Celebrate Lit Tour – Once Upon A Christmas

About the Book

Book: Once Upon A Christmas

Author: Andrea Boyd, Mikal Dawn, Toni Shiloh, Angela Ruth Strong, Jaycee Weaver

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: October 1, 2019

Embrace the magic of the Christmas season with these contemporary twists on timeless tales.

Upon a Dream — A rare sleeping disorder keeps Talia from performing, but when Philip recognizes her gift, he’ll do whatever it takes to see her onstage.

Claim My Heart — Li Na and Colin Wen face off in a Mulan-esque courtroom battle where the real win might be losing their hearts.

A Snow White Christmas — Sheltered heiress Amala White flees her conniving stepmother’s plans and finds refuge with a handsome orchard owner and his seven quirky uncles.

Christmas Ella — Reality TV meets Cinderella story when a location director is swept off her feet by a rising star.

A Splash of Love — Las Vegas glitz meets Land of Enchantment culture in A Splash of Love, a modern twist on the Little Mermaid.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Authors

Andrea Boyd Author–
Each of Andrea Boyd’s series represents a different genre but all fall into the category of romance. All offer an element of her own brand of humor. And all are a tribute to God. Besides writing, she loves spending time with her family, quilting, going to car shows, and driving around in her 1968 Barracuda convertible. Andrea lives with her husband, Tommy, and at least a couple of cats in York County, SC. Visit her at www.andreaboyd11.com.

Mikal Dawn Author
Mikal Dawn is an inspirational romance author, wedding enthusiast, and military (retired) wife. When she isn’t writing about faith, fun, and forever, she is obsessively scouring Pinterest (with coffee in hand!) for wedding ideas for her characters.

Mikal lives in Oklahoma with her husband and two of their three children. Visit her at www.mikaldawn.com.

Toni Shiloh Author
Toni Shiloh is a wife, mom, and Christian fiction writer. Once she understood the powerful saving grace thanks to the love of Christ, she was moved to honor her Savior. She writes to bring Him glory and to learn more about His goodness. Visit her at www.tonishiloh.com.

Angela Ruth Strong Author
Angela Ruth Strong sold her first Christian romance novel in 2009 then quit writing romance when her husband left her. Ten years later, God has shown her the true meaning of love, and there’s nothing else she’d rather write about. Her books have since earned TOP PICK in Romantic Times, been optioned for film, won the Cascade Award, and been Amazon bestsellers. She also writes non-fiction for SpiritLed Woman. To help aspiring authors, she started IDAhope Writers where she lives in Idaho, and she teaches as an expert online at WRITE THAT BOOK. Visit her at www.angelaruthstrong.com.

Jaycee Weaver Author
Jaycee Weaver is a wife, mother, and substitute teacher living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Jaycee writes contemporary Christian romance with lifelike characters in everyday situations who always get their happy ending. Visit her at www.jayceeweaver.com.

More from the Authors

Dear Readers,

Thank you for stopping by the Celebrate Lit blog tour of Once Upon a Christmas. We are so excited to bring you this Christmas collection. All of us had a lot of fun writing it as we delved into the fairy tales of Sleeping Beauty, Mulan, Snow White, Cinderella, and The Little Mermaid.

What we discovered when writing is that in the heart of every girl is the desire to be a princess. Now, I’m not talking about dressing up in a beautiful gown and wearing a crown while twirling around (although I, Toni, admit I would do that in a heartbeat). No, we discovered that in the heart of every girl (sister, mom, daughter, etc) is the desire to be loved and accepted.

Can Talia find someone who can accept all of her, including her health issues? Can Amala find someone who will love her for her and not her money? Can Li find acceptance for who she truly is and not the façade she presents? Will Ella find a familial kind of love? And Gabrielle, can she find a love so powerful that all her dreams will come true?

As the heroines of our stories journey down their path to love and acceptance, they all come to realize a deep-seated truth. They are loved. They are princesses. They have a love of a King who laid down His life for theirs. A King who is preparing a home for them. A King who sees who they truly are and loves them without hesitation.

As you read these stories, we pray they touch your heart. We pray they entertain you and maybe even make you laugh a time or two. And lastly, we pray the Christmas truths bless you this holiday season.

Blessings,

Andrea, Mikal, Toni, Angela, and Jaycee

My Review

Five clever stories comprise this volume of novellas. Overall my rating is 4* our of 5, partly because some of the characteristics/character quirks that made it a retelling of old fairy tales, took me out of the scene like a commercial reminding me of the fairy tale and then back to the story.

That said,

Upon a Dream

is a unique personalized story of a person with a rare sleeping disorder. I enjoy a story that has the four qualities of Upon a Dream: something unique I can add to my knowledge base for myself or others, believable characters, biblical example of problem solving, and a happy ending. It was a bonus for me was the theatre setting. Whether you’ve participated or attended local theater, you will enjoy the behind the scene glimpses as Talia and Philip recognize their calling and develop courage to realize their dreams.

Claim my Heart

has some heart thumping moments as Li Na and Colin Wen face off in a dual battle of legal and unexpectedly personal ramifications. Revealing the private emotions and battles of integrity of attorneys, they charmingly discover that financial loss for a client is not the only thing they are fighting for. Brave decisions and utilizing each of their strengths they conquer public and personal battles including of course, one of the heart.

A Snow White Christmas

is set in an apple orchard run by seven uncles and a handsome nephew. The story involves an heiress, Amala, a more wicked than expected stepmother, a fake romance, and the handsome nephew, Hunter, who rescues Amala more than once. I appreciated the glimpse into the heads and hearts of both Amala and Hunter, and the surrender and trust it takes them both to conquer fear and insecurity from prior circumstance. The ending has a surprise twist and unexpected resolution.

Christmas Ella a challenging reality show sitcom setting, brings to life several characters in the King family and their location director Ella Goodwin. Ella’s penchant of speaking her thoughts could cause her career to end, yet her honesty is attractive to Paxton King, once he gets past her false assumptions/accusations about all King family members. I appreciated how their eventual attraction was based on more than appearance or money.

A Splash of Love

What comes of a casino owner, a shy art-loving mermaid, a wicked stepsister, and a mermaid admirer? Dreams, longing, suspense, legal challenges, a banishment that turns to weak-in-the-knees romance, and a shocking twist before the happy ever after. A Splash of Love was an unexpected page-turner. Fun and intrigue come into play as sometimes mermaid Brie searches for fulfillment and gets sent to investigate Derek’s family. Restaurant owner and art lover Derek’s heart is torn between the unnamed beautiful mermaid and Brie, the owner’s daughter. Derek’s family members add a lot of smiles and heart-warming character to the visit while Sirene, the wicked stepsister leads the story to several dramatic and read-just-one-more-chapter scenes. Brie, and I as the reader, found fulfillment in the unexpected outcome.

What a lot of lighthearted Christmas reads! You will enjoy it, I’m sure – as will your gift recipients when they get four gifts in one!