The world can wait

’Tis the Season As I look out the window I am surrounded by a forest of icicles. Clear crystal spires hang like ornaments from the eaves and endear the house with a magical aura. Even the grey clouds and quiet hour bring a sublime tranquility to this beautiful season. But soon the calm serenity will be overcome by a wealth of laughter and sounds of joy as families and friends join together to celebrate the birth of the King. There is nothing like Christmas. Lights and tinsel, songs and parties, friendships abound and good will is offered to all who know the delights of the season. Despite the sense of busyness, there is a wonderful peace that fills the atmosphere. Yet, in this season, with all the trappings and festivities that fill our time, the actual meaning of Christmas might get lost. So, in these brief moments, I hope to take you back to Bethlehem and invite you to join with shepherds and wise men and seek the One who was born to be the Savior. The clear night air sh...

“Christmas is a time for miracles,” Ryan McDougal tells his mother, when he is told that a long lost cousin, Millie, has resurfaced after nearly forty years, the cousin whose picture his mother clasped the day his father abandoned him. Though they occurred decades apart, he always believed the two disappearances were connected like opposite links of a chain. With Millie’s arrival, perhaps he might finally receive the answers he so desperately sought. However, Ryan has a third thorn in his side, more devastating than any mystery. His wife, the love of his life, has left his arms and his bed. How long before she moves out of the house and takes his beloved son with her? He prays for his own Christmas miracle. Millie’s anticipated visit prompts Ryan’s mother to reveal secrets that bring all to light. However, when past and present collide, the truth is more than Ryan can bear. Excerpt: Ryan McDougal Christmas Eve 1999 Why now? How did I come to this point on this nigh...

While Ginger Murphy completes her music studies, childhood sweetheart and neighbor, Brad O’Sullivan betrays her with the new girl next door. Heartbroken, Ginger escapes as far away as she can go—to Australia—for five long years. During this time, Brad’s shotgun marriage fails. Besides his little boy, Jamie, one other thing in his life has turned out sweet and successful—his pastry business. When her mother’s diagnosed with heart failure, Ginger has no choice but to return to the green grass of Ireland. As a sought-after wedding flautist, she quickly establishes herself on home soil. Although she loves her profession, she fears she’ll never be more than the entertainment at these joyous occasions. And that she’s doomed to bump into the wedding cake chef she tries to avoid. Brad broke her heart once. She won’t give him a chance to do it again. A gingerbread house contest at church to raise funds for the homeless has Ginger competing with Brad. Both are determined to win—Ginger the...

  High school senior, Luke Ryan, may have gone all-star in baseball the previous year, but nothing about his current life resembles that famed reputation. With Christmas break on the horizon, he resents the compulsory trip to visit his estranged father in California. Not only is he forced to abandon his mother over the holiday, but his pianist girlfriend, Andrea, also--who seems too preoccupied by her Christmas Eve charity concert to care that they’ll be apart. On the way to California, he meets free-spirit Charli who spins his world in a completely different direction. Once in his old stomping grounds, he’s forced to face the reality of his sister’s death and his parents’ divorce. Decisions assail him over his future, his girlfriend, and his home. Is he destined to move back to California to secure a baseball scholarship or does God have another plan for his life? EXTRACT: “Here.” Mom handed me a wrapped package as we pulled up in front of the airline drop-off at the Ral...

Christmas is a magical time of year. As Christians, we know that Christ is the reason Christmas is special. There is a joy in the anticipation because in our spirits we’re looking forwards to the Saviour’s birth and the wonders His arrival means for the world. The Incarnation is the real reason people are happier at Christmas. (It isn’t the department store sales—although, they don’t hurt. :) ) The Incarnation is also why people are profoundly more depressed if life’s circumstances are not ideal during this season—not because the coming of Christ is depressing, but because deep down, we sense the reality that this time should be a joyous one; so when joy isn’t apparent for us, we feel the lack more acutely. For Pelican Book Group, this is where our Christmas Extravaganza enters. If you notice, Christmas is a time of light-hearted, joy-filled entertainment. Christmas-themed music fills the air, Christmas-themed movies dominate television, happily-ever-after entertainment is in ab...

The last thing Brie Dalgleish expected her boss to do was ask her to play an elf in the toy store grotto. She's even less enthusiastic when she discovers Santa is the same bloke who drove his car through a puddle the previous evening, completely soaking her. Hector Clause is playing Santa in the family owned toy store under sufferance as a favor to his grandfather. He'd rather be in a nice safe office, using his law degree, than playing Santa in a shop full of squealing kids. Even if the chief elf is on the cute side. With the store's centenary fast approaching, the anniversary party is abruptly cancelled. Hector resolves to celebrate anyway, but isn't prepared for the curveball he finds headed his way. Extract: The pub was a five minute walk away. The air inside the building was thick and heavy after the chill, damp December evening. More rowdy than usual, the pub had a darts tournament going on at one end of the room, with the Reading v Portsmouth ...

Blurb: Tara Blevins is in desperate need of a second chance after her son’s death. But will she find it in the old lodge left to her by her cousin, or the man who broke her heart by promising her he’d love her forever. Nothing about Tara and their troubled past adds up in Devon McAllister’s mind. Tara acts like he’s the one who broke off their relationship, yet nothing could be further from the truth. Devon tells her that after she left Second Chance, he wrote her several letters and gave them to her cousin to mail. When she didn’t respond to them, he believed he had his answer. Was it all just a horrible misunderstanding? Why would Lisbeth want to keep them apart? And what might have happened if they’d each had a chance to read those letters. Buy link Chapter One Tara Blevins topped the final mountain before Second Chance, Montana and the little town spread out in the valley below her. She hadn’t been back here since that last summer. The hurt she thought she’d deal...