There’s no better time to snuggle up with a good cozy book than during the winter holidays. This year, we’ve put together a festive list of Christmas cozies that are perfect for adding a little warmth to your holiday season.

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For Readers Waiting Under the Mistletoe:

Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber

Christmas is the season of the heart, and New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber is here to warm yours with a delightful holiday novel of first impressions and second chances.

Merry Knight is pretty busy these days. Her own social life is the last thing she has in mind, much less a man. Without her knowledge, Merry’s well-meaning mom and brother create an online dating profile for her—minus her photo—and the matches start rolling in. Initially, Merry is incredulous, but she reluctantly decides to give it a whirl.

Soon Merry finds herself chatting with a charming stranger, a man with similar interests and an unmistakably kind soul. Their online exchanges become the brightest part of her day. But meeting face-to-face is altogether different, and her special friend is the last person Merry expects—or desires. Still, sometimes hearts can see what our eyes cannot.

Click to Read an Excerpt.

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The Christmas Room by Catherine Anderson

The beloved author of the Mystic Creek series gifts readers with a novel of homespun holiday cheer, as two families discover the joy of hope and redemption.

Widow Maddie McLendon has uprooted her life to move to Rustlers Gulch with her son and grandson. But as a brutal Montana winter looms on the horizon, contractors have yet to break ground on their new house, leaving them to live in a makeshift camp of trailers, tents, and sheds.

Since his wife died six years ago, millionaire rancher Sam Conacher has been content to wallow in his grief alone while keeping a tight rein on his twenty-six-year-old daughter. But now the girl has gone and fallen in love with his foolish new neighbor’s no-good son.

Maddie and Sam will never see eye to eye on anything, until a near-tragedy gives them a true glimpse into each other’s souls. And as the first snowflakes begin to fall, they’ll discover that an open heart is the biggest gift of all.

Click to Read an Excerpt.


Under the Mistletoe by Mary Balogh

In this beautifully written Christmas read, New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh draws on the warmth of the Christmas season to heal the wounds of the human heart in five holiday historical romance novellas of family, friends, lovers, and strangers.

With heartwarming stories like “In A Family Christmas” where an estranged husband and wife make an unexpected connection during the holiday season and “No Room at the Inn” where a winter storm on Christmas Eve brings a young couple in from the cold, Balogh’s Under the Mistletoe is the perfect cozy romance read for the holidays!


The Amish Christmas Candle by Kelly Long, Jennifer Beckstrand, and Lisa Jones Baker

A love-filled collection celebrating family, home and the joyous glow of the holiday season.

Readers will rejoice in stories like “Snow Shine on Ice Mountain” about Naomi Gish, whose mischievous father hires strapping Gray Fisher at their candle shop for the season. And when Gray learns the craft of candle making, Naomi learns that love is not only possible, but God’s most precious gift.  Or “The Christmas Candle” the story of Lydia, whose favorite tradition is blessing those at Christmastime. But, without her sisters help this year, the task seems daunting—until handsome Mennonite John King shows her that hands joined to do good may unite hearts as well.

The Amish Christmas Candle will warm its readers with the peaceful light of Plain faith.


For Families by the Fireplace:

Noelle: A Novel by Greg Kincaid

A heartwarming Christmas story about the power of family and the strength and love that comes from our pets.

In this fourth installment of the poignant stories of the McCray family and their lovable canines in rural Kansas, matriarch Mary Ann McCray is determined to shake up Christmas by accepting the role as Crossing Trail’s first woman Santa Claus. Mary Ann, always a bit of a rebel, is looking to offer a more progressive voice in the staunchly conservative town at Christmastime and has a few ideas up her red velvet sleeves. The perfect cozy read to pair with hot chocolate.


Thomas Kinkade’s Cape Light: Christmas Blessings by Thomas Kinkade

Revel in the spirit of Christmas, and let your heart be an open book with a heartwarming novel set in Thomas Kinkade’s charming town of Cape Light.

Shortly before the start of the holidays, successful renovation business owner Sam Morgan has an accident on site that leaves him housebound. The timing could not be worse, as his wife, Jessica, just left her job to run an animal rescue shelter on their property. Now, not only are they without two regular incomes, but Sam has to recoup in the middle of a small zoo. His oldest son, Darrell, a senior in college, assures Sam that he can step in and run the business. But Sam is opposed to Darrell leaving college and doubts his son can fill his work boots.

Meanwhile, Jean Whitman has returned to her childhood home, Cape Light, to care for her ill mother. The relationship between Jean and her mother has never been easy; Jean has never been able to please Cynthia. To build common ground, Jean reopens Cynthia’s old bookstore café. But what Jean doesn’t know is that one of the first customers to walk through the door will change her life forever.

Click to Read an Excerpt.


Home for Christmas by Holly Chamberlin

In a charming Maine seaside town, a single mother longs to create a memorable Christmas for her two daughters—and receives a chance to make her own wishes come true, in this heartwarming novel from bestselling author Holly Chamberlin.

Nell King’s cozy home in Yorktide, Maine, seems a step down from the impeccably decorated Boston house she once shared with her husband. But in the six years since he abruptly left to marry another woman, Nell and her almost-grown daughters have found real happiness and comfort here. Now, faced with what may be their last Christmas together before Molly and Felicity move away, Nell suddenly feels anxious.

