Grab your mug of hot chocolate, your favorite fuzzy blanket, and get ready for a dose of holiday spirit! Here are three connected, sweet holiday romances set in charming Christmas Town where local legend has it that a kiss beneath the gazebo on the town square during the holiday season means a wedding in the new year.
Book Description
Welcome to Christmas Town, Maine!
The Banning siblings are in need of a little magic this holiday season, the kind that brings love and happy-ever-afters. There’s Jack, a trauma surgeon who would prefer working to dealing with memories of his time in service. Then there’s Callie, a grade school teacher who’s trying to fill the void left by her mother and volunteering too much around town. And finally, there’s Nick, one of the town’s handymen. He’s got an unrequited crush on the owner of The Tea Pot and is going to great lengths to get a date with her this Christmas.
This set kicks off the Heartwarming Christmas Town series which has over 60 connected sweet romances, all written by Harlequin Heartwarming authors (past & present). Be sure to check out our companion series – The Christmas Carousel (The 12 Days of Heartwarming Christmas) – featuring one novella and 12 full-length holiday romances. These books, also set in Christmas Town, feature the restoration of a carousel and preparation for a Christmas wedding.
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
CHRISTMAS, ACTUALLY (Christmas Town, Maine series) by Anna Adams, Melinda Curtis, and Anna J. Stewart is a trio of sweet holiday romance novellas featuring three siblings living in Christmas Town, Maine. This Christmas may be the one where they will finally meet the person they want to kiss beneath the mistletoe in the gazebo and fulfill the local legend.
The Banning siblings have all grown up in Christmas Town, but they all have led very different lives.
In the first novella, The Christmas Gift by Anna Adams, Dr. Jack Banning has come home to work as a trauma surgeon in the local hospital after years of service in Afghanistan. Since he has been home, he has buried himself in his work rather than deal with his memories. Sophie Palmer is on her way to Bangor to try to reconnect with her mother and work in a less stressful job than the ER since she is going to be a single mom. After she is hit by on oncoming car, her reflexes kick in and she saves the other driver’s life until Jack and the hospital’s Life Flight arrive. Jack is instantly attracted to Sophie and recognizes her PTSD symptoms. Will Sophie be able to share with Jack and take a chance on an instant attraction or will Jack’s own reticence to share keep them apart.
The second novella, The Christmas Wish by Anna J. Stewart, has Callie Banning trying to fill everyone’s expectations and requests for help over the Christmas season, since her mother is away. Callie is a second-grade teacher and has duties of her own, but she just cannot say “no”. When Callie calls in single father, Dean Galloway about his daughter Eliza’s problems with all things Christmas, she wants to help get to the reason rather than punish her. Dean is a free-lance photographer who is constantly on the move with Eliza in their RV home since his wife’s death three years ago. They have their work cut out for them because Eliza no longer believes in Christmas wishes.
In the third novella, The Christmas Date by Melinda Curtis, Nick Banning is a divorced father of one young son and the town handyman. He has never felt as accomplished as his siblings who all have college degrees, but he has a dream of getting his contractor’s license and restoring historic homes. He has had a crush on Gina Vernay, the owner of The Tea Pot since they were young. Gina had an accident that left a scar on her face and has eroded her confidence around people. When Nick discovers Gina has gone on a dating website, he replies, and they share things they haven’t in person. Nick is learning that people believe in him more than he does himself and he wants Gina to realize she is more than her scar that he just considers a part of her. Nick and Gina have the same dreams if they are willing to rely on each other and bravely face the future together.
I enjoyed this trio of novellas so much! I do not normally give novellas five stars, but these three stories have beautifully fully drawn characters and realistic scenarios all leading to heartfelt HEAs. They are the perfect sweet quick reads to get you in the mood for holiday romance.
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About the Author
Anna Adams was in the US Navy, also working on a business degree full-time, when her first child was born. That little guy changed her life–created priorities. She wanted her children to grow up, believing they could do the most unlikely things.
Like writing–which she’d done since she was old enough to force someone to listen to stories and then old enough to pick up a pencil and a piece of paper.
She switched to an English degree–and ignored her husband when he asked if she planned to “open an English store,” and eventually found jobs doing any kind of writing. And she learned to write books.
Twenty-something books later, she’s a USA Today Bestseller, and she’s still believes in unlikely things. Like true love that everyone can believe in.
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About the Author
Prior to writing romance, award-winning, USA Today Bestseller Melinda Curtis was a junior manager for a Fortune 500 company, which meant when she flew on the private jet she was relegated to the jump seat—otherwise known as the potty. After grabbing her pen (and a parachute) she made the jump to full-time writer. Between writing sweet romance and sweet romantic comedy, Melinda finds time to bond with her husband over home remodeling projects. She recently came to grips with the fact that she’s an empty nester and a grandma, concepts easier to grasp than jet-setting on a potty.
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About the Author
A geek at heart, USA Today and national bestselling author Anna J Stewart writes “refreshingly unique, quietly humorous, and profoundly moving romance.” (RT Book Reviews) Her books include The Butterfly Harbor series for Harlequin Heartwarming, along with the Blackwell continuity series. She also writes the Honor Bound series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense and has written in the ongoing Colton family saga. As her first love is paranormal romance, she’s published a number of novellas, including the Tome Wardens trilogy collection. EXPOSED, her first book of The Circle of the Red Lily romantic suspense series with CAEZIK Romance will be released in November of 2022. Readers can get a taste for what’s to come with her Nemesis Files Trilogy (light romantic suspense), available on audio through Scribd.
Anna lives in Northern California where she deals with a serious Supernatural & Jason Momoa addiction, surrounds herself with friends and family and tolerates two devious cats named Sherlock and Rosie.
