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Christmas Angels
Love Spell's top authors celebrate the magic of angels and the joy of love with these four Christmas romance stories--Debra Dier's "The Trouble With Hannah", Eugenia Riley's "Tryst With An Angel", Amy Elizabeth Saunder's "A Time For Joy", and Trana Mae Simmons's "Chrissy's Wish".
440 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1995
1 person is currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Debra Dier
20 books45 followersRumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. The first time I saw a reader mention my possible demise in an online review, chills rippled over my skin. It is odd to read someone say she loves you and she thinks you must have died because nothing new has been published in years. To that reader and to anyone else who may have mourned my passing I say: I have been buried in all the wonderful joys and duties and responsibilities of motherhood.
Yes, other writers manage to keep pumping out books while dealing with children. I think I may have continued, except I had the loss of my mom hit right at the time I was finishing the last book on my contract. I just couldn't find the heart to pick up my quill. Instead, I plunged into volunteer work. Once I left that realm where the written word reigned, I never sought a way back into it. I was Alice who forgot about the looking glass.
My best friend gave me a magnet a couple of years ago that had “Stop me before I volunteer again!” emblazoned across the shiny surface beneath the face of a young woman who resembled me. She told me she was tired of waiting for another book. I realized my short hiatus from writing had turned into a twelve year sabbatical. I stepped back into my office, looked at my computer and decided she was right. I sat down and began writing the first book in a series of fantasy novels for older teens and adults.
While I was working on the new series, I obtained the rights to all of my previously published novels. The next day a New York publisher contacted me and asked to buy the rights to those novels. They wanted to publish them immediately. It was tempting, but instead of allowing those books to be published in their original form, I decided to take a peek at them and see if there was anything I might do differently today. I was always the type of writer who would have been revising in the bookstore if bookstores did not frown upon such tactics. The first book, Beyond Forever, took eight months to re-write. In reality, I kept the concept and a little of the original and wrote a new book. The result is A Twist of Fate which will be available late November 2013.
In the past year I have reconnected with an old love—writing. As I work my way through the old novels, I find my concepts and choices concerning characters and plot have altered over the years. I am currently working on revising all the old books. And yes, eventually, soon I hope, I will return to the new series. Before I get another magnet from Kim.
Debra Dier is the bestselling author of sixteen critically acclaimed romance novels and short stories. Her work has earned her a place in the Writer's Hall of Fame.
Deb was born and raised in Niagara Falls, New York. Although she always knew she wanted to do something creative in life, well-meaning family members talked her into doing something in a much more practical light. She received a BS in Information Systems Management and headed down a career path that included writing computer code and designing computer systems. It wasn't exactly what she had in mind when she thought of a purely creative career. For some mystifying reason, she was put on a fast track in that career and became a manager of other programmers and analysts in a large corporation at a young age. It was then she decided to try her hand at writing something other than computer systems. After her first novel, Surrender the Dream was published, she took the plunge into writing full time. She has never regretted that decision.
When her daughter was a toddler, Debra decided to take a short hiatus from writing to concentrate on all things motherhood. There wasn't a task she didn't take on, including making Halloween costumes, volunteering for room parent every year, and becoming a Girl Scout leader. By the way, her idea of camping is staying at a three star hotel. Not precisely the roughing it kind of girl. At the urging of her daughter, Deb has found herself sleeping on a mat in a ten
Yes, other writers manage to keep pumping out books while dealing with children. I think I may have continued, except I had the loss of my mom hit right at the time I was finishing the last book on my contract. I just couldn't find the heart to pick up my quill. Instead, I plunged into volunteer work. Once I left that realm where the written word reigned, I never sought a way back into it. I was Alice who forgot about the looking glass.
My best friend gave me a magnet a couple of years ago that had “Stop me before I volunteer again!” emblazoned across the shiny surface beneath the face of a young woman who resembled me. She told me she was tired of waiting for another book. I realized my short hiatus from writing had turned into a twelve year sabbatical. I stepped back into my office, looked at my computer and decided she was right. I sat down and began writing the first book in a series of fantasy novels for older teens and adults.
