By Regina Scott
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Launch - Note from the Author
Snow, homemade ornaments on the tree, family gathered round in faith—what better way to celebrate the Christmas season! Family and Christmas form the heart of my December release, His Frontier Christmas Family, part of my Frontier Bachelors series from Love Inspired, set in pioneer Seattle...
I hope you have a wonderful holiday this year. Be sure to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a signed copy of His Frontier Christmas Family and a set of rustic Christmas decorations.
Merry Christmas!
Regina Scott
underneath the covers - Excerpt
The forest was still, as if everything was waiting. In defiance, she bent and picked up another diaper, hanging it alongside the others. It didn’t matter who was watching or why. She had one goal: to keep her, Frisco, Sutter and Mica safe until Adam returned. She’d protected her family most of her life, starting with her younger twin brothers after her mother had died of influenza, now with them and Mica. She knew what she was doing.
Still, this feeling was too much like the last time she’d lived on the gold fields, five years ago at the Vital Creek strike in the British Territories. At fifteen then, she’d just started getting her womanly curves. Most of the miners had noticed.
“You don’t strike it rich, Murphy,” one had told her father, “you let me know. I’ll buy your daughter off you.”
Becky on Books - Review
"...Callie and Levi’s story in His Frontier Christmas Family is a feel-good story that both puts you in the holiday spirit and inspires you to want to hold your own family members just a little bit closer–a perfect read for this time of year! Callie, Levi, Sutter, Frisco, and Mica are all highly likable characters who it’s easy to root and cheer for (even when those twins are getting into mischief!)"
"This story was a slow, steady burn. It didn’t hurry me through, but it didn’t put me to sleep either. The characters were unique, sweet, and unpredictable enough to maintain my interest in what happened next in their lives."
Now Callie frowned. “You were at Vital Creek?”
“To my sorrow,” he admitted. “Scout Rankin and I had a claim at the opposite end of town from yours. I met Adam in a card game at Gillis’s. He cleaned me out.”
Just when she wanted to trust him! “Now I know you’re lying. Preachers don’t gamble.”
He smiled, and something inside her bubbled up as warm as a hot spring. “I wasn’t a preacher then.”
The handsome stranger moved closer yet, carefully, as if unsure whether she’d hit him or snatch up the baby and run. She considered doing both, but he was close enough that she could see the lines fanning out from the corners of his eyes. Worry lines, Ma had called them, and she’d had her share. What worried this man?
“That’s a heavy burden,” he murmured. “I can see why your brother Adam wanted me to help.”
"This has been a wonderful series and I've enjoyed following the Wallin family as each member finds love. Levi's story is one of redemption as he tries to make up for the mistakes of his past and learns about forgiveness. His match with Callie is perfect as he partners with her to care for her brothers and baby niece, and they grow to depend on each other emotionally as well."
Even if he’d been a minister eight years instead of eight months, Levi thought he’d have stumbled telling Callie Murphy what had happened to her brother. Adam had been so alive, so feisty, so determined to strike it rich. It was hard for Levi to believe all that energy had been snuffed out.
“Are you sure?” he’d asked the two grizzled miners who’d stopped by Wallin Landing with the news and to bring him Adam’s belongings and the note to the Murphys.
They’d hung their heads, avoided his gaze.
Callie Murphy was either the most suspicious woman he’d ever met, or the wisest. She was also plenty brave, ready to lay into him with that stick. Having been raised in the gold camps and now living so far out, she probably had to take precautions. He hadn’t intended to look dangerous, but then, he’d used his boyish charm too many times in the past to think that danger couldn’t look pleasing.
“Your sister has done a good job,” he said, gaze moving from face to face. “But even Callie has to get tired once in a while.”
How did he know? She’d been so careful not to let her brothers see it. Neither of them knew the nights she broke down and cried, trying to think of a way to change their circumstances. She was up before they were, in bed long after they climbed to the loft. There weren’t enough hours in the day for tending to the claim let alone all the washing and cooking and cleaning.
Adam and Pa had both promised better things.
He took a step closer and spread his hands, as if intent on making his case. He had nice hands, strong-looking and not too soft, like he could wield a pick or shovel if he needed to. He was slender for a man, but those broad shoulders and long legs seemed made to crouch beside a stream for hours panning.
And when had she started judging men by their ability to hunt for gold!
"His Frontier Christmas Family is delightful in every way. It will hit you in all the feels and leave your heart cozy warm and Christmasy. Swoony romance, adorable kids, and a large lovable family make this the ideal wintry weekend reaad!"
“I remember how it felt to lose my pa,” Levi said, in a quiet, thoughtful voice that was respectful of what they were feeling. “I was eight when he was killed in a logging accident.”
So maybe he knew a little about loss. Her little brother Frisco didn’t respond, but his twin Sutter raised his head. “What did you do?”
“I relied on my family and friends,” he said.
Now Frisco looked up at Callie. “You’re family, Callie. What do you think we should do?”
"I love the characters in His Frontier Christmas Family as well as the story. Like I said, Christmas books are my favorites. They make you feel warm and cozy inside. I definitely recommend this to all sweet romance lovers."
Callie took a step closer to Levi. Her hair was parted down the middle and plaited to hang on either side of her face, making her look sad and worn. But even if it had been pinned up like most ladies wore it these days, he thought she’d still look sad. She certainly had reason.
“Did they give him a good burial?” she asked.
If someone from Seattle had asked him that question, he would have extolled the wisdom of the minister who delivered the eulogy, numbered the attendees who had honored the deceased with their presence and described the casket and the flowers. After watching men die in the northern wilderness, he was fairly sure what Callie was really asking.
"His Frontier Christmas Family was such a sweet historical romance and a totally fun read! Regina Scott has crafted a delightful tale of love and family, of finding forgiveness and finding a place to call home. I truly fell in love with the heroine's precocious little brothers as they provided some real laugh-out-loud moments with their crazy antics."
“A man I knew at Vital Creek was fond of saying that life is for the living,” he murmured. “What do you want to do with your life, Miss Murphy?”
She made a face. “Not so much a matter of wanting as what must be done. Frisco and Sutter need to go to school, learn a trade. I won’t have them dying with a pan in their hands, too. And someone has to raise Mica.”
"His Frontier Christmas Family is book seven from Regina Scott's Frontier Bachelors series. I have read several of the books in this series and I believe this one is my favorite. It is a sweet and heartwarming story. I do have to admit I was like Callie and not sure what I thought of Levi at first but that quickly changed when I kept reading. I enjoyed watching Levi and Callie grow throughout. "
“You don’t believe I’ll take care of you all,” he said aloud.
She shrugged as if she didn’t believe much of anything.
He released her shoulders. “I want to help you, Miss Murphy. Adam supported me when no one else would. I want to honor his wishes.”
"The book kept getting better and better the more I read of it. Love the children in the book, especially the twins. . . . Loved his family, his sister trying to play matchmaker for Callie to different ones. Loved that there was a Christmas play in the book."
And don't forget to enter the giveaway below, if you haven't already...