A Semi-Precious Christmas

By Jan Elder

Description:

On a bright, crisp December morning, jewelry store manager, Peridot Keaton-Jones, arrives at work expecting to find her beloved uncle, Marty. Instead, she’s greeted by the muzzle of a gun pressed to her temple. When thugs assault her, threaten her life, and steal thousands of dollars worth of jewelry, Peri can only pray her uncle is late for the first time in his life.

Christopher Lane is a TV news cameraman in the right place at the right time. He witnesses the heist, calls the police, and offers help when Peri needs it most. She can't deny her attraction, but is he really her hero, or is he just after a story? And with Christmas right around the corner, can Peri and Chris avert a holiday disaster?

Book Takeaway:

God can take something terrible and turn it into something good.

Why the author wrote this book:

I got the idea for A Semi-Precious Christmas from an incident featured on the local news. Right down the street from where my husband and I live, thugs robbed a high-end jewelry store, getting away with thousands of dollars worth of jewelry. The saleswoman we’re friends with told us the whole story, including her terror at having a gun pointed at her face.

I got to thinking how I would feel and react if I were in the same situation. What thoughts ran through her mind when confronted with her own mortality? What kind of people were the robbers? Had they been in jail before? Had they hurt anyone else? Everyone has good sides and bad sides. I wanted the reader to wonder, was there any good in them?

I also wanted to show God’s perfect timing running throughout the book. Have you ever noticed that God shows up just when you need Him, and it’s often in the shape of a person? In the novella, A Semi-Precious Christmas, He sent my hero, Chris, to help someone who desperately needed help. The Lord used officers, doctors, friends, a child, and even an unwilling accomplice to be His hands and His feet. God can take something terrible and turn it into something good.

But I also write romance so the inevitable eligible guy and my heroine, Peridot, the single jewelry store manager, needed to find each other. They worked through their respective baggage together and in the end, it was their trust in God that saves the day.