Christmas Short Stories Anthology

How can you enjoy Christmas when you are solely responsible for keeping everyone happy, including the neurotic budgerigar; when you are all alone, and likely to be so for the rest of your life; or when you are four years old, your mother is whisked off in an ambulance, and you're left with some very odd neighbours? Can opinions set in stone be melted by cosy knitwear? Does scrambled egg have aphrodisiac properties? Should angels have good grammar? What would Silas Marner the miser be like if he lived now? And where did Noel Streatfeild get her inspiration for all those footwear stories?

Christmas is not in the lights, nor the gifts, nor the glittering decorations—it is in the hands that give, the hearts that open, the kindness that expects nothing in return. A Christmas Inspiration is a tale that shimmers with the quiet beauty of generosity, a story where one small act of warmth illuminates the season far brighter than any candle. With Montgomery's signature grace, the narrative unfolds like freshly fallen snow—soft, luminous, and filled with the hush of something deeply, unmistakably good.

Some mistakes carve wounds. Others, however, carve paths—twisting, unexpected roads that lead straight to the heart of what truly matters. In A Christmas Mistake, Montgomery paints a holiday tale where a simple misunderstanding reshapes lives in ways neither regret nor logic could predict. The charm of this story lies in its warmth, its humanity, and the quiet wisdom that sometimes, what seems like misfortune is nothing more than fate wrapped in disguise.

"Les Murmures de la Magie Hivernale" est une collection réconfortante de poèmes d'hiver qui transporte les jeunes lecteurs dans un monde où les flocons de neige dansent, les jouets prennent vie, et chaque gorgée de chocolat chaud est une gorgée de pure magie. À travers des récits poétiques et des illustrations enchantées, les enfants se lancent dans des aventures enneigées, découvrent les secrets du Pôle Nord, et vivent la joie des nombreuses merveilles de l'hiver.

When an 83-year-old woman dies, she is not transported straight to heaven. She is taken on an unexpected detour back to her life shortly before she died. Only this time, she is seeing the world from a different point of view. This is the first time she has ever experienced a detour being the best part of a journey.

A regional television programme, Get One Over, where amateurs search for and discover antiques and valuable objects in junk shops, has captured the nation’s zeitgeist and gone nationwide. The Christmas episode is to be filmed in Market Darley, and being antiques fans, Miss Emily Jarvis, and DI Falconer and DS Carmichael plan to be in town to bump into the stars of the programme. Carmichael loves the programme for its jokey narrator, but Falconer, along with a host of other viewers, hates the man’s rude and condescending commentary.

It's two days before Christmas Eve, and the Mills family is under siege. Nine-year-old Will is used to the annual battle with Ysolda Povenmire and her devil dog, but what, pray tell, do the FBI and CIA have to do with things? Fearlessly risking life and limb, the brave youngster follows first one clue and then another, until they lead him to the biggest surprise of all and the best Mills family Christmas ever! So grab a couple of gingerbread men, a flask of hot cocoa, and your mittens, and come along for the ride. Internationally beloved, From Women's Pen author Angel Nichols has produced yet another charming Christmas tale, and you won't want to miss it.

Children aren't the same as kittens, as Miss Mary Mason is reminded when she volunteers to keep two orphans in her home through Christmas. Ragged and dirty, their manners leave much to be desired. Still, Mary perseveres, not willing to return them to a system that will certainly not meet their needs.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year," the old song tells us. But that doesn't mean the people celebrating it are always so nice. Criminals get the Christmas spirit, too! In this collection of hilarious short stories, you'll see what the thieves, killers, psychos and scumbags are up to come the holidays...and it's not caroling door to door. Well, not unless they're casing the neighborhood for a break-in, as a rag-tag gang does in the title story.

Christmas Kisses is a collection from five best-selling and award-winning authors. Set in the snowy town of Echo Ridge in upstate New York, these inspirational romances are sure to delight while you sip cocoa by the fire and listen to Christmas carols.

The Barrali family has seen its share of scandals. But what of those who work for the famous royals? This collection of three romantic holiday tales takes you to the Barrali Winery, to an elegant royal yacht, and through the palace's secret garden to experience the passions of those who serve.

From an impoverished student riding the rails home to be with the love of his life for Christmas to a family donating their Christmas to help a struggling neighbor, this is a book of 16 stories on the power of the spirit of Christmas. We must recognize that the world is but a looking glass, reflecting back on us the kindness and charity we show one another.

What do you do when you see children whose lives are so bad it breaks your heart? One woman took a risk. What she saw was none of her business. But to love...was her business. From the author of a Top-100 Free eBook for Kindle, "Killing of Train-Man Brown" and "The Christmas Mirror: Santa's Last Letter to a Wonderful Child" (number-one in two categories in both the US and UK).

A Gift of Ghosts: Akira has secrets. But so does the town of Tassamara. A Gift of Thought: Sylvie Blair swore she’d never go back to Tassamara. She was wrong. The Spirits of Christmas: Akira's plans are simple: Write wedding invitations, bake Christmas cookies, and eat red meat. (The last surprises her, too.) But when Rose, the ghost who haunts her house, asks for a favor, Akira can't say no. A Gift of Time: Natalya thought she knew everything. Time is proving her wrong.

This collection includes Promise Kept, Promise Made, Promise Forever, and Christmas in Harland Creek.

In Rumpole and Father Christmas, a children's party is taking place in Chambers, and Claude Erskine-Brown has booked a 'genuine and convincing' Santa Claus. The gentleman in question does indeed have a red suit, a fuller figure and a snowy beard - but does he have more than just presents in his sack? Bill Wallis reads this special seasonal story starring Horace Rumpole, scourge of all QCs and friend of the criminal classes.

The holidays mean many things to many people. Christmas Beyond the Box takes that notion a great deal farther, and provides some truly unconventional looks at the season from several unusual perspectives. Suitable for all but the very young, there's sure to be a tale worth retelling in this collection for many Christmases to come. Though the stories in the collection take place during the holidays, don't assume they won't generate smiles at any time of the year.

Decades after her divorce, a lady returns to the village of her tumultuous marriage. A railway carriage hosts a charged schoolboy encounter. A murder raises fears of blackmail. A woman waits anxiously in a café before eloping to Paris. Another steals a friend's kitchen knife. In these bittersweet tales, the author of Lolly Willowes reveals her mastery of the short story, celebrated by the New Yorker for decades. Sylvia Townsend Warner is a tragicomic chronicler of the heart's entanglements.

Christmas is the perfect time of year to fall in love; especially if you're a specter or a retail employee, that is. At Holiday Falls Mall, love blooms in sweet and spooky ways for four shop employees during the holiday season. This collection features two stories from queer romance writer Imogen Markwell-Tweed, and two stories from sweet romance writer Wendy Dalrymple for a unique, intertwined anthology of paranormal romance novelettes.

Discover how Meghan Truman, Sandy Bay's latest resident and new bakery owner, navigates her way through three murder mysteries as she gets to know the quirky characters in her adopted hometown after failing to make a career as an actress in Hollywood. She's finally started a relationship with Jack Irvin, a detective, but will she find time to build a romance while she has to deal with betrayals, ungrateful staff, culture clashes, and murder? Three complete best-selling cozy mystery stories in one boxset!