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A special thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Stunning cover!

Viola Shipman returns following the sensational debut, The Charm Bracelet with a heartwarming nostalgic Christmas novella CHRISTMAS ANGELS and a sneak preview of The Hope Chest, Coming March 21, 2017.

Kate Roseberry just wanted a perfect Christmas. She was the queen of holiday perfection. A designer, and owner ofHolidays by Kate, she was responsible for designing and staging the mall for the upcoming holiday, so she has started early. There was a lot of work involved behind the magic.

She loved to make the world pretty and the holidays perfect. Her mother and grandmother had taught her the beauty of family heirlooms and traditions. Kate believed every tree deserved an exclamation point of beauty. She believed that people, especially at the holidays needed something to look up to, something to raise their heads, something to inspire them. An Angel.

Going back the previous year, a lot has happened. In St. Louis, Kate lived in a 1920s bungalow and she recalls her boyfriend Tyler. A painful past. An heirloom angel her mother and grandmother had given her years ago for good luck when she started her business. Now expecting Tyler to present her with a ring, he is giving her an angel.

Now she is looking at the antique angel and thinking the holidays is not cracked up to all the hype. She knows now there are no guardian angels in the world. No perfect holiday.

While preparing the mall for the holidays, Kate catches up with Chad Cooper, a partner in Cooper, Anderson, Schiff & Hine the law firm at the top of the Tower. She is designing their offices and helped his son Coop, age seven with a Halloween costume.

Now the folks at the law firm need a little help from Kate. Chad’s wife passed away the previous winter before the holidays with cancer, after being sick for a long time. He is not in the mood for Christmas, and his son needs some Christmas cheer! The dad says he is not going to Chicago to visit his or his late wife’s family, and he instructs "he does not" want visitors.

Kate is not feeling up to the Christmas spirit, and thinking of the angel she found in her keepsake box, from Tyler. Kate recalled her mom saying, “It's brave to fall in love and open your heart that much. Guardian angels surround you. You just don’t see them anymore.”

However, when she offers to help Coop, it turns into a magical, frosty, and hopeful Christmas for everyone!

“Christmas is either the happiest of holidays if you’re blessed, she thought, or the biggest nightmare if you’re not.”

From the beautiful southern mansion, and the snow angels with Coop, Kate is transported to her home in suburban Chicago, as a girl and to her surprise, as well as Coop’s and Chads—the same heirloom angel connects them, in more ways than one.

From the boy who needs Christmas, some holiday cookies, a Christmas tree, and a lost man and woman who also needs an angel from the past, to fill their hearts once again with love, joy, hope, and healing.

“You have to be aware that angels are present. Most people go through their lives not seeing what’s all around them. It’s easy to get lost in the world. It’s hard to stay present."

From a bit of magic, fate, romance, and holiday traditions of the past, a heartwarming Christmas tale of hope and joy assisted by a few angels.

Readers get a bonus a sneak preview of The Hope Chest,coming March 2017… a story of Mattie with ALS, husband Don, and caregiver, Rose.

A deeply emotional novel about three people who have seemingly lost all hope until one woman’s heirloom hope chest is rediscovered in the attic, along with its contents and secrets. A beloved doll, family dishes, an embroidered apron, and an antique Christmas ornament—the hope chest connects.

Once again, Shipman dazzles readers with family, and heirlooms of the past—from love, family, and traditions, with a little nostalgia for the holidays.

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