winterromance – Clyde's Corner

They say home is where the heart is, but in Diana Marchcroft’s case, home is where hers was shattered into tiny pieces. After dusting herself off and heading to the big city to pursue her dream of becoming a writer, a family emergency forces her to return back to her quaint hometown of Hartstone, where she is uncomfortably reunited with her ex and, in true small town style, his extended family. As if that weren’t enough, shortly after arriving to what was hoped to be a flying visit, Diana is horrified to discover that the future of her family’s beloved apple orchard hangs in the balance, after rising costs and declining health have forced her aunt to consider the lucrative sales pitch of a truly heinous estate agent.

Torn between her desire to escape the unresolved past with her ex, Alex, and her motivation to save the landmark Marchcroft Orchard, Diana rallies her old friends who are all prepared to do whatever it takes to have the most prosperous Christmas season yet and save the orchard, one delicious jar of apple butter at a time. Despite endless obstacles, from snowstorms to the villainous Meredith who will stop at nothing in pursuit of her selfish plan to profit from selling the orchard to a big developer, Diana and her team pull together and manage not only to save the orchard from closure, but develop a plan to future-proof it, just in time for Christmas.

“As her pen flew across the page, she reconnected with the town that she loved.”

Despite the best efforts of her loyal friends and family, it seems that Diana’s heart can’t be so easily fixed as the orchard’s business plans. Having to face Alex, and the constant reminder of what went wrong between them, has Diana really questioning whether she can ever truly be happy in Hartstone. However, the town’s very own little Christmas fairy (and my favourite character), six-year-old Phoebe, knows that anything is possible at Christmas and when the grown-ups can’t get it right, she steps in with her own clever plan that forces Diana and Alex to address what happened between them once and for all.

“You need to be here in Hartstone. This is where you belong.”

Hartstone is so quaint and cosy that it would be warm and welcoming in any season, but at Christmas; dusted with snow and decked in twinkly lights, it’s absolutely magical. Turning the pages of ‘An Apple Butter Christmas’ made me feel like I was stepping inside to a roaring fire on a Winter’s night; and is the perfect stocking filler for anyone in need of some cosy escapism this Christmas!

“Hartstone during the Christmas season was Hartstone at its best.”

An Apple Butter Christmas

From the USA Today Best-Selling Author Terry Lynn Thomas
An Apple Butter Christmas
A Heartwarming Small-Town Christmas Romance

Coming home for Christmas was supposed to be temporary—until love, legacy, and one unforgettable orchard changed everything.

Welcome to Hartstone, where the snow is deep, the secrets are deeper, and love might just get a second chance under the twinkling lights of the town Christmas tree.

Diana Marchcroft didn’t plan on returning to Hartstone, but when her beloved aunt is injured, Diana leaves the city behind to help save her family’s struggling apple orchard. What she doesn’t expect? The fight of a lifetime and the survival of her family’s heritage. The orchard is at risk of being developed into an exclusive golf course and destination wedding venue.

Alex Kelley thought he’d buried his feelings for Diana after their relationship ended abruptly on the night he planned to propose. When he unexpectedly bumps into her, he realizes that some embers never go out.

With the town busy with visitors for the annual Apple Butter Festival, Diana and Alex discover that sometimes Christmas miracles come wrapped in second chances.

If you love:

• Cozy snow-covered small towns
• Second-chance love stories
• Orchard festivals and secret kisses under the stars
• Family, friendship, and a sprinkle of holiday magic

…then curl up with An Apple Butter Christmas, a feel-good romance that will warm your heart like a mug of hot cider on a winter’s night.

Purchase Links
https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Butter-Christmas-Hartstone-Romance-ebook/dp/B0FNKNM4D8
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-Butter-Christmas-Hartstone-Romance-ebook/dp/B0FNKNM4D8

Author Bio – Terry Lynn Thomas is a USA Today best-selling author who writes contemporary legal thrillers and historical mysteries set in World War II. Her debut cozy Christmas romance, Apple Butter Christmas, will release in November of 2025. Her stories are known for their strong female protagonists and the emotional connection between her characters.

When she isn’t writing, Terry Lynn likes to watch British mysteries, read books about found family and friendship, paint, garden, and take long walks with her husband and dogs.

Social Media Links –(1) Facebook

“Secrets. So many secrets in the cottage this Christmastime.”

