An Irish Christmas Heart

The week before last, I posted excerpts and links for Keeping Christmas, Volume I here on my website. This week, I’m highlighting Keeping Christmas, Volume II. Yes, there is another six-novella collection of Christmas stories set in or around castles. Because I have an actual write-up on the inspiration behind my story, An Irish Christmas Heart (and because it’s my website), I’m going to start with mine.

Here is the burb from the back of the book: An Irish Christmas Heart (by Jennifer Sienes): Will she choose love or an arranged marriage? In the midst of post-famine unrest, Eleanor Blake, daughter of an English nobleman, is thrown into a maelstrom of emotions. How will she escape the duty for which she was born and the confines of the ill-fated Menlo Castle of Galway, Ireland to find her true love?

My thoughts on historical fiction/romance:

Kudos to anyone who writes historical romance well. There are a couple reasons I chose contemporary as my genre. First, it’s much easier to research current culture than that of a different time period. So, I guess that basically means I’m too lazy. Second, God never put historical fiction on my heart—until I was asked to write a novella for Keeping Christmas.

The only direction I was given when I agreed to this project was that it had to be a Christmas novella with a castle setting. When I think of castles, I think of stories in a different time and place. Because my husband is half Irish, I immediately searched for castles in the beautiful island of Ireland. A few clicks of the mouse, and I came across a story about Menlo Castle in Galway—also known as Blake Castle because the Blake family (English nobility) had lived there since 1539 (or somewhere near that time).

A little more research, and I discovered that Blake Castle burned in 1910, although there are still remains of it there today. The only fatality was Edward Blake’s daughter, Eleanor, who happened to have a disability. From there, I used creative license to fill in the rest. Is it historically accurate? Nope. So, while I call it historical romance, it’s more fiction than not.

If you were to Google the other lead character, Samuel Orton, you will discover he was a real person back in that time period as well. I won’t tell you what he was known for, because it would be a spoiler-alert, but he is also more imagination than factual. That’s why it’s called fiction!

I hope you’ll enjoy Eleanor and Samuel’s story. There is nothing sweeter than romance at Christmas, wouldn’t you agree?

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 including several 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.

For a limited time, you can get the ebook version of Keeping Christmas, Volume II for only .99 cents.

If you prefer the paperback collection (which is beautiful, btw) you can order it here at the Celebrate Lit Publishing site. For a limited time, you can get it for 30% off and free shipping. Don’t forget to fill out the form to receive your preorder gift here, as well, whether you’re getting the ebook version or paperback version. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and follow the link to the proper form.

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