November 7th, 2024
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Best November Reads

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A Sweet Diverse Reads Holiday Novella


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Earth�s Door is a brilliant blend of fantasy and sci-fi with masterful world-building and rich character development that will leave readers tearing through the pages. Breakout author PJ Dudek has written a captivating story that fans of Stranger Things, Terry Brooks, James Islington, and Brandon Sanderson are sure to love!


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A gripping time-travel tale set on a pirate ship in 1727 and in the gaslit streets of the Prohibition.


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A demon seeks to destroy all. Can she stop him?


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Two restless souls, one wild Christmas on the ranch�where sparks fly, and dreams ride free.


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From jilted bride to fake-fianc�e: falling for the bad boy was not part of the plan!


Excerpt of The Merry Matchmaker by Sheila Roberts

Purchase


MIRA
October 2024
On Sale: October 1, 2024
Featuring: Frankie Lane; Stef; Mitch Howard
368 pages
ISBN: 0778369609
EAN: 9780778369608
Kindle: B0CQPBXGRF
Trade Paperback / e-Book / audiobook
Add to Wish List

Holiday, Romance Comedy

Also by Sheila Roberts:

The Twelve Months of Christmas, December 2024
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book (reprint)
Mistletoe Season, October 2024
Paperback / e-Book
The Merry Matchmaker, October 2024
Trade Paperback / e-Book / audiobook
The Best Life Book Club, May 2024
Trade Paperback / e-Book
The Twelve Months Of Christmas, October 2023
Paperback / e-Book / audiobook
Mermaid Beach, May 2023
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book / audiobook
On the Way to Christmas, October 2022
Paperback / e-Book
The Road To Christmas, September 2022
Paperback / e-Book / audiobook
Sand Dollar Lane, May 2022
Hardcover / e-Book
Christmas in Icicle Falls, November 2021
e-Book (reprint)
A Little Christmas Spirit, October 2021
Trade Size / e-Book / audiobook
Sunset on Moonlight Beach, May 2021
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book / audiobook
Together for Christmas, November 2020
Trade Size / e-Book
Two Kisses for Christmas, November 2020
Trade Size
Christmas from the Heart, November 2020
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book (reprint)
One Charmed Christmas, October 2020
Trade Size / e-Book
Beachside Beginnings, May 2020
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book / audiobook
Christmas from the Heart, October 2019
Trade Size / e-Book
The Summer It Begins, July 2019
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book
The Summer Retreat, May 2019
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book
Winter at the Beach, November 2018
Paperback / e-Book
Welcome to Moonlight Harbor, April 2018
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book
Christmas in Icicle Falls, November 2017
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book
Starting Over on Blackberry Lane, March 2017
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book
Home on Apple Blossom Road, April 2016
Paperback / e-Book
Christmas on Candy Cane Lane, November 2015
Paperback / e-Book
A Wedding on Primrose Street, August 2015
Paperback / e-Book
Together for Christmas, November 2014
Hardcover / e-Book
The Lodge on Holly Road, November 2014
Paperback / e-Book
The Tea Shop On Lavender Lane, July 2014
Paperback / e-Book
The Cottage On Juniper Ridge, March 2014
Paperback / e-Book
Merry Ex-Mas, October 2013
Paperback / e-Book (reprint)
What She Wants, April 2013
Paperback / e-Book (reprint)
Merry Ex-Mas, November 2012
Paperback / e-Book
Better Than Chocolate, September 2012
Paperback / e-Book
The Nine Lives Of Christmas, November 2011
Hardcover
The Snow Globe, November 2010
Hardcover
Small Change, April 2010
Paperback
Angel Lane, October 2009
Paperback
Love In Bloom, April 2009
Paperback
Bikini Season, April 2008
Trade Size
On Strike for Christmas, November 2007
Trade Size / e-Book

Excerpt of The Merry Matchmaker by Sheila Roberts

Wilhelmina Fritz proclaimed herself fit and fifty. Her pro-file picture showed a slender woman with brown shoulder- length hair and a pretty round face. She was on a hiking trail, posing surrounded by fir and maple trees, with a golden Lab-rador by her side. Love to hike, she wrote.

“Looks like you found a Mrs. Claus for Mitch,” said Viola.

“Let’s start chatting.”

And so “Mitch” began a correspondence with Wilhelmina.

By Wednesday, Wilhelmina was ready to drive on over from nearby Cedarwood and meet him for coffee at The Coffee Stop. They made a date for the following day.

“Now I just have to get him over there,” said Frankie when

she called to report to Viola.

“What if he balks? Then it will be you wearing a Santa hat

and meeting Wilhelmina.”

“I’ll make it happen,” Frankie said.

“Let me know how it goes.”

Hopefully, it would go smoothly.

Of course it would. If there was one thing Frankie was

good at, it was organizing things—events, parties…meetups.

“Mind the shop, Mom,” she said to Adele when it was time for the big moment.

Adele looked up from the nativity set she was putting back into place after a young visitor had scattered the shepherds and wise men every which way. “Where are you going?”

Elinor was in another part of the shop, unpacking a shipment of ornaments, and Natalie was at the grade school, helping with the teacher appreciation luncheon. Adele hated being on her own at the cash register.

“Just a quick coffee with Mitch,” said Frankie.

“Santa Walk business?”

“Santa business,” Frankie replied vaguely.

“Make it quick and bring me back an eggnog latte, okay?”

Adele requested.

“Sure.”

As soon as she’d gotten Mitch and Wilhelmina squared away. Having to get coffee for her mom would make a good excuse to vacate the table. Her excuse for being at the table in the first place would be… Well, Frankie wasn’t sure what that would be.

“Coffee break time,” she greeted him as she poked her head in his office.

“Rain check?” he replied. He held up a sheaf of invoices.

“I’m up to my eyeballs here.”

“All the more reason you should take a break,” she insisted.

“Your eyeballs will thank you.” He was about to say no, she knew it. “Come on. Just a few minutes. I need your advice on something.”

That hadn’t been the wisest thing to say. What on earth did she need advice on?

“Okay, then, a quick break,” he said, and grabbed his Handy’s Hardware windbreaker from a hook on the wall. “Brock, can you hold down the fort?” he called as they started out.

“I’m on it,” came a disembodied voice from the other end of the store.

“Who’s Brock?” asked Frankie. She knew everyone who worked for Mitch. She’d drafted all of them to help build Santa’s sleigh for the first year’s Santa Walk parade. “Oh, wait. Your new manager?”

“Yep. Just got here last week from California.”

“You never said. Did he bring a family with him?”

“Nope. He’s single.”

Single. Hmm. “How old is he?”

“What? Are you in the market all of a sudden?” Mitch

asked.

“No. I’m just wondering if he might like to meet Stef.” It was past time for her sister to find someone.

Mitch shrugged. “He’s about the right age.”

“Stef could help him find his feet, introduce him around.”

Small-town newspaper reporters knew everyone.

“How about giving the poor guy a chance to catch his breath before you go hitching him up with someone?”

“You want him to feel at home in his new town, right?

And stay.”

“He might already have a woman.”

“You don’t know if he does?”

“He barely got here. I’ve been too busy bringing him up to speed in the store to get all the details of his love life. Now, how about instead of talking about my new manager, we talk about what you need help with,” he said as they arrived at the coffee shop.

He opened the door for her and the aroma of coffee danced out to greet them. Morning rush hour was over and only a couple of tables were occupied, one with a senior man reading a copy of the Carol Clarion, and another had two young women, one with a baby in a stroller, visiting over their drinks.

The place was ready for Christmas with gold tinsel strung along its windows. An instrumental arrangement of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” was playing.

“Let’s get something to drink first,” she said, stalling. “I’m buying. You want your usual Americano?”

“I can get my own drink,” he said.

“This is on me,” she insisted. “Consider it payment for your advice. How about you grab us a table?”

He gave in and settled at one of the small, scarred wood tables, stretching his long legs out in front of him. He was such a good man. He deserved a good woman. Wilhelmina fit the bill. Frankie hoped she was as nice as she’d sounded in their online conversations.

She picked up their orders, Americano for him and a peppermint blended drink for her, then made her way to the table.

“So, what do you need my advice on?” Mitch asked as she set his drink down in front of him.

She grabbed the first thing that came to mind. “How do I get Natalie to turn her candy-crafting hobby into a business?”

“Been on her about that again, huh?”

“Her bonbons are to die for. I know she could make a success of it.”

“She’s already selling them at the shop.”

“Only small batches.”

“She’s not ready yet, so don’t push her. Meanwhile, you’ve got a good worker.”

“I do, but Holiday Happiness is my dream, not hers.”

“She has time to work on her own dreams. Let her be, Frankie. You’ve got your hands full managing the shop and your own life. You don’t have time to run everyone else’s.”

Frankie tried not to think what Mitch was going to say when he learned she was trying to run his. “Sometimes people need help,” she argued. “I only want what’s best for her.

I want what’s best for all the important people in my life.”

He smiled. “I know you do. You’ve got a big heart.”

And once she found the woman of his dreams he would be forever grateful for her big heart.

Speaking of the woman of his dreams, who was the woman marching into the coffee shop, stuffed into red leggings and a red coat, carrying a manila folder under her arms? The face looked vaguely familiar.

Oh no. It couldn’t be.

Excerpt from The Merry Matchmaker by Sheila Roberts
All rights reserved by publisher and author

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