Marcelle Dubé grew up near Montreal. After trying out a number of different provinces and living in the Yukon for over 35 years, she now lives in Alberta—which is much like the Yukon in all the ways that count. She writes mystery and speculative fiction novels and short stories. Her best-known work is the Mendenhall Mystery series. Her latest release is The Wronged Woman, sixth in the Mendenhall series. Her short fiction has appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies. Learn more about her and her published work at www.marcellemdube.com. You can contact her at marcelle.dube@gmail.com.

Christmas Magic - Three Romantic Holiday Tales by Marcelle Dube

Christmas Magic is a collection of three romantic Christmas short stories:

A Yukon Christmas: After her 20-year marriage collapses from inertia, Beatrice Talsma sets off on a year-long, cross-Canada journey to discover where she truly belongs. In a complete break with the past, she rents out a cabin in the Yukon wilderness. It's a wonderful spot, except that her closest neighbor, Henry Pekarik—also her landlord—seems determined to help Beatrice out, whether she wants it or not. It's becoming harder and harder to resist the man but the real test comes when he invites her to Christmas dinner with his family.

McKell's Christmas: Deputy Chief of Police Rob McKell doesn't trust Christmas. Two of his ex-wives left him at Christmas. Besides, bad guys don't take time off during the holidays so why should he? But when the chief orders skeleton crews at the detachment for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, he has no choice but to comply. Not that he minds, really. He has a Christmas Eve date with the lovely Jillian for the all-important meeting of her friends.

But before the evening ends, Jillian's dangerous past will put both their lives and their fragile new relationship at risk… and prove that McKell's misgivings about Christmas are well-founded.

A short Mendenhall Mystery.

Running Away from Christmas: When Faith decides to escape Christmas and her friends' matchmaking efforts by spending the holiday alone in the big city, she never expects to find Christmas waiting there for her.

 

REVIEWS

  • •"A lovely atmospheric short story about two people who are no longer too sure about how to be around others or how to be in love. Marcelle Dube's writing evokes the cold climate, and the warm people of Canada's North."

    – Goodreads reviewer

  • •"This short story was the perfect length when you don't have a lot of time - but still want to read something complete. Beatrice, divorced for about a year, is fiercely independent. She doesn't appreciate assistance from her sweet, rugged landlord but he continues to try and help when he can—until an unexpected event shows her what kind of man Henry really is."

    – Amazon reviewer

  • •"McKell, a cop in Manitoba, finally gets a Christmas Eve off. He has dinner with his girlfriend's friends. One friend brings a new boyfriend, and tensions rise—just not in the way you'd expect. The Canadian setting is real, the mystery is fascinating, and the characters excellent. Pick this one up."

    – Kristine Katherine Rusch
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

"Where the heck is she going?" asked Gaby.

Henry looked up from the six hundredth potato he was peeling—he loved hosting his sister Gaby and her family, but they ate a lot, which was why she had come over early to help him. Except that she was spending way too much time spying on his tenant. He glanced past her shoulder to the window in the living room. From there, he could see the side of the cabin and Beatrice Talsma putting on her skis. His gaze automatically went to the heavy sky and he frowned.

None of your business, he reminded himself. She's made that pretty clear.

"I expect she's going skiing," he said calmly. "Are you going to help me with these potatoes?"

Gaby watched Beatrice ski away before turning back to him. "She's a good-looking woman, you know."

Henry kept peeling but kept his head down. Gaby would never change. She had been trying to fix him up with his new tenant ever since Beatrice Talsma moved in. He had to admit that she was a fine-looking woman. With those long legs, she was almost as tall as his six feet, and she was lean but with enough curves to keep a man's interest. What he liked best about her was her eyes—deep, deep blue, with laugh lines around them. Not that she smiled much. Only when she was rebuffing his offers to help.

He liked that she didn't try to cover the gray in that thick brown hair of hers and that she left it loose to fall around her shoulders. He also liked that she didn't wear makeup and always smelled like fresh air and sunshine.

But the woman wasn't interested. She'd made that clear in dozens of little ways.

She wants to be left alone, he reminded himself. Leave her alone.

When he didn't answer, Gaby sighed dramatically. "Fine, Hank. Stay single. You're crowding fifty, you know. Pretty soon you won't be fit for domestication."