#Blogmas Book Spotlight | “For This Christmas Only” (Masterson, Texas, Book Three) by Caro Carson

Posted Monday, 7 December, 2020 by jorielov , , , , 0 Comments

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Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I am quite sure it won’t be too much of a surprise I like to seek out other imprints by Harlequin Books every so often throughout the year? I have sorted out my top favourites to read regularly are *Harlequin Heartwarming* & *Love Inspired: Suspense* however, this gives quite a bit of wiggle room to seek out their other imprints and find other authors who might be writing stories which are going unnoticed by me throughout the year as they’re writing under imprints I might not regularly have access too and/or have more trouble borrowing through ILL’ing (interlibraryloaning). This is one keen reason I enjoy hosting spotlights like this one today as it gives me a chance to know which authors I might want to seek out next and which stories I might fancy reading within their other imprints.

Harlequin Books has long held a curiosity of interest for me as a reader – as I’ve moved from different imprints to the ones I currently focus on reading the most out of – although, I still mourn the loss of Love Inspired: Historical. I also read a lot of Mira books in the past before settling on Heartwarming. Heartwarming to me held within its scope of writers and stories the kind of stories I was seeking out of Mira but didn’t always feel were executed the way I hoped they might be as a reader who loves relationship based romances. This is why the Romance and Special Edition imprints are on my radar as sometimes, I surprise myself and find a Heartwarming-esque story within their imprints as well.

I’ve only read a handful of stories by this particular imprint and am still sorting out if it is a good fit for me overall or if its just an imprint I’ll read every odd moon but keep with LI: Suspense and Heartwarming full time. I have an extract to share and a few takeaways after I read the extract to share with you as you decide if you want to pick up this title yourself, too.

If you’re a regular reader of Harlequin novels and imprints, which imprints are your top choices and favourites? Which writers and/or their series are making an impression on you as a reader and which do you think might be a wicked good fit for me as well? I’d love to hear your thoughts – especially if you read Heartwarming, Romance or Special Edition imprints by Harlequin on a semi-regular basis as you’d have the best feedback to share.

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#Blogmas Book Spotlight | “For This Christmas Only” (Masterson, Texas, Book Three) by Caro CarsonFor This Christmas
Subtitle: He was successful in business but not in love
by Caro Carson

He was successful in business but not in love in this great romance by USA TODAY bestselling author Caro Carson

His book changed her life…

But he no longer believes his own advice.

After nearly dying in a plane crash, business icon Eli Taylor has become a recluse, until a chance encounter at a small town’s Yule log lighting leads to an evening spent as the fake boyfriend of his superfan Mallory Ames. When she finds herself homeless for the holidays, he invites her to stay with him—if she’ll return the favor and be his fake girlfriend, so he can show his siblings what a loving partnership should look like. Their arrangement will end when the new year begins…or will it?

From Harlequin Special Edition: Believe in love. Overcome obstacles. Find happiness.

Genres: Christmas Story &/or Christmas Romance, Contemporary Romance, Romance Fiction



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781335894977

Published by Harlequin Special Edition

on 1st December, 2020

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The Masterson, Texas series:

The Bartender’s Secret (book one)

The Slow Burn (book two)

For This Christmas Only (book three)

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Published by: Harlequin Books (@HarlequinBooks)

Converse on Twitter via: #ChristmasReads and/or #HolidayReads
as well as #ChristmasRomance and #ContemporaryRomance

About Caro Carson

Caro Carson

Despite a no-nonsense background as a West Point graduate and U.S. Army officer, Caro Carson has always treasured the happily-ever-after of a good romance novel. After her military service, she worked in the healthcare industry with a Fortune 100 company, talking science with doctors who were rarely handsome bachelor Texans like the doctors in her books.

Now a USA Today bestselling author and RITA™ award winner, Caro is delighted to be living her own happily-ever-after with her husband (who actually is a handsome Texan) and their two children. They live in the great state of Florida, a location which has saved the coaster-loving theme park fanatics a fortune on plane tickets.

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Posted Monday, 7 December, 2020 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Blitz, Book Spotlight, Christmas Romance &/or Holiday Story, Contemporary Romance, Indie Author, Xpresso Book Tours

#Blogmas Book Spotlight | “Christmas Actually: Bite-sized Sweet Holiday Romance Reads” (anthology) [edited by] Teri Wilson

Posted Sunday, 6 December, 2020 by jorielov , , 0 Comments

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Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

If you’re a regular visitor of Jorie Loves A Story, you’ll notice I have a hearty affection for reading anthologies! Generally, those happen to be in the Speculative Fiction category of influence but I am known to pick up a Romance anthology every blue moon as well! Especially as it were those varieties which launched me into becoming a Romance reader all those lovely moons ago in childhood! Laughs. This particular anthology stood out to me because I am one of those readers who gets really enthused and excited about reading (or watching) Christmas Romances as soon as Thanksgiving concludes and Twelfth Night hasn’t yet reached us in January.

