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Patricia Johns

~ Bestselling author

Patricia Johns

Tag Archives: A Precious Christmas Gift

Dollhouse chess!

21 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

A Precious Christmas Gift, amish romance, dollhouse chess, harlequin, love inspired, miniature chess, sweet romance

As you might know by now, I absolutely adore dollhouse miniatures, and the newest addition to my little collection is a complete set of 1:12 chess. It’s so cute!

It has all the pieces, and the stand is metal, and it has a magnetized surface so that the pieces stick to it, which is a huge relief, because you don’t want to lose a piece that small! It would be next to impossible to find again, and I would probably cry.

My son and I tried a game of tweezer chess, and it IS a playable board!

It’s the perfect addition to my little book nook reading room I have set up, and I couldn’t love it more!

These are the teeny tiny things that make me ever so happy! I am endlessly entertained with miniatures, when I’m not writing books, that is. πŸ˜‰

I do hope you’ll pick up a copy of my newest release that’s still on the shelves! A Precious Christmas Gift won’t be on the shelves for much longer, so pick it up now, while you can! It’s an emotional Christmas read about a mother’s love. ❀

And after this… I suppose you’ll just have to grab a copy online! πŸ™‚

***

Our Christmas wreath

07 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

A Precious Christmas Gift, amish romance, christmas romance, holiday romance, inspirational, love inspired, Patricia Johns, wreath

For the longest time, I wanted a wreath for our front door, but spending $100 per wreath, per season, just seemed so expensive. And then there the was the question of where you’d store all those wreaths when not in use! So I didn’t get around to it.

But then I visited a craft store, and realized that if you get a grapevine wreath and decorate it differently each season, you can do it at a fraction of the price! Plus, you don’t have to store 4-5 wreaths in your home–it’s the just the one on the door, and you swap out the decorations on it.

So I present to you, our Christmas wreath!

The leaves are leftover from the fall decoration, and I liked them, so I kept them. And I added in the red berries and pinecones.

I like it! It makes the apartment feel so much more welcoming… to no one but the Amazon delivery people and Mr. Johns, but still… It’s the thought, right?

So if you’ve ever pined for a wreath, this is an economic/storage-friendly way to do it!

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy this holiday season. Take care of each other out there! ❀

***
Don’t forget about my newest release, A Precious Christmas Gift. It’s on the shelves!

Giveaway alerts!

03 Thursday Dec 2020

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

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A Precious Christmas Gift, Clare Revell, Dark Lake, free books, giveaways, goodreads, Kensington books, love inspired, The Infamous Amish, The Preacher's Son

There are two big giveaways going on right now that you NEED to know about!

Number One:

The first is being handled by Kensington Books on Goodreads! This one is only lasting for two weeks, so you’ll want to make sure you enter soon. They’re giving away 100 free Kindle copies of THE PREACHER’S SON! This is my newest release that hits the shelves in February, so you’ll be able to find it in bookstores, Walmarts and Targets. This is the first book in THE INFAMOUS AMISH miniseries, and so far it’s getting fabulous reviews!

So pop on by Goodreads and enter!

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/315611-the-preacher-s-son

Number Two:

I’m holding a giveaway on my author page on Facebook, as well. This is for three books, including an ARC for THE PREACHER’S SON! This also included my current release, A PRECIOUS CHRISTMAS GIFT which is on the shelves now, anywhere Harlequins are sold. I’m also including a fantastic read by UK author, Clare Revell. If you haven’t discovered her yet, you want to!

https://www.facebook.com/PatriciaJohnsAuthor/photos/a.109645132536570/1676473365853731

So definitely take advantage of those giveaways! πŸ™‚ There are free books to be had!

And stay safe out there, everyone! ❀

Cabbage Rolls

30 Monday Nov 2020

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

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Tags

A Precious Christmas Gift, amish romance, cabbage rolls, harlequin, love inspired, Mennonite cooking

Cabbage rolls are the kind of food that doesn’t have an official recipe. And I’ll stand by that! Every family has their own version of cabbage rolls, because every family likes something a little bit different.

For example, my cabbage rolls are vegetarian. (Gasp!) My Russian Mennonite ancestors just rolled over in their graves. πŸ˜‰ But my parents raised me vegetarian, so my dad made his without meat. And they were delicious! Mine are like his, but different because I have allergies now that I didn’t have before. So we tweak them for our family’s taste.

