Christmas time is here! Okay, so not quite yet. It's still over a month away, but that doesn't mean we can't start celebrating early, right? So today, we're celebrating the release of not one, not four, but eight new Christmas books! All written by Rebekah A. Morris. I'll be spotlighting two of her books today and you can find out more about the others as you follow the tour.

About the Books

A Christmas Disaster

As the students of Coolidge High School prepare for their annual Christmas play, excitement mounts. Performed at the local theater, the play, with the students in complete charge of, the performances have become a tradition in town. Everything is going well until the morning of the final performance when calamity hits. Should the students cancel the final performance or try to turn the disaster into something good?

Christmas Smiles

This was Lana’s second Christmas without her parents, who had died in an accident, and she was sure it would bring nothing but tears, because she and her aunt couldn’t seem to get along. When a frightening experience occurs, Lana, her cousin, and her aunt and uncle find unexpected cause for smiles.

About the Author

Rebekah A. Morris is a homeschool graduate, an enthusiastic freelance author and a passionate writing teacher. Her books include, among others, Home Fires of the Great War, The Unexpected Request, Gift from the Storm, and her bestselling Triple Creek Ranch series. Some of her favorite pastimes, when she isn't’ writing, include reading and coming up with dramatic and original things to do. The Show-Me state is where she calls home.

~ Christmas Smiles ~

This story was a delightful read! It definitely doesn’t start off as one of those stereotypical Christmas stories where there’s jingle bells and hot cocoa and soft fluffy snow and everyone’s happy and joyful. Quite the opposite really. Laina is struggling through some difficulties in her life and everything just seems to be in an utter disaster. She isn’t happy in the slightest with her aunt and she is even contemplating moving away to live with her grandmother - if her grandmother can even be located.

But then just when she doesn’t think the day could get worse, something happens leaving her and the rest of her family in shock. As they all recuperate from the sudden event, Laina learns that all the while, God had a plan for her and, as things are revealed, she is able to understand the reason for certain circumstances.

I think one of the things I loved most about this story was how Laina was struggling to understand why her aunt was so “mean” to her and then finally figuring it all out and it just making so much more sense. It reminds me of how we all struggle through life trying to seek understanding when, instead, we could just hand it over to God and trust Him because He already knows what’s going on. So no matter how hard it might be, we can just keep smiling because God is in control!

“Life was certainly a mess. It wasn’t anything like she had read in storybooks” ~ Christmas Smiles

~ A Christmas Disaster ~

Ahh! Ok this story…the characters! The descriptions! Everything! Rebekah has this amazing way of writing stories that literally stick in your mind. The story is almost like a moving picture when you read it; everything is so vivid and clearly described.

The students of Coolidge High School are putting together the biggest theatre production they have ever made and goodness, is a lot of work going into it! At first, everything is running smoothly, but then, on the last day, disaster strikes and the whole play is left leaning precariously on the edge of being cancelled.

If there’s one thing you learn from this story, it’s perseverance. Even though it seemed impossible to continue the play, the students were determined to try their best to keep it going. They set their minds on it and worked harder than they had ever worked before, even though they didn’t know whether it would actually be successful. If there’s a will…there is definitely a way.

“Whew!” Derek sighed. “There’s no way I want to be an actor now! It’s hard enough running backstage.” ~ A Christmas Disaster