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

Curtain Call

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

Christmas is only eleven days away, according to Google. Are you in the Christmas spirit yet?

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!)

CURTAIN CALL by Alyssa Roat & Hope Bolinger
SERIES: Roseville Romances #3
GENRE: Inspirational Contemporary Romance
PUBLISHER: Mountain Brook Ink
RELEASE DATE: November 5, 2022
PAGES: 283

With their future in theater on the line, can a newbie actress and overwhelmed playwright put on a production to remember?

Part-time thespian Griffith Williams can’t seem to do anything right in his parents’ eyes, especially compared to his brother, a missionary in the Dominican Republic. But if he can pull off the biggest play of the year, the Christmas play, he could win a job as a full-time director, and prove to himself—and his family—that he hasn’t mistaken his calling to the arts.

Would-be actress Hadassah Wright spends her days teaching and corralling her many, many younger siblings in a large homeschool family. Her only escape seems to be through marriage to a childhood not-so-sweetheart—until a casting call for a local play provides an opportunity to act, perhaps for the last time.

When the two end up as leads in the play, the chemistry they feel isn’t just on the stage. Hadassah finds refuge from familial pressures through helping Griffith at the theater, and Griffith finds a kindred spirit in Hadassah’s longing to pursue the art she loves.

But when an envious stage manager, a director with far too many demands, and a relentless suitor threaten to derail the show, will the curtains close on any chance of romance?

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family-friendly christmas plays to get you ready for the season

by Hope Bolinger, author of Curtain Call

I know that as book nerds we tend to read, well, books. But what if another type of reading could also get us in the Christmas mood?

Since I, and my coauthor Alyssa, wrote a Christmas book in which the characters put on a Christmas play, I thought it could work best to tell you some of the best plays around to check out. Watch them at a local theater, a movie adaptation of them, or do what I do, and simply purchase a playscript from the play publisher themselves.

You might fall in love with a new genre.

Let’s dive in.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

In Curtain Call, our characters put on a play that has a very similar plot to this one. It involves a bunch of rowdy kids who have no idea what Christmas is about. They put on a play, and when the kids discover the true meaning of Christmas, their hearts are changed.

A great, family-friendly show with a great message. This play also tends to have a huge cast of characters as well.

Miracle on 34th Street

I love this play (and movie) for many reasons. Several people don’t believe in the existence of Santa, until a man claiming to be Santa Claus is brought to court.

The play moved me so much that I ended up writing an article about it.

The play tackles themes of belief, faith, and is really great to watch again as an adult. You miss so much when you watch it as a kid.

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

A little bit more of an unknown one, unless you happened to catch the movie version of it in claymation. In the play version, Santa Claus is raised by fairies. But when he discovers humans like himself, he decides to bring joy to all the children.

But the evil Agwas, who like tormenting children, won’t stand for Santa’s antics.

A classic story of the battle between good and evil. I’m currently in a play version of this as Santa’s foster mom, Necile. I highly recommend giving this play a watch.

There are so many more I could list from A Christmas Carol to It’s a Wonderful Life. I highly recommend supporting local theater, and who knows, watching a play may just put you in the right Christmas spirit!

Hope Bolinger is offering an ebook copy of Curtain Call to one of my readers! (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 Curtain Call by Hope Bolinger & Alyssa Roat? Do you have a favorite Christmas play that you’ve seen?