CHRISTMAS AT HARRINGTON'S BLOG TOUR: REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

 GIVEAWAY ENDED
CHRISTMAS AT HARRINGTON'S

BY MELODY CARLSON

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Sometimes the best gift is a second chance.

Christmas is approaching, and Lena Markham finds herself penniless, friendless, and nearly hopeless. She is trying to restart her life, but job opportunities are practically nonexistent. When a secondhand red coat unexpectedly lands her a job as Mrs. Santa at a department store, Lena finally thinks her luck is changing. But can she keep her past a secret?

Reading Christmas at Harrington's, a story full of redemption and true holiday spirit, will be your newest Christmas tradition.

READ AN EXCERPT:

You can go HERE to Baker Publishing Group and read an excerpt from this joyous book.  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Melody Carlson is the award-winning author of over two hundred books, several of them Christmas novellas from Revell, including her much-loved and bestselling book, The Christmas Bus. She also writes many teen books, including Just Another Girl, Anything but Normal, the Diary of a Teenage Girl series, the TrueColors series, and the Carter House Girls series. Melody was nominated for a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award in the inspirational market for her books, including the Notes from a Spinning Planet series and Finding Alice, which is in production as a Lifetime Television movie. She and her husband serve on the Young Life adult committee in central Oregon. Visit Melody's website at www.melodycarlson.com.

MY REVIEW:

In Melody Carlson’s latest novel, CHRISTMAS AT HARRINGTON’S, readers are treated to a pleasant and peaceful way to kick off their holiday reading.  Reminding us that everyone deserves a second chance now and then, CHRISTMAS AT HARRINGTON’S is the story of Lena Markham who has just been released from prison after serving time for a crime she didn’t commit. Lena was married to a pastor and although he was the thief, it was Lena who paid for his crime as she was wrongly accused.

So, upon being released, Lena decides to make a fresh start and is helped by the prison personnel to relocate in the small town of New Haven, Minnesota. Although Lena would prefer to keep her secret in the past, she is befriended by Moira Stanfield who is returning home to New Haven on the same bus as Lena, and who is very kind to her. Moira tells Lena that she can tell she is a good person no matter what may have happened before. Upon arrival in New Haven, Moira is met at the bus by her son Sam, who is a lawyer and she introduces Lena to him.

Lena must acclimate herself quickly to her new environment and is lucky that she does find a job watching her neighbor’s daughter, Jemima, while Lena continues to try to find herself steady work.  Lena had expected a job at Harrington’s Department Store that was set up by her parole person upon leaving prison. Like so many in hard economic times, Harringtons’s business is down and so Lena is told there isn’t a job after all.  They do, however, need a person to play Mrs. Santa Claus and she gets lucky and gets the job.

In playing Mrs. Santa, Lena’s mindset begins to change as she listens to children’s holiday wishes, and when she tells the Christmas Story to Jemima and the children, she is filled with hope once more. She shares the message of Christmas with the children and it reinforces her own faith once again. With the kindness of strangers and even perhaps a new love interest in the making, Lena discovers that CHRISTMAS AT HARRINGTON’S is indeed a gift to her despite all that has happened. Melody Carlson presents realistic characters in a poignantly moving holiday story that also teaches, or reminds us, of a valuable lesson of giving people a second chance and never letting hope die.
 

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO DONNA AT BAKER PUBLISHING
GROUP FOR MY COPY OF THIS HARD BACKED
BOOK. I AM GIVING AWAY MY OH-SO-GENTLY
READ, LIKE NEW COPY TO ONE LUCKY READER!

 

--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: READ "ABOUT THE BOOKS" AND "ABOUT THE AUTHOR" ABOVE AND COMMENT ON WHY YOU WOULD WANT TO WIN THIS HOLIDAY BOOK

+1 MORE ENTRY: VISIT MELODY CARLSON'S WEBSITE BY GOING HERE AND EXPLORE HER SITE. COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING ABOUT IT, LIKE PERHAPS A BOOK OF HERS YOU HAVE READ OR WOULD LIKE TO READ

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK AND LEAVE A LINK THAT I CAN FOLLOW

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE CURRENT GIVEAWAY YOU HAVE ENTERED ON MY BLOG. IF YOU ENTERED MORE THAN ONE WAY, COMMENT ON  EACH SEPARATELY FOR AN ADDITIONAL ENTRY

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, DECEMBER 1
GOOD LUCK!

“Available November 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”