Jane Haddam

A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens

'If I had my way, every idiot who goes around with Merry Christmas on his lips, would be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. Merry Christmas? Bah humbug!'

Introduction and Afterword by Joe Wheeler
To bitter, miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, Christmas is just another day. But all that changes when the ghost of his long-dead business partner appears, warning Scrooge to change his ways before it's too late.

Part of the Focus on the Family Great Stories collection, this abridged edition features an in-depth introduction and discussion questions by Joe Wheeler to provide greater understanding for today's reader. "A Christmas Carol" captures the heart of the holidays like no other novel.

Let It Snow
Debbie Macomber

A snowstorm threatens to ruin Christmas for two mismatched strangers traveling together—until a spark of romance brightens the season in this charming short novel from Debbie Macomber.

Shelly Griffin is looking forward to spending time with her beloved father in Seattle for the holidays. But unexpected complications arise when her plane from San Francisco is rerouted to Portland due to inclement weather. To make matters worse, Shelly finds herself stuck sharing the last available rental car with one of her fellow passengers: handsome, uptight businessman Slade Garner.

Sure, he’s attractive, but Shelly isn’t immediately convinced she likes Slade. She’s not expecting the arduous journey to her father’s house in a severe blizzard to change her mind, either. But the more time Shelly spends with Slade, the more she suspects that she may have received an unexpected gift this Christmas: love.

Not a Creature was Stirring
Jane Haddam

There's no place like home for the homicide
For former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian, retirement has just come to an abrupt end. What started as a mysterious summons to a Christmas Eve feast at multimillionaire Robert Hannaford;s isolated country estate was now an invitation to a murder scene. Demerol and a blood-covered statue had ensured that.
Red ribbon, green wreaths, and spilled blue blood... christmas can be murder on the Philadelphia main line!
Add the late patriarch's penchant for making enemies, seven siblings with ample reasons for wanting Daddy dead, plus a murderer with a genius for mayhem, and you've got local police begging the Bureau's aging former ace to take up society sleuthing. But as the pieces fall into place, so do the bodies. And Gregor can hear the jingle bells toll - it's going to be a lethal Yule.

It Happened One Christmas Eve
Jenn McKinlay

Claire Macintosh is about to get engaged to a man she doesn't love at the holiday gala she is hosting as director of the Museum of Literature. Her mother, Hildy Macintosh, has made it clear that if the museum is to continue to receive the enormous donations from the family trust that Hildy has approved all these years then Claire will marry the man Hildy has chosen for her and start to produce some grandbabies. At forty and single, Claire feels she has no choice. But when the horse and carriage arrive at the gala with the driver dressed as Santa to deliver Claire's engagement ring, she just can't go through with it. She hijacks the horse and carriage with Santa still on board and escapes!

Reporter Sam Carpenter thought he was being so clever convincing his friend to let him step in as Santa so he could get up close and personal to the subject of his upcoming magazine expose. He is completely unprepared for the events that unfold and finds himself dashing through Central Park with a runaway would be fiancé. Now the only way to save his story is to broker a deal with Claire Macintosh. In exchange for his help in getting her to her cottage in Maine by Christmas Eve, she'll grant him an exclusive interview. As their journey takes a series of unexpected twists, turns, and misadventures, both Claire and Sam realize that there's more than their careers on the line. And it's going to take a Christmas miracle to find their happily ever after.