Emma Trowbridge is determined to give her students the Christmas pageant of a lifetime. The last person she expected, or wanted, to encounter in her two-room classroom is her childhood rival, Frederick Oberstein. He would rather be far away himself. He wants no part of cheer, Christmas or otherwise. Can they learn to see each other in a new light--and embrace a new season of hope and faith together?

"While Mortals Sleep" by Janyre Tromp

While World War II rages overseas, news reporter Eleanor Sweers returns home to Mapleview to face the repercussions of the death of her sister and her nightmare of Christmases past. But the homefront isn't as far from the war as she thought: a bomb has landed in the middle of the U.S. Now Eleanor and family friend Gideon Braum may have to choose between the scoop of a lifetime and the love of a lifetime.

"The Wondrous Gift" by Deborah Raney

High school football coach Caleb Janssen and music teacher Rachel Hamblin bond when they both lose their jobs at a Christian school. But when they discover their plans for the future are mutually exclusive, the fallout threatens to tear them apart.

Author:

Deborah Raney's first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title. Deborah and her husband, Ken, traded small-town life in Kansas--the setting of many of Deb's novels--for life in the city of Wichita. They love traveling to teach at writers conferences across the country and to visit their four children and a growing brood of grandchildren (who all live much too far away). Visit Deb on the web at deborahraney.com.

Amanda Wen is a Selah Award–winning, Parable best-selling author of inspirational romance and split-time women’s fiction, including Roots of Wood and Stone and The Songs That Could Have Been, and a professional musician. Wen currently lives in Wichita, Kansas, with her husband and three children. To find her blog and short stories, visit amandawen.com.

Contributor:

Janyre Tromp is a developmental book editor who has worked in the publishing industry for more than twenty years, spending time in both marketing and editorial. When she isn’t writing, she’s a Bible study leader, writers conference speaker, ACFW member, wife, and mom of two kids and their menagerie of slightly eccentric pets. Visit her at janyretromp.com.