JoAnn Ross, Susan Donovan, LuAnn McLane, Alexis Morgan

296 Pages·2013·1.16 MB·English

by  Ross Joann

Praise for New York Times Bestselling Author JoAnn Ross
“Ross is a master.”
—BookPage
“Beautifully descriptive . . . captures coastal small-town flavor perfectly.”
—Library Journal
Praise for Susan Donovan
“Susan Donovan will steal your heart.”
—New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd “Impossible to put
down. . . . Susan Donovan is an absolute riot.”
—Romance Junkies
Praise for LuAnn McLane
“No one does Southern love like LuAnn McLane!”
—The Romance Dish
“Charming, romantic.”
—Fresh Fiction
Praise for Alexis Morgan
“Morgan delivers a great read that sparks with humor, action, and . . . great
storytelling.”
—Night Owl Reviews
“Alexis Morgan’s warriors heat up the pages.”
—Fresh Fiction
CHRISTMAS ON MAIN STREET

JOANN ROSS
SUSAN DONOVAN
LUANN MCLANE
ALEXIS MORGAN
SIGNET
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) LLC, 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

USA | Canada | UK | Ireland | Australia | New Zealand | India | South Africa | China penguin.com
A Penguin Random House Company
First published by Signet, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC
Copyright © Penguin Group (USA) LLC, 2013
“Christmas in Shelter Bay” copyright © The Ross Family Trust, 2013
Quotations in “Christmas in Shelter Bay” are from ABC December by Sherrill S. Cannon and Kerry E.
Gallagher, published by Lazy Bee Scripts.
“A Seaside Christmas” copyright © Susan Reed, 2013
“Mistletoe on Main Street” copyright © LuAnn McLane, 2013
“The Christmas Gift” copyright © Patricia L. Pritchard, 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or
electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted
materials in violation of the authors’ rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA ISBN 978-1-10162143-1
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
These are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’
imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business
establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Contents
Praise
Title page
Copyright page
Dedication

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20

A SEASIDE CHRISTMA: Susan Donovan
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
MISTLETOE ON MAIN STREET: LuAnn McLane
Chapter 1: Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
Chapter 2: Sleigh Ride
Chapter 3: Winter Wonderland
Chapter 4: I’ll Be Home for Christmas
Chapter 5: Christmastime
Chapter 6: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Chapter 7: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas
Chapter 8: This Christmas . . .
Chapter 9: It Must Have Been the Mistletoe
Chapter 10: A Christmas Love Song
Chapter 11: Toyland
Chapter 12: Blue Christmas
Chapter 13: We Need a Little Christmas
Chapter 14: All I Want for Christmas Is You

THE CHRISTMAS GIFT: Alexis Morgan
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12