While I was working on the new series, I obtained the rights to all of my previously published novels. The next day a New York publisher contacted me and asked to buy the rights to those novels. They wanted to publish them immediately. It was tempting, but instead of allowing those books to be published in their original form, I decided to take a peek at them and see if there was anything I might do differently today. I was always the type of writer who would have been revising in the bookstore if bookstores did not frown upon such tactics. The first book, Beyond Forever, took eight months to re-write. In reality, I kept the concept and a little of the original and wrote a new book. The result is A Twist of Fate which will be available late November 2013.
In the past year I have reconnected with an old love—writing. As I work my way through the old novels, I find my concepts and choices concerning characters and plot have altered over the years. I am currently working on revising all the old books. And yes, eventually, soon I hope, I will return to the new series. Before I get another magnet from Kim.
Debra Dier is the bestselling author of sixteen critically acclaimed romance novels and short stories. Her work has earned her a place in the Writer's Hall of Fame.
Deb was born and raised in Niagara Falls, New York. Although she always knew she wanted to do something creative in life, well-meaning family members talked her into doing something in a much more practical light. She received a BS in Information Systems Management and headed down a career path that included writing computer code and designing computer systems. It wasn't exactly what she had in mind when she thought of a purely creative career. For some mystifying reason, she was put on a fast track in that career and became a manager of other programmers and analysts in a large corporation at a young age. It was then she decided to try her hand at writing something other than computer systems. After her first novel, Surrender the Dream was published, she took the plunge into writing full time. She has never regretted that decision.
When her daughter was a toddler, Debra decided to take a short hiatus from writing to concentrate on all things motherhood. There wasn't a task she didn't take on, including making Halloween costumes, volunteering for room parent every year, and becoming a Girl Scout leader. By the way, her idea of camping is staying at a three star hotel. Not precisely the roughing it kind of girl. At the urging of her daughter, Deb has found herself sleeping on a mat in a ten
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December 13, 2023
From the back cover:
An Angel's touch: Celebrate the magic of Christmas with these four stories of heaven-sent love.
"The Trouble With Hannah" by Debra Dier
Leicestershire, 1887. A mysterious governess uses her heavenly powers to help a lovely spinster reform her mishievous niece and win the heart of the peer she has always desired.
"Tryst With An Angel" by Eugenia Riley
London, 1855. A Yuletide miracle teaches a coldhearted businessman and his wife that, even though their marriage was arranged on earth, their love was made in paradise.
"A Time For Joy" by Amy Elizabeth Saunders
Seattle, 1995. A social-climbing beauty has no interest in a blue-collar Adonis until a blizzard--and her guardian angel--trap them together on Christmas Eve.
"Chrissy's Wish" by Trana Mae Simmons
Dalls, 1860. A pair of heavenly messengers ansewrs a young girl's Christmas prayer and brings her lonely aunt the one man who can fill her life with joy.
And my review.
I love Christmas romance, paranormal romance, and angels, so this collection seemed like something I would like. I was not dissapointed!
"The Trouble With Hannah" was okay. Not a story I would re-read, but good for a one-time read. The heroine's klutzy ways was quite endearing, and I really felt sorry for the poor, neglected child who acted out because she wanted love so badly. I also really admired the heroine's resolve to marry only for love, and to risk social ruin rather than accept a marriage based on logic instead of true love. The angel part of this story was not done as well as I would have liked, though. Three stars.
"Tryst With An Angel" was absolutely WONDERFUL! I didn't have high hopes for this novella, as I hadn't liked this author's story in the "A Time-Travel Christmas" collection. But I was amazed by this story. It captured my attention immediately, and I could not put it down! I love stories of estranged spouses reconciling, and this was one of the best of these I have ever read. I cried my eyes out at the end - not just a few tears - I was sobbing. Seriously - I had to keep stopping because I couldn't see the words to read anymore. Usually in novellas, you can see the ending coming, but in this one, it left you guessing until the very end. I can not say enough good about this story - only that it made it worth buying this book. If you only read one story this Christmas - read this one! It's one I know I'll be re-reading in the years to come! Five stars.
