A Stockingful of Joy

by Justine Dare, Jill Barnett, Mary Jo Putney, Susan King

Signet

Historical Romance: Anthology, Contemporary Romance: Anthology

October 4, 2005

ISBN-13: 0451215958

Available in: Paperback (reprint)

A Stockingful of Joy
by Justine Dare, Jill Barnett, Mary Jo Putney, Susan King

Enjoy the magical spirit of Christmas in four timeless romances created especially for this holiday collection.

The Best Husband Money Can Buy by Mary Jo Putney
An unexpected legacy sweeps a governess to a grand estate---where an impoverished nobleman discovers a woman to be treasured.

Boxing Day by Jill Barnett
A gentle woman shows a rugged man the meaning of love in Victorian New York of gaslit streets and snowy sleight rides.

A Light in the Window by Justine Dare
A heartwarming tale of a man who seeks shelter on an isolated Wyoming homestead...and discovers an orphan and a beautiful woman who need a miracle as badly as he needs forgiveness and love.

The Snow Rose by Susan King
In this touching story, a silver brooch seals a pact between a Highland lass and a Scottish laird as they find that the best gift to give is one's heart.

Other Books by Justine Dare



Justine Dare's Bio

Author biographies are supposed to give you all those statistics, books written, awards won, etc. and I will, I promise...but first let me tell you about this ornery little tomboy (back then, the boys had all the fun...) who was always the one to make up the stories the neighborhood kids would "play". For those who came of age in the computer game era, this is something that was done usually in the backyard, by any number of summer-bored children, with props where appropriate. (Did you know a 55 gallon drum tied to a picnic bench makes a very cool horse?) It wasn't until much later that this tomboy realized two things: A) not everyone made up stories in their heads all the time, and B) in real life, the boys that had already had all the fun now seemed to always be winning.

But I digress. I was born on a farm down in Iowa....well, not quite, but close; Boone, Iowa is in the middle of farm country, but I arrived at a hospital. In a snow storm. Make that a blizzard. My sister tells me she knew my destiny when I was very young, because when I first saw the Disney classic Old Yeller, I was apparently so upset that I promptly went home and rewrote the story. In my version, the dog lived, of course. Should have been a clue.

Possibly in response to that blizzard I was born in, I've been a West Coaster since before I was a year old, and intend to stay that way. I have a history of staying. I started my first full time job right out of school (well, there was a very brief sojourn at a place where they made, among other things, burial vaults, but I prefer not to recall that one...) and stayed for twenty-one years. I've been married to the same wonderful guy for going on two decades now. We lived in our last house for seventeen years. (I won't even mention how many dumpsters we filled moving after that long....)

Readers seem as fascinated by my first career as they are with my writing. My time in law enforcement was many things, exciting, nerve wracking, and irritating, but most importantly never, ever boring. It was fascinating enough that I didn't think about writing seriously for several years. I kept a journal, and wrote long letters, collected quotes, mentally rewrote movies, and still made up those stories in my head, but never dreamed of actually writing for publication. I was having too much fun helping to catch bad guys, and being continually amazed at the situations people get themselves into. And eventually I walked away with a wealth of background and story ideas, and knowing some truly great people who work very hard to keep all of us safe. I'm proud to have been one of them, and I'm very aware that I have had the great good fortune of having had two jobs in my life that I love. Many people don't get even one.

But now that I'm in the delicious position of being able to make a living telling those stories in my head, I promise my readers two things: A) I'm staying—I'll keep writing as long as you keep reading, and B) in my stories, the girl—tomboy or not—always wins!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And now, the official stats:

Justine Dare Davis sold her first book in 1989, and followed that up with the sale of nineteen novels in less than two years. Her first four books were published in 1991, and she saw all reach the finals for either the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award or the Romance Writers of America prestigious RITA Award. She has since won the RITA award four times, along with several Reviewer's Choice awards and three Career Achievement awards from Romantic Times. At the 1998 national conference, Justine was inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame, making her one of a very select group of just eight writers. She also had four titles on the Romantic Times "Top 200 of All Time" list. Her sales now total more than 45, and her books have appeared regularly on best seller lists, including the USA Today list. She has been featured in several local newspapers and nationwide by Associated Press, has appeared on CNN, and on two episodes of a cable television series on romance. She has given workshops for many chapters of RWA, has spoken at several regional and international conferences and has taught at the UCLA Writer's Program. She is also featured in North American Romance Writers, an academic reference on the romance genre.

Her limited free time is spent on reading, music, photography, watching the eagles near her home, and driving her restored 1967 Corvette Roadster—top down, of course.