12 Feel-Good Christmas Novels Perfect for the Holiday Season

Not only does the Christmas season bring gifts, family, and lots of good food, but it usually brings colder weather and cozy days at home. Settle in with a cup of hot chocolate and one of these great Christmas novels, and truly appreciate the Christmas season.

Norma Hayes has always tried to make Christmas special for her family, but this year it is going to be difficult. Money is tight, and wartime rationing is taking its toll as well. Harder still, her oldest son, Glen, is on the front lines of the battle in Europe.

Glen Hayes wants nothing more than to be home for Christmas. He holds a sprig of lavender in his pocket. The scent reminds him of his mother. The memory of home may be the only thing that is keeping him alive and sane during the horrors of war.

Dennis Hayes is sixteen and longs to see his older brother again. He also longs to have a relationship with his father, but most important, Dennis is determined to buy something special for his mother this Christmas—the one gift he feels certain she deserves.

So many families have had their hopes dashed in World War II. Will the Hayes family make it through?

Santa Claus has been kidnapped!

Behind the plot are an evil queen, a wicked stepmother, a sorceress, a beanstalk giant, and, of course, the mischievous Rumpelstiltskin. They have a plan that will erase the term "Happily Ever After" from our storybooks forever.

But it's nearly Christmas Eve, and time is running out. Can Santa and the fairy-tale heroes save the day and bring Christmas to all the children of the world? Will anyone have a "Happily Ever After" again?

Fairy Tale Christmas reminds us all that there is good in everyone and that the magic of Christmas can soften any heart.

Her reporter’s intuition insisted that a remarkable story was on the verge of the front page.

Newspaper reporter Hope Jensen uncovers the remarkable secret behind the “Christmas Jars,” glass jars filled with coins and bills anonymously left for people in need. But along the way, Hope discovers much more than the origin of the jars. When some unexpected news sets off a chain reaction of kindness, Hope’s greatest Christmas Eve wish comes true.

Hope Jensen’s story continues in Christmas Jars Reunion. It’s been two years since Hope was reunited with her biological mother on Christmas Eve at Chuck’s Chicken ’n’ Biscuits. Hope has never felt more complete. She’s writing full-time for a family magazine and, with the help of her mother, Marianne, leading the Christmas Jars Ministry out of Chuck’s quirky restaurant. To top it off, she’s dating a marketing executive in a comfortable long-distance relationship. Her life is right where she wants it to be—a state of organized chaos—as another Christmas rolls around.

Then her world changes forever over Thanksgiving weekend.

The Maxwells hire a nephew to take over the family furniture restoration business. Someone that Hope can’t stop thinking about. Then an out-of-town stranger shows up at the diner asking to help in the ministry—a stranger whose motives are yet unclear.

Before the sun sets on Christmas Day, two men will try to change Hope’s life forever. In the process, Hope will be reminded of the immense power of a single jar, and the healing that sometimes comes only with forgiveness.

In celebration of the anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, for the first time together—Jacob T. Marley and A Christmas Carol.

Just over 160 years ago, Dickens wrote his classic tale A Christmas Carol and the story of Ebenezer Scrooge quickly became a beloved Christmas classic.

Now that tradition has grown. Written in a voice delightfully reminiscent of Dickens, R. William Bennett's Jacob T. Marley has refocused the spotlight on Scrooge's miserly business partner.

Why was Ebenezer given the chance to redeem himself and Jacob was not? Or was he? This masterful story is sure to become a Christmas favorite.

Lauren Gabriel spent many years of her childhood in foster homes, wishing her mother would come back for her and be the family she needs. Now 20-years-old, she still longs for a place that she can truly call home. Her work as a cashier is unfulfilling, and at Christmas it’s unbearable with the songs and carols and chatter of Christmas that she hears throughout the day.

When Lauren ends her shift one night, she finds herself driving aimlessly in order to avoid returning to her lonely apartment. And when she witnesses a car accident she is suddenly pulled into the small town of Grandon, first as a witness but then as a volunteer for the annual fundraiser for Glory’s Place, a center for single mothers and families who need assistance. Could this town and its people be the home she has always longed for?

