Christmas Comes to Morning Star by Charlotte Hubbard - Book Tour - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!

Hey, lovelies!!  It gives me great pleasure today to host Charlotte Hubbard and her inspirational new book, “Christmas Comes to Morning Star,” here on FAB!!  For other stops on her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.

Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!  In addition to the GC Prize, Charlotte would like to select one female reader's name to use in her upcoming book, “Hidden Away at Promise Lodge.”  Also, come back daily to interact with Charlotte and to increase your chances of winning!!

Thanks for stopping by!!  Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!!

Christmas Comes to Morning Star

by Charlotte Hubbard

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GENRE: Amish/Inspirational Romance

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BLURB:

Founded by five unmarried and enterprising Amish maidels, the new Morning Star Marketplace in small-town Missouri is preparing for a joyous Christmas season. But will the holiday also bring unexpected tidings of love?

Twin sisters Molly and Marietta Helfing are eagerly anticipating Christmas, with Marietta fully recovered from cancer and their noodle making business thriving. But Molly clearly misses having former tenant Pete Shetler and his rambunctious dog, Riley, around. Marietta can’t ignore Molly’s feelings for Pete—or the anxiety it stirs within her. Convinced her illness has made her unmarriageable, Marietta wonders what kind of life she’ll have if her sister marries—despite Molly’s promise never to leave her behind. . .

Then a fire destroys the home of Amish neighbors and Molly and Marietta graciously make room for widower Glenn Detweiler, his dat, and his two young boys. When Pete returns to help the family rebuild, Molly relishes her reunion with the handsome carpenter, while Marietta delights in mothering Glenn’s boys—and is surprised by her poignant bond with their quiet, brooding father. Soon everyone is wondering if this season will bring the blessing of a merry double wedding to Morning Star . . .

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EXCERPT ONE:

When she glanced at her sister, who was placing a strip of noodle dough into the roller, Marietta noticed a rare frown on Molly’s face. “Penny for your thoughts, sister.”

Molly shrugged. “Sure is quiet without Riley and Pete around.”

Marietta’s eyes widened at her sister’s wistful remark. For several months, Pete Shetler and his golden retriever, Riley, had rented one of their two dawdi hauses. Pete had done some much-needed maintenance around their farm—while his active young dog had mostly dug up Mamm’s flower beds, chewed the belts on their noodle making equipment, and found other trouble to get into.

Pete had moved into his uncle’s house, however. Although Marietta appreciated the return to a quieter routine without their renter, she sensed Molly had secretly adored the muscular blond carpenter and his rambunctious dog.

“Maybe you should pay Pete a visit,” she suggested. “I bet he’d be tickled if you took over a pan of noodle pudding—”

“Why would I do that?” Molly blurted. “It’s not as though anything would come of a relationship—even if Pete took the hint and asked me out.”

“Why not?” Marietta paused, hoping to express her concerns carefully. “Just because I’ll never marry doesn’t mean you should forfeit a potential romance. Sure, Pete’s clueless most of the time but he seems trainable. And he’s awfully cute.”

“Let’s not forget that Pete refuses to join the Amish church, so a romance would be pointless—even if he knew the meaning of the word,” Molly shot back. “Truth be told, I like Riley better than Pete, anyway. I intend to remain here on the farm with you, sister, like we’ve always agreed upon. We’re turning thirty-five next month, so why would I want to change my life—and my attitude—to accommodate a husband?”

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GUEST POST:

Who’s Who in Morning Star?

My fictional town of Morning Star, Missouri is populated by English and Amish alike—and some of these characters, like Bishop Jeremiah Shetler, were featured in other books before I wrote this Maidels of Morning Star series. How do I keep them all straight?

One of my key writing tools is a photo collage! I construct a collage for each of my series, made from photos torn from magazines over many, many years. As you look at this collage you’ll see some very famous faces—but for me, these photos aren’t about movie stars or high-dollar models. I choose the pix from my files because the facial expressions hint at character traits or perhaps secrets that I don’t necessarily know about before I start writing the books in the series.

Because there are only four Morning Star books, this collage is smaller than some. (My collage for the Promise Lodge series now has 31 faces!) As I decide where a photo belongs on the collage, I’m also making decisions about how these characters are related to each other—usually the characters in a book are grouped close together.

Starting in the upper left, you see Martin Flaud, owner of Flaud Furniture, and below him (yes, that’s Johnny Depp!) you see his son, Gabe Flaud who is gazing directly at Regina Miller, the heroine of book #1, MORNING STAR. Regina must hide the fact that she’s a talented artist…but of course her secret—and Gabe’s—come out at exactly the wrong time!

The little girl in the top row represents Ella Nissley, positioned beside Teacher Lydianne Christner of #2, FIRST LIGHT IN MORNING STAR. Lydianne is looking over her shoulder…maybe because her past with Ella is about to catch up with her! The fellow beside Lydianne is Bishop Jeremiah Shetler, who falls in love with her despite the secrets that will land Lydianne in some serious hot water with the church leaders.

In the very center (beside redheaded Regina) you see Jo Fussner, the entrepreneurial maidel who kick-starts the series when she believes a dilapidated old barn can become The Marketplace, where local Amish crafters sell their creations! Jo runs a bakery and is the anchor character for this series, and beside her you see her cranky mother, Drusilla, who doesn’t believe anything can succeed! Drusilla faces Nelson Wengerd, who owns a nursery shop in The Marketplace. Beside Nelson is his son, Michael, who’s sweet on Jo—these fellows are in the first three books, and they will have starring roles in #4 LOVE BLOOMS IN MORNING STAR (comes out in August, 2022).

