Holiday Literary

Number one New York Times best-selling author Fern Michaels' Christmas anthologies have become a heartwarming holiday tradition, and this year, she is joined by fellow best-selling author Nancy Bush, for a powerhouse combination!

Lydia is having a party - it's a party she hosts every year for six women friends who treasure the midwinter bash. Over a table laden with a feast of food and wine, the women revel in sharing newsy updates, simmering secrets, and laughter. As this particular evening unfolds, Lydia prepares to make a shattering announcement. Lydia's announcement shocks them all, they rediscover the enduring bonds of friendship and find their lives changing in unexpected ways.

Nathan McKendrick is world famous, handsome and passionate. The world loves him. Mallory O'Connor McKendrick is successful in her own right. Their storybook marriage had defied the odds as well as the rumors. They believe their love will never die - until suddenly the marriage is crumbling. What could destroy such a strong bond and what could they do to save it?

This is a SoundCraft Audiobooks production - enhanced with music and sound effects - of perhaps the most beloved Christmas book of all time, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It tells the story of the miserly and miserable Ebenezer Scrooge, who is given one, final chance at redemption on Christmas Eve when he is visited by the ghost of his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley. Scrooge is guided by three Spirits - of Christmas Past, Present and Future - who show the old miser the error of his ways.

Miracle Boy and Other Stories represents a body of work 18 years in the making. Benedict's last short story collection was the critically acclaimed The Wrecking Yard, published in 1992 by Nan A. Talese. That collection was followed by the Steinbeck Award-winning crime novel Dogs of God, also from Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, in 1994, which Marilyn Stasio said was written "in a vein of rare, wild beauty… with the lyrical exactitude of Henry Thoreau on a metaphysical field trip to hell."

Three days before Christmas, Matt Jensen is traveling the Denver and Pacific railway when an avalanche slams down onto the train, trapping it in desolate Trout Creek Pass. But it wasn’t an act of nature that caused the accident; it was a gang of outlaws attempting to rescue their leader, who is being taken to Red Cliff to be hanged. As Smoke Jensen and Duff MacCallister frantically try to make their way to the scene, Matt struggles to save the survivors, among them a young woman with a dark past, a merchant seaman turned rancher, and a senator with his very ill young daughter.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… and for Heather Andrews, security manager at Timberwoods Mall, undoubtedly the busiest. But this Christmas, Heather has more to contend with than frazzled parents and disgruntled Santas. Angela Steinhart, a young woman who designed the mall’s spectacular holiday displays, has had a premonition that tragedy will strike on Christmas Eve. And Angela’s visions have a habit of coming true. Heather would love to dismiss the warning as holiday stress. But the more she gets to know the quiet, lonely Angela, the more she trusts her.

Beth Cardall has a secret. For 18 years, she has had no choice but to keep it to herself, but on Christmas Eve 2008, all that is about to change. For Beth, 1989 was a year marked by tragedy. She had lost any ability to trust, to hope, or to believe in herself. Then, on Christmas Day, as she rushed through a blizzard to the nearest 7-Eleven, Beth encountered Matthew, a strikingly handsome, mysterious stranger, who would single-handedly change the course of her life.

As Martine and Jacques Le Guennec prepare for their annual family Christmas dinner, Martine reminds her husband to be on his best behavior. Their son Nicolas is bringing his girlfriend, Jeanne, to their home for the first time, and she doesn't want Jacques to scare this one off. Jacques has always ruled his roost with patriarchal bravado, and he can't help but verbally antagonize everyone - especially the wives of his sons.

'Twas the night before Christmas. Ebenezer Scrooge was alone, when suddenly he heard a ghostly moan. A ghost it was, took him back to the past, then to the present and future days in hope that Scrooge would mend his ways.

After the death of his mother, Michael Keddington finds employment at the Arcadia nursing home, where he befriends Esther, a reclusive but beautiful elderly woman who lives in mourning for her youth and lost love. "Do you suppose life gives us second chances?" Esther asks Michael one day. "I don't know. But we'd probably just make the same mistake over again," he concludes. Michael faces his own challenges when he loses his greatest love, Faye.

Köln, Gegenwart: "Wie soll mein Leben weitergehen?", fragt sich Laura. Jetzt, da ihre beiden Kinder zunehmend selbstständig werden und sich ihr Mann immer weiter von ihr entfernt, denkt Laura an ihren einstigen Traum zurück, Meeresbiologin zu werden. Als sich die Chance bietet, für einige Zeit im Bereich der Wal- und Delfinbeobachtung in Neuseeland zu arbeiten, ergreift sie diese mit gemischten Gefühlen.

Biochimiste de 54 ans, Douglas Petersen imagine déjà sa retraite auprès de Connie, sa femme artiste, dans leur maison londonienne. Mais celle-ci lui apprend brusquement qu'elle n'est plus certaine de l'aimer. Pathologiquement maladroit et réservé, Douglas va devoir déployer toute son énergie pour reconquérir sa femme et tenter de tisser des liens avec cet inconnu qu'est devenu son fils adolescent. Douglas entraîne alors sa famille sur les traces de leur passé, dans un tour très balisé de l'Europe.

Melanie McLaughlin desperately wants to adopt two orphaned siblings and give them a real home for Christmas. A just-for-the-holiday marriage to Bryce Landry fits her plan perfectly...until unexpected sparks have Melanie dreaming of forever by his side....

Originally published in the 1876 Christmas edition of The Graphic, Christmas at Thompson Hall is a Victorian tale concerning the proper Mr. and Mrs. Brown and their journey from southern France to Thompson Hall to celebrate Christmas with their relatives - a trip that becomes a comedy of errors once Mr. Brown's throat condition, a malady that almost prevented the trip entirely, worsens.

Calling Major Tom is a funny, uplifting tale of friendship and community about a man who has given up on the world...but discovers in the most unlikely way that it might not have given up on him. We all know someone like Thomas. The grumpy next-door neighbour who complains to the residents' committee about the state of your front lawn. The man who tuts when you don't have the correct change at the checkout. The colleague who sends an all-company email when you accidentally use the last drop of milk.

The deal: Elizabeth Anders and best friend Bradley Hunt made a pact - if they were both single at thirty, they would add a "naughty benefits" package to their friendship. Now it's time to seal the deal...and it's going to involve much more than just a kiss! The dilemma: Elizabeth is all about The Career. No relationships, no complications. Still, the chance to indulge in the barely controlled lust between her and Bradley is more than she can resist. But Bradley has an agenda of his own....

Disfruta de este regalo navideño: Mis galletas crujientes de Nochevieja, una de las recetas de Días de Navidad, de Jeanette Winterson. Puedes escuchar su original punto de vista sobre el significado de Año Nuevo mientras cocinas.

Eight-year-old Janey Sullivan has had a difficult year, between losing her mother and adjusting to life with her guardian, Brian Duncan. But with the holidays approaching, her one Christmas wish is to find the perfect gift for Brian - if she can learn to trust him first.

The holidays have arrived in Avalon, Illinois and everyone is filled with festive cheer. Well, maybe not everyone. The husbands of Avalon have started a Bah Humbug Club. A neighborhood cookie exchange wreaks havoc on Erin Meeks' carefully planned life. Melvin O'Malley's daughter has abandoned him for the holidays in a senior facility, and shop owner Margot West is intent on creating the best holiday shopping experience for her customers when a stranger threatens to ruin it. But a few surprises await them as well.