The New York Times best-selling author of the timeless The Christmas Shoes is back with this moving and uplifting story about finding love and hope.

There's something amazing happening at Pleasant Manor—a care center at the very edge of town. Using the wondrous power of love, a little girl named Rose is creating miracles in the lives of its residents. One by one, she touches the hearts of her new friends—Cleston, Helen, Jake, Fred, and Ina—with the light of hope.

Most important to Rosie, though, is Bessie.

Rosie and Bessie become inseparable best friends. Day by day Bessie teaches Rosie invaluable life lessons, including “Home is a place where you are surrounded by love.” Just before Christmas, when the woman who had taught her so much about living speaks of dying, Rosie learns what true love, beauty, and friendship really mean. Her understanding is an invaluable gift for all.

It’s 1962, and young Sam Andrews just moved to Utah from Arizona. A tall, overweight, semi-clumsy outsider, he’s still trying to fit in with the neighborhood boys. When discussion about sledding down the infamous Mill Street begins, Sam pipes in and says he’ll do it. The problem is, Sam has seen snow only in pictures and has never actually ridden a sled. And to top it off, Mill Street is practically a vertical drop with two deadly curves. A rider going too fast can get shot right off Mill Street and into the Tuttles’ thorn-filled pyracantha bushes. But there’s no turning back now.

Readers will laugh out loud at the adventures and many poignant lessons leading up to Christmas Day and Sam’s eventual duel with Mill Street. Christmas on Mill Street is a delightful and inspirational family gift for this holiday season.

Sometimes, the things that can change your life will cross your path in one instant-and then, in a fleeting moment, they're gone. But if you open your eyes, and watch carefully, you will believe. . . .

Robert is a successful attorney who has everything in life—and nothing at all. Focused on professional achievement and material rewards, Robert is on the brink of losing his marriage. He has lost sight of his wife, Kate, their two daughters, and ultimately himself. Eight-year-old Nathan has a beloved mother, Maggie, whom he is losing to cancer. But Nathan and his family are building a simple yet full life, and struggling to hold onto every moment they have together.

A chance meeting on Christmas Eve brings Robert and Nathan together—he is shopping for a family he hardly knows and Nathan is shopping for a mother he is soon to lose. In this one encounter, their lives are forever altered as Robert learns an important lesson: sometimes the smallest things can make all the difference. The Christmas Shoes is a universal story of the deeper meaning of serendipity, a tale of our shared humanity, and of how a power greater than ourselves can shape, and even save, our lives.

"Listen up, everybody! We have two Class 3 Naughties in play—the McKenzie twins. These twerps have topped the naughty list four years in a row. Last year they successfully filmed Mr. Clause landing, and it took our lawyers months to get the footage removed from YouTube!"

Agent Noel green has one job—keep Santa safe. But as head of the SSS (Santa's Secret Service), he knows that's easier said than done. Luckily he's just hired charming Veronica Snow as Santa's new PR rep. But when a vengeful elf threatens to take Santa down, everything starts to snowball out of control.

This hilarious novel puts a new spin on the classic idea of a Christmas romance. Written by three TV comedy-writing vets—Richard Grant Bennett, Bryce Clark, and Jason deVilliers—it's a laugh-out-loud read!

"Have a wonder-filled Christmas!"

That's how people in Luke's new hometown greet one another as Christmas approaches. With no memory of a Christmas celebration, ten-year-old Luke feels excluded from the town's tradition, until he finds his deceased mother's nativity set. Touched by Mary's protecting embrace of the Baby Jesus, Luke experiences his first "Christmas Wonder."

His discovery is the catalyst for a search that leads to a soul-changing season for neighbors as Luke finds his connection to heavenly love.

Robyn Buttars, author of the best-selling and award-winning novel Christmas Rose, weaves an unforgettable holiday story for the entire family.

