26 Ways to Come Home for the Holidays

2025 International Book Award Winner, Romance category.

It’s Thanksgiving 1942, and Stella West, the first-ever head of holidays for Hanover's Department Store is left in a bind when her lead window designer runs off days before the grand unveiling of the store’s Christmas windows —a tradition the entire city treasures. Up against the clock, she scrambles to gather together a rag-tag team of store employees to finish the job, including their picky luxury stylist, two flirtatious personal shoppers, a handful of delivery boys, and Stella's best pal, Hector.

As the group races to complete the store's twenty-six 'Home for the Holidays'-themed Christmas windows , Stella is stunned to discover that Hector is newly single and realizes the feelings she’d buried for him long ago may run deeper than she ever imagined. Dodging a baker who's sweet on her , the store kiss-up who's after her job, and the store owner who wants an early preview — Stella has more than enough to worry about without her love life adding to the mix. But with the ribbon-cutting approaching (and the news of Hector's epic bachelor status swirling through the store), Stella realizes that telling him how she feels might be now or never, even if it means risking losing him entirely. "26 WAYS TO GO HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS" was inspired by the author's upbringing in Pittsburgh, where the city's Golden Triangle would come alive each holiday season with themed department store windows, trees, and the sounds of marching bands in Christmas parades. These traditions—still a joyous part of the holiday season—have lasted decades. Cherished trips to "dahntahn" Pittsburgh to see the lights are a must-do for families all over the city during Christmastime.