It all starts with boiled a head of cabbage.

You boil until the leaves come off the cabbage head, and aren’t too soft, because you need to use the leaves to wrap up your filling.

The filling is a mix of things you like! Some people do ground beef with rice and spices, and a very few others, like me, do a vegetarian mix.

My filling uses:

  • rice
  • spinach
  • blended chick peas
  • garlic
  • diced onion
  • salt
  • oil
  • paprika
  • lemon juice (just as dash)

Then you wrap a large spoonful of filling in a boiled cabbage leaf, and put it in a pan. You put tomato sauce on top, and bake the life out of it for about 1.5 hours. I also add a layer of cabbage leaves on top, just to make sure that the actual cabbage rolls stay moist and don’t burn.

And there you go!

Cabbage rolls!

My family loves them, and since we can’t have my parents over to eat because of Covid, I made these so that I could bring them some cabbage rolls, too. They are a lot of work, so they’re a treat.

So, for those of you who have cabbage rolls in their family repertoire, what do you use in your filling? Cabbage roll filling tells so much about a family! πŸ™‚

****
Don’t forget about my newest release!
A Precious Christmas Gift is on the shelves now!

A dollhouse addition!

19 Thursday Nov 2020

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

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A Precious Christmas Gift, amish romance, dollhouse accessories, dollhouse furniture, dollhouse radiator, love inspired

As you may know, I have a “thing” for dollhouse miniatures, and recently, I started a modest little collection. I’m outfitting a single little room–a small study. Well, I got my latest addition to the room, and I couldn’t be more excited to share it with you all!

It’s a radiator!

I had the choice of buying this radiator or a fireplace, and while the fireplace was the obvious choice, I just couldn’t get my mind off the radiator. I mean, who has a dollhouse radiator? It was too cool to pass up!

Don’t you just want to drag that chair over and stick your socked feet up on that radiator to keep them toasty while you read?

These are the things that make me excited these days! I’ve told myself that I can’t get a whole dollhouse because I just don’t have the space, but I’m steadily working my way toward it, I have to say. πŸ˜‰

This is my stress release, and I hope you’re finding your own ways to relax, too. Maybe my books are a part of that…

My newest release, A Precious Christmas Gift, is on the shelves now, and I do hope you’ll pick it up when you spot it!

***

The food that fuels it all!

16 Monday Nov 2020

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

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A Precious Christmas Gift, amish romance, Author cooking, love inspired books

I’ve posted before that writing Amish romance makes me hungry… it also makes me snacky! All that thinking about food and cooking gets me into the kitchen pretty often. Mr. Johns has absolutely no complaints. πŸ˜‰

Apple Crisp is a favorite in our home. We love it, and it’s just great snacking food for our growing pre-teen. I make it quite often.

Apple Crisp

One day when I was feeling like snacking, I whipped up these breaded, fried zucchini pieces. I love zucchini, but my family doesn’t, so this one was for me. It must be my DNA, but everything is better breaded and fried. πŸ˜‰

Breaded Zucchini

Now, all of this cooking isn’t exactly virtue. We have allergies in this home. Well, my son and I do. Mr. Johns just has to eat what we can eat. πŸ˜‰ But without gluten, dairy or soy, our options are limited, and I can’t get pre-cooked options, or just order in. So it’s cook, or bust. This is our version of pizza with no cheese. I put so many toppings and herbs in top that I don’t even miss it! It’s delicious! That one strip that looks rather bare is for our pre-teen son who just wants bacon on his. *Shrug.*

Pizza

And, then there are the French fries. I love these–an excellent snack! In fact, before the pandemic, friends used to pop by for my fries quite often. πŸ™‚

Fries

So this is the food that fuels all the writing! These are also the pictures that I text to Mr. Johns throughout the day, just to lure him home again with the promise of cooking. Don’t judge–it’s how our marriage works. πŸ˜‰ I love to eat, and it probably shows in my books, too!

My newest release, A Precious Christmas Gift, should be on the shelves this week! So I hope you’ll keep an eye out for it and pick up a copy!

***

#30!