ENJOY MORE BOOKS BY THESE AUTHORS!
To all the readers who’ve written over the years asking for Cole and Kelli’s
story: this one’s for you
With appreciation to Sherrill S. Cannon and Kerry E. Gallagher for writing the
holiday play Kelli’s students perform.
1
It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Shelter Bay. Tinseled garlands
and wreaths with huge red bows were strung across the streets, colorful holiday
scenes had been painted by students on the windows of local businesses, and
fairy lights sparkled in the branches of trees all over town.
Down at the pier, Cole Douchett was freezing his tail off stringing lights onto
the cabin of his family’s fishing boat.
“Why, exactly, are we doing this?” he asked.
“Because the mayor got the idea for the town to have a Christmas boat
parade, like they do up in Portland,” his grandfather Bernard said.
“She’s hoping it’ll bring in more tourists,” Lucien, his father, added.
“Yeah, why go all the way to Hawaii for beaches when you can winter on the
Oregon coast? In case you didn’t notice, that’s frigging sleet hitting your face,”
Cole complained.
“Boy’s been in the desert too long,” Bernard drawled to his son. “All those
years in Afghanistan and Iraq thinned his blood.”
“I don’t mind the cold,” Cole countered. “I’m an effing Marine. We live for
miserable conditions. . . .
“What I don’t get is why we need to be out here turning into Popsicles in
order to draw in more tourists. This is a fishing boat. It’s not like we’re going to
be taking tourists for whale-watching rides around the bay.”
And the boat wasn’t even used all that often anymore, except for family sport
fishing.
Whereas his grandfather had worked as a commercial fisherman until
recently, his dad had left the sea years ago to open a restaurant with Cole’s
mother.
Unfortunately, the place had taken a hit by a vicious winter ice storm, only to
be given a knockout blow two months after that when hurricane-force winds
triggered by a Pacific typhoon came barreling through Shelter Bay. Which was
when Maureen and Lucien Douchett had thrown in the towel, closed down Bon
Temps, and retired.
Sort of.
They were currently running a bait shop on the harbor, but his father had kept
the commercial fishing license, and whenever a recreational day on the water
ended up with more crabs, rockfish, or salmon than the family could eat, the two
men sold them to local vendors and restaurants.
“Didn’t we mention both your grandmère and mother like the idea of a boat
parade?” his father asked.
Slam.
Case closed.
There was nothing these two men wouldn’t do for their wives. If Adèle and
Maureen Douchett wanted the family to take part in this latest cockamamy
marketing gimmick the mayor had come up with, that’s exactly what their men
would do.
“When you get married, if you’re smart, you’ll learn early on that when
women get something set in their minds, it’s easier to go along rather than get
pecked to high heaven by ducks,” Bernard said. “There’s also the fact that your
grandmère and maman like Christmas,” he added pointedly. “Unlike some
people in the family. Who’ll remain nameless.”
That unnamed family member being him.
It hadn’t always been that way. Although his grandfather might have moved
the family to the Pacific Northwest from Louisiana after Hurricane Audrey had
wiped their bayou town of Petit Chenier off the map, the Douchetts had
remained Cajun to the bone.
Which meant family celebrations were perched at the top of their priorities
pyramid. Growing up, Cole hadn’t fully appreciated the strength of his parents’
and grandparents’ long-term marriages. Until he’d learned the hard way that
such commitment was a rare commodity.
“I didn’t say I didn’t like Christmas,” he grumbled.
There’d been a time when he’d enjoyed the holidays. But that was then. And
this was now, and what he mostly wanted was to just be left alone.
“You’ve been giving Scrooge a run for his money,” Lucien said from atop the
ladder as he arranged a long string of lights into the shape of a Dungeness crab.
“I was thinkin’ more along the lines of the Grinch,” his grandfather said.
“We understand you’ve got a lot on your mind, what with the decision you
have to make.” His dad’s tone turned serious. “But your mother worries.”
“Your grandmère, too,” Bernard said. “You havin’ nightmares?”
“Once in a while.” On the rare occasion he could actually sleep through the
night. “But that goes with the territory, right?”
The two older men nodded knowingly. They’d also both been Marines, and
while they might never talk about the action they’d seen, Cole suspected he
wasn’t the only guy in the family with ghosts.
“I’m not pressuring you,” his father said. “Whether or not you reenlist is a
decision you can only make on your own. But the same way I’ve been keeping
your brother’s Camaro ready for when he returns home for good, we’re holding
on to this boat for you. Just in case you’d be wanting it.”
“Not that you’re obligated to take up fishing,” his grandfather assured him.
“Especially being that you got that fancy college degree. It’s not like you’d have
a hard time finding work. But you’re the only one of the three boys who talked
about someday taking the business over.”
While his two brothers enjoyed sailing, neither of them had ever been all that
enthusiastic about working on the family’s fishing boat. Cole was the odd man
out. He’d always thought a bad day out on the water was better than a good day
on land. Which was why his brother Sax ragged him about becoming a Marine
desert rat instead of joining the Navy so he could go to sea. Of course, the irony
was that although Sax was a Navy SEAL, he’d ended up spending nearly as
many years in the desert as Cole had.
Of the three of them, Sax had always been the one to buck tradition. Not to
mention the rules. While Cole, as the eldest, had been the Eagle Scout in the
family. The rock-solid dependable, “perfect” one.
The role model.
The first person in the Douchett family to graduate from college. Although
he’d gone only because his parents had been adamant about the idea, he’d
applied for a Navy ROTC scholarship with the Marine option. After graduating
with an oceanography degree, he’d followed generations of previous Douchett
men into the Corps.
Which made him the first officer in the family.
What neither of his younger brothers, who were always ragging him for being
Mr. Perfect, realized was that it was damn exhausting always trying to live up to
expectations. Just once, he thought, as he plugged in the lights and watched the
oversized Dungeness crab begin to flash bright red, he’d like to be the Douchett
Bad Boy.
Okay. Not really bad.
But reckless, like Sax.