Hi Friends!

We are halfway through July! One of my favorite things of the last few years is the rising popularity of Christmas in July. From Christmas movies taking over the entire month of certain channels to Christmas decor sales in stores to this newsletter, Christmas is everywhere!

I wanted to take a special edition today to highlight these Christmas Historical Fiction novels! Maybe you can add a little bit of Christmas cheer to your sweltering summer days! I know I will be!

These first two are part of a five-book series by different authors called A Christmas Match.

Jen Geigle Johnson's A Sleighride Kiss

A man she disdains and a man she loves. What happens when she finds out they’re the same person?

Odette Goodson lives with her grandmother in the beautiful Cheshire County. This Christmas she wishes for caroling, snow, sleigh rides, plum pudding, and a lit yule log, with friends and neighbors all around. Her matchmaking grandmother wishes for her to marry the Marquis of Wilmington. She’s heard only unflattering things about him. To her grandmother's consternation, Mr. Wardly shows up on a country lane, a man who seems to be everything the Marquis is not.

Henry Wardly, the Marquis of Wilmington, arrives from the East Indies in Cheshire County six months after his mother’s funeral. Mourning her loss, with a new shipping line at stake, and his own estate to salvage, responsibilities in Cheshire county frustrate him and slow his progress. But he cannot help but be jolly at Christmas time particularly after he runs into the lovely Miss Odette Goodson. Things grow complicated when she confuses him for a gentleman farmer and has shown nothing but disdain for the heretofore unknown Marquis.

Grandmother Amelie Laurent Goodson will work her matchmaking magic, but will it be enough to overcome the strong prejudice in Odette’s preconceived notions or the immediacy of Henry’s needs to be in London?

Sally Britton's Mistletoe Mismatch

If Jessica and Ellis can put the past behind them to work together, it will be a Christmas miracle. Former childhood friends fight to end one relationship while trying not to fall into one of their own.

Christmas comes but once a year—a relief for Jessica Nettle, because that means she need only see the horrid Mr. Webb when he visits his cousin. Jessica has been at war with Mr. Webb for seven long years. What started as innocent pranks accelerated into a war. This year promises to be the worst of all, especially when Jessica learns that her sister is falling in love with that cousin. A match between the two of them would be a disaster.

Ellis Webb spends every Christmas in the country with his cousin. The holiday is one of the highlights of his year, despite the prickly Miss Nettle’s attempts to ruin it for him. This year, Ellis’s cousin has a mind to marry, and he’s looking with increasing interest at Miss Nettle’s younger sister. Such a marriage, with such a family, will surely end in disappointment and broken hearts. When Miss Nettle proposes to Ellis that they join forces to keep the ill-fated couple apart, he swallows his irritation and agrees to her plan.

Amid the merriment of celebrations, Jessica and Ellis scheme to keep two hearts apart. But as the days pass and the magic of season works upon Jessica, she realizes she may have lost her clever game—and her heart—to her enemy.

Cora Leland's Lakota Christmas

Tessa adores Lakota Warrior Red Eagle. But the money-obsessed fur trapper, Tow Head, humiliates the Warrior in public whenever he can. Red Eagle shines in Tessa’s eyes, unlike the two-faced Tow Head. 

The fur trapper spends all his money in saloons with card sharps and bar girls. Tow Head is sure he can force Tessa to marry him and he’ll get her father’s money. He’s tricked her folks, but not Tessa. She'll marry only Red Eagle!

At Christmas, her folks admire how Red Eagle’s Lakota family prepares Yuletide celebrations for Tessa and her kin. He and Tessa spend hours translating and his mother sews costumes and bakes. 

Whenever he can, Tow Head humiliates the warrior -- but not when Tessa’s folks can see! Will her folks stop trusting the cruel, scheming Tow Head? Will they bless her union with Red Eagle? Or will she become Tow Head's property?

Laura Rollins' Sugar Plums and Scandal

A reversal of fortune, two unsuspecting suitors, and a Christmas not to be forgotten.

Once the diamond of the Season, Lady Augusta is now left to face the consequences of her sister’s scandal and her family’s financial downfall. Desperate to rescue her loved ones from destitution, she resolves to sacrifice love for a marriage of wealth.

Mr. Jacob Hatcher, determined to lift his own family from poverty, learns of Lady Augusta’s plight, and her dowry. With a plan to help them both, he offers for Lady Augusta’s hand. But just as an agreement is about to be struck, Jacob’s cousin, the wealthy and charismatic Lord Bartlett, decides to contend for Lady Augusta’s attentions as well.

With so many futures on the line, Augusta arranges for both gentlemen to spend Christmas with her family. Yet what started as a calculated business arrangement swiftly descends into a chaotic tangle of emotions. Amidst swirling snowflakes and glittering holiday festivities Augusta finds herself torn between duty and the whispers of her heart. With yuletide magic weaving its enchantment around them all, can love defy reason this Christmas?

That's all from me today! Have a wonderful weekend!

Love,

Audrey