Christmas Romances are quite addictive because they are set during one of my favourite seasons of the year and I would daresay, my top favourite overall!! There is a fever of excitement and joy about Christmas and the pending New Year’s – where Hope is lit aflame and the unexpected delights of the season are just round the corner from enveloping you on your path. Christmas romances to me always have that little bit of something ‘extra’ to hold your eye and attention inside them. They have a way of developing a giddiness within them to keep your heart set on seeing how the story ends on a happier note than it first began and if something has to be resolved, all the better because what is more beautiful than redemption at Christmas?

Anthologies are a great way for me to sort out which authors I want to be reading and which author has a style of preference I prefer to seek out. This particular anthology is a digital first release (sadly, it seems I’ve picked more digital first releases this year than dual released stories!) which means I won’t be able to partake in reading the stories it contains. Once you read my reaction to the story in the extract on this post, you’ll see how disappointing that kind of news is for a reader like me whose just found an author she dearly wants to keep reading!!

I’d love to hear from you dear hearts – which kinds of anthologies do you love to read the most and have you ever picked up a holiday themed or romantic themed anthology? If so, whose the editor and publisher? Which stories/authors stood out to you and is it a habit of reading anthologies for you like it is for me or is it more of a random find and not one you chase after (like I do myself)!!?

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#Blogmas Book Spotlight | “Christmas Actually: Bite-sized Sweet Holiday Romance Reads” (anthology) [edited by] Teri WilsonChristmas Actually
Subtitle: Edited by Teri Wilson

Christmas actually is all around…

Join eleven best-selling and award-winning authors under the mistletoe as they share bite-sized holiday romances celebrating the joy and romcom sweetness of the Christmas season!

Genres: Christmas Story &/or Christmas Romance, Contemporary Romance, Romance Fiction



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ASIN: B08BH7XL6H

Published by Pretty Bliss Press

on 1st December, 2020

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The following are the stories you will find within “Christmas Actually”:

The Christmas Wedding Date by Shirley Jump

When Holly McDaniels gets roped into attending her hometown Christmas ball, she convinces her handsome neighbor, workaholic Nick Corvino, to play the part of husband, giving the bah humbug bachelor a taste of Christmas magic that just might lead to a very real holiday happy-ever-after.

Gingerbread and Jingle Bells by Caro Carson

A big-city businesswoman answers her grandma’s plea for holiday-rush help at the family bakery, only to find herself apologizing to the small town’s handsome veterinarian each time she thwarts her grandma’s matchmaking schemes—until she discovers the mastermind behind all the romantic plans wasn’t her grandma, after all.

A Merry Aussie Christmas by Stefanie London

Their relationship is so fake it comes with costumes… Will spending a whole month as Patterson’s Bluff’s official Mr. and Mrs. Claus give a golden girl and the town outcast a second chance at love?

Mission: Merry Christmas by Nancy Naigle

A physical therapist finds her client bah-humbugging the Christmas spirit out of everyone and decides to focus on getting him back on the nice list.

Christmas In Sweetland by Lacey Baker

A restless hometown girl strikes a deal with the uptight guy next door to win a neighborhood holiday decorating contest—but they’ll both need a little Christmas magic to survive missing cupcakes, broken twinkle lights and falling in love.

The Matchmaking Christmas Spirit by Lindsay Emory

An event planner and a handsome handyman keep getting thrown together by a matchmaking Christmas spirit who won’t stop meddling in matters of the heart.

Christmas Eve at the USO by Tif Marcelo

When former college sweethearts and Army soldiers reunite at the Dallas Airport USO during a Christmas Eve snowstorm, they try to ignore the love they lost—until the Christmas spirit decides to play Cupid, leaving them with no choice but to go after the love wished they still had.

A Midnight Clear by Victoria Schade

A dog sitter booked to spend the Christmas holiday caring for a client’s new puppy is surprised to discover that an approaching snowstorm has trapped her with the handsome man of the house.

Love Letters for Christmas by Sasha Summers

When a soldier decides it’s time to meet his long-time teacher pen pal, his visit to her classroom brings all sort of surprises—and might just give them their greatest Christmas gift ever: love.

