Different Books, Same Title Join Winnie & Ruthy for some Her Holiday Family Fun!

Ruthy here, having fun with fellow Love Inspired author Winnie Griggs! Winnie and I realized that our Christmas stories had The Same Title this past summer, so we figured... HEY! LET'S HAVE SOME FUN!!!! And that fun begins today! Winnie's delightful historical "Her Holiday Family" was released a couple of weeks back and my fun contemporary "Her Holiday Family" is hitting shelves this week! So come on in, have some fun with us, and we'll tell youse a little about "Her Holiday Family"... both editions!

Of all the gin joints, in all the world….

That’s the line that went through my mind when I realized that amazingly wonderful historical author Winnie Griggs and I had the exact same title for my 5^th Kirkwood Lake book and her 5^th Turnabout, Texas story (another coincidence!)

And not just the same title.... but with a 2 to 3 week sales overlap!!!!! 

Now I’m ALL ABOUT riding the coattails of Winnie’s success! This could have her people buying my book! (YES!!!!)  And my readers grabbing hers! (YES, AGAIN!) So today Winnie and I are giving away 5 double sets of “Her Holiday Family” in historical (Winnie!) version and contemporary (Ruthy!) version.

SUHWEEEEET!

“Her Holiday Family”, one set in present day Western New York... 

"Her Holiday Family" set in Turnabout, Texas, circa 1896...

(Winnie!!! I love this cover!!!!)

A gentleman, overseeing the care of ten young orphans and a returning military hero coming back to face the past he’d left behind.

A woman of means and elegant breeding and a woman whose hard work earned her a glowing community business until arson blinked it all out in one cold, windswept night.

What do these two stories have in common? What would earn them the same name?

That’s what we wondered! And you know what? At Christmas time, it’s all about family and neither one of these heroines had one. But let’s see what we’ve got!

Heroine:

Winnie’s: Eileen Pierce is a widow who made a lot of mistakes, including bearing some responsibility for her former husband’s death.  Because of that she’s lost the socially prominent position she once held in the community.  But she’s spent the three years since her husband’s death trying to keep up appearances  and pretending the snubbing she’s received from most of her neighbors don’t matter to her.  All the time she’s secretly longing for a family of her own.  But having her home invaded by ten children and their handsome caretaker wasn’t at all what she had in mind!

Ruthy’s: Tina Martinelli is a tough young lady. She lost her family business to the underhanded dealings of her aunt’s late husband, her parents have died, her aunt and cousin don’t acknowledge her existence, and her beloved coffee shop was burned to the ground on a windy fall night. She’s got no reason to stay in Kirkwood Lake, she needs a fresh start, a new beginning. And she’s ready to make that happen until Max Campbell rolls into town to help his sick father.

Hero

Winnie’s: Simon Tucker is providing escort to Mrs. Fredrick, a kindly older woman, and the ten orphans she’s taken in, as they travel by train through Texas to the new home waiting for them.  Unfortunately, Mrs. Fredrick has a stroke before they reach their destination, forcing them to stop over in a strange town to seek medical help for her.  Suddenly he finds himself the sole caretaker for ten children and though he has no idea how to be a father he’s determined to keep the children together-not separate them like he and his sisters were as youngsters.  When Eileen Pierce, who has the biggest home in town is cornered into volunteering her home for their temporary lodgings, he can tell she’s not the maternal type.  But  beggars can’t be choosers, and besides, there’s something about the pretty young widow that intrigues him...

Ruthy’s: Military hero Max Campbell hasn’t come home in a long time. Coming home means facing the past he tried to bury. Epic: FAIL. Now he has no choice. His father is fighting cancer and the prognosis is grim. Max has to come back because his adoptive parents need him. He’s determined to make amends for teenage indiscretions, and when he comes face-to-face with Tina Martinelli, he realizes that maybe God brought him back for other reasons… Like settling down in the old hometown with a bunch of his siblings. But first he has to convince Tina to stay and Tina’s a mighty stubborn girl. (Any resemblance to any Tina’s in or around Seekerville is purely coincidental. Really.)

Setting

Winnie’s: Turnabout, Texas...a fictional town set among the rolling hills of north east Texas.  It’s the last decade of the nineteenth century and Turnabout is a small but growing community surrounded by farms and ranches.  The townsfolk there are just your normal everyday people, which means it also includes, among others, the quirky,  the busybodies, the wise mentors and the silly ninnies.  For a small town, Turnabout has drawn lots of newcomers over the years, all of them looking for second chances, for someplace to turn their lives around.   And for the most part, they’ve succeeded.  The people of the town have become very dear to me and every time I think I’m ready to end the series another character tugs at me to have his or her story told.

Ruthy’s: Kirkwood Lake… a fictional town and lake modeled after the beautiful Chautauqua Lake in Western New York. Gorgeous, surrounded by rural settings and yet home to wealthy people, it’s a great mix of folks to draw from for books! And who doesn’t L-O-V-E homegrown military and cop heroes???? I loved that I could run the full gamut of all four seasons, have babies and kids running amok, bad girls and sweet lakeside churches! And dogs, Nigerian dwarf goats, puppies, cows, and orphaned babies. Kirkwood Lake had it all, and I’ve loved working there!

Plot:

In Winnie’s story, the reserved heroine didn’t really intend to volunteer her home as a temporary children’s shelter.  For one thing, she doesn’t want her true state of affairs to become public knowledge (she’s been secretly selling off many of her possessions to get by).  But  when the town’s busybody makes thinly veiled comments about Eileen’s unsuitability to play hostess to the group, Eileen’s I’ll-show-you side gets the better of her.  Before she knows it her quiet, nearly empty home has been invaded by TEN rambunctious children and their laid back and oh-so-handsome caretaker.   Her cool reserve has served as an effective shield for her since the scandal of her husband’s death rocked her life, but will these children - and Simon – succeed in thawing her heart once more?

In Ruthy’s version, the heroine is determined to go and not look back. (Did I mention she’s s-t-u-b-b-o-r-n??? Like possibly named after someone I know and love who is strong, hard-working, fiercely independent, and oh… WAIT FOR IT!!!!.... STUBBORN?????) She’s had enough, there’s nothing to keep her here and realizes it’s time to start over. So she has no intention of staying, but now that Max is back, he can’t leave. He has a duty to his parents, a task he must fulfill, and for the first time in a long time, Max Campbell feels like he’s finally come home. But can he convince Tina that staying in Kirkwood Lake… with him… is the future God planned for her?

Winnie here
So there you have it – a quick comparison between Ruthy’s story and mine.  It’s been fun sharing a title and we’ve had (and are having!) lots of fun comparing and contrasting our two stories.   And we want to share some of our fun with you!

So what do you think – what stood out to you as the biggest thing they had in common, or the biggest difference (other than the century they are set in)?  As Ruthy said, we’re giving away a copy of each of our books to five folks who stop by and leave a comment, so come on and join the conversation.

Winnie Griggs is the author of Historical (and occasionally Contemporary) romances that focus on Small Towns, Big Hearts, Amazing Grace.  She is also a list maker, a lover of dragonflies and holds an advanced degree in the art of procrastination.

On a fun note - having been born on a Friday the 13^th, Winnie has always considered 13 her lucky number.  This belief was recently reinforced when her 13^th book, Handpicked Husband, won a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award in - what else - 2013.

Winnie loves to hear from readers.  You can connect with her on facebook at www.facebook.com/WinnieGriggs.Author or email her at winnie@winniegriggs.com