Continuing the Christmas theme, I have a guest post from author Kate Hewitt and there’s a lovely giveaway as well. Before we get to that here is what A Vicarage Christmas is about.
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Welcome to Thornwaite, a quaint village tucked up in England’s beautiful but rainy Lake District… where homecomings happen and surprises are in store for the four Holley sisters…
Anna Holley, the third of four sisters, has always felt a little bit forgotten. A family tragedy when she was a child had her retreating deep into shyness, and social anxiety kept her on the fringes of the cozy chaos of the busy vicarage.
After several years away from home, Anna returns for Christmas… and an important announcement from her father. As much as she once loved the village, coming back is hard and puts Anna’s social capabilities to the test.
Avoiding her sisters’ bossy questions, she heads out to the local pub one night, and meets a handsome stranger nursing a pint. Somehow, unburdened by expectations, Simon seems like the perfect person to spill all her secrets to—including a hopeless, long-held crush on her sister’s boyfriend. Confident she’ll never see him again, Anna returns home… only to discover the next day that Simon is actually her father’s new curate!
Anna is beyond mortified, but Simon won’t let her retreat into her usual shyness—and for once Anna is forced to confront the past, and all the fears and feelings she’d tried so long to hide. But with his own heartache that needs to heal, can Simon help Anna to make this the most magical Christmas either of them have known?
Amazon | Goodreads
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When Christmas Is Hard
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I love Christmas; I always have. It’s such a magical time, one of wonder and peace and hope. And yet I know Christmas can be a very difficult time of year for people, especially those who are grieving or lonely. In A Vicarage Christmas, Anna Holley struggles with the noisy busyness of Christmas. As someone with social anxiety, she finds being around lots of people, well-intentioned as they are, difficult, and when Simon, her father’s new curate, comes to her rescue she starts gaining the strength to face her fears.
Two years ago, Christmas was very difficult for me. My family was intending to all be together for Christmas, an unlikely occurrence these days, because my father was ill with terminal cancer and the doctor had said it was likely to be his last Christmas. However, my father’s health declined rapidly and he died on December 23rd. Christmas that year felt muted and surreal, almost as if it wasn’t happening. My sister-in-law very kindly put a photograph of my father and me in my Christmas stocking, and when I opened it up that morning I felt so overwhelmed by everything—the beauty of Christmas, the grief of losing my father—that I burst into tears.
Two years later, Christmas still holds both the joy and sorrow of that time. A Vicarage Christmas addresses a bit of that—the wonder of Christmas, but also its pain. Ultimately Christmas is about hope, a light shining in the darkness, that is what I’d like to come through in this story. What about you? What are your feelings about Christmas?
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Well I don’t know about you guys but Christmas for me is family, food, films, and fun, even if we do drive each other a little crazy.
If you have a sudden craving for a festive read then you will be very interested in this giveaway, which is open internationally…
A copy of A Cotswold Christmas and a £10 Amazon giftcard
If you want to know more about the book then you can read my review of A Cotswald Christmas.
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Make sure you follow the tour to find out even more about this book
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Kate is the USA Today-bsetselling author of over 60 books of women’s fiction and romance. She is the author of the Hartley-by-the-Sea series, set in England’s Lake District and published by Penguin. She is also, under the name Katharine Swartz, the author of the Tales from Goswell books, a series of time-slip novels set in the village of Goswell. She also writes for Harlequin Presents. She likes to read romance, mystery, the occasional straight historical and angsty women’s fiction; she particularly enjoys reading about well-drawn characters and avoids high-concept plots. Having lived in both New York City and a tiny village on the windswept northwest coast of England, she now resides in a market town in Wales with her husband, five children, and an overly affectionate Golden Retriever.
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everywhere-and-nowhere.com 
Aw, that’s a sad post. Christmas is only one day but it can be such an emotional day.
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