Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Ho Ho Ho Giveaway - Guest Post - RaeAnne Thayne - The Holiday Gift - Review


Welcome back to my tribute to Harlequin it's RaeAnne Thayne's turn today and in her guest post she's sharing with us a brand new holiday tradition plus I'm sharing my RT review of The Holiday Gift.
RaeAnne is sponsoring a giveaway of the complete 3 book set of her Holiday Ranch series, details below.
Enjoy!!

Overview:

A COWBOY FOR CHRISTMAS 

With two kids and an active life, widow Faith Dustin only wants peace and quiet for Christmas. But her snowy Pine Gulch ranch is nothing but chaotic. All that keeps Faith going is her helpful neighbor, cowboy Chase Brannon. He's always been "good ol' Chase," her faithful friend. Until he kisses her under the mistletoe… 

Years ago Chase blew his chance with the woman he's loved since childhood. Now he's determined to step out of the friend zone…and into the role of husband. But the scared and stubborn Faith won't let herself fall. With Christmas just days away, Chase will need all the magic of the season—and the help of her two matchmaking children—to unwrap a second chance at love.

RaeAnne's Website





RaeAnne is giving away the entire 3 book set
of Her Holiday Ranch Series (pictured below)
US ONLY
Please Use Rafflecopter form to enter
Thanks RaeAnne!!




Kindness Advent Calendar

I have started a new tradition this year and so far I’m loving it. Over the years, I've used different advent calendars for my children to help them mark down the days. We've used candy in a jar, a beautiful handsewn wall-hanging my mother-in-law made featuring a Santa who had twenty four ornaments in a sack that needed to be hung on a tree, and a Bookish Advent Calendar, where I wrapped twenty-four of their favorite holiday stories up and they unwrapped one each day.
This year our youngest is thirteen. In an effort to continue teaching my children that the holidays should be more centered on thinking about other people,  I adapted an advent calendar that focuses on twenty-four acts of kindness we can do.
You can find many suggestions of kind acts online that can help others feel the holiday spirit. We worked together as as a family to pick twenty-four things we think can really make a difference in someone else’s life, then wrote them on a piece of scrapbook paper cut into a circle, which we then hung on a little Christmas tree. Each morning, we select one “ornament” and that’s our assignment for the day. At dinner, we report how well we did. A few of the tasks:
* Donate to the food bank
* Leave change in a vending machine
* Sit next to someone you normally don't at lunch and be nice to them
* Donate books to the school library
* Write a thank you note to someone who helped you this year
* Offer to help an elderly friend or neighbor with Christmas decorations
* Give out five genuine compliments today
* Buy lunch (coffee, breakfast) for the person behind you in the drive-up
* Take poinsettas to your nearest nursing home
* Hang a bird feeder
* Write a thank you note to someone with great holiday decorations in your town and either mail it or leave it on the door to express gratitude to them for brightening up your season.
The best thing about this advent calendar: Not only are you helping someone else feel the holiday spirit but you can't help but when you're being kind to others, you can't help but enjoy the holidays more yourself.
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I'm looking for suggestions to keep this going. What things do you (or others you know) try to do during the holidays that could be included in a Kindness Advent Calendar?


My Review of The Holiday Gift
Courtesy of RT Reviews




Today's Gonereading item is:
A topseller!!
Click HERE for the buy page





a Rafflecopter giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway

18 comments:

  1. What a wonderful idea. Another thought it to let someone check out ahead of you, especially this time of year, when people are so harried. The look on their face will say it all!

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  2. I love the leave change in the vending machine, I've never thought of that one, so going to try it now!

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  3. I enjoy Christmas series books very much. Thanks for this great feature and giveaway.

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  4. I love the act of kindness advent. We have done the books, chocolate and an assortment of things from crafts to them making their own chains.

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  5. So many rave about RaeAnne's christmas books I am just going to have to sample them. Lovely review Deb, you tempt me!

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  6. Next year I'll try my green thumb at poinsettias, they're so pretty!

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    1. Oh I've never thought to raise them Braine. That would be really cool!

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  7. Her books are so darn pretty! I really do need to try them out in 2017!

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    1. They are pretty on the inside too Anna and yes you really do!! ;-)

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  8. I love Christmas series! And I haven't done this in a few years but I like to go to the local nursing home (where I used to be a medical records clerk) and volunteer. They always need help with activities and helping the residents with their mail.

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    1. Oh Southerngirl that's a wonderful gift to the residents!

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