Book Spotlight: Cathy's Christmas Confession

Are you ready to talk about Christmas books? How do you feel about widows and widowers in your holiday romances? Patti Shene Gonzales is chatting about her inspiration behind her Christmas novella--and it might surprise you. See what you think.

If you’ve suffered the death of a spouse, you are familiar with the crushing sense of loss that darkens the world around you. Everything in your life changes. A piece of you is missing and that hole brings you pain in so many ways, from the subtle to the agonizingly acute.
My husband passed away during open heart surgery. Although the physician had bluntly told me his chances were slim, my optimism soared when three phone calls from the operating room indicated he was stable and the surgery was proceeding as planned. It was the last call that crashed my world when I received the report that he was in cardiac arrest.

​I was blessed to have several supportive family members in his brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and our daughter and granddaughter. They walked me through the emotional darkness and helped me navigate the financial and legal decisions that confronted me. My church family strengthened me with their compassion and prayers.
A few friends had lost spouses within months on either side of my husband’s passing. We bonded in a hospice support group. I came to realized that not everyone can rely on a strong network of family or friends to help them through the storms of life.
When the opportunity was offered me to join a multi author project and write a Christmas novella, I didn’t have character or plot ideas. We collaborating authors had agreed to write a romance series, but we didn’t want all of our stories to be about young love. It was then that I felt God directing me to write about a widow and widower and how one would help the other find joy in Christmas after the loss of a spouse.
A few years had passed since my husband’s death, but I still had a stack of over a hundred sympathy cards sitting on my desk. As I reread the heartfelt messages of condolence and the kind words of remembrances about my husband, my story came together.
My heroine, Cathy, has been a widow for a couple of years and therefore has weathered the Christmas holidays without her husband. She notices the signs of grief in David, a church acquaintance, and reaches out to him.
As Cathy strives to achieve her goal of showing David how to find joy in Christmas, she makes a startling discovery. She’s been harboring a secret about her less-than-stellar baking prowess, the very reason she believes the townspeople have accepted her. She is surprised to learn she is deeply admired for character traits she didn’t know she possessed.
Cathy’s Christmas Confession is a Christmas novella, but the themes of loss, grief, compassion, and second chances make it an enjoyable and thought-provoking clean and sweet read to be enjoyed any time of year.
Do you know someone who has lost a loved one in recent years, months, or even days? How did you reach out to help them find their way back to joy?

Cathy's Christmas Confession

During a snowstorm, widow Cathy Fischer creams a stop sign on her way to work at the Christmas Ridge Community Church. Acquaintance David Martin stops to help. Cathy sees signs of deep grief in David, a recent widower. She reaches out with support in an attempt to help David through this most difficult first Christmas without his beloved wife.
David Martin struggles with grief over the death of his wife. He blames God for her rapid demise after her cancer diagnosis. Cathy reaches out to him with compassion and support and soon enlists him in her mission to bring joy to others at Christmas. Will their joint quest restore David’s faith?
David needs to turn loose of the past and embrace his future. Cathy has a confession to make to the entire community that may give David a different perspective of who she really is. Will her confession set her free?
Does God have plans in mind for the two of them they did not anticipate?

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Patti is the former host of Step Into the Light, an interview style podcast where guests shared their darkness to light stories or spoke about their ministries and other creative endeavors. This year, she has turned her attention to full-time writing. She is the author of Cathy’s Christmas Confession, a sweet widow/widower holiday romance novella. She is under contract with Wild Heart Books for a three-book Western historical romance series, the first release scheulded for June of 2026. Patti hosts pre-published and published authors on her two blogs, Patti’s Porch and The Over 50 Writer on her website at pattishene.com.
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Connect with Patti on Twitter/X at https://x.com/PattiShene

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