing.
He’s a billionaire set on escaping the holidays and his demanding family. She’s a single mom with a sunny smile who keeps her heart safely hidden. When she makes him her personal Christmas project, what could possibly go wrong?
Gabe Gatlin would do anything to evade the obligatory family holiday hobnobbing that is nothing more than one horrible business event after another, all wrapped up with a gaudy Christmas ribbon. Then the opportunity arises to explore a property in the small town of Summer Creek, Oregon, and gives him the idea to run away for the holidays. This year, he’s skipping Christmas. All he has to do is hide out until January in the quirky little town where the residents have dubbed him Grinchy Gabe. But when a delightful woman starts making his sleigh bells jingle, he might find it impossible to avoid losing his three-sizes-too-small heart.
Single mom and waitress, Dani Latham, has two priorities: give her son the stable life she never had, and spread joy to her friends and neighbors in Summer Creek. When a stranger with a grinchy attitude sits at her table, she makes it her personal mission to make him smile. As she guides him into a flurry of Christmas festivities, she starts to wonder if this grounch’s heart will ever return to normal size. And even worse. . . if it does, who is going to save hers from breaking when he leaves?
Will a little Christmas magic and wonder bring these two lonesome people together?
Discover the joys of the season mixed with humor, holiday fun, and moments that tug at your heartstrings in this sweet contemporary Christmas romance.
“Mr. Sinclair?” Gabe asked, shocked to see the owner of the chain of stores standing right there in Summer Creek. “Jon, is that you?”
The older man looked at him, blinked a few times, then grinned. “Well, I’ll be. Gabe Gatlin. What in the world are you doing in Summer Creek? According to the gossip, you’ve disappeared and are in a rehab center in Europe.”
“Seriously?” Gabe asked, not at all surprised by the stories society’s wagging tongues spread.
Jon leaned closer to him and grinned. “Actually, my wife spoke to your mother a week or so ago. Jacqui told her you’d run away from home and refused to talk to anyone unless it was an emergency email. Is that true?”
Gabe shrugged. “That about sums it up.”
Jon laughed and slapped him on the back. “Son! You are forty-two. You don’t get to run away from home at your age.”
Gabe grinned and waggled an eyebrow. “Oh, yes, I do. It’s been the single best thing I’ve ever done.”
Jon shook his head. “I’d think you’re in the midst of a midlife crisis, but instead of cheating on a wife you don’t have or buying a sports car you don’t need, you ran away from home. How are your father and Monique handling it?”
“About like you’d expect. Monique calls at least once a day with a snotty message about fulfilling my family obligations and returning home immediately. Dad has threatened to fire me, disown me, or have a hit put out on me if I don’t, to quote him, ‘get your head back on straight and return posthaste.’ What he fails to remember is that Grandpa left the realty division to me, not the company. I elected to have a board, but ultimately Daniels Realty belongs to me, and there is nothing Dad or Monique can do about it.”
“So, what brought you to Summer Creek?” Jon asked with interest.
“One of the things my father has been doing lately that is causing any number of issues is insisting Chadwick cut back expenses. Of course, Chadwick is like an obedient lapdog, doing whatever good ol’ Dad tells him to do. He came to my office one morning with a file on a property we’ve been maintaining for years, but no one knew where it was or what it was. I did some research and discovered it was my grandmother’s childhood home here in Summer Creek. When I couldn’t take another minute of Monique’s holiday plans, I basically disappeared. I’d sure appreciate it, sir, if you didn’t mention to your wife—who will surely tell my mother—that I’m in Summer Creek.”
“My lips are sealed, but you might want to at least get in touch with your mom.” Jon gave him a look of fatherly wisdom. “Jacqui sounded quite worried about you. Even billionaire playboys need to be home for Christmas.”
A gasp behind him made Gabe spin around and look at Dani as she gaped at him. “Billionaire?” she asked on a breathless wheeze. “You’re a billionaire?”
Gabe shrugged. “That’s what my accountant tells me.”
USA Today Bestselling Author Shanna Hatfield writes sweet romances rich with relatable characters, small town settings that feel like home, humor, and hope.
Her historical westerns have been described as “reminiscent of the era captured by Bonanza and The Virginian” while her contemporary works have been called “laugh-out-loud funny, and a little heart-pumping sexy without being explicit in any way.”
When this farm girl isn’t writing or indulging in rich, decadent chocolate, Shanna hangs out with her husband, lovingly known as Captain Cavedweller. She also experiments with recipes, snaps photos of her adorable nephew, and caters to the whims of a cranky cat named Drooley.