12 Thursday Nov 2020

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

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30th book with Harlequin, A Precious Christmas Gift, amish romance, harlequin milestones, love inspired, Redemption's Amish Legacies

A Precious Christmas Gift is my thirtieth book published with Harlequin Books! I hadn’t realized the big 3-0 had crept up on me, and it was an author friend of mine who saw the milestones email from Harlequin and congratulated me.

What a great feeling! Harlequin is an amazing publisher to work with. They produce quality books and they are just a pleasure to work with. My fellow authors who publish with them are an amazing group of professionals, and I’m honoured to be in their ranks. I have more books coming with Harlequin and with Kensington Books, and I’m looking forward to what the future holds. πŸ™‚

A Precious Christmas Gift is hitting the shelves next week, and I can’t wait to start spotting it on the shelves! That really never gets old, I have to say! Every single time, I stop and stare at it, take a selfie with it… It’s the best feeling!

I hope you’ll pick up a copy when you spot it. Or better yet, I hope you pre-order a copy!

Don’t forget to pop by my Facebook page and give it a “like” if you’re interested in winning copies of my books paired up with other authors’ books as well. πŸ™‚ We have a lot of fun over there–it’s worth it!

That magical 10 mins

05 Thursday Nov 2020

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

A Precious Christmas Gift, alberta, Canada, harlequin author, Kensington author, sunrise

The time change came and all our clocks slid back one hour, and sunrise is a bit earlier.

But I took these photos before the time change, so that the sunrise was just around the time my husband was leaving for work, so I nipped outside in my fluffy pink slippers to snap a couple of pictures for you.

I love this time of morning, when the sky is all rosy, and people are bustling about to start their days. The air was warm–a few degrees above freezing, and no wind to speak of. There is just something about that ten minute window of golden pink light that makes my heart happy.

Then I went back inside to start my day… books to write, manuscripts to edit, my son doing his online school, and a sink full of dishes waiting on me. (The new dishwasher hadn’t been delivered and set up yet.)

That is what my life looks like, and I really am happy. It’s simple, but it’s full of all the best things in life. I don’t know how to put into words how grateful I am for the family God gave me and this ridiculously lucky turn of events that lets me write books day in and day out!

Go breathe in that ten minutes when the sun comes up, and try not to feel grateful! ❀

***
Don’t forget about my newest release hitting the shelves any day now!

Cover vs. Cover!

29 Thursday Oct 2020

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

A Precious Christmas Gift, christmas romance, cover vs cover, His Holiday Prayer, inspirational romance, love inspired

Harlequin does these social media ads where they compare one cover with another and ask readers to vote on which one they like more, and yes, it’s as stressful as it sounds to see who likes yours!

But I do love it when Harlequin uses my cover for these–there is just something so “official” about a release when my book is chosen for ad material.

My book, A PRECIOUS CHRISTMAS GIFT will be on the shelves with Tina Racliffe’s HIS HOLIDAY PRAYER starting mid-November. Cowboys and puppies, and little Amish babies… I hope you’ll pick up both of them!

The holidays are fast approaching, and I don’t know about you, but I could use a little Christmas right about now.

So keep an eye out for these releases hitting shelves in a couple of weeks! ❀

Pickles are comforting

26 Monday Oct 2020

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

A Precious Christmas Gift, amish romance, Love Inspired romance, refrigerator pickles

I love a good dill pickle. I blame my Russian Mennonite heritage for that. I even make my own refrigerator pickles that are absolutely delicious. And they’re strong. I believe in lots of garlic and salt.

So I’ve been writing hard the last while, and I just sent a completed manuscript off to my agent. While I was finishing it up and taking some of those incredibly necessary brain breaks, I whipped up a nice big batch of new pickles.

They’re actually really quick! You know, before you’re overly impressed with me. πŸ˜‰ I’ve posted my recipe for pickles before right here, if you’re interested in trying your own. My family will work through those at a pretty steady rate.

And now, I’m starting a new Amish manuscript–this one for Love Inspired. And can I just say… writing Amish makes me hungry! All that food, all those desserts, all that time for cooking… It brings out my appetite! πŸ™‚

I hope you’ll pick up my newest release, A PRECIOUS CHRISTMAS GIFT, that will be hitting the shelves in a matter of weeks here! By mid-November, you should be able to find it everywhere Harlequin novels are sold!

***

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Patricia Johns, Author

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