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

A Christmas Bargain

Welcome back to our annual blog series spotlighting (over 60 again this year) new and recently-released Christmas reads!

Christmas is only 22 days away, according to Google, but of course it’s never too early for Christmas stories, and ’tis the season when I really start craving them (even more than I do the rest of the year lol), so now is the perfect time to jump right into these posts!

Continuing through just after Christmas, I’m going to spotlight several Christmasy releases from 2022. Most days will have more than one post, just FYI. 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!)

A CHRISTMAS BARGAIN by Mindy Obenhaus
SERIES: Hope Crossing #2
GENRE: Inspirational Contemporary Romance
PUBLISHER: Love Inspired
RELEASE DATE: November 29, 2022
PAGES: 223

Can a property dispute…

Turn into a holiday blessing?

When single mom Annalise Grant inherits a fledgling Christmas tree farm in Texas, she vows to do whatever it takes to make it a success. But when neighbor Hawkins Prescott claims some of her trees are on his property, the only option is a partnership. As Christmas draws closer, Annalise and Hawkins find themselves growing closer as well. Could a family by Christmas become part of the deal?

A HOPE CROSSING ROMANCE

From Love Inspired: Uplifting stories of faith, forgiveness and hope.

affiliate links used

Christmas cookie memories

by Mindy Obenhaus, author of A Christmas Bargain

The holidays are filled with sweet treats. Cookies, candies, cakes and pies. Cherished recipes that stayed tucked away most of the year but take center stage between Thanksgiving and Christmas. My absolute favorite treat of all is what I’ve always called Christmas cookies, though they’re also called sugar cookies or cut-out cookies. Whatever you choose to call that basic sugar cookie dough that’s cut into festive shapes then decorated with frosting and sprinkles. For as long as I can remember, those cookies were the one treat I looked forward to every year. Sadly, my mom wasn’t much of a baker, so she rarely made them. Enter my great-aunt Gladys.

Aunt Gladys never married and never had any children. Yet she was the one who opened her home for family to gather each and every Christmas Eve. She was also the one who would bake Christmas cookies and invite her great-nieces and nephews to come over and decorate them. Oh, how I looked forward to that day.

Since Gladys had a very tiny kitchen, she couldn’t have any more than three of us at a time. I remember one year in particular. I must’ve been seven or eight. My cousins Betsy and Jeff were also there. The small table tucked into one corner of the galley kitchen boasted three trays of cookies, icing and lots of colorful sprinkles. Now, at this point you may be thinking that Gladys was a brave soul and, indeed, she was. You see, Gladys was a retired schoolteacher, and she was one tough cookie. She expected us children to be well behaved and if we veered from that, she most definitely let us know. She didn’t yell or belittle, she simply stated what she expected of us, and we knew we’d better do it.

So Betsy, Jeff and I were painstakingly decorating our cookies, especially that one special cookie that each of us claimed we would be leaving for Santa, though, in reality, rarely survived to Christmas Eve. I had gotten up to do something, though I have no idea what. I only remember what happened as I made my way back to the table. Jeff had picked up his tray of cookies to carry them to the counter. And me? Well, I was goofing off, doing something I shouldn’t have, and I ran into Jeff. His tray clattered to the floor along with all of his cookies. A few were still intact, but most of them met an untimely demise. I felt so bad for Jeff. But not nearly as bad as I felt when Gladys calmly informed me that I would have to give him half of my cookies. My bottom lip still quivers when I recall that moment. I was heartbroken.

Nowadays, as a mom and grandmother, I’m able to appreciate what Gladys did for Jeff. For me, though, that was the Christmas I decided I wanted to learn how to bake so I could make my own cookies. And I did. To this day, Christmas Cookies are still my favorite of all. Like Gladys, I invite my grandkids to help me decorate. And yes, history did repeat itself once with two of my granddaughters. But I always make sure I have plenty of extras on hand so no one has to forfeit their cookies. 😉

Mindy Obenhaus is offering a print copy of A Christmas Bargain 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.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What about you? What makes you want to read A Christmas Bargain by Mindy Obenhaus? Do you decorate cookies for Christmas too?