Gwen Anderton is looking forward to a peaceful Christmas with her husband Edward in their beautiful home in Wales. A bed and breakfast, Haven is usually closed for the holidays, but Gwen makes an exception when her openly hostile stepson plans a visit. Additional guests, she hopes, will make things bearable.

Justin Michaelson is delighted to return to Haven, and to bring his quirky and feisty fiancée Myrtle, but his doubts over whether he should marry her are exacerbated when she takes exception to Gwen’s LDS faith.

Fading Hollywood star Jacy Grayson is filming a movie in the rugged Welsh mountains. Desperately clinging to her former fame and glory, she almost fails to recognize the love of the man who has been with her through good times and bad.

Also among the visitors are Alan and Judy Fuller, who are trying to escape the seasonal reminders of their greatest sorrow—their inability to have children. As always Gwen longs to help, but their heartache is one she shares.

In this atmosphere of uncertainty, sparks fly as the guests are trapped at Haven by the snow. It takes all the magic of Christmas and the faith and love of their remarkable hostess to restore the light and joy the guests long for, even as she comes to realize this Christmas at Haven may be her last.

From the master of the Christmas novel, The Mistletoe Secret is a moving holiday story about two people who brave loneliness and loss to find love.

Twenty-nine-year-old Kelly Arrington is at a low point in life. Briefly married, her husband abandoned her before the birth of their stillborn child. Lonely and in mourning, she copes by starting an anonymous blog, The Mistletoe Letters, named for her home on Mistletoe Road.

“Is anyone out there?”

She signs each of her deeply personal posts LBH, which only she knows stands not for her initials, but for “Last Breaking Heart.”

New York writer Tyler Richards is reading her posts. Nursing his own broken heart and trust issues, he finds himself falling for this anonymous blogger. Following a trail of clues LBH has inadvertently revealed, he tracks her down to the small town of Tribe, Alabama. He makes his way there and begins the search for a Lisa, Lori, maybe a Luanne. Instead, he finds a woman named Aria, a waitress at the Mistletoe Diner, who encourages Alex in his search while serving his pie along with some much-needed sympathy and companionship.

Alex finally finds his LBH, a woman who is as beautiful and kind as he imagined she would be. How can he tell her that he knows her secret? What’s holding him back? Could it be his feelings for Aria?

During the season in which we celebrate Christ’s birth, it is natural to want to be more like Him, to try to live the way He lived—selflessly and generously. But how did Jesus Christ come to be who He was? How did He come to embody these attributes that we try so hard at Christmastime (and should try all the time) to emulate? As the literal Son of God, He received the gift of mortality from his mother, Mary. Mary would have been the one to teach Him to walk and talk. She would have been the one to dry His tears and smile when He laughed. Hers would have been the face He first saw expressing the love of God.

Mary—called upon to nurture the Savior of the World—is a remarkable example of quiet, resilient faith and courage in the face of adversity. As we celebrate Christmas, it is fitting to consider what we know about Mary in the Nativity story and determine what characteristics qualified her for her tremendous calling. What was it about her that made her capable of such responsibility? What might we learn from Mary that will help us in our own journeys?

In a bombed-out Polish village during World War II a young resistance fighter finds that he is suddenly alone and trapped between two opposing armies. He is one of Poland's "Devil's Rebels" fighting desperately to save his homeland, but an injury has erased his memory and his only possession is a torn photograph of a couple he assumes are his parents. The woman appears to be holding the hand of a young child whose image has been ripped off. Could the child be him?

Caught in the crosshairs of the retreating German army and the advancing Russian forces, the village holds nothing but destruction and despair until a mysterious young woman offers a small glimmer of hope that may represent his last chance—news of a refuge train departing from a nearby town headed for American installations at the border. But complications arise when the resistance fighter is betrayed by his own countryman and hunted by German SS Officers who are determined to kill him before they retreat. Desperately searching for a home and family he can't remember he is persuaded to rescue two children who are doomed to die without his help.

As time runs out the former rebel is faced with an impossible choice. Standing at the crossroads of saving himself or risking his life for strangers, what would motivate a young man at the brink of salvation to make one more sacrifice?

Lead image from Getty Images.