The bottom row are the characters in my current book, #3 CHRISTMAS COMES TO MORNING STAR. At the left is carpenter Pete Shetler (aka Patrick Swayze) and his dog, Riley. Beside Riley you see Molly Helfing, who cuts off all her hair when her twin sister, Marietta, loses her hair during her chemo treatments. The Helfing twins run a homemade noodle business and they rent out their dawdi haus…which is how they get romantically involved with Pete and Glenn. And last, you see woodworker Glenn Detweiler with baby Levi (is it any wonder we all fell in love with Paul McCartney back in the day?!)

My collage is on the wall above my desk, so each time I sit down to write, these characters are looking right at me! There’s no escape—they expect me to not only get them down on the page, but to make them feel so real and compelling that readers believe they are flesh and blood people!

If you have questions about this Morning Star collage, or my writing process, or my books, please ask me in the comments, below—or on my Facebook page! Thanks for reading this post, and for following my virtual tour for CHRISTMAS COMES TO MORING STAR!

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AUTHOR BIO:

In 1983, Charlotte Hubbard sold her first story to True Story. She wrote around 70 of those confession stories, and she’s sold more than 50 books to traditional or online publishers. A longtime resident of Missouri, she’s currently writing Amish romances set in imaginary Missouri towns for Kensington. She now lives in Omaha, NE with her husband of 40+ years and their Border collie, Vera.

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CONNECT WITH CHARLOTTE:

Website:

http://www.CharlotteHubbard.com

Blog:

http://www.charlottehubbard.com/blog

Newsletter:

http://www.charlottehubbard.com/contact

Email:

charlotte@charlottehubbard.com

Snail Mail:

Charlotte Hubbard, P.O. Box 18731, West St. Paul, MN. 55118

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/charlotte.hubbard1

BookBub Author Page:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/charlotte-hubbard

BookBub Book Page:

https://www.bookbub.com/books/christmas-comes-to-morning-star-the-maidels-of-morning-star-book-3-by-charlotte-hubbard

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/53342.Charlotte_Hubbard

Goodreads Book Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56318164-christmas-comes-to-morning-star

Amazon Author Page:

http://amzn.to/330TQEH

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BOOK BUY LINKS:

Amazon US Kindle eBook:

http://amzn.to/3BqR3ps

Amazon US Paperback:

http://amzn.to/3zw1abZ

Amazon US Audiobook:

http://amzn.to/2UXXDUW

Amazon CA eBook:

https://www.amazon.ca/Christmas-Comes-Morning-Star-Maidels-ebook/dp/B08P7V65XS

Amazon CA Paperback:

https://www.amazon.ca/Christmas-Comes-Morning-Charlotte-Hubbard/dp/1420151835

Amazon CA Audiobook:

https://www.amazon.ca/Christmas-Comes-Morning-Star-Maedels/dp/B09CB5W6HD

Amazon UK Kindle eBook:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Christmas-Comes-Morning-Star-Maidels-ebook/dp/B08P7V65XS

Amazon UK Paperback:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Christmas-Comes-Morning-Charlotte-Hubbard/dp/1420151835

Amazon UK Audiobook:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Christmas-Comes-Morning-Star-Maedels/dp/B09CB42BJK

Amazon AU Kindle eBook:

https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08P7V65XS

Amazon AU Kindle eBook:

https://www.amazon.com.au/Christmas-Comes-Morning-Star-Maidels-ebook/dp/B08P7V65XS

Amazon AU Paperback:

https://www.amazon.com.au/Christmas-Comes-Morning-Charlotte-Hubbard/dp/1420151835

Amazon AU Audiobook:

https://www.amazon.com.au/Christmas-Comes-Morning-Star-Maedels/dp/B09C94V5NL

Apple US Books eBook:

https://books.apple.com/us/book/christmas-comes-to-morning-star/id1553354570

Apple CA Books eBook:

https://books.apple.com/ca/book/christmas-comes-to-morning-star/id1553354570

Apple UK Books eBook:

https://books.apple.com/uk/book/christmas-comes-to-morning-star/id1553354570

Apple AU Books eBook:

https://books.apple.com/au/book/christmas-comes-to-morning-star/id1553354570

Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/christmas-comes-to-morning-star-charlotte-hubbard/1138373715?ean=9781420151862

Barnes and Noble Mass Market Paperback:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/christmas-comes-to-morning-star-charlotte-hubbard/1138373715?ean=9781420151831

The Book Depository Paperback:

https://www.bookdepository.com/Christmas-Comes-Morning-Star-Charlotte-Hubbard/9781420151831

BAM! Books-A-Million Mass Market Paperback:

https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Christmas-Comes-Morning-Star/Charlotte-Hubbard/9781420151831

Indigo Chapters eBook:

https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/christmas-comes-to-morning-star/9781420151862-item.html

Indigo Chapters Mass Market Paperback:

https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/christmas-comes-to-morning-star/9781420151831-item.html

Google Play eBook:

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Charlotte_Hubbard_Christmas_Comes_to_Morning_Star?id=Xq4LEAAAQBAJ

IndieBound Mass Market Paperback:

https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781420151831

Kobo US eBook:

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/christmas-comes-to-morning-star

Kobo US Audiobook:

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/christmas-comes-to-morning-star-1

Kobo CA eBook:

https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/christmas-comes-to-morning-star

Kobo CA Audiobook:

https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/audiobook/christmas-comes-to-morning-star-1

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Charlotte will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.  In addition to the GC, the author would like to select one female reader's name to use in her upcoming book, HIDDEN AWAY AT PROMISE LODGE.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this blog.  This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here**

This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions.  Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.