By Mary Jayne Baker (writing as Betty Firth)
A Wartime Christmas in the Dales
Can the festive cheer warm her heart again?
October 1941. Despite the hardships of life during wartime, Bobby Bancroft has never been happier. Engaged to her airman sweetheart Charlie, living in the beautiful Dales village of Silverdale and gainfully employed at The Tyke magazine, her life seems to be going exactly the way she always hoped it would.
As the festive season approaches, Bobby is recruited to help produce a Christmas pantomime for the evacuee children billeted in the village. The project introduces her to some new friends, including a handsome Canadian, Flying Officer Ernie King, and her friend Topsy’s upper-crust cousin Archie Sumner.
However, fresh troubles arise when Charlie discovers his RAF training is to be cut short and he must prepare to join the fight imminently. What’s more, his upcoming leave has been cancelled, leaving him to spend a lonely Christmas in his barracks. Can a miracle bring Charlie and Bobby together for Christmas?
An absolutely captivating, heart warming and uplifting festive saga that fans of All Creatures Great and Small, Gervase Phinn and Maggie Mason will adore.
Author
Mary Jayne Baker
Mary Jayne Baker is an award-winning author of contemporary romantic comedies from Bingley, West Yorkshire. She likes to write flirty, funny stories about women with flaws and the men who love them. Mary Jayne is published by Aria Fiction. She was the recipient of the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Romantic Comedy of the Year Award 2020 for A Question of Us.
Mary Jayne also writes funny, heartfelt contemporary women’s fiction as Lisa Swift, uplifting wartime sagas as Betty Firth and Gracie Taylor, and cosy mysteries as Penny Blackwell. You can find out more about her books under her different identities here.
Mary Jayne is a member of the Society of Authors, the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Historical Writers’ Association.
In addition to her novels, Mary Jayne also writes scripts for pantomimes that are available to license for amateur and professional productions.
Other Books by Mary Jayne
Murder at the Bonfire (as Penny Blackwell)
A small spark. A whole lot of murder…
The Cherrywood Murders (as Penny Blackwell)
A spot of tea. A slice of murder…
War Comes to the Dales (as Betty Firth)
Can she help the village survive the war?
A New Home in the Dales (as Betty Firth)
She’s gone from city to village, but can she ever fit in?
This joyous book will make you groan and also smile, laugh, believe in magic and fairy tales.
Rachel’s Random Reads
Funny and infused with real warmth, realism and wit.
Chicks, Rogues and Scandals
You’ll be amazed (as I was) at the level of heart, love and nuance that Baker infuses in a story that feels real and plausible.