Christmas Literary Fiction

The intrepid women of The Hot Flash Club are back for the holidays, soothing jingled nerves and stressed shoppers in their exclusive spa and celebrating the joys of the season. In her witty and delightfully wisecracking prose, Nancy Thayer tells a heartwarming tale packed with fun, secrets, romance, and an ample dose of good cheer.

Dylan Thomas wrote "A Child's Christmas in Wales" in 1955, in which he recreated the atmosphere of Christmas Past as he remembered it. Each one of us will have similar memories of the glitter and the emotions of this time of innocence, plenty, fun, anticipation, and excitement.

**Holiday Heist** is a cozy mystery set in the charming town of Holiday Corner, Vermont. The story revolves around Celeste and Edwin, who are eagerly preparing for their wedding. However, their celebration takes on a deeper meaning when they decide to host a fundraiser in conjunction with their nuptials to support the Sutton family, who have fallen on hard times. As the town comes together to help, the excitement builds for what promises to be the biggest event Holiday Corner has ever seen. But the festive atmosphere is shattered when a priceless necklace, generously donated by the wealthy ...

The tales in Mark Haddon's lyrical and uncompromising new collection take many forms - Victorian adventure story, science fiction, morality tale, contemporary realism - but they all showcase his virtuoso gifts as a stylist and the deep well of empathy that made his three best-selling novels so compelling. The characters here are often isolated physically or estranged from their families, yet they yearn for connection.

For three years, Lady Veronica Smithson has been perfectly happy as a widow. Still, the right gentleman could provide the benefits of marriage without the tedious restrictions. And in Sir Sebastian Hadley-Attwater, renowned explorer and rogue, Veronica is sure she has found him. Sebastian will come into his inheritance in a matter of weeks - if his family deems him responsible enough. There’s no better way to prove his maturity than with a home and a wife. Veronica will share his bed, but she steadfastly refuses to marry....

What readers are saying... "As always, Sharon Srock delivers a suspenseful, loving, and beautiful story of real life in God’s hands. This series shows the love of God in the everyday life and trials of people doing their best to stay strong in their faith. How blessed we are, Ms Srock shares her tremendous talent with us!" Amazon reviewer SHE FINALLY HAS HER DREAM IN SIGHT. Maggie Hart hasn’t always made the best choices. When the life she was trying to build for her kids is derailed by charges of neglect, she found promise instead of despair. The promise of getting her kids back home ...

"A ghostly little book", said Charles Dickens of his famous Christmas novella, which first appeared in 1843. It has become the most famous classic Christmas story of all, with the miserly figure of Scrooge, the epitome of the callous employer; sadly crippled Tiny Tim; and the three spectres: the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future. This audiobook continues the award-winning series of Dickens' works read by leading English classical actor Anton Lesser.

In this wonderful novel about love and trust, hope and belief, Elizabeth Berg, the best-selling author of We Are All Welcome Here and The Year of Pleasures, transports us to Nazareth in biblical times to reimagine the events of the classic Christmas story. We meet Mary (young, strong, and inquisitive) as she first meets Joseph, a serious-minded young carpenter who is steadfastly devoted to the religious traditions of their people.

On a winter Saturday night in post-war Bristol, sisters Moira and Evelyn, on the cusp of adulthood, go to an art students’ party in a dockside pub; there they meet two men, Paul and Sinden, whose air of worldliness and sophistication both intrigues and repels them. Sinden calls a few days later to invite them over to the grand suburban mansion Paul shares with his brother and sister, and Moira accepts despite Evelyn’s misgivings. As the night unfolds in this unfamiliar, glamorous new setting, the sisters learn things about themselves and each other that shock them.

Gib Douglas has been on the road a long time, with no place to really call home. When he pays a Christmas visit to relatives in Sweetgrass Springs, the last person he expects to encounter is the girl he loved with all his heart, the girl who’d promised to marry him and love him forever…until she betrayed him and married someone else.

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.

Originally published in the 1876 Christmas edition of The Graphic, Christmas at Thompson Hall is a Victorian tale concerning the proper Mr. and Mrs. Brown and their journey from southern France to Thompson Hall to celebrate Christmas with their relatives - a trip that becomes a comedy of errors once Mr. Brown's throat condition, a malady that almost prevented the trip entirely, worsens.

In Holiday Corner, Vermont, with snowflakes dancing through the frosty December air, excited residents are placing the finishing touches on their annual Snowman Festival. This year, the festive holiday spirit is shattered when the town’s art gallery owner is found murdered two days before the festival is to begin. The man’s frozen body is discovered hidden beneath a carefully crafted snowman which has an uncanny resemblance to the deceased. As word spreads through the small town, twin sisters, Alexa and Aria, become the unwitting suspects. Several eyewitnesses claim they saw two figures...

London: The week before Christmas, 2007. Over seven days we follow the lives of seven major characters: A hedge fund manager trying to bring off the biggest trade of his career; a professional footballer recently arrived from Poland; a young lawyer with little work and too much time to speculate; a student who has been led astray by Islamist theory; a hack book reviewer; a schoolboy hooked on reality TV and genetically altered pot; and a Tube train driver whose Circle Line train joins these and countless other lives together in a daily loop.

What if the remarkable story of Ebenezer Scrooge was true? What if the account was relayed to Dickens, and he turned it into A Christmas Carol? What if the ghostly visitations did not begin or end with Scrooge, but the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and yet to come visit one misanthropic soul in need of reclamation every Christmas Eve? This modern-day sequel to the Charles Dickens classic assumes all of the above. And this time, the spiritual trio’s attentions have been directed to a not-so-nice woman in Philadelphia.

Who would ever guess that the beloved legend of Santa Claus involves a seldom-told tale of faith and friendship between two men -- one white and one black? Long ago, Santa Claus had an African partner named Pete and together they brought the spirit of Christmas to America's first settlers. These two forever changed the way families celebrate the holiday. But through the years, Pete's contribution was forgotten.

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!

Romance, joy, comedy and drama, Christmas In Meadowbank is a fun story following a modern lady who is bright and rich in character, but a recluse, spending her first festive holiday amongst strangers and the unknown. Having almost given up on ever finding her other half, Lucy takes a leap of faith and travels from California to Maine during a time when a small town is in need of a little boost of magic. A fictional romantic story with two tales. Upon the discovery of an old Victorian journal, Lucy is transfixed by the mystery of the Gilded Age, and is blessed by a strong connection to the ...

Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded shops, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That's just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they'll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on the street without a rooftop Frosty the Snowman; they won't be hosting their annual Christmas Eve bash; they aren't even going to have a tree. They won't need one, because come December 25 they're setting sail on a Caribbean cruise.

The 12 crimes of Christmas: Bart Sagan is a thief, yes, but more or less a good guy - at least, he wouldn’t rob an orphanage if he didn’t have to. Not at Christmastime, anyway. But then the local crime boss, Harry King, loses a shipment of drugs and orders Bart to burglarize the 12 addresses to which it’s been accidentally sent. Can Bart and his ragtag band of independent criminals keep their Christmas spirit while breaking and entering at the behest of a drug lord? Can they keep their lives if they don’t?