The politics of christmas
***Front Row Entertainment has officially optioned Politics of Christmas for the big screen! The film will be produced by seasoned producers Ashley Williams Allen and Cami Kinahan.***
Santa? Cue “Blame It on Christmas”...
Stella Harper finally achieved her childhood dream of becoming a presidential campaign manager. But when she is notified of her mama's deteriorating health, she makes the difficult decision to fly home to Mississippi for Christmas to try and convince the stubborn woman to move into the local nursing home. However, she comes face-to-face with her very own Ghost of Christmas Past, a.k.a her ex-fiancé, a little too soon. Stella is forced to reevaluate the actions that led her to her present life-the good, the bad, and the heart-breaking.
Lucas Grady, high school teacher and soccer coach, is on the verge of becoming the Athletic Director for Dasher Valley High. To secure the position, he needs to impress the higher-ups by putting together the booths for the (Not So) Winter Wonderland for all the sports teams at his school. But his personal Ghost of Christmas Past swoops into his life after ten years and threatens every plan he’s made. Struggling to forgive the one person who tore his world apart, Lucas must find a way to reconcile his desires with the punt God has kicked his way.
When forced to help each other through the Christmas season, they get an opportunity to mend their pasts, live fully in their presents, and decide the fate of their futures.
Stella plans to be in and out of Mississippi. Lucas is counting down the days until she leaves for good. Neither seek a second chance, but God has a way of jumbling the best laid plans.
The Politics of Christmas is a second chance, lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers sweet romance filled with faith, humor, and small-town Christmas shenanigans.
TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNINGS:
Rheumatoid Arthritis, Deceased Father, FMC has anxiety
The Designated Friend
A romantic road trip with my best friend? What could go… right?
Braxton
I’ve always been the designated friend to Hadley Dawson, and I’d do myself good to remember that. Heck, I’m only on this road trip because she broke up with her boyfriend.
But can I confess something?
I’m in love with my best friend, and I have been for twenty years.
This romantic road trip to her friend’s destination wedding is the perfect opportunity to make her see me as more than her loyal Labrador and more like the type of lover she swoons over in those romantic suspense books she reads.
Hadley
I thought I’d found the one, then he cheated. So now I’m stuck going to a southern wedding ALONE, which is taboo in my culture.
Unless…
I ask my best friend, whom I’m very much attracted to but definitely do not deserve, to tag along with me. I mean, he’s never said no to being my stand-in date before.
The problem? I planned this road trip to Virginia for a couple, which means one-bedroom hotels, romantic cabins, and don’t even get me started on the activities.
Oh heavens, I’m toast.
The Designated Friend is a best friends-to-lovers road trip sweet romantic comedy filled with faith, humor, and plenty of sizzle without the spice.
TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNINGS:
drug/alcohol-addicted mother, mention of past sexual assault for FMC
The Designated Valentine
Angry girl energy? Check.
Karoline
There are only two things I loathe in this world: Valentine’s Day and Mason Kane. Valentine’s Day is actually Single’s Recognition Day, and Mason Kane is the genesis of my contemptuous heart. I’ve totally moved on, and my life is great.
Just great.
Should I say it one more time so you’ll believe me?
That is, until both elements of my hatred merge together into a nightmare of epic proportions. One: heading the Valentine’s Day marketing campaign for my boss’ jewelry brand as a way to fulfill my internship class. Two: Mason Kane will be appearing in the commercials.
Ruining my life again.
I can’t mess this up, but how can I pretend everything is fine after how Mason disappeared from my life three years ago?
Mason
I never thought I’d build a vacation home in Mississippi, but one reason is all I need: Karoline Wright, my childhood best friend, lives there, and I realized a little too late that I was in love with her. But all my grandiose plans to reunite with her are tossed out of the window when I’m ushered into her sphere sooner than expected.
Why did I agree to star in a jewelry commercial for Valentine’s Day, and why on God’s green earth is Karoline heading up the campaign?
Now, I have to figure out how to get all this boiling hot water between us under a very big bridge. Stat.
It’s now or never. I have to weasel my way back into her life and prove myself changed against her rightfully earned suspicions and doubts. And maybe—just maybe—the bricks will crumble away from the mile-high wall she’s built over the past three years.
