About the Book

Book: Lovelight Gleams: The Christmas Lights Collection 2025 Authors: Laina Turner, Cathe Swanson, Jaycee Weaver, Chautona Havig Genre: Christian Christmas Romance Release Date: October 7, 2025

Being selected to enter into The Christmas Lights Showcase is an honor—and a commitment! Entrants pay a hefty fee and spend months designing and executing a Christmas display to knock all others out of the running. With only four competitors selected out of thousands of entrants, competition is stiff! Cozy up and join us as one judge, four locales, a few million lights, and more than a little Christmas romance bring it all together. A Christmas Glow-Up by Cathe Swanson One small town, two big dreams… and a spark that could change everything. When determined conference center manager Gwen Smith enters a national Christmas decorating contest, she’s betting her career on turning Golden Valley into a holiday showstopper—complete with a ghost town glow-up and a Wild West reenactment. But her carefully laid plans are upended by Seth Morgan, a sharp but skeptical marketing consultant who’s just inherited a stake in the center—and isn’t afraid to challenge Gwen every step of the way. Faith, Food, and Festive Lights by Laina Turner Mariah Butters is determined to put her beloved Cottontail Junction on the culinary map—even if it’s just a tiny Montana town. When a Christmas lights contest offers a shot at a national ad campaign, Pearl rallies the local restaurant owners for a festive showdown that could change everything. Enter Tom Roarke—a steady, kind-hearted rancher who offers his time, his tools, and maybe even his heart. As they string lights and spark ideas, Pearl and Tom find their friendship heating up. Can they light up the town, win the contest, and discover that the best kind of love is the one that shines brightest at Christmas? Just One More Christmas by Jaycee Weaver Who says insta-love never lasts? When Cole and Amy met forty-one years ago and married a month later, who could have imagined the beautiful life that would follow? This Christmas obsessed Christian couple has made it their life’s mission to spread the love of Christ and all Christmas represents to others who need it most. And this year, the lights contest that brought them together has the potential to share their love of Christmas with even more people if they can only take their Christmas décor to the next level. The Sparkle of New Cheltenham by Chautona Havig Her dream job just became her worst nightmare. Kindra Hatheway walked off her graduation platform and into the perfect position with the perfect advertising company. That’s where her perfect life ended. Now one of her supervisors has put her in for a fluff job (a Christmas decorating contest? Really?) to get her out of the way. Add to that all the travel, the pressure from one of her colleagues to pick New Cheltenham as the winner, and the fact that she keeps flirting with her supervisor, and this Christmas is looking… complicated.

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About the Author

Laina Turner: Laina Turner writes sweet, feel-good romances that always have a HEA. When she’s not writing she’s a college professor teaching business and English. Through all her career choices, she has continued to have a passion for writing stemming from childhood, where, as an only child, she developed a vivid imagination. Cathe Swanson: Cathe writes books with creative plots and engaging characters of all ages, to glorify God and entertain and bless readers. Her heartwarming stories will make you laugh and make you cry—and then make you laugh again. Jaycee Weaver: When New Mexico resident and USA Today bestselling author Jaycee Weaver isn’t reading or writing, she enjoys dates with her brainiac hubby, crafting, pretending she’s a nature photographer, and making her daughters cringe. She appreciates humorous books with banter, characters who overcome adversity, and guaranteed happy endings, so that’s what she writes. Chautona Havig: Chautona Havig lives in an oxymoron, escapes into imaginary worlds that look startlingly similar to ours, and writes the stories that emerge. An irrepressible optimist, Chautona sees everything through a kaleidoscope of It’s a Wonderful Life sprinkled with fairy tales. Find her at chautona.com and say howdy—if you can remember how to spell her name.

