For the most part, 2020 was uneventful for our family. As introverts, the quarantine didn’t really change much for us. We have the ability to work from home, and the kids adapted to learning remotely. Over the summer we hosted the family golf tournament, and my husband’s siblings and oldest son were able to join us. We kept things safe and had a wonderful time.
Then autumn hit. Hard.
My family lives 300 miles away. I planned a trip to help my mom with the house as she was feeling under the weather. What neither of us knew was she had a horrible case of pneumonia and septic shock. For awhile, doctors feared she had COVID, and isolated us both as they treated her. She ended up in a bigger hospital that could meet her needs.
I went back to Ohio to pack my things. I was going home again.
In romance novels, the home again trope is one where the hero or heroine must return to their hometown, and rarely does the character look forward to it. Something usually happened in the past that made the character run. Now they have to face the people back in that hometown.
Boy, do I relate! I have no regrets dropping everything to help mom out. But it means I’ve left my husband and kids. I miss them. They are grieving. It all happened so fast. More than that, I love using Upstate NY settings in my romances because they are beautiful areas I want to highlight. But for the state itself, I was happy to move. The state reminded me of loss, grief, and heartbreak.
And here I am, right back in the same zip code.
The praise is my faith in Christ prepared me for this season, and every emotion I have returning to the past as I take care of the present has been one I give Him. But it sure isn’t easy. My homesickness has grown. I miss ministry and my church family. While we face appointments and tests, it’s important I remain here.
That’s the premise behind Restoring Christmas. Holly has to return to the family tourist trap to help her uncle run the community favorite Christmas Mansion. Coming back means she has to face her past. There’s a lot of pain to sort through, and Holly isn’t sure she’s up to the task. On top of that, Kevin Holt comes to the Christmas Mansion with a group of children who seem to have a lot of issues. How can Holly heal from the past when she can’t handle the present?
I hope you check out Restoring Christmas.
What do you think about the “home again” theme? Is it anything you’ve faced?
Filled with grief and regret, Holly Christmas returns to Geneseo Valley and the family business, The Christmas Mansion. Can Kevin Holt restore her love for the season and the memories she left behind?
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Holly Christmas left Geneseo Valley and her family’s holiday tourist attraction, The Christmas Mansion, as soon as she graduated. Now both her parents have passed, and Holly returns when her uncle’s requests that he needs her help running the mansion. On Holly’s first day back, a blunt middle-schooler proclaims Holly hates Christmas. His comment forces her to reconcile the past while planning for the mansion’s future.
Kevin Holt is invested in offering hope to students with challenges. His best friend’s son is in Kevin’s class, and Noah needs guidance. Their community project placement at The Christmas Mansion is an opportunity to make a positive difference. When Noah blurts out his thoughts to the beautiful co-owner, Kevin wonders if he has what it takes to help restore the mansion to its former glory, mentor Noah, and convince Holly Christmas she’s exactly where she needs to be.
Julie Arduini loves to encourage readers to find freedom in Christ by surrendering the good, the bad, and —maybe one day—the chocolate. She’s the author of the contemporary romance series SURRENDERING TIME, (Entrusted, Entangled, Engaged,) as well as the stand-alone novellas, MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN and RESTORING CHRISTMAS. She also shares her story in the infertility devotional, A WALK IN THE VALLEY. Her other latest release, YOU’RE BRILLIANT, is for girls ages 10-100, written with her teenaged daughter, Hannah, and is book 3 in their SURRENDERING STINKIN’ THINKIN’ series. She blogs every other Wednesday for Christians Read, as well as monthly with Inspy Romance. She resides in Ohio with her husband and two children. Learn more by visiting her at http://juliearduini.com, where she invites readers to opt in to her content full of resources and giveaway opportunities.
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