Happy Advent! Looking for a seasonal story to curl up by the fire with AND integrate your the Advent season in your life? There is something here for just about everyone
From Afar by Roger Thomas
The Magi, or Three Kings, of the Nativity story are among the best loved yet most mysterious figures in all history. The fleeting and sparse account in St. Matthew’s Gospel raises as many questions as it answers. It has been so embroidered over the centuries that the original historical context has been almost completely buried. Yet the world of the early first century was as dynamic and intriguing as any legend – and much more perilous.
Gifts Visible and Invisible
A collection of short stories by eight CatholicTeenBooks.com authors.
THE OUTLAWS’ FRIEND: Setting out in a raging blizzard with nothing but an outlaw’s trunk and a heart clenched with dread, Barney leaves the warmth of his family for the cold unknown. Will he find the courage to obey the command?
IN THE STEPS OF A SAINT: What could an ancient Christmas carol possibly have to do with Andrew’s life? He’s about to find out!
A PERFECT CHRISTMAS: No tree, no cookies, no gifts. Not a single flake of snow. With sick siblings, Dad stranded, and Mom overwhelmed, will Christmas come at all to Marigold’s topsy-turvy home?
OPERATION GIFT DROP: In a dystopian future, Bolcan wants to prove his skills as a rescuer but this is a crazy mission: deliver gifts to Aldonians by stealth and at risk of capture.
CHRISTMAS ANGEL: Meg’s unforgettable Advent journey begins when four simple words challenge her idea of a perfect Christmas.
SIGNS OF CHRISTMAS: Christmas without her friend Sal isn’t the same, but Antonina finds a new friend whose circumstances have her rethinking the value of a gift.
JUST JESUS: Christmas had always made sense to Vanessa, until her yuletide festivities are called into question by a new kid named Luke and a mysterious wood carving.
A VERY JURASSIC CHRISTMAS EVE: Joshua’s perfect Christmas Eve is upended by the plight of a starving mamma dino and her babies. Meanwhile, Darryl and her family risk their lives for a holiday guest in the perilous, raptor-infested mountains.
Tortured Soul by Theresa Linden
Charles Dickens understood that ghost stories make oddly good Christmas stories. Beginning on All Souls Day and ending on Christ the King– this ghost story creates a through-line that shows how each of the major holidays are connected and build upon one another in the Catholic tradition. The ghost-story part is inspired by the experiences of a real-life Catholic saint and the Church’s teachings on Purgatory. It’s also just a really fun mystery story.
A single woman thrown out of her family home. A terrifying specter that only she sees. A dark connection between his past and hers…
After her father’s tragic death and her mother’s more recent passing, loss leaves an emptiness she can’t fill. But now thirty-two-year-old Jeannie Lyons must leave her family home, the one place that lets her keep alive the memory of her parents. She moves into an old house on the edge of town, one too big for just her and her three-legged cat, but she soon gets the impression she’s not alone. Her brother thinks she has an overactive imagination. Her sister-in-law thinks she needs counseling. The man her brother’s been trying to set her up with is the only one who seems to believe her, but can she trust him? Having nowhere else to turn, she must face her inner demons and confront this soul from beyond the grave…
Set in modern times, this supernatural thriller is loosely based on the apparitions to Eugenie von der Leyen (1867-1929).
Ornamental Graces by Carolyn Astfalk
After his duplicitous girlfriend left, Dan Malone spent six months in a tailspin of despair and destruction: emotional, physical, and spiritual. Just when his life seems to be back on track, he meets Emily Kowalski, younger sister of his new best friend.
Emily’s the kind of girl he’d always dreamed of—sweet, smart, and sincere. But he’s made a mess of his life and ruined his chances for earning the love and trust of a woman like her.
Could Dan be the man Emily’s been waiting for? How could he be when every time they get close he pulls away? And will he ever be free from his shady past and the ex-girlfriend who refuses to stay there?An inspirational Christmas romance that spans every season.
A contemporary Catholic Christian Christmas romance set in Pittsburgh that spans every season.