Beauty in the Binding: Guest Post: Finding Their Christmas Home by Donna Gartshore

Finding Their Christmas Home JustRead Blog Tour

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Finding Their Christmas Home by Donna Gartshore, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

Title: Finding Their Christmas Home
Author: Donna Gartshore
Publisher: Harlequin Love Inspired
Release Date: September 26, 2023
Genre: Inspirational Contemporary Romance

A holiday homecoming

Could lead to a second chance…

After years away, Jenny Powell returns to her grandmother’s home, known as “Christmas House,” only to find her ex already there. A household emergency left David Hart and his twin daughters with nowhere else to go, and he enlists Jenny to help him give his daughters a Christmas they’ll never forget. But with the past standing between them, could this holiday season bring the gift of a happily-ever-after for them all?

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Excerpt

David and the girls walked a couple of steps ahead of her, and she watched as Rowe pulled her hand away from her father’s grip and picked up a snowball, which she turned and threw, with surprisingly lethal aim, in Jenny’s direction.

Jenny’s reflexes were excellent, however, and she jerked to the right just in time to have the snowball whiz past her ear rather than get a cold, wet slap in the face.

Once again, she was sure that she had at least as much in common with Rowe as she did with Reba.

Realizing what was happening, David spun around. “Rowe,” he exclaimed. “What are you doing? You could have hurt Jenny. Are you okay?” he asked her.

She laughed as she bent down and began to gather snow. When she stood up she saw Rowe watching her, pulsing with pent-up energy, holding her own snowball, and noticed that David and Reba were laughing and busily packing their own ammunition.

After David called out the quick rule that aiming at someone’s face was not allowed, the snowballs flew with abandon, and soon Rowena joined in with her own unrestrained giggle, a blissful sound, alongside her sister’s.

Jenny gave a sigh of relief and thanked God that she had been able to turn the moment into something fun and silly for them all to share. Because it hadn’t escaped her attention that Rowe’s first throw wasn’t completely without malice. Despite her whatever attitude, trying to come across like she didn’t care, Jenny was sure that she struggled hugely with her mother’s absence and did not want anyone to take her place.

Jenny’s heart ached for her. She knew how devastating it was to resent a parent’s absence while, at the same time, desperately longing for them to be present.

She had absolutely no intentions of being part of David’s life. But when she saw him with his eyes crinkled in laughter, it was like seeing him as a boy again, her best friend, her first love.

About the Author

Donna Gartshore

Donna Gartshore lives in Saskatchewan, Canada. Along with writing inspirational romance for Love Inspired, She has also published several short stories and poems with various literary publications and writes devotions. Donna loves family time, walks, coffee and movies with friends, serving in various capacities at the church she attends and talking about books and writing with her friends and the writing community

Connect with Donna by following her on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Guest Post

REMEMERING A SPECIAL HOUSE
By Donna Gartshore

Thank you for having me guest post on your blog! You asked a great question about the title of Finding Their Christmas Home and what was the inspiration behind that title.

I have always wanted to write a Christmas-themed story and I also thought it would be fun to write a second-chance romance between former high school sweethearts. So, honestly, the working title Reunion at Christmas House, just popped into my mind and I wrote the book that is now being released as Finding Their Christmas Home.

I did use some memories from a real house, however, in creating some of the descriptions of the house. But, something perhaps interesting is that I was never at that house in the winter so how it might have looked decorated for Christmas comes purely from my imagination.

On summer holidays when I was growing up, my parents, two sisters and I would often visit my dad’s aunt’s (my great aunt) house in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba in Canada.

That house always held such a sense of possibility and discovery for me. It was larger than our own house, it had two separate staircases, plenty of nooks and crannies for playing Hide-and-Seek in and, for me, most memorable of all, an attic room where I would take a notebook and pen and try to create the next Trixie Belden or Donna Parker.

The music boxes, knick-knacks and secret sliding panel in the attic mentioned in my book were in the Portage house but it has been many years since I’ve been there and in recreating the house for the book, I wanted mainly to capture the feeling it gave me being there.

When I was in that house, I knew I was part of a family that had a history of writers and I knew that I wanted to become one of them. When I was in that house, it seemed possible that I could become whoever I wanted to be. To this day my relatives ,who include authors, playwrights, ministers and journalists, enjoy reminiscing about the fun and bonding, and sense of home we experienced at our own `Christmas House’.

I’ve been writing long enough now to know that the book title that gets stuck in my head while I’m writing the book probably isn’t the one that the book will end up with but I fully believe that the title Finding Their Christmas Home captures the most important messages about this book: Messages about second chances, finding our way, finding our place and purpose in the world, love and forgiveness -- all of which I think the story of Christmas itself also represents.

I hope everyone enjoys the book. Thank you again.

Tour Giveaway

(3) winners will win a print copy of Finding Their Christmas Home, Finding Her Voice and a devotional!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight September 25, 2023 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on October 2, 2023. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US/CAN only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

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