I'm delighted to be one of the stops on the blog tour for A Vicarage Christmas by Kate Hewitt. Today I have a fab guest post from Kate Hewitt where she talks about Christmas traditions. I don't know about you but I'm always intrigued as to what everyone will do over the festive period.
Oh and don't forget to check out the great giveaway too but first of all let's take a look at the description for the book...
Welcome to Thornwaite, a quaint village tucked up in England’s beautiful but rainy Lake District… where homecomings happen and surprises are in store for the four Holley sisters…
Anna Holley, the third of four sisters, has always felt a little bit forgotten. A family tragedy when she was a child had her retreating deep into shyness, and social anxiety kept her on the fringes of the cozy chaos of the busy vicarage.
After several years away from home, Anna returns for Christmas... and an important announcement from her father. As much as she once loved the village, coming back is hard and puts Anna's social capabilities to the test.
Avoiding her sisters’ bossy questions, she heads out to the local pub one night, and meets a handsome stranger nursing a pint. Somehow, unburdened by expectations, Simon seems like the perfect person to spill all her secrets to—including a hopeless, long-held crush on her sister’s boyfriend. Confident she’ll never see him again, Anna returns home… only to discover the next day that Simon is actually her father’s new curate!
Anna is beyond mortified, but Simon won’t let her retreat into her usual shyness—and for once Anna is forced to confront the past, and all the fears and feelings she’d tried so long to hide. But with his own heartache that needs to heal, can Simon help Anna to make this the most magical Christmas either of them have known?
Book Links
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Guest Post
A Vicarage Christmas: Guest Post
Christmas Traditions by Kate Hewitt
One of my favourite parts of Christmas is honouring all the family traditions around the holiday. Something I’ve come to realize over the years, is how different families have different traditions—and people tend to feel strongly about them! I recall a friend learning that in her newlywed husband’s family, they opened Christmas stockings alone on their beds. In my friend’s family, they most certainly did not. Compromises had to be made!
I felt a certain amount of chagrin when my husband suggested we follow his family’s tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve, something we definitely did not do in my family. And while we had soup and bread on Christmas Eve, his family had a big roast dinner. We figured it all out in the end, but there definitely has to be a bit of give and take involved!
In my family, our greatest tradition is around Christmas Eve, when we read the Bible story of Jesus’ birth and then hang stockings in front of the fireplace, youngest to oldest, each person saying ‘Merry Christmas’ after they hang their stocking—and usually having it caught on camera. We still recall the time in the 1970s when my dad accidentally stepped on his new camera recorder right beforehand and then grumbled ‘Merry Christmas’ as he scowled.
My children are now as wed to this tradition as I am, and I’m quite sure they will bring it into their own families when the times comes, which is a lovely thought. What traditions does your family have at Christmas? And have you had to compromise?
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Kate is the USA Today-bsetselling author of over 60 books of women's fiction and romance. She is the author of the Hartley-by-the-Sea series, set in England's Lake District and published by Penguin. She is also, under the name Katharine Swartz, the author of the Tales from Goswell books, a series of time-slip novels set in the village of Goswell. She also writes for Harlequin Presents.
She likes to read romance, mystery, the occasional straight historical and angsty women's fiction; she particularly enjoys reading about well-drawn characters and avoids high-concept plots.
Having lived in both New York City and a tiny village on the windswept northwest coast of England, she now resides in a market town in Wales with her husband, five children, and an overly affectionate Golden Retriever.
You can read about her life at http://www.katehewitt.blogspot.co.uk.
Website: http://www.kate-hewitt.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/katehewitt1
Giveway
A copy of A Cotswold Christmas and a £10 Amazon giftcard
International
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Why not follow along with the rest of the tour...
I've never followed a book tour before, but I like Kate Hewitt and her blog so count me in!
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