Here are some heartwarming (and some humorous) holiday stories published in 2009:

Adult Fiction ▪ The Gift by Cecila Ahern Despite job stress and a crumbling home life, workaholic businessman Lou Suffern gives Gabe, a homeless man, a job in his company's mail room; but the mysterious Gabe seems be in two places at once and he's meddling in Lou's private affairs.

▪ The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans Evans presents the story of real-estate mogul James Kier, who gets the chance to read his obituary before he dies. What he discovers unnerves him as the death notice portrays a ruthless, friendless man. James decides to make amends to the many people he's hurt over the years.

▪ Home for Christmas by Andrew Greeley Petey Pat Kane and Mariana Pia Pelligrino have been in love with each other their whole lives. But on a night that is supposed to be one of the best of their lives, Peter makes a choice that forces him to leave Chicago—and Mariana—behind. Guilt leads him into the Army, where he becomes Captain Kane, war hero. But nothing can make him forget his love for Mariana.

▪ Over the Holidays by Sandra Harper The best holiday traditions are meant to be broken. Vanessa hasn’t prepared a ―traditional Christmas for her family in years, while her stuffy sister-in-law Patience could show up Martha Stewart. Meanwhile, Vanessa’s older sister Thea is caught up in the art scene and flirting with surfers. Throw in a last minute cross-country visit from Patience’s New England family, and as their holiday plans go comically awry, these women discover the true spirit of the season is hidden in every festive surprise.

▪ Ice by Linda Howard ’Tis the season for mistletoe and holly, Santa . . . and suspense. And the gift that keeps on giving is Ice: premier thriller author Linda Howard’s breathless tale of a man, a woman, and a battle for survival against an unforgiving winter–and an unrelenting killer. Oh what fun it is to read.

▪ Knit the Season by Kate Jacobs Dakota Walker spends the Christmas holidays with her Gran in Scotland--accompanied by her father, her grandparents, and her mother's best friend, Catherine. Join them as they share a trove of happy memories about Christmases past with Dakota's mom, Georgia Walker--from Georgia's childhood to her blissful time as a doting new mom.

▪ A Christmas Blizzard by Garrison Keillor A wealthy and depressed man bound for Christmas in the tropics is abruptly summoned home to North Dakota to visit an ailing aunt. He arrives just in time to be trapped there by a blizzard. The electricity goes out, and when it does, figures from his childhood appear, and historical figures too, for a festive candlelit holiday that just may lead him to simplify his life.

▪ Wishin' and Hopin': A Christmas Story by Wally Lamb Feisty fifth grader Felix Funicello (yes, distant cousin to Annette) anticipates Christmas. It's 1964 in blue-collar Connecticut, and Felix worries that he's caused Sister Dymphna's mental breakdown. When the school's Christmas pageant rolls around, the school brownnoser and the new Russian girl duke it out over who gets to play Mary.

▪ Matchless: A Christmas Story by Gregory Maguire Entwines the classic fairy tale of the little match girl with a story of Frederik, whose mother is seamstress to the queen and who spends many evenings crafting a village in the attic of their small, cold home.

▪ A Blue and Gray Christmas by Joan Medlicott In this stunning holiday story, a cache of Civil War-era letters and diaries sweeps the ladies of Covington up into a dramatic and heartwarming historical saga that inspires them to plan an unforgettable Christmas for two families forever changed by war.

▪ The Christmas Cookie Club by Ann Pearlman On a snowy December night, 12 women meet for a cookie exchange, where they tell stories of the cookies they baked, tales that are emblematic of the year that has just passed and focus on sisterly love and conflict, yearning for grandchildren and more, in a book by the author of Infidelity.

▪ The Christmas Secret by Donna VanLiere In this new novel from the author of The Christmas Shoes struggling single mother Christina saves the life of a woman who works in Wilson's department store. When the store owner tries to thank Christina, he discovers she's disappeared and sends his grandson Jason to find her. Turns out, Jason knows Christina's kids very well through a tutoring program.

Mystery ▪ Holiday Grind by Cleo Coyle

▪ Plum Pudding Murder by Joanne Fluke

▪ Decked with Folly by Kate Kingsbury

▪ A Rumpole Christmas by John Mortimer

▪ A Christmas Promise by Anne Perry

Romance

▪ Santa Honey by Kate Angell

▪ Deep Kiss of Winter by Kresley Cole

▪ Hot for the Holidays by Laura Leigh et. al.

▪ The Perfect Christmas by Debbie Macomber

▪ The Christmas Clock by Kat Martin

▪ A Creed Country Christmas by Linda Lael Miller

▪ Lakeshore Christmas by Susan Wiggs

Inspirational

▪ The Christmas Dog by Melody Carlson

▪ The Christmas Lamp by Lori Copeland

▪ The Memory Quilt: A Christmas Story for Our Times by T.D. Jakes

▪ A Wish for Christmas by Thomas Kinkade

▪ The Great Christmas Bowl by Susan May