Happy Christmas in July!

Welcome to the 2022 Christmas in July Reader Blog Tour & Giveaway, which runs July 15-22, 2022 (contest closes at 8 p.m. Eastern on 7/22). At the bottom of each author’s blog post, you will find the name of a Christmas song. You can begin here or any of the other author’s posts, then circle through until you’ve visited every one. Write them all down and provide the provide all song titles (26 in total) on this Google form. Click here for a list of all participating authors and their links!

Note: You must grab all the song titles from every author in the 2022 Christmas in July Reader Blog Tour & Giveaway to be eligible to win the grand prize of a $520 Amazon gift card, plus a copy of each participating author’s book OR first place prize of a copy of each participating author’s book. At the end of this blog post is a link to the next blog, and so on, to the final blog post (26 authors in all). 

As Silent as the Night

My Christmas book is As Silent as the Night. This is Gio’s story. Readers meet Gio in A Strike to the Heart, where he is one of my favorite side characters, so I had to give him a chance at a happily ever after.

What was especially fun about writing As Silent as the Night was the opportunity to explore a few Christmas traditions. The story begins on St. Nicholas Day in 1933, which was not only the day Prohibition ended, it is also a feast day celebrated by many communities. Saint Nicholas is a historical figure, but he is also the person from whom Santa Claus, jolly old St. Nick, was born.

Another feast day I highlight is Santa Lucia. Lucia is the woman Gio aims to save and she is named for the woman who is commemorated on this day. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Swedish version of the holiday through Kirsten’s Surprise a Christmas Story from the American Girl Collection or the Andy Griffith Show episode where Barney attempts to sing Santa Lucia, which is originally an Italian song.

Other fun traditions found in As Silent as the Night include a Christmas pageant and a live nativity. I focus on the Italian celebrations because Gio is an Italian immigrant, but also include Wisconsin traditions because Gio brings Lucia to the fictional town of Eagle, the site of the milk strikes at the heart of the previous two books in the series.

Do you have a cultural Christmas tradition you enjoy every year? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

About the Book

While As Silent as the Night can be read as a stand alone, as the wrap-up book in the series, readers of the previous books will especially love the ending. As Silent as the Night officially releases September 13, 2022, so this giveaway is an opportunity to win one of the first available copies.

He can procure anything, except his heart’s deepest wish. She might hold the key, if she’s not discovered first.

Chicago, 1933―Lucia Critelli will do anything for her ailing grandfather, including stand in a breadline to have enough food to make him a St. Nicholas Day meal. When she catches the eye of a goon who threatens her grandfather, she discovers the end of Prohibition doesn’t mean the end of the mafia’s criminal activity.

Retired Marine Scout Giosue “Gio” Vella can find anything, especially if it helps a fellow Italian immigrant, so he has no doubt he can locate his neighbor’s granddaughter, who has gone missing from a local church. Keeping her safe is another matter. Especially when he chooses to hide out with his Marine buddy in Eagle, Wisconsin, the site of a barely-held truce among striking dairy farmers.

Will Christmas bring the miracle they all need or will Gio discover there are some things even he can’t find, particularly when he stumbles upon the most elusive gift of all: love.

Christmas in July Giveaway

Now, it’s time to for my Christmas song title:
The Christmas Song

Save the holiday song titles from each of the 26 blog stops, and when you reach the final blog, enter all the song titles on this form for a chance to win the grand prize of a $520 Amazon gift card and a copy of each participating author’s featured book OR first prize of a copy of each participating author’s featured book.

Thank you so much for visiting! The next author on the tour is Narelle Atkins and her Christmas book, Seaside Christmas. You can find it at this link. Remember, the 2022 Christmas in July Reader Blog Tour & Giveaway ends July 22 at 8 PM EST!

I’d love to keep in touch! Follow me on BookBub for New Release alerts and join my Fireside News monthly emails for a free short story.

---