Romance, Ghosts, & Christmas: Fun in Fiction Land

by Sandra Ardoin

Over the past couple of weeks, my reading has been a little varied. Below are three stories you might want to give a chance. Only one is written for the Christian market, but all are clean, enjoyable tales, and all are independently published.

Hang Your Heart on Christmas by Heather Blanton is a western novella. This action-filled romance set in Wyoming in the 1880s revolves around Dent Hernandez, a U.S. Marshal bent on vengeance, and Amy Tate, a school teacher who experienced a previous attack that left her shy of strangers. 

The story is really Dent’s. After searching for his father’s killer for years and developing a reputation as a lawman no criminal wants to mess with, a tragedy brings him down and makes him consider the type of man he’s become.

It’s a little longer than many novellas, but a quick read that’s reminiscent of an old western. 

Roping the Cowboy is the first book in the three-book series, Kester Ranch Cowboys, by Tori Kayson. At a little over 200 pages, this book is not an inspirational, but it is a fun, hot (but not steamy), romance between two people with opposite lifestyles and plans for their futures. 

Fargo Kester lives on a ranch near Dallas and never plans to leave—no matter that his sister has turned the close-knit family’s homestead into an event destination. It’s where this widower was raised and where he’s raising his son. 

Darby Brewster is the daughter of parents who could care less about her. It seems her only hope of gaining her father’s attention and respect is in fighting for a VP position in his oil business. To achieve that, she has to talk the Kesters into allowing drilling on their property, something Fargo is adamantly opposed to.

As they maneuver through the obstacles of their differences, there’s no denying the mutual attraction that deepens into a loving relationship.

Way Down Upon a Suwanee Murder, a contemporary ghost story by Ane Mulligan, is set in a Victorian mansion in (where else?) Suwanee, Georgia.

This cute and fast-moving short story involves the mystery surrounding a feud between two families that goes back to the late 1800s. 

Before Jackson and Savannah can be married with the blessing of each of their parents, they must find a way to end the feud between their families. First, they have to discover what started it.

Savannah drags Jackson to an old mansion that once belonged to her ancestors to look for the answer. While there, they are aided in their search by those with first-hand knowledge of the strife between the two families. 

For me, this was a light-hearted story reminiscent of an old ’40s romp through a haunted mansion.

So, tell me, what is your favorite, recent short read? 

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Sandra Ardoin writes Inspirational Historical Romances.