Christmas. Whether you love it or loathe it, the festive period always seems to uncover secrets, no matter how hard we try to suppress them in favour of creating a picture-perfect yuletide celebration. And what better place to host an idyllic Christmas than a snow-dusted Elder Fell Farm? Nestled in the Lake District, in a cottage which was so cosy I could almost hear the fire crackling and smell the cocoa wafting out of the pages. I might be new to the Edler Fell Farm trilogy, but the setting is so perfect that I could immediately see how Matt and Amy fell in love with it (and each other), in the previous instalment.

But of course, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a few familial hiccups, and having one’s plans for a perfect festive season derailed by overbearing in-laws, is a pain which is universally acknowledged. As traditional as turkey, interfering mothers-in-law are always on the Christmas bingo card. However, a testament to Liz Taylorson’s writing, is that although Diane is every bit the classic monster-in-law who I was willing to be covered by an avalanche from her first introduction, as the story progressed, the complex personal histories of each character snowballed along and by the end I was actually rooting for her. Okay that might be a bit of a stretch, but the rich character development did have me seeing things in a different light as the plot unfolded via several unexpected twists that kept me guessing until the last pages.

I may be new to the Elder Fell Farm novels, but the depth of each character and the breath-taking setting had me feeling like I was at home catching up with old friends before I’d even finished the first chapter. Not least because, as the mother of a similarly rogue little boy, Harry immediately jumped out as my favourite character. It’s always funnier when it’s not happening to you in the moment, but I really felt like I was standing there with Amy, willing the ground to swallow us up (and trying not to laugh literally out loud), right alongside her many, many times throughout this story.

“It might not be perfect, but it was their family Christmas.”

We all love a classic Christmas romance, and whilst ‘Winter Snowfall at Elder Fell Farm’ has warming festivity and romance by the bucket load, an element of this novel which I particularly loved, was the allusion of a ghost story. When done just right, the thought of a chilly spectre lingering in the background of the remote, snow-covered cottage is the holly berry on top of an already intriguing Christmas story.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at Elder Fell Farm, and it has certainly ignited my festive spirit. I may have come for the warming comfort of a classic Christmas romance, but what made me stay was the gripping plot that had me frantically turning the pages to find out what happened next, captivating characters who had me both laughing and crying throughout each twist and turn, and the lure of a mysterious ghost story that kept me guessing even after I closed the final page. Christmas might have brought an end to one element of Matt and Amy’s story, but with a New Year comes new beginnings, and I can’t wait to find out what Liz Taylorson has in store for them next.

Purchase Link – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Winter-Snowfall-Elder-Fell-Farm-ebook/dp/B0DCKFMPHY

Winter Snowfall at Elder Fell Farm

A simple Christmas just got complicated …

Amy’s in love. She’s looking forward to spending her first Christmas together, as a blended family, with Matt and their two sons, Harry and Oliver. What could be more perfect than a romantic escape to the remote and beautiful Lake District farm where Matt and Amy met?

However, an unexpected and difficult guest threatens to disrupt the festivities, and undermine her relationship with Matt. With Harry and Oliver around to create mayhem, and a snowstorm closing in, it seems that nothing is going to be romantic about Christmas at Elder Fell Farm.

Can their relationship weather the storm?

Author Bio –

Liz has always surrounded herself with books.

As a child, she was always to be found with her head in one and she treasures a bookcase full of her childhood favourites to this day. She went on to work in a library, cataloguing early printed books – but as most of the books turned out to be volumes of sermons, she wasn’t tempted to read them all. She now works as an administrator for her local parish church and is a little more attentive when it comes to sermons.

Her childhood dream of being an author came true with her first published novel The Little Church by the Sea (there are several others in a shoebox under the bed.) It’s the story of a lonely vicar whose vicarage falls off a cliff. Liz hastens to point out that this was written before she was employed by the church! Winter Snowfall at Elder Fell Farm is the second of a trilogy of novels set in the Lake District. After that, she’s thinking it might be time to write another book about a vicar – featuring a hard-working and incredibly efficient parish administrator, of course.

In what remains of her free time Liz is an avid reader, a keen theatre goer, and is also half of the team behind 376 miles, a slightly quirky blog about travelling Britain and watching football. You’ll find it at https://376miles.substack.com and it’s free.

https://www.facebook.com/TaylorsonLiz

http://www.liztaylorson.com

Threads @taylorsonl