The Neighbor and the Gifts by Danielle Grandinetti
Series:  A Christmas Cabin Novella
Publisher: Hearth Spot Press
Release Date:  July 15, 2025
Genre:  Christmas Historical Romantic Suspense

Twelve days. Twelve gifts. One unlikely hero.

Wisconsin, 1930—When Manitowish Waters librarian Olivia “Ollie” Larson finds a package on the library steps, she expects the children’s books she ordered, not a taxidermied partridge. By the fourth gift from her unknown and unwelcome True Love, disappearing to her grandfather’s isolated cabin in the Northwoods is the only way she can escape him.

Deputy Titus Wilburn is happy to escort the lovely librarian to her grandfather’s house on his way to the neighboring Yarwood cabin. After all, he’s been smitten with her since they attended school together, and she needs his protection. However, the plan fails when Ollie’s uninvited suitor discovers her new location.

As the man’s actions become more desperate and his gifts more dangerous, an unexpectedly bedridden Titus decides to free Ollie from this menace, which puts the enemy’s sights directly on him. Ollie refuses to let her injured hero sacrifice himself, but with the days ticking closer to Christmas, she may have no choice but to accept whatever fate her suitor has in store for her if she wants to save Titus’ life.

One cabin in the Northwoods … a decade of Christmas miracles.

PURCHASE LINKS:
Goodreads | Buy From the Author | Amazon
Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | BookBub

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More in This Series

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About the Author

Danielle Grandinetti is an award-winning inspirational romance author fueled by tea, books, and the creative beauty of nature. Her stories combine romance, mystery, and suspense against the backdrop of the 1930s to tell the tale of finding home and hope in hard times. With a master’s in communication and culture and a passion for intercultural communication, storytelling has been her heartbeat for as long as she can remember. Married to her hero, Danielle is a second-generation Italian-American, a dairy farmer’s granddaughter, and a boy mom from Chicagoland who now lives along Lake Michigan’s Wisconsin shoreline.

Connect with Danielle by visiting daniellegrandinetti.com to follow her on social media and subscribe to email updates.

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Author Q&A

CB: Danielle, I’m excited to read more books written by you! And now, here you are, letting me interview you. This is wonderful! 

DG: Thank you! I’m so glad you’re enjoying my stories! 

CB: You’ve loved stories for as long as you can remember and now run a book blog. How has being part of the book world—both as a reader and blogger—influenced the way you write your stories? 

DG: Having been a reader first, I knew what I loved in a story, which gave me a place to begin. I think it also helped me understand how a story was supposed to flow, including how beginnings, middles, and endings worked. 

When I became a blogger and helped authors from the reader side of things, it gave me an appreciation for my own readers. I had made a mental note of what I enjoyed as well as what was helpful, and have attempted to do those things with my readers. 

I am still an avid reader, and it remains my joy to help introduce readers to new books they might enjoy. 

CB: With your background in communication and culture, do you find that it helps you create deeper characters or explore different relationship dynamics in your books? 

DG: I hope so! 🙂 This topic is one of my favorites, and I teach workshops on applying these principles to hopefully help other writers in their craft. Of course, whether I succeed in my own stories is something my writers will have to tell me. 

CB: Your stories blend romance, suspense, and hope. What’s your process for mixing all of these elements to create a believable story? 

DG: I always begin with characters, whom I set in a particular setting or situation. From there, I pile on as much hardship as I can. As soon as things start going well for them, it’s time for the other (or third, or fifth) shoe to drop. But as someone who believes in Jesus, I also believe that no matter how dark the world gets, there is still light. Be it a pinpoint or blazing fire. As I work to remind my characters of that, I hope my readers will see it, too. 

CB: What draws you to the 1930s time period?  

DG: I do love the 1930s! It was a decade of desperation, which provides the perfect backdrop to tell stories of hope and love. However, I was first drawn to the decade because I grew up on stories set then. My paternal grandmother was born and raised in one of Chicago’s Italian neighborhoods during the 1920s-30s. You can imagine the stories she told! Those sunk into my own imagination, and my love for the decade was born. 

CB: The “Twelve Days of Christmas” is a fun retelling choice. What inspired the idea of the mysterious (and sinister) gifts? 

DG: Hehe, the words “what if.” I mean … so often the hero is giving these 12 gifts as the heroine’s True Love. But … what if … it was the bad guy … ? 

CB: Ollie is a determined and independent heroine. What was it like writing her character, and did anything about her story surprise you along the way? 

DG; From the beginning, I knew she’d be ultra shy, so I loved watching the depth behind her outward reticence grow. I can’t say I was surprised, but I tend to write through discovery, so I was pleased to see how she blossomed under pressure. 

CB: Titus is a quiet protector with a big heart. What did you enjoy about building his character? 

DG: Honestly, I felt bad for Titus! I kept putting him in hard situations, but knew I couldn’t let up because there was a bad guy to flush out. So my favorite part of his story was the ending, when he finally got his happily ever after, even if it doesn’t look exactly like he may have thought from the beginning. 

CB: I can see where the Northwoods cabin setting is great for a suspenseful location. Why did you choose that area? Is it a location you’ve been to or want to go to? 

DG; I’ve always loved the Northwoods of Wisconsin, but what prompted this series was journals given to me by my aunt, who has a cabin there. A matchmaking Christmas Cabin … as soon as the idea struck, I couldn’t wait to tell the tales. 

CB: What do you hope readers feel or take away after finishing The Neighbor and the Gifts? 

DG: I hope readers will notice the distinction between false love and genuine love. The kind of love that takes, and stalks, and creates fear as opposed to the kind that sacrifices for the one they love. And, that Christmas is the perfect opportunity to be reminded of the Gift God gave us in his Son, the Truest Love we could experience. 

CB: What’s something about your writing life that readers might be surprised to learn? 

DG; Ooo, something surprising would be that I write in short snatches in multiple different ways. From computer to phone. From walking to the sofa to my desk. From dictation to pen, to tapping fingers. Whatever it takes to move the story from my imagination to paper. 

CB: Thank you for sharing more about your writing process and The Neighbor and the Gifts, Danielle. I’m looking forward to meeting you in November at Rendezvous 2025! 

DG: Thank you for having me on your blog. It will be a pleasure to meet you at Rendezvous. I’m looking forward to it! 

Thank you to JustRead Publicity Tours for connnecting me with Danielle.

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