More from Chautona

Ten years ago, Cathe Swanson and I started chatting about maybe doing a “Christmas collection” with a couple of other authors. Never did we imagine that this Christmas Lights Collection would still be going strong! Over the years we’ve had many authors as part of our collection—Sarah Monzon, Kari Trumbo, Vikki Kestell (year one!), Toni Shiloh, Teresa Tysinger, and… well, you get the gist! Lots of authors. Jaycee Weaver has been a part of the collection for… five now? Where has the time gone and all those cliches? For the tenth annual collection, we decided to mix things up a bit. In this year’s collection, one character is going to visit all the locations in the other books for a semi-interconnected experience. The idea I for each book to stand alone as usual, but if you read them in the order they appear in the collection, your experience will be a bit like our “judge,” Kindra Hatheway. Kindra is the “judge” (shocker, right?) for a Christmas lights & decorating contest that four towns/businesses are entering. She’s young, out of her depth, and has a lot of pressure on her for something she thinks of as a “fluff job.” Follow her from Rockland to Hawaii (or… well, that’d be spoilers), to Montana, over to New Mexico… and more! This year’s authors bring their unique perspectives to the story. You’ll get more of Jaycee Weaver’s Sinclair family, but this time we get to see the parents’ romance unfold both in past and present. Insta-love sometimes lasts a lifetime! Cathe Swanson always brings quirky characters, humor, and all in a delightful community. Meet Pearl and Tom as Laina Turner brings faith and love into the lights of Cottontail Junction. And yep. Chautona (that’s me!) is taking you back to see the sparkle the residents of New Cheltenham has added to their town just for the contest. In each book, you’ll find characters full of faith, hope, and of course, love. Thank you from all of the Lovelight Gleams authors. We wish you a very merry and peace-filled Christmas.

Interview with the Author

If you could travel back in time, what time period would you go to?

That’s a tough question. I love reading historical novels, but I actually like living in modern times with good plumbing, electricity, indoor climate control, modern medicine…

But maybe I’d like to visit my grandparents in the 1930s. They lived in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl. They were one of the few families who didn’t leave. As cotton sharecroppers, they had a rough life, but they worked so hard and were so respected. I’d just love to know how they did it.

What is your favorite hymn and why?

Oh, boy. Another tough one. Depending on the day, it would probably either be “Angry Words” or “Day by Day.” The titles explain it all, don’t they? It’s funny, because I tend to prefer hymns of praise to God for His goodness—about HIM rather than us and our lives. But when I pick a favorite, both are more songs “speaking to one another” about our life in Christ instead of about Christ in our lives? Sort of. It’s hard to explain. “Angry Words” is a reminder of the terrible damage the tongue can do (James 3:6). It reminds us to “love one another” as our Savior tells us. The line, “Brightest links of life are broken, By a single angry word,” gets me every time. For years, I sang it, “and yet how many hearts are broken…” after I’d been truly gutted by horrible, angry words once. In fact, I often sing it that way still. “Day by Day” is such a good reminder of how to live in accord with God’s will. I particularly like the first part of verse three: “Help me then, in every tribulation, So to trust Thy promises, O Lord, That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation, Offered me within Thy holy Word.

What is one thing readers would be surprised to learn about you?

People are often surprised to find that I am not just introverted, but by nature, I am miserably shy. I’m grateful for parents who taught me to block that out and focus on making others comfortable. I don’t do it well, but my fumbling attempts are far better than the miserable awkwardness that ensues when I don’t try. Funny thing is, I’m most likely to jabber nonstop at someone if: 1. I am miserable and am trying to hide it or 2. I really like someone and want to get to know as much about them as I can.

What inspired you to write this book?

This being The Christmas Lights Collection’s 10^th anniversary, we decided to take the theme deeper than just “home” or “military” or “destination.” Instead, we wanted to weave our stories into something deeper. It proved a LOT of work—not just for me. All the authors had to find a way to make my character work in their stories, even if she didn’t actually get “page time.” Knowing she’d be there, when/how/why… it all made things interesting. For me, I had to enter everyone’s worlds for a week at a time and try not to mess up their plots or give too much away. But I love this collection. I think it’s the best we’ve ever had!

Share with me a few of your favorite things.

Like raindrops on roses? Okay, I actually do like those things. But more than kitten whiskers, I love purrs.

Okay, seriously though. I love journals and fountain pens. The desert after it rains (I’m inhaling its enchanting petrichor even as I type—a rarity!). I love my father’s voice singing old ballads as he plays the guitar. The laughter of my grandchildren as they play. I love a good book with characters who make me forget they aren’t real. But probably most of all, I love that moment when I’m reading a familiar passage in Scripture and see something I’ve never noticed before.