Merry Christmas Reads

The latest from Debbie Macomber is called Holiday Lights and includes the following stories:

THE FORGETFUL BRIDE Caitlin Marshall is stuck spending the holidays with Joe Rockwell. Her childhood friend is still a terrible tease, claiming that he and Cait are married. Oh, sure, they had a pretend ceremony when she was eight—but now it would seem that Joe wants to make their relationship into something real.

SUGAR AND SPICE Librarian Jayne Gilbert needs a man she can bring to her high school reunion. So, naturally, Jayne turns to a book: How to Pick Up a Man. And it works, even if she attracts the attention of good-looking Riley Chambers only because she’s carrying that book, not because she followed its advice!

FRIENDS—AND THEN SOME Lily Morrissey decides it’s time to find a husband, preferably one who can look after her. It’s a strictly practical decision, so she enlists the help of her best friend, Jake Carson, in the Great Husband Search. But then Lily’s feelings for Jake start to change… Could they become more than friends?

Best in Snow: An Andy Carpenter Mystery is by David Rosenfelt. In this Christmas mystery, lawyer Andy Carpenter and his golden retriever, Tara, are on the beat after a body turns up in the snow and a journalist is the prime suspect. Christmas has come early to the town of Paterson, New Jersey, in the form of a snowstorm that dumps two feet of snow on the ground. Lawyer Andy Carpenter likes snow – white Christmas and all that – but it can cause problems for the walks he takes his dogs on every day. When Andy’s golden retriever, Tara, goes to play in the snow and instead discovers a body, Andy ends up on the phone with the local newspaper editor. The murder victim is Mayor Alex Oliva, who had an infamous relationship with the newspaper. Last year a young reporter published an expose, and Oliva had him fired for libel. Now, the young reporter – and prime suspect – is in need of a lawyer. Andy agrees to take the case, though it’s not looking good this holiday season.

The Wish is Nicholas Sparks' latest. 1996 was the year that changed everything for Maggie Dawes. Sent away at sixteen to live with an aunt she barely knew in Ocracoke, a remote village on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, she could think only of the friends and family she left behind . . . until she met Bryce Trickett, one of the few teenagers on the island. Handsome, genuine, and newly admitted to West Point, Bryce showed her how much there was to love about the wind-swept beach town—and introduced her to photography, a passion that would define the rest of her life. By 2019, Maggie is a renowned travel photographer. She splits her time between running a successful gallery in New York and photographing remote locations around the world. But this year she is unexpectedly grounded over Christmas, struggling to come to terms with a sobering medical diagnosis. Increasingly dependent on a young assistant, she finds herself becoming close to him. As they count down the last days of the season together, she begins to tell him the story of another Christmas, decades earlier—and the love that set her on a course she never could have imagined.

RaeAnne Thayne's latest is called Sleigh Bells Ring. Angel’s View Ranch has always been special to Annelise McCade. Once upon a time, it was her family’s land, until her grandfather sold it to billionaire Wallace Sheridan. Now employed as the live-in caretaker, Annie is just trying to make it through the holidays with both her sanity and her niece's and nephew’s faith in the magic of Christmas intact. The six-year-old twins recently lost their mother, so Annie tells herself it wouldn’t be a problem to bring them to Angel’s View. Why should it be? The Sheridans haven’t visited in years, not since Wallace died. They would never know the twins were there…until Tate Sheridan shows up out of the blue two weeks before Christmas. Crushed to learn that Tate is there to sell his grandfather’s property—and mortified that her secret guests have been discovered—Annie offers her resignation. But Tate asks them to stay and help him get the house ready for one last family Christmas before it’s put on the market. Annie and Tate have three days to work their magic before the Sheridan clan arrives—and to work through the growing attraction between them. But Annie simply can’t fall for the man who will put her out of a job and a home. Still, the sparkle of the season is impossible to deny…and this Christmas has surprises in store for everyone.

(All synopses from Amazon.com)