Sunday, December 1, 2024

About the Book

Book: A Canine Christmas

Author: Jennifer Sienes

Genre: Christian Contemporary Romance, Christmas Fiction, and Southern Fiction

Release date: November 18, 2024

What do you get when you mix a mail carrier, a monstrously large canine and his surly owner, and a mysterious death?

Amelia Hutchinson can’t seem to find her place in the world. Or maybe she’s just watched too many Christmas Hallmark movies. But come on, how come Aurora Teagarden and Hallie Dean get more exciting careers and all Amelia gets to be is a mail carrier? Not to mention, she’s living in her sister and brother-in-law’s guest house and the only man she could find was one who didn’t appreciate the purity ring her daddy gave her.

Rayce Jasper just wants to sell his late granddad’s farm and throw away the painful past that comes with it as soon as possible. But the memories of the man who betrayed him, a ditzy mail lady, and a strange request put a kink in his agenda.

As Rayce’s and Amelia’s worlds collide, neither of them can deny that God must be weaving His own Christmas story for the two of them.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Jennifer Sienes holds a bachelor’s in psychology and a master’s in education but discovered life-experience is the best teacher. She loves Jesus, romance and writing–and puts it altogether in inspirational contemporary fiction. Her daughter’s TBI and brother’s suicide inspired two of her three novels. Although fiction writing is her real love, she’s had several non-fiction pieces published in anthologies–two in Chicken Soup for the Soul. She has two grown children and one very spoiled Maltese. California born and raised, she recently took a step of faith with her real-life hero and relocated to Tennessee.

More from Jennifer

I’m often asked where inspiration comes for my books. Does it start with a character or a setting or maybe something from my own life? The answer is, “Yes.” Each of those have sparked story ideas. A Canine Christmas is my fourteenth book, but it’s the first (and possibly last) novel/novella motivated by a dog.

You would think it would be my own canine that inspired one of my books—but that’s not the case here. I have a short story in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Life Lessons from the Dog titled “Soul Sniffer” based on my late Bichon Friese, Einstein. He was also in Providence—and his name was Dashiell. I have another short story in Inspire Joy titled “Canine Redemption” about Cheyenne, a rescue dog we had for a short time. But an entire book? Never.

It started with my granddaughters’ Cano Corso, Porter. The biggest (and I mean that in every sense of the word) baby I’ve ever encountered. He’s massive, and yet hides behind eight-year-old Kennedy at the slightest loud noise. His size alone is enough to intimidate the average person, but he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. However, he wasn’t the only inspiration for this Christmas novella.

The setting was influenced by my affinity for old family farms and historic cemeteries (of which there are over 33,000 in the state of Tennessee.) Add a ditzy mail lady who has an intense fear of dogs, and a disgruntled man trying to put his past to rest, and A Canine Christmas was born.

This is romance through and through, and it was a pure joy to write. I hope you’ll come to love Amelia and Rayce as much as I did—and of course, Porter, the canine matchmaker.

MY REVIEW

This has been such a great book to read. There is laughter, faith and trust that weave throughout the story. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and especially Porter. I recently have seen this breed and they are amazing. “There are no bad dogs, just bad owners.” I loved this quote because it is so true. Many dogs are labeled dangerous when it really has to do with how they are raised.

Amelia is such a fun character who has this dream to be a private detective. Right now she is a mail carrier who lives with family. Maybe someday she will see her dream come true. She sure has a special place in her heart for her niece. Helping her overcome her shyness Amelia thinks it would be a great idea to get her a dog as a companion. First Amelia needs to overcome her fear of dogs. This leads us to our next character.

Rayce recently inherited a farm which really surprised him. Why was he left this by a person who didn’t want anything to do with him? Rayce struggles with this rejection and knows he needs to forgive and move on. Meeting Amelia may be a good thing for him but the jury is still out on that. When his dog gets a bit too friendly with Amelia as she is delivering his mail this starts a relationship that may be good for both people.

Get ready for a fun adventure with two people who must deal with the past while seeking God for their future. One of the themes I loved in this book was second chances and the past past doesn’t have to define our future. Learning to forgive can open doors where our heart has become bitter.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.