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Author Spotlight,  Giveaway,  Hope-filled Fiction

Kathleen D. Bailey: Spotlight on Hilltop Reunion

December 10, 2025 / 37 Comments

Please help me welcome Kathleen D. Bailey to the blog this week! Kathleen is sharing about her new Christmas release, Hilltop Reunion. Be sure to comment below by December 16 for a chance to win a paperback of her book! (US only)

For 20 years, our family enjoyed a holiday event in the next town over: Lights on the Hill. Lights on the Hill was held the second weekend in December, at first on both Saturday and Sunday. It turned the village center of Candia, New Hampshire into a winter wonderland. 

The Candia Congregational Church was the starting point, with mainstage entertainment in the Sanctuary, a soup café in the basement, and a Christmas Shop where children could buy inexpensive gifts for their family members. The fun spilled over to the old one-room schoolhouse, home of the Cookie Walk; the Masonic Temple, with board games and coffeehouse-style entertainment; and the Old Library, where a church member displayed her 500-set Nativity collection. 

Community members brought their farm animals to the Parsonage barn. A bonfire on the Parsonage lawn gave opportunity to roast marshmallows. Luminarias lit the way down the paths, and carols pealed from the church’s carillon.

Lights on the Hill gradually condensed into one weekend day, the second Saturday. Volunteers were dying off or finding other outlets. It never came back after COVID 19. There simply weren’t enough people.

But by then the bonfire had been lit in me, and I was merrily toasting my idea marshmallows. 

WHAT IF…a small New Hampshire town held a Christmas Festival every year? What if church, town, and school cooperated because it brought visitors, and their cash, to the village? What if the word spread, and people from all over the Northeast came to Hilltop, New Hampshire for a helping of what Christmas used to be? And what if hearts were mended, families reconciled, couples patched up over the three days of festival? WHAT IF the festival was greater than the sum of its parts, and pointed its attendees toward the risen Christ?

I made the festival three days instead of two, and positioned it on the three days before Christmas. I added sleigh rides, skating and a huge Christmas Eve potluck at the American Legion. I made the Christmas Eve services at the town’s two churches the culminating event of the festival. Then I happily “peopled” my small town with warm and quirky New England characters.

And I gave those people hope. 

In my first Hilltop book, “Hilltop Christmas,” Jane Archer has to overcome a childhood of abuse and neglect, and the Rev. Noah Hastings struggles to believe in his call. Both find their True North through the Festival. 

In the sequel, “Hilltop Reunion,” Jillian Despres comes back to Hilltop battered and broken, and Paul McKee risks his heart on her again. When they surrender their future, the Lord gives them back each other, and more than they ever could have hoped.

This is the promise of Christmas.

Hilltop Reunion sounds like a wonderful, heart-warming Christmas story, Kathleen. Thanks so much for sharing about the book and for the giveaway!

Love Christmas stories? Visit the #HopeFilledFiction blog and comment on Kathleen D. Bailey’s spotlight on Hilltop Reunion by 12/16 to enter the #giveaway for a paperback! (US only)

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Join the conversation. Do you enjoy reading Christmas stories? Do Kathleen’s books sound like novels you’d like to read? What questions or comments do you have for Kathleen?

Be sure comment below by December 16 for a chance to win a paperback of Hilltop Reunion! (US only)

Hilltop Reunion by Kathleen D. Bailey

Click the book cover for purchase link

Jillian Despres never wanted to come back to Hilltop, New Hampshire, at the best of times. She’s put every mile she can between the ragged girl receiving the town’s charity and the polished Boston television anchor she’s become. But when the town authorities call her grandfather on his hoarding, Jill has no choice. She lands in Hilltop in time for the renowned Hilltop Christmas Festival, and in the arms of a man she knew was too good for her.

Police Chief Paul McKee has more reason than most to distrust Jillian, and to wish she’d stayed in Boston. But his vow to preserve and protect his community gives him no wiggle room. Whatever his personal feelings, he must champion the woman’s return to Hilltop, at least until she has her grandfather settled and his house put to rights.

When the ugly past threatens to invade this year’s festival, can Paul and Jill depend on the risen Lord to make things right?

Kathleen Bailey is a journalist and novelist with 40 years of experience in the nonfiction, newspaper and inspirational fields. Born in 1951, she was a child in the 50s, a teen in the 60s, a young adult in the 70s and a young mom in the 80s. It’s been a turbulent, colorful time to grow up, and she’s enjoyed every minute of it and written about most of it.

She’s published six inspirational fiction books with Pelican/White Rose and Elk Lake Publishing and she’s the co-author of four nonfiction local history books with Arcadia Publishing. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband the Rev. David Bailey. They have one grown daughter. 

Connect with Kathleen: Website / Facebook / LinkedIn

Please share Kathleen’s spotlight on social media to help spread the word about her new release!

If you missed Tim Bishop’s spotlight on The Road Unveiled last week, FIND IT HERE.

As a Jesus girl for more than thirty years, Deena Adams understands how important hope is to daily life, which fuels her passion to inspire others through hope-filled fiction based on true to life stories. She is a multi-award-winning author, an active ACFW member, and a six-year ACFW Virginia board member. Connect with Deena through her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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