Today’s Featured Book is one of my favorite Christmas stories

About the book:

Claudia, a shopkeeper with two little sisters, is trapped in a tough neighborhood. She reluctantly falls for Nick, a naïve young pastor; he thought he’d come to save the neighborhood, but he’s watching his mission fail. When a terrible crime threatens Claudia and her sisters, she and Nick work together to protect each other and her family. They rediscover hope and embrace the future together.

Excerpt from Season of Hope:

Here’s the first meeting between Claudia and Nick, and it’s definitely not “meet cute.” In this scene, Claudia thinks her abusive stepfather Tomas has returned, and with water in her eyes, she can’t quite make out who is bending over the children…

“Take your hands off those kids.” Claudia gripped the broom handle, swung, and connected with the figure’s shoulder. The crouched figure straightened, much too tall and thin for Tomas. She swept her sleeve across her face, clearing her vision. 

Nick spun to face her as she dropped the broom.

“Oh, no, Pastor, I thought you were…”

About the author:

Laura Nelson Selinsky is a wife, mom, and multi-genre author. Currently, she writes and teaches from her home office, often with the help Graemalkyn, the world’s crankiest cat. She teaches British Literature to high school students with significant learning differences. She’s led second grade Sunday School for so long that the church’s Christian Ed professionals are the grown alumni of her ongoing class. When Laura’s not teaching or writing, she gardens in unlikely colors- yellow tomatoes, purple green beans, and edible pink flowers. In their rare-as-hen’s-teeth free hours, Laura and her husband of gazillion years are renovating their old house and their daughter’s older one. Writing contemporary romance for Anaiah has been a lovely ministry opportunity for Laura, her chance to lighten the hearts of other women through a medium she loves! 

Contact Laura Nelson Selinsky on Facebook or Twitter or at lnselinsky@hotmail.com.

Season of Hope and her other work is available at amazon.com/author/laura-nelson-selinsky .  

Find Season of Hope at Season of Hope | Anaiah Press; Anaiah’s your source of wonderful Christian fiction!

Today’s featured book:

About the book:

Sarah Laughlin left her big-city life and dead-end relationship behind for a fresh start as a fourth-grade teacher in the small Wisconsin town of Meadow Creek. And it feels like home, too, despite the persistent troublemaker in her class and the lack of familiar faces. But the holidays are going to be lonely this year. Until she meets firefighter Lincoln Thompson. Suddenly, the hope of spending Christmas with someone she cares about is within reach.

Lincoln loves his home town of Meadow Creek, but ever since his long-time girlfriend left him for a better life in the city, he wonders if he’ll ever find love in this small town where everyone knows everyone. Then he meets Sarah during her class’s field trip to his firehouse, and a spark is lit. But when they discover that Sarah’s troublemaking student is none other than Lincoln’s beloved nephew, their newfound relationship is put to the test. Can they navigate through the complexities of family dynamics to find a love that will last?

Excerpt from Christmas in Meadow Creek:

“Y’know, it’s kind of funny how we keep running into each other.” Lincoln leaned his elbow on the table with his head resting on his hand, as if blocking out anyone behind him, and focused solely on Sarah’s face.

She was suddenly ultra-conscious of her breathing, her blinking, her every move. And was it just her, or was it getting hot in here? “Yeah,” she finally managed to say. “Three days in a row now.”

Lincoln’s lips formed a slanted smile, and for the first time she noticed a dimple on his handsomely rugged cheek. He leaned in before speaking again, his voice extra low. “I was wondering if you wanted to make sure we saw each other again? Maybe tonight—for dinner?”

She prayed he didn’t notice how hard she swallowed upon hearing his question. And what was that noise—was that her heart beating? She hoped he couldn’t hear it. Why was it so hard to think straight all of a sudden? This was the first request for a date she’d received since moving. Well, since Todd had broken up with her, really. Thankfully, her brain was finally able to send her mouth the message to smile. “Sure. Yeah, I’d like that.”

Lincoln’s crooked smile turned into an all-out beam. “Great. Can I pick you up at seven? If you don’t mind giving me your address.”

Quickly nodding, Sarah got out her phone. “I can text it to you. What’s your number?”

She sent the text to the number he recited and put her phone away.

Lincoln’s eyes crinkled as he spoke. “Well, I better get back to serving.” He stood to leave, touching Sarah’s arm gently. “I’m glad I ran into you again. I’ll see you at seven.”

Sarah nodded. “Looking forward to it.”

As she watched Lincoln walk away, her heart raced. Did that just happen? She peered at the faces around her table and locked in on Jessica’s gaze. She was flashing Sarah an excited grin, and Sarah blushed. I know, she mouthed, making Jessica laugh. Thank goodness she’d changed her mind about coming to the breakfast. The excitement gurgling around in her stomach was more than she could ask for. She now had something to look forward to this holiday season after all.

About the author:

Katy Eeten is married to a Pastor of Student Ministries and is the mom of two boys, ages 12 and 9. She lives with her family in southeast Wisconsin, despite her dislike for cold weather. She works full time in corporate America, but her true passion is writing.

She has three Christian Romances available on Amazon and another Christmas novella coming out later this year (watch for “First Class Christmas” on December 1st!). When she’s not working or writing, she can be found taking walks or bike rides with her kids, baking goodies, playing the piano, or spending time with her family.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KatyEeten/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/KatyEeten

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/KatyEeten/

Website: https://katyeeten.wordpress.com/

Our tomcat, Boots, was one of our first rescues. He showed up with his momma and brother in our garage six years ago. He was friendly. We had him neutered. He lived in the garage that fall and winter.

The following spring, a new stray momma cat joined our outside cats and ate with them in the garage. A few weeks later, she brought two kittens around. One day, she left them. We didn’t see her again until the following spring (that’s a story for another day.)

The new kittens were skittish and we couldn’t tame them. Boots became like a surrogate father to them. You could find them all cuddled together on a carpet in the garage. Even as they got older, they still liked to hang around Boots. Then the female came up missing. Just last winter, the young male cat died.

Boots is still around. He has another companion now, a spayed female that couldn’t adjust to being in the house. Boots seems like an old man, even though he is only six years old. He’s considered one of our household now but remains an outside cat.