The Designated Valentine is a spice-free sweet and seething friends-to-enemies-to-lovers NA romantic comedy with plenty of sizzle.
TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNINGS:
MMC past battle with alcohol mentioned
The Designated Twin
He was supposed to want my sister...
Lorelei
Every day looks the same for me: wake up, go to work, and bring work home. Organized schedules are life-giving, and Donwell Family Law is my soulmate. But when my well-intentioned twin ships me off on a date with the prince of Korsa in her stead, my perfectly functioning life is derailed. Especially when he begins to show up in my safe places.
To make matters worse, when I’m with him, I feel… something. He encourages the real me instead of the masked façade of my twin.
I’ve never dated before because most men don’t understand me, but Finley is somehow able to read me the way I read philosophy books: easy and quick.
And when he learns of my mental disabilities, he doesn’t shame me.
He… says he loves me?
Finley
After my brother drops news that alters my life course, I suddenly find myself in need of a wife. More than that, she must be a woman capable of queenship since I am now set to become the next king of Korsa in less than a year’s time. My old college friend believes she has the right woman for me, so I vow to give this woman a chance and pray she will be the one for me so that I can marry for love instead of necessity.
But when I learn I’ve been dating the wrong twin, I can’t bring myself to regret it. Lorelei is everything I need in a wife and queen—intelligent, brave, kind, and humble.
The problem?
She doesn’t see her worth through my eyes, so I must now convince her that she is capable of change and worthy of love.
The Designated Twin is a clean and closed-door neurodivergent twin swap with a royal flare full of faith, sizzle, and laughter.
TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNINGS:
slightly manipulative mother of the MMC, on-screen sensory overload from autistic FMC’s perspective
The Designated Date
A chance to experience dating my hot boss without commitment? Let’s call it “book research.”
Lucy
“Last Woman Standing” is a title I’d never thought I’d don, but when my sister moves to another country to marry a crown prince, it’s bestowed upon me without my consent.
To make matters worse? My hot playboy boss won’t stop pestering me to go out on a date with him. When all the stars align and I begrudgingly owe him a favor, he whisks me away to his hometown as his fake girlfriend where I… Have the time of my life.
So when he asks me to continue playing pretend with him for a list of future events, who am I to say no? Will I go down in a heap of burning flames? Probably.
Will it be worth it to escape dreadful, lonely boredom? You already know, babe.
Stone
The fiery lioness is making this the most drawn-out fight of my life, but I’m used to winning. The victory blow is a result of a plate of crabs, for which I have never been so thankful for.
Except I begin to falter on my no-commitment policy as she flirts and sasses her way into tearing down my expertly crafted walls. With every touch, kiss, and witty attack, I realize I’ve grown to care about and respect the woman I’ve been playing pretend with, but the past is a haunting devil, constantly reminding me of who I truly am.
Can I continue to fake-date Lucy when I know she’s falling for me? No.
Am I able to be the man she deserves when I carry more baggage than she does on a weekend getaway? I want to try, but I don’t know if it will happen.
The Designated Date is a sizzling closed door fake-dating rom-com with themes of redemption, restoration, and revitalization.
TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNINGS:
couple engaged in pre-marital sex (closed door), depression, anxiety, near-drowning, thoughts of death
Emma Jane’s Guide to
Matchmaking the Mayor
It’s all fun and games until lifelong family friends accidentally kiss…
Emma Jane Williams—town sweetheart and voted best barista for two years running—has her sights set on a new endeavor: matchmaking. It’s not like it’s hard, right? When the perfect opportunity arises to kickstart her own business, she drags that poor, unfortunate mayor-shaped opportunity kicking and screaming.
Knightley Austen vowed he’d never marry again. But his friend has her mind made up that he needs a woman by his side in order to win reelection as the town mayor. When the first date Emma Jane sends him on is successful, he must decide if she’s truly the woman he needs in his corner.
As schemes from both parties come to a head, will they choose their love of games or their deeply rooted, newly romantic love for one another?
Emma Jane’s Guide to Matchmaking the Mayor is a closed-door modern Emma reimagining full of faith, wit, banter, and bell pepper heat.
TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNINGS:
Calculating & perfectionistic FMC, 13-year age gap, PCOS representation, near on-screen assault (does not happen)