"A Time For Joy" was also very, very well done. The guardian angel stole center stage. She was hilarious! I laughed out loud at least ten times while reading this story. I loved the idea that the more beautiful you are on the inside, the more beautiful your guardian angel will be (and visa versa!). The little girl in this story was so sweet, and all the characters just captured my heart. I loved watching the heroine rediscover the things that really matter in life. Though this story was less than 100 pages, it didn't feel at all rushed. This will be a re-read story. Five stars.
"Chrissy's Wish" was a bit of a let-down after the last two fabulous stories. There was not much character development, so I had a hard time caring about them. I found her quite childish and annoying and him a bit too "I'm the man of the house, so what I say goes". The angel aspect of this story was fairly weak as well. The little girl was pretty much a flat plot device, and not a full character. I had to force myself to finish this story, and I didn't feel that their turn-around from "I hate you" to "I love you" was very believable. Not a re-read. Three stars.
I normally don't give a five-star rating to an anthology unless all the stories are five stars. But the two middle stories are SOOOOO good that giving the book less than five stars would be an injustice to them.
Reread “A Time for Joy” Dec 2019, 2023
An Angel's touch: Celebrate the magic of Christmas with these four stories of heaven-sent love.
"The Trouble With Hannah" by Debra Dier
Leicestershire, 1887. A mysterious governess uses her heavenly powers to help a lovely spinster reform her mishievous niece and win the heart of the peer she has always desired.
"Tryst With An Angel" by Eugenia Riley
London, 1855. A Yuletide miracle teaches a coldhearted businessman and his wife that, even though their marriage was arranged on earth, their love was made in paradise.
"A Time For Joy" by Amy Elizabeth Saunders
Seattle, 1995. A social-climbing beauty has no interest in a blue-collar Adonis until a blizzard--and her guardian angel--trap them together on Christmas Eve.
"Chrissy's Wish" by Trana Mae Simmons
Dalls, 1860. A pair of heavenly messengers ansewrs a young girl's Christmas prayer and brings her lonely aunt the one man who can fill her life with joy.
And my review.
I love Christmas romance, paranormal romance, and angels, so this collection seemed like something I would like. I was not dissapointed!
"The Trouble With Hannah" was okay. Not a story I would re-read, but good for a one-time read. The heroine's klutzy ways was quite endearing, and I really felt sorry for the poor, neglected child who acted out because she wanted love so badly. I also really admired the heroine's resolve to marry only for love, and to risk social ruin rather than accept a marriage based on logic instead of true love. The angel part of this story was not done as well as I would have liked, though. Three stars.
"Tryst With An Angel" was absolutely WONDERFUL! I didn't have high hopes for this novella, as I hadn't liked this author's story in the "A Time-Travel Christmas" collection. But I was amazed by this story. It captured my attention immediately, and I could not put it down! I love stories of estranged spouses reconciling, and this was one of the best of these I have ever read. I cried my eyes out at the end - not just a few tears - I was sobbing. Seriously - I had to keep stopping because I couldn't see the words to read anymore. Usually in novellas, you can see the ending coming, but in this one, it left you guessing until the very end. I can not say enough good about this story - only that it made it worth buying this book. If you only read one story this Christmas - read this one! It's one I know I'll be re-reading in the years to come! Five stars.
"A Time For Joy" was also very, very well done. The guardian angel stole center stage. She was hilarious! I laughed out loud at least ten times while reading this story. I loved the idea that the more beautiful you are on the inside, the more beautiful your guardian angel will be (and visa versa!). The little girl in this story was so sweet, and all the characters just captured my heart. I loved watching the heroine rediscover the things that really matter in life. Though this story was less than 100 pages, it didn't feel at all rushed. This will be a re-read story. Five stars.
"Chrissy's Wish" was a bit of a let-down after the last two fabulous stories. There was not much character development, so I had a hard time caring about them. I found her quite childish and annoying and him a bit too "I'm the man of the house, so what I say goes". The angel aspect of this story was fairly weak as well. The little girl was pretty much a flat plot device, and not a full character. I had to force myself to finish this story, and I didn't feel that their turn-around from "I hate you" to "I love you" was very believable. Not a re-read. Three stars.
I normally don't give a five-star rating to an anthology unless all the stories are five stars. But the two middle stories are SOOOOO good that giving the book less than five stars would be an injustice to them.
Reread “A Time for Joy” Dec 2019, 2023
Displaying 1 of 1 review