Spotlight: Winter Light by Honey Winters
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(A Blue Spruce Hills Novella)
Publication date: November 12th 2026
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance, Women’s Fiction
For readers who enjoy clean women’s fiction about small towns, new chapters, and later-in-life romance.
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A small-town librarian, a new neighbor from Colorado, and the brightest Christmas display in the Poconos.
Penny McLauchlin runs the library from a former bank building where the vault is now a reading room. She knows which cart squeaks, which patron wants company rather than a book, and which of the atrium plants needs turning toward the light. What she has stopped knowing is what she wants.
Then a colleague slides a listing for Regional Library Director across her desk — the kind Penny has scrolled past for years — and the thought arrives fully formed: I could.
She applies. And then the quiet season she thought lay ahead turns out to be anything but.
Her sister Jackie moves in. Her daughter is coming home for Christmas with a guest. And Nigel Blake, her new neighbor, has just plugged in a holiday display visible from Mars.
By December, Penny’s street is the brightest one — and the woman who never wanted anything to change has a job interview and is embroiled in a Christmas lights battle that has drawn spectators from across town.
This book is for every woman who has looked around a good life and still wondered whether this was all of it. Winter Light is about wanting things at 55, reaching without wrecking anything, and discovering that contentment isn’t the same as closing the door. Come to Blue Spruce Hills for warm friendships, a Pennsylvania mountain town under snow, a sister who arrives like weather, and a neighbor whose Christmas lights are an argument for joy.
Trope List
Finding yourself at 55
Midlife women’s fiction
Small-town Christmas
Widow opens heart to love again
Neighbors to something more
Sister returns home
Female friendship group
Clean
Low angst
What you can expect:
Heat: clean and wholesome
Tone: cozy women’s fiction, warm and lightly funny
Series: A Blue Spruce Hills Novella, interconnected standalone
POV: third person, past tense, single POV
Content Notes: reference to past spousal loss (off page, years earlier); no violence; no swearing
Comps: Debbie Macomber, Nancy Thayer, Sheila Roberts
Welcome to Blue Spruce Hills: A mountain town that reinvented itself once already and knows something about new chapters. Come for snow, tea, good friends, poetry night at the Tea House, and a holiday season worth remembering.
Excerpt
Jackie tilted her head toward Nigel’s house. “You’re not the only one decorating this morning.”
Penny turned just as something turned on, making a low humming sound. Then, slowly, like some kind of sea monster rising from the deep, a giant snowman rose from Nigel’s lawn.
“And I thought the turkey was big,” Jackie said.
“It must be as tall as the house,” Penny said in disbelief.
“You’re going to need more decorations,” Jackie said into her mug.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Penny shook her head. “It doesn’t matter what Nigel’s doing. I’m doing my own thing, like I always have. Now make yourself useful. Take this end of the garland and secure it under the railing. You can’t miss the hook.”
Jackie did as she was told, and once it was attached, Penny wove the rest of the garland along the railing and down the banister.
Perfect.
Next, she carried her two deer to the front lawn. Nigel glanced up from whatever the heck he was doing and gave Penny a wave. She waved back, noticing that his porch was also wrapped in garland. She had white lights. His were colored. He had vintage stars hanging from the porch ceiling. She had…nothing.
Those stars were so elegant. Where could she find—
Nope. Stick to the plan.
The plan was to arrange the reindeer in their usual spot. Which she did. One stood straight, staring out toward the street like a sentry. The smaller of the two was bent over, as if eating something off the lawn.
Once in place, she ran the extension cord over to the outlet and plugged it into a timer.
By the time she returned to the front of the house, one of the deer had fallen over.
“Did you do that?” she asked Jackie, who remained on the porch despite the cold.
“No. Like I’m going to run down there in my slippers. It just fell over.”
Penny stood it up, paying more attention. The poor reindeer was definitely listing to the left. She picked it up and turned it over. One leg was bent. Something heavy must have leaned against it in the basement.
She tried to pull it back into shape with her hands, but no luck.
“Problem with your reindeer?”
She startled at the question, then turned to face Nigel, who had somehow snuck up on her despite his Denver-Bronco-orange hoodie.
“I seem to have bent his leg. He can’t stand straight now,” she told him.
“Let me help.”
From the toolbox he carried, he retrieved a pair of pliers and gently bent the leg back into shape.
“That should do it.” Nigel placed it on the ground. The reindeer remained standing. “Mind if I secure them with a couple of stakes?”
“Be my guest,” Penny replied.
Once again, he found what he needed in his toolbox.
“How come you’re so prepared?” she asked.
“I have to be.”
“You said you decorate for fun.”
“I do. The decorations are the fun part. But securing the decorations? That I take very seriously.”
“Because of the turkey-down-the-block incident?”
“Exactly.”
Less than a minute later, her reindeer were secured to the ground. Nigel stood and brushed his knees.
“There you go.”
“Thank you.”
“Your decorations look nice,” he said.
“Coming from someone who takes lawn decorating to the level you do, I’m going to take that as a compliment.”
“And so you should, Penny. The white lights suit the color of your trim. I bet at night, your house puts off a warm glow.” He held his hands out as if he were framing a shot. “Like something you would see in a snow globe or on a Christmas card.”
She looked at him to determine whether he was mocking her or being sincere.
Sincere. Huh.
“What do you think of my snowman?”
“It’s quite something.”
“My son sent it to me the first year he lived out here. He got the same one for his house.”
So Nigel had a sentimental side.
“Well, I better get back to it. Lots of work. Let me know if you need any more help.”
“Will do. Thanks again,” she said.
Penny joined her sister on the porch. “You know, I do like the vintage stars he has. Amongst all those tacky decorations are some nice pieces.”
“Are there?”
“You know what I have that might work…” Penny left Jackie on the porch and headed down into the basement. Somewhere mixed in with Hailey’s boxes were—ah! She found them. Four large snowflake lights.
Hailey had loved them, so Penny had caved in and bought them, but found they were too much for the porch. After that first year, she’d hung them in Hailey’s room.
Maybe she’d try them outside again.
First, she’d need another extension cord and timer.
“Where are you going?” Jackie asked as Penny grabbed her jacket.
“Hardware store. Be back in a minute.”
“And so it begins.”
Penny gave her sister an eye roll.
But she didn’t deny it.
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About the Author
I love writing the kind of stories I want to curl up with—heartfelt, uplifting stories about women in midlife navigating life’s ups and downs. My books celebrate the bonds of friendship, the magic of second chances, and the belief that it’s never too late to fall in love.
Whether it’s a cozy lakeside summer, a small-town reunion, or an unexpected romance that catches you by surprise, I believe every chapter of life holds something sweet waiting to be discovered.
Connect:
https://www.facebook.com/HoneyWintersAuthor/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/68308244.Honey_Winters
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/honey-winters
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17499025.Honey_Winters
