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

today’s book: A Match Made at 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 17 days away (Hooray!!!) 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 next book is a contemporary romance holiday novella set in Nantucket – and author Courtney Walsh shares five ingredients for the perfect Christmas movie!

A MATCH MADE AT CHRISTMAS
SERIES: Nantucket Love Story novella
GENRE: Inspirational Contemporary Romance
PUBLISHER: Sweethaven Press
RELEASE DATE: October 20, 2020

From “Master of the genre” [Midwest Book Review] and New York Times bestselling author Courtney Walsh, a sweet romance that’s sure to capture your heart.

Hayes McGuire never believed the stories about a famous Nantucket matchmaker until she ropes him into taking over her duties while she’s off the island for Christmas.

So he enlists the help of the one person he can trust with this crazy scheme—his best friend, Prudence. Armed with a series of rules, a book of success stories and the promise of Christmas magic, the pair of old friends sets out to make a Christmas match.

Little do they know that magic doesn’t discriminate, and they soon find their years of friendship deepening into something more. Will Pru and Hayes ignore the electricity in the air between them or will there be more than one match made at Christmas?

A Match Made at Christmas is a stand-alone holiday novella.

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Also available to read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

Five Ingredients For the Perfect Christmas Movie

by Courtney Walsh, author of A Match Made at Christmas

Anyone who knows me knows how very much I love Christmas movies. I first fell in love with them two years ago during my daughter’s cancer recovery because I needed a sweet escape, and that tradition has held ever since. There’s something about getting wrapped up in a story that isn’t emotionally rigorous. Sometimes our emotions just cannot handle one more bit of tension or worry.

Plus, you know these movies are going to end happily. It’s why I love to read romance novels too.

A lot of people say they’re predictable, and I say “Praise!” Because then I know I’m not investing in a character who is going to die at the end. That’s brutal when you’re already emotional.

To be honest, I think if everyone watched more Christmas movies, the world would be a happier place. And having watched a literal million of them (and reviewed them on my Instagram stories) I’ve found five ingredients that make the perfect Christmas movie.

And I am here for ALL of them!

One of the main characters is returning home. Usually the heroine. And she is usually thrown together with her ex-boyfriend, former fiancé or the guy she hated in high school. This is a trope I’ve loved since I was old enough to read romance novels, and while it’s somewhat expected, I happily lap it up like a thirsty dog with a big bowl of water. Since I write small town romance, it always does my heart good to see these stories set in adorable little towns… and there’s just something about returning to that first love.

A perfectly decorated (if altogether unbelievably expensive for the kind of work the character does) home. I am NOT an expert decorator. Most years, I’m lucky to get a tree up, but Hallmark and Lifetime go all out on the lights, the tinsel, the adorable little Christmas villages. It doesn’t even matter that there is NO WAY the art teacher at the local elementary school could afford a house like the one she lives in, not when there are twinkle lights to distract me!

A character who looks exactly like Santa Claus and is named either “Nick” or “Chris”. There’s always an element of magic in these stories (and I LOVE that there is!) Seeing the Santa or Mrs. Claus character really does make me remember all the feelings of being a kid and actually believing there would be reindeer on my rooftop. I know, I know, it’s ridiculous, but if you sell out to it, it really can bring so much joy! These characters like to meddle, and they usually hold some sort of secret, like mischievous grandparents who happen to have a barn with giant reindeer living in it.

A montage of holiday baking, gift wrapping, caroling or snowball fighting. Many holiday movies have one or more of these, and how could they not? When we’re thinking “Christmas”, there is that romantic idea that these are the things we’re going to do. Personally, I’ve never loved a snowball fight (I can almost guarantee I will be the one pelted in the face) but the rest of it? That’s all stuff I love. So, it makes sense that the characters find time for it.

An interrupted kiss. This is a hallmark of every Hallmark movie. Especially at Christmas when there are children, parents and siblings running around the perfectly decorated home. These near-kiss-misses help prolong the happy ending and somehow never make things awkward between the hero and heroine.

Christmas movies are a guilty pleasure, and so are Christmas books. It’s the perfect season to embrace the magic, no matter how different the holidays look this year, and I, for one, will be basking in the romantic, uncomplicated and sure-to-end-happy glow of stories that help put all my worries to rest.

What about you? Are you a lover of Christmas movies? Christmas books? What are some of your favorites?

Courtney Walsh is the author of Just Look Up, Just Let Go, Paper Hearts, Change of Heart, and the Sweethaven series. Her debut novel, A Sweethaven Summer, was a New York Times and USA Today e-book bestseller and a Carol Award finalist in the debut author category. In addition, she has written two craft books and several full-length musicals. Courtney lives with her husband and three children in Illinois, where she is also an artist, theater director, and playwright.

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Courtney Walsh is offering a print (or ebook) copy of A Match Made at Christmas to one of my readers! (US only for print. 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 Match Made at Christmas by Courtney Walsh? What are some of your favorite Christmas movies and/or books?