#Giveaway #HoHoHoHarlequinHolidayExtravaganze Joanna Sims The Sergeant's Christmas Mission

Today's featured author is Joanna Sims whose Special Edition novels I've been loving for years. Read all about this year's holiday novel, The Sergeants Christmas Mission and enter to win a copy in Joann's #Giveaway. Details below!

Enjoy!

A Brand-new life. 

Former army sergeant Shane Brand is struggling to find a new normal. And his lovely new landlady sure is giving Shane a reason to strive for change. If Shane can overcome his inner demons, he may be worthy of Rebecca’s trust. Now it’s his new mission to be the man the single mom deserves, in time to give them all a dose of Christmas joy.

Joanna is offering one copy of
The Sergeant's Christmas Mission
US Only
Please use Rafflecopter form to enter
Good luck!

Joanna's Christmas message:

FINDING FAMILY WHERE YOU ARE

By

Joanna Sims

           

When I look back on the holidays of my youth, those are some of my fondest memories.  Back then, there was a fresh nip in the air in Florida and I would race in from playing outside to be greeted by a delicious aroma of all good holiday things cooking in the kitchen: turkey, stuffing, and homemade apple pie.  I remember I couldn’t wait for Mom to announce that it was time for the family to gather around the table for a Thanksgiving or Christmas feast. I can still hear the sound of the dishes clanking as we passed around the platters and bowls piled high with holiday fare made with my mother’s hands.  I can still hear my mom telling us all to “slow down” because we were eating so fast that it was making her nervous, but everything was so good, and we were all so hungry, that none of us actually did slow down.  Because I was just a kid, I didn’t realize how fragile those holiday moments were; because I was just a kid, I didn’t realize that someday they would end. 

            We all have different blessings in our lives.  Some of us are blessed with a nuclear family that actually stays nuclear well into adulthood.  Some of us aren’t.  I have, for most of my adult life, been untethered from my original family during the holidays.  And, it is painful to admit that, because my husband worked in law enforcement, I have actually spent some holidays alone.  No matter how you try to justify it in your head, it is objectively horrible to spend the holidays alone.  Fortunately, I have been blessed with friends who have taken pity on me and invited me to their homes for the holidays.  To date, I have shared holidays with eleven different families, each one special and unique. One year, I had three separate Thanksgiving dinners!  I had leftovers that sustained me for a whole week that year. 

I am so grateful for the friends who have shared their holidays with me; and yet, those times never erased the sense of grieving I felt for my own family traditions that had scattered across the landscape like fallen leaves in the wind.  I had hoped to marry a man who came with a large, boisterous family that gathered together at the holidays.  Ironically, I married a man who came with one Aunt Gerri.  Now, I wouldn’t have traded our beloved Aunt Gerri for 10,000 family members and that’s the truth; and, as long as she was alive, my husband and I had a standing invitation to spend Thanksgiving at Parakeet Park (a mobile home community where Aunt Gerri spent her winters every year).  When Aunt Gerri passed away, and my husband and I moved to another state, I found myself, once again, unmoored from family for the holidays. 

I believe that God really does give us what we need when we need it.  This year, God gave me a family for the holidays.  My husband and I moved next door to Mama and her family.  Mama has adopted us as if we were two long-awaited missing puzzle pieces that finally completed her family picture.  Mama calls me her daughter and my husband her son and I know that as long as Mama takes breath, I will have a home for the holidays.  I know, because of Mama, I will never spend another holiday alone.  This past Thanksgiving, we started a new family tradition at Mama’s house.  I am no longer unmoored from family, drifting haplessly from one place to another for the holidays.  I am now firmly anchored to Mama and for that I am more grateful than I can express.  I believe that a part of me will always mourn the loss of the holiday traditions from my childhood.  But, because of Mama, I have realized that it is a blessing and an honor to find family where you are. 

About the Author:
Joanna Sims is proud to pen contemporary romance for Harlequin Special Edition. Joanna's series, The Brands of Montana, feature hardworking characters with hometown values. You are cordially invited to join The Brands of Montana as they wrangle their own happily-ever-afters. And, as always, Joanna welcomes you to visit her at her website: www.joannasimsromance.com.









a Rafflecopter giveaway


a Rafflecopter giveaway


a Rafflecopter giveaway