Christmas Spotlight on Linore Rose Burkard

Christmas eve in the Burkard House

I am excited to introduce Linore Rose Burkard. She has written an amazing regency novel.

Before the Season Ends tells the fasicnating story of Ariana Forsythe as she leaves her home in the country and lives with her Aunt Bentley for the season. Ariana comes from a devout family and her time in London challenges her to stay true to her faith. Of course this is a romance so the love intrest is Mr. Phillip Mornay, the handsome rogue. With love in the air can Ariana's beliefs survive?

If you like Jane Austen novels then this is a great pick for you. Let's get to know Linore.

Christmas carols are one of my favorite things about Christmas. What is your favorite carol?

I’m rarely able to settle upon just one favorite anything! I do love Christmas carols, I love all the old hymns of the season and lots of the newer ones. I try to listen to The Messiah at least once every season, but I suppose it would be fair to say my favorites are the traditional rousing, sing-alongs with the family.

One of my favorite hyms is Go Tell It On the Mountain and my six year old son has been singing it for the past few weeks. Christmas is a time that many memories are made. What is the best Christmas memory you have?

My dad grew up in a rather austere German family, but they loved holidays and made