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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Amish/Inspirational Romance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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:
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Amazon UK Audiobook:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Christmas-Comes-Morning-Star-Maedels/dp/B09CB42BJK
Amazon AU Kindle eBook:
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Amazon AU Kindle eBook:
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Amazon AU Paperback:
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Amazon AU Audiobook:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Christmas-Comes-Morning-Star-Maedels/dp/B09C94V5NL
Apple US Books eBook:
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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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
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