A Lowcountry Christmas

The “lovely and memorable tale” (Luis Carlos Montalván, New York Times bestselling author) of a wounded warrior and his younger brother who discover the true meaning of the Christmas holiday in this timeless story of family bonds. As far as ten-year-old Miller McClellan is concerned, it’s the worst Christmas ever. His father’s shrimp boat is docked, his mother is working two jobs, and with finances strained, Miller is told they can’t afford the dog he desperately wants. “Your brother’s return from war is our family’s gift,” his parents tell him. But when Taylor returns with PTSD, the stress and strain darken the family. Then Taylor’s service dog arrives—a large black Labrador/Great Dane named Thor. His brother even got the dog! When Miller goes out on Christmas Eve with his father’s axe, determined to get his family the tree they can’t afford, he takes the dog for company—but accidentally winds up lost in the wild forest. In the midst of this emergency, the splintered family must come together and rediscover their strengths, family bond, and the true meaning of Christmas.

A wounded warrior and his younger brother discover the true meaning of Christmas in this timeless story of family bonds--a poignant continuation of Monroe's beloved Lowcountry Summer series, winner of the Southern Book Prize. HC: Gallery Books.

Originally published in hardcover in 2013 by Gallery Books. Reprinted in paperback 2014 with a readers group guide and an excerpt from the author's forthcoming novel: The Summer Wind, book two in the Lowcountry Summer trilogy.

Wedding season has arrived in New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe’s fourth novel in the “distinct, complex, and endearing” (Charleston Magazine) Lowcountry Summer series, set against the romantic, charming Carolina lowcountry. Nothing could be more enchanting than a summer wedding—or two!—in storied Sullivan’s Island. A centuries-old plantation, an avenue of ancient oaks dripping moss, a sand dune at sunset… it’s all picture perfect, and half-sisters Dora, Carson, and Harper, and their grandmother Marietta “Mamaw” Muir couldn’t be more excited. Wedding dresses are picked, venues booked, and delectable cakes tasted. What could possibly go wrong? The answer, the Muir clan is soon to find out, is everything. Carson loves Blake, but struggles with giving up her independence. Harper questions if a prenuptial agreement will help or hurt the future of her marriage, and a newly unfettered Dora is uncertain whether she really wants to walk down the aisle again. Just when it seems things couldn’t get more complicated for the Muir sisters, a stranger arrives bearing a long-held family secret that has the potential to upset even the most carefully laid-out wedding plans. With the weddings mere weeks away, the invitations sent out, and the family in tumult, Mamaw and her Summer Girls discover the enduring and powerful bonds of family, and realize that, no matter how different each bride might be, she can still have her perfect wedding.

In this next novel in the Lowcountry Summer series, New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe returns to the charm and sultrybeauty of Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, and the Muir family--three half sisters bound by love for their grandmother and the Carolina lowcountry--in an unforgettable tale of family bonds and love as strong and steady as the tides.

“Reading Christmas in London you’ll feel magically transported!" — Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author of A Lowcountry Christmas Set during London's most festive time of year and filled with delicious food Anita Hughes' Christmas in London is about love and friendship, and the season's most important lesson: learning how to ask for and give forgiveness. It’s a week before Christmas and Louisa Graham is working twelve hour shifts at a bakery on Manhattan's Lower East Side. When a young cooking show assistant comes in from the rain and begs to buy all the cinnamon rolls on her tray, she doesn’t know what to do. Louisa is just the baker, and they aren't hers to sell. But the show burned the rolls they were supposed to film that day; so she agrees. The next morning, Louisa finds out that her cinnamon rolls were a hit, but the star of the show was allergic, and the whole crew is supposed to leave for London that afternoon. They want Louisa to step in for their annual Christmas Eve Dinner TV special at Claridge's. It’s a great opportunity, and Digby Bunting, Louisa’s famous baking idol, will be there. Even if he does seem more interested in her than her food. And then there’s Kate, the show's beautiful producer. On their first day in London she runs into the skinny boy she jilted at St. Andrew's in Scotland ten years ago. Now he’s a handsome, brilliant mathematician, and newly divorced. Their familiar spark is still there, but so is the scar of how they left things. Kate and Louisa are busy preparing for the show, but old and new flames are complicating their work.

"This heartwarming women's fiction series from beloved New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe centers on Marietta Colson Muir, a dowager of Charleston society who has retired to her historic summer home on Sullivan's Island called Conquest, and her three granddaughters Carson, Eudora, and Harper. It's summer once again on idyllic Sullivan's Island, but Eudora, or Dora as she's affectionately called by her family, is feeling anything but perfect. With a perpetually withdrawn son and an impending divorce, the pressure is just too much to handle, and Dora cracks, suffering what the doctors are calling 'Broken Heart' syndrome. Mamaw, Lucille, Harper, and Carson all rally around Dora to support her and nurse her back to health--however, it seems Dora isn't the only one falling apart this summer. Between Lucille's health scare and an unexpected surprise that has Carson reconsidering her life's direction, it looks like all the women of Sullivan's Island could use some TLC. When Sullivan's is hit with a tropical storm, it will be up to the three sisters to band together and weather the tempest together--both the one outside their windows, and the raging sea of emotions within each one of them" --

It's the most wonderful time of the year, but Private Investigator Liz Talbot is struggling to feel festive. She hasn't seen her best friend, Colleen, in weeks and fears she may never see her again in this life. Meanwhile Nate, Liz's husband and partner, is spending money like he prints it in the attic on a mysterious family Christmas celebration. Liz's nerves are shot, and she hasn't even decked a single hall. But there's simply no time to fret. On a morning beach run, Liz spots a wooden rowboat run aground with Santa inside. Did Old Saint Nick have too much eggnog at the boat parade? No indeedy-Santa's been shot. And he's none other than C.C. Bounetheau, patriarch of one of Charleston's wealthiest families. Liz and Nate already unwrapped quite a few family secrets while searching for the Bounetheau's missing granddaughter last year-enough to make them swear to steer forever clear of the entire clan. But as Mr. Bounetheau's body is found in Stella Maris, and Liz and Nate are the police chief's on-call detectives, they're on the case. With no shortage of suspects, Liz and Nate dash to find a killer who may be working his or her way down a naughty list. Spend Christmas in the Lowcountry with the Talbot family and their friends in Susan M. Boyer's latest Southern charmer, Lowcountry Boughs of Holly. Tis the season for merry mayhem! - - - - - - - - - - - - - LOWCOUNTRY BOUGHS OF HOLLY by Susan M. Boyer - A Henery Press Mystery. If you like one, you'll probably like them all.