A Snow Maiden for Christmas by Sariah Wilson

Christina and Jack were high school sweethearts until he left her behind to follow his dreams. Now he’s back and their meddling mothers are determined to give Christina and Jack’s former romance a second chance by forcing them to play roles opposite one another in their local winter festival.

A Merry Royal Layover by Teri Wilson

When a veterinarian traveling to a remote European village to volunteer at an animal shelter during the Christmas holidays gets an unexpected first-class upgrade, she meets a charming stranger in the airport lounge who may or may not be the country’s crown prince.

This is a Digital First Release by Pretty Bliss Press

Converse on Twitter via: #ChristmasReads, #HolidayReads, #anthologies
as well as #ChristmasRomance and #ChristmasActually

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Posted Sunday, 6 December, 2020 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Blitz, Book Spotlight, Christmas Romance &/or Holiday Story, Contemporary Romance, Indie Author, Xpresso Book Tours

#Blogmas | feat. #HarlequinHeartwarming | “A Christmas Proposal (Texas Rebels, Book Ten) by Linda Warren

Posted Saturday, 5 December, 2020 by jorielov , , , , 0 Comments

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Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

This #blogmas on Jorie Loves A Story you’ll find a lot of hearty varieties of stories being featured as I look into the genres I regularly love to read and have started to seek out finding #newtomeauthors within those genres I can look forward to reading in the New Year. As you might have already suspected the Harlequin Heartwarming imprint by Harlequin Books is one of my top favourites – year round without fail! I love setting my heart & mind into their series and one-offs, as the authors I find penning these stories are curating a wonderful landscape of relationship-based Romances which are my favourites to seek out! They write them with a heap of heart, a grounding of family and/or community (or both!) whilst giving me a lovely realistic backdrop of a story to soak inside!

There are loads of lovely Harlequin Heartwarming authors I haven’t yet had a chance to read and/or feature on Jorie Loves A Story. This December, I found a few I can spotlight and draw attention to during #blogmas and this is my first author I wanted to mention as my showcases this month start to get underway in full force. My readings have been a bit hit/miss as December began but I’m hoping before the middle of the month, I’ll be able to share some new reviews & discuss the stories I am currently reading and/or listening via audiobook as we move towards the Christmas and holiday season in full earnest.

What drew my eye to this story and the series which it is set inside is actually the *length!* of the series itself – 10 books strong!? Imagine!! I get as giddy as my Mum whenever I find a series which is fully in-progress and has been making keen strides with readers throughout the duration of the series. Longer series are a sweet joy for me because it means you can spend more time with the writer and their characters whilst getting to know every inch of their setting, community and which of the characters are going to come and go as new installments arrive in the series itself. It makes for a lot of lovely hours of reading and series as big as this one are a sweet find indeed!

Plus, I have a soft spot in my bookish heart for Christmas Romances & stories set at Christmas! After all, it wasn’t too many years ago where I first started to read the Coffeehouse Mysteries by Cleo Coyle by picking up “Holiday Grind” and finding myself so wholly enthused by what I found in that mystery that I immediately started to backread the whole series starting with “On What Grounds”. It is still a project I am undertaking today along with my readings of Aunt Dimity by Nancy Alterton as I discovered both series during the same year of 2008.

I find sometimes reading a Christmas installment in a series is a good footing on the development of the series and of where you expect to find the writer shifting the series forward. Sometimes their just a hoot to read and give you a bit of holiday licence to break your own mainstay preference (like mine!) of reading series in order! I know if I see this lovely at my library I’ll be picking it up to read!!

Curiously – when you come across a book series such as the Texas Rebels one I’m featuring today – do you get as wicked excited as I do about finding a series already in-progress where you can binge read the series OR would you prefer to find series which are just starting to gain traction within the first 1-3 stories?

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A Christmas Proposal by Linda Warren

A child’s Christmas wish…

Gives love a second chance

Becky Tullous has never forgiven boy-next-door Bo Goodnight for breaking her teenage heart. Now the SWAT sergeant is back in Horseshoe, Texas, and getting far too attached to her three-year-old daughter. Becky never wanted Bo in Luci’s life, but her developmentally delayed little girl is making great progress with him around.

Will Bo prove he’s worth a second chance this Christmas?

Add to LibraryThing | ISBN: 978-1-335-88998-0

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This series has 10 books inside it including:

Texas Rebels graphic provided by Prism Book Tours and is used with permission.

Be sure to visit her FantasticFiction page to find the full listing!

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Published by: Harlequin Heartwarming (@HarlequinBooks)
an imprint of Harlequin Books

Converse via: #ContemporaryRomance &/or #ChristmasRomance
as well #HolidayReads or #ChristmasReads and #HarlequinHeartwarming

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Posted Saturday, 5 December, 2020 by jorielov in #blogmas, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Spotlight, Christmas Romance &/or Holiday Story, Contemporary Romance, Prism Book Tours, Romance Fiction

#Blogmas Book Spotlight | “A Wedding Night in Twinkle Falls” (Twinkle Falls series, Book Two) by Freda Ann

Posted Thursday, 3 December, 2020 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

#blogmas badge created by Jorie in Canva.

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

As you know, I have a hankering for finding new Christmas Romances & Christmas stories every December – this particular story was an interesting find because it is a series in-progress and the extract I have to share with you brought back memories of a tv series I am currently binge watching which had seven seasons. I am currently in the fourth year and moving into the fifth. The hardest part of the series for me is the emotional upheavals you feel as you’re watching it because it is set and rooted in our modern world &  life; especially in the current events of the past decade and a half to where you can directly relate to the events happening in the series.

I love finding series which seek to talk about the condition of living through modern life but also how much courage it takes to find strength in the midst of the most unthinkable news being given to you as a mother and as a father. This series has truly tested me throughout the seasons I’ve been watching it because of the clarity of its scope for story and how well it has continuously followed the lead characters’ lives – each in turn, having their own set of adverse situations and circumstances to work through and always finding solace, serenity and friendship at the heart of what helps them heal through it all.

This particular novel touches on a moment I’ve lived out in the series I’m watching as I just went through the hardest hitting sequencing of episodes this far into it – where you just feel shattered and gutted because of how well the series was written, acted and produced. I hope the characters in this series of Twinkle Falls has the kind of support system the ‘Army Wives’ have themselves or if through the extract I am about to share with you, perhaps they can unexpectedly start to form a support system together.

Here’s to continuing to celebrate my wicked sweet adventure finding new Christmas Romances and stories set at Christmas throughout #blogmas 2020! Happy reading!

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#Blogmas Book Spotlight | “A Wedding Night in Twinkle Falls” (Twinkle Falls series, Book Two) by Freda AnnA Wedding in Twinkle Falls
Subtitle: A Twinkle Falls Novel
by Freda Ann

The couple you fell in love with in Christmas in Twinkle Falls (book one) are on their way to a HEA…or are they?

In this sweet, clean Hallmark style love story, you’ll get plenty more of the characters you fell in love with in the first book, to include Shelby the smart rescue dog!

After swoony Air Force Sergeant, Liam James, proposes to the love of his life, preparations for a wedding in two short months begin. But no wedding goes off without a hitch.

As Sophie starts planning, her son Cam, on the autism spectrum, experiences events that threaten the black and white world he lives in. Trying to maintain a peaceful existence for her family, Sophie’s world is rocked to the core once again when her fiancé leaves town.

Will she muster the strength to bring her future family back together so they can have their forever happiness?

Genres: Christmas Story &/or Christmas Romance, Contemporary Romance, Romance Fiction



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 979-8572472554

Published by Self Published

on 27th November, 2020

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This is a Self Published novel and series.

Available Formats: Trade Paperback and Ebook

Converse on Twitter via: #ChristmasReads, #HolidayReads, #CleanReads
as well as #ChristmasRomance and #TwinkleFalls

About Freda Ann

Freda Ann

Freda was born in southern New Jersey but grew up in Florida. She has loved writing her entire life. After retiring from a career in law enforcement, she knew it was time to fulfill her lifelong dream of being a published author.

She's the author of The Hawaii Series, proudly named from her love of the beautiful Hawaiian Islands. It's a three-book series with all of them written as standalone books.

Freda loves her large family, horses, dogs, cat, and close friends. She hosts monthly family dinners at her home in the country, which she shares with her husband.

She loves baking (she owned and operated a cupcake business for years), cooking, yoga, crocheting, nature and traveling with the love of her life.

What helps her write? Music makes her happy! If music doesn't give her the right motivation, she puts on a romantic movie, usually from the Hallmark Channel, which she can't get enough of!

Freda speaks her mind and pushes perfection to its limit. She strives to be her best, most positive self she can be in life. With time, determination, and practice, she believes anything is possible.

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Posted Thursday, 3 December, 2020 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Blitz, Book Spotlight, Christmas Romance &/or Holiday Story, Contemporary Romance, Indie Author, Xpresso Book Tours