I fell in love with the colors, style, and feeling of this cover when I saw it on my cover designer’s page, but I didn’t have a Christmas story in the works. I didn’t buy the artwork, but I worried someone else would buy the cover if I didn’t snap it up.
That’s it! I bought it, but now I needed a story. I enjoy all the sweet cheesy movies at Christmas, and wanted my story to include those elements.
In Hope for Christmas, you will find a charming town, a grumpy Scrooge type character, a handsome rescuer, a baking contest and a blizzard.
But you’ll also find a story dealing with grief at the holidays and a pro-life message that will warm your heart and add hope to your Christmas.
I enjoyed writing the story and leaned on my understanding of winter storms in Wisconsin—the frozen tundra, as we like to say. My main character Merry Noel returns home to Wisconsin from her new home in the balmy south and encounters winter weather like she hasn’t experienced for several years. Unfortunately, she despises Christmas, and she forgot about the Jingle Mingle taking place the weekend she returned home.
Camels, wise men, ballerinas, and Christmas cheer fill the town and Merry skedaddles home as fast as she can to escape the festive atmosphere and nurses her misery in solitude. Until a wise man breaks into her mother’s house and scares her half to death.
Where does the grief and pro-life message enter? Well, if I keep going, I’ll give away all the details. Hope for Christmas is the perfect book to read while snuggled up in your favorite chair with a blanket and a cup of cocoa.
I think you will enjoy the pro-life twist at the end and hope you’ll remember your local pregnancy resource center with a material or financial donation this Christmas season. If you’re not sure how to find one near you, check out the worldwide directory at Heartbeat International.
Malissa Chapin has a heart for writing stories filled with humor, faith, and truth. She’s always adored reading excellent books and is tickled to see her childhood dream of becoming an author finally come true.
Malissa loves creating with words, watercolor, fabric, and yarn. You can find her in her garden, at the piano, homeschooling her bonus baby, or enjoying a coffee with friends.
She lives and sometimes freezes in Wisconsin with her family and a crazy cat.
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Hope for Christmas is available from my book shop in paperback, eBook, audiobook, and large print paperback as well as other online retailers.