It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (Reads) GIVEAWAY: A Joyful Christmas (+ guest post)

today’s book: A Joyful Christmas

Welcome to another post in my annual blog series spotlighting new and recently-released Christmas reads! (Over 50 this year – And I’m SO EXCITED about it!)

Christmas is only 24 days away (YAY!!!) and I think we all could benefit from some extra Christmas cheer this year, right? Continuing through just before Christmas, I’m going to spotlight several new/recent Christmasy releases. So… snuggle in, grab your fave hot beverage and comfiest blanket, turn on some Christmas tunes and start your bookish Christmas list! Oh… and did I mention there are GIVEAWAYS with EACH POST in this series??!! (Because authors are awesome!)

Today’s first book is a collection of historical Christmas romances by six of my fave authors – plus Carrie Turansky shares some of her fave Christmas cookies!

A JOYFUL CHRISTMAS
GENRE: Inspirational Historical Romance collection
PUBLISHER: Barbour Books
RELEASE DATE: September 1, 2019
PAGES: 448

A Christmas Collection to Warm the Heart
Grab a warm cup of tea and watch as romance is kindled and joy is restored to broken lives during six bygone era Christmas celebrations.

A Christmas Castle by Cynthia Hickey
Married by proxy in Missouri, Annie Morgan sets off for Tombstone, Arizona, to join her new husband as a cattle rancher. But too soon she finds herself a widow with an unexpected daughter and butting heads with her handsome neighbor.

A Star in the Night by Liz Johnson
Wounded within Confederate territory, Union officer Jedediah Harrington finds refuge at the tiny cabin of Cora Sinclair and her grandfather. Still haunted by what she saw as a battlefield hospital volunteer, Cora finds that only Jed can understand. But, though she longs to give him her heart, the risks to both of them are too great.

An Irish Bride for Christmas by Vickie McDonough
When Jackson Lancaster’s brother and wife die, he takes his three-year-old niece home. But a meddling busy-body makes the judge give her custody “because an unmarried man shouldn’t raise a little girl.” Now Jackson has until Christmas to find a bride or lose his niece forever. Larkin Doyle is grateful her employer took in the orphan and believes Jackson abandoned his niece. When her heart says otherwise, will romance blossom?

Under His Wings by Liz Tolsma
Adie O’Connell, orphaned and left alone in a dangerous Wisconsin logging camp, seeks the stability she once knew when both her parents lived. Despite the compassion and friendship offered by Noah “Preacher Man” Mitchell, she refuses to consider marriage to a man always drifting from one job to another for God.

Shelter in the Storm by Carrie Turansky
The daughter of a wealthy Tennessee doctor, Rachel Thornton begins nursing James Galloway, a wounded artist-war correspondent. As James recovers, their hearts draw closer together. Having already lost one sweetheart to the war, Rachel is hesitant to reveal her feelings for James, who insists on returning to the front lines. Would she be safer in the arms of another man?

Christmas Service by Erica Vetsch
Beth Sorensen has been put in charge of the Christmas pageant at the little log church, and this year she wants something different. But she didn’t count on a Minnesota blizzard paralyzing the whole town. Can the blacksmith teach this preacher’s daughter about what it means to serve one another in love through the storm?

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favorite christmas cookies

by Carrie Turansky, an author of A Joyful Christmas

Hi Friends, One of my favorite childhood memories is baking cookies to share with family and friends during the Christmas season. I wanted to share a few of my favorite recipes with you. So I hope you’ll put on your apron and give one a try. Maybe you’ll find a new favorite Christmas cookie!

When the cookies are done and ready to enjoy, pour yourself a cup of tea or cocoa and settle in with a good book. May I suggest Joyful Christmas? It has six heartwarming and romantic holiday novellas, including my Civil War novella, Though the Mountains Tremble.

Happy reading and baking! I hope you’ll enjoy a few cookies with me!

Carrie

Gingersnap Cookies

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ¾ teaspoon powdered ginger
1 ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cloves
¾ cup butter, softened
1 ¼ cup brown sugar
1 egg
½ cup white sugar (to roll the cookies in before baking)

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cream brown sugar and butter. Add the egg and mix. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until thoroughly blended. Pinch off small amounts of dough and roll into 1 inch diameter balls. Roll each ball in sugar and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes, or until the cookies are rounded and slightly cracked. Makes five dozen cookies.

Peppermint Melt Away Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon peppermint extract
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup corn starch

Frosting:

2 Tablespoons butter, softened
2 Tablespoons milk
¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
1 ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
½ cup crushed peppermint candies or candy canes

Directions:

In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in extract. In another bowl, whisk flour and cornstarch; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Refrigerate, covered, 30 minutes or until firm enough to handle.

Preheat oven to 350°. Shape dough into 1-in. balls; place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 9-11 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

In a small bowl, beat butter until creamy. Beat in milk, extract and, if desired, food coloring. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Spread over cookies; sprinkle with crushed candies. Store in an airtight container.

Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
¾ brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup cranberry juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups dried cranberries
2 cups white chocolate chips

Glaze:

2 cups white chocolate chips
2 tablespoons, plus 1 ½ teaspoon shortening

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, cranberry juice and vanilla. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add this to the creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in the cranberries and vanilla chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto a greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees 10 – 12 minutes until the edges begin to brown. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

For the glaze, microwave the vanilla chips and shortening at 70% power until melted. Stir until smooth. Drizzle over the cookies.

Carrie Turansky is the award-winning author of more than twenty inspirational novels and novellas and a winner of the ACFW Carol Award, the International Digital Award, and the Holt Medallion. She loved traveling to England to research her latest Edwardian novels including No Ocean Too Wide, Across the Blue, Shine Like the Dawn, and The Highland Hall series. Her next novel, No Journey Too Far, releases in May 2021. Her novels have received stared reviews from Christianbooks.com and Library Journal. They have been translated into several languages and enjoyed by readers around the world. Carrie loves to connect with reading friends on Facebook, Instagram, and via her website and blog: carrieturansky.com.

Other Authors in This Collection

Carrie Turansky is offering a print copy of A Joyful Christmas to one of my readers! (US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.) This giveaway is subject to Reading Is My SuperPower’s giveaway policies which can be found here. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.

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What about you? What makes you want to read A Joyful Christmas by Carrie Turansky & the 5 other fabulous authors? Which of these cookies are you going to try first? (I totally want to make the Peppermint Melt Aways this year!)