The Christmas Letters
Jenny Hale
Publication date: October 11th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance
Sometimes, it takes losing everything to find what it is we really need. From the USA Today bestselling author of Coming Home for Christmas, with over one million copies of her books sold, comes a heartwarming holiday story that’s perfect for fans of Sheila Roberts, Debbie Macomber, and Jill Shalvis.
Elizabeth Holloway abandons her New York party at The Plaza, her sparkling world crashing down around her when her boyfriend of seven years drops the bomb that he’s leaving her—at Christmas. She suddenly finds herself seven hundred miles from her home in the city, trudging through the snow, back at her childhood farm in the Great Smoky Mountains in an attempt to piece her life back together.
However, she isn’t expecting to meet visitor Paul Dawson with his dazzlingly blue eyes and warm smile, chipping away at her resolve to focus on figuring out who she is and what she really wants in life.
When her mother is informed that they don’t actually own the farm that’s been in their family for generations, the news makes absolutely no sense to either of them. Nan had married Elizabeth’s grandfather at that house, and they’d lived out their years there.
But a stack of letters from Elizabeth’s grandmother will change everything she thought she knew about her family and cause a divide between her and Paul that she never saw coming.
Under the glitter of Christmas trees and bundles of mistletoe, Elizabeth uncovers more than she’d ever thought possible. Will the Christmas letters strip her of everything she holds dear? Or will they be the biggest gift of the season?
A heartwarming holiday escape that will have you rushing to your loved ones this Christmas. If you enjoyed the Christmas movies based on Jenny’s books and are looking for more feel-good, small-town romance, look no further!
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EXCERPT:
Richard’s gaze rolled upward to the ceiling before landing back on Elizabeth, surrender in his eyes. “I don’t think we can keep going like this anymore.”
“I know,” she said. “The last thing I want to do is fight.”
“No,” he said. “We can’t do this—” He waggled a finger between them. “You and me.”
The first thing she noticed was the jingle of the metal chain of the jeweled clutch in her trembling hands, her body reacting to the fact that her life was changing in front of her eyes before her brain had caught up.
She stared at him, words escaping her.
Right there, in the cheerful, bustling, Christmas-tree-covered lobby, she knew exactly what was happening: they were breaking up. And the worst part about it was that, even after seven years of being together, she didn’t really feel like she was losing much. While her limbs were responding to the fear, in a strange way, she realized that what she really felt was relieved—relieved from the pressure of a relationship that she knew hadn’t been working for quite a while.
“I’ll get a room here at the hotel and let you… get your things together back at home,” Richard said, his gaze distant, that glimmer of attraction that had been in them when they’d met long gone.
Elizabeth nodded, tears now brimming in her eyes, the end still hitting her hard, despite her rational side telling her it had been necessary. She struggled with whether her sadness was because she’d wasted so much time on someone who wasn’t the right person for her, or the fact that she’d given everything up for him and now, at the age of twenty-nine, she had no idea what to do.
“This is it?” she asked, her words breaking on her emotion.
“This is it,” he replied, his words so final and resolute that she wondered why he’d bothered to go through the formality of getting dressed up tonight. But then she remembered that it had all been about him and his business. She’d just been tagging along, like she had in everything they’d done since they’d met.
He turned around and walked away, leaving her alone, in her red satin gown, just twelve days before Christmas.
Author Bio:
Jenny Hale is a USA Today, Amazon, and international bestselling author of romantic contemporary fiction. Her books have sold worldwide, have been translated into multiple languages, and adapted for television. Her novels Coming Home for Christmas and Movie Guide Epiphany Award winner Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses are Hallmark Channel original movies.
She was included in Oprah Magazine’s “19 Dreamy Summer Romances to Whisk You Away” and Southern Living’s “30 Christmas Novels to Start Reading Now.” Her stories are chock-full of feel-good romance and overflowing with warm settings, great friends, and family. Jenny is at work on her next novel, delighted to be bringing even more heartwarming stories to her readers.
When she isn’t writing, or heading up her romantic fiction imprint Harpeth Road, she can be found running around her hometown of Nashville with her husband, two boys, and their labradoodle, taking pictures—her favorite pastime.
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub / Youtube
As a bonus, I have met Jenny, and she is one of the sweetest and most talented ladies I know. Look for her podcast episode coming very soon to Media From the Heart!
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