Nell is eager to cement the bond with her daughters by making this holiday picture-perfect. But there’s a complication—and an opportunity.

Nell’s first and greatest love, now a successful novelist, has arrived in town for a book signing. As the two rekindle their friendship, Nell confronts the choices and compromises she once made in the name of stability. And as the coming days unfold with revelations and unexpected gifts, this Christmas promises to herald a bright new beginning.


For a Hint of Mystery in Your Stocking:

Hark the Herald Angels Slay by Vicki Delany

Santa’s summer vacation plans turn deadly in this festive mystery from the author of Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen and We Wish You a Murderous Christmas.

The town of Rudolph, New York, has the Christmas spirit all year long—but when homicide heats up a summer holiday, it’s up to shop owner Merry Wilkinson to wrap up the case.

In Rudolph, Christmas in July heralds Santa’s arrival by boat to begin his summer vacation at the lake, and Merry Wilkinson, owner of Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, is looking forward to a busy weekend. But she’s caught off guard when her ex-fiancé, Max Folger, unexpectedly arrives with a team from a lifestyle magazine wanting to do a feature on the July festivities.

It’s clear that Max’s visit has less to do with business and more to do with winning back Merry’s heart. Merry has too much on her plate to deal with an old flame, but when Max is found strangled to death in Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, she must find out who wanted him dead—and stop a killer from ruining the summer holiday cheer.

Click to Read an Excerpt.


A Christmas Return by Anne Perry

’Tis the season of giving—and with this wonderful book, New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry shares a brand-new holiday mystery filled with bygone relationships and hidden secrets.

As Charlotte Pitt’s grandmother Mariah Ellison finds herself investigating a long-unsolved slaying, it becomes clear that grappling with intrigue and foul play runs in the family. A festive Christmas package left on Mariah’s doorstep contains an ominous present, sparking memories of a twenty-year-old murder that shattered her friendship with the victim’s widow. Though the gift is a bitter reminder of that tragic time, in the spirit of the season Mariah travels to Surrey in hopes of reconciling with her estranged friend and solving the crime that drove them apart.

On arrival, Mariah joins forces with the murdered man’s grandson, a sleuth in his own right who’s discovered promising evidence as well as a suspect. But Surrey’s picturesque hills conceal dark doings and shocking revelations that could make the holiday anything but calm and bright.

Click to Read an Excerpt.


 The Mistletoe Murder by P.D. James

For the first time, four of the best short stories from the Queen of Crime, P. D. James, are showcased here in this cozy collection of Christmas mysteries.

In “The Twelve Clues of Christmas,” James’s iconic Scotland Yard detective, Adam Dalgliesh, is drawn into a case that is pure Agatha Christie. In “A Very Commonplace Murder,” a respectable clerk’s secret taste for pornography is only the first reason he finds for not coming forward as a witness to a terrible crime. “The Boxdale Inheritance” finds Dalgliesh reinvestigating a notorious murder at the insistence of his godfather—only to uncover the darkest of family secrets. And in the title story, a bestselling crime novelist describes the crime in which she herself was involved some fifty years ago.

Click to Read an Excerpt.


Christmas Caramel Murder by Joanne Fluke

Christmas normally descends on Lake Eden, Minnesota, as gently as reindeer alighting on a rooftop—but this yuletide season the only thing coming down Hannah Swensen’s chimney is a case of murder . . .
 
The holidays have arrived, and Hannah and her good pal Lisa have agreed to provide all the goodies for the town’s annual production of A Christmas Carol. But before anyone can say “Bah, humbug!” a Santa-sized sackful of trouble ensues. Like the fact that Lisa’s husband will be playing Mr. Claus to his ex-girlfriend Phyllis Bates’ Mrs. Claus. Or that before the curtains even go up Phyllis is found dead in the snow—wearing a costume that the real Mrs. Claus would put on the naughty list. Soon after the suspects pile up faster than snowdrifts in a blizzard, while a merry murderer remains on the loose. With clues even harder to find, it might take a visit from ghosts of Christmas past to wrap up this mystery in time for the holidays.


For a Christmas that is Out of this World:

A Lot Like Christmas by Connie Willis

Christmas comes but once a year, and the stories in this dazzling collection put a speculative spin on the holiday, giving fans of acclaimed author Connie Willis a welcome gift and a dozen reasons to be of good cheer.

Brimming with Willis’s trademark insights and imagination, these heartwarming tales are full of humor, absurdity, human foibles, tragedy, joy, and hope. They both embrace and send up many of the best Christmas traditions, including the holiday newsletter, Secret Santas, office parties, holiday pageants, and Christmas dinners (both elaborate and spare). There are Rockettes, the best and worst Christmas movies, modern-day Magi, Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come—and the triumph of generosity over greed. Like all the timeless classics we return to year after year, these stories affirm our faith in love, magic, and the wonder of the season.


Enter to Win a CozyBowl!

It’s no mystery—we have a bowl lot of love for cozies. Right now, we’re serving up these gift packs full of things that make cozy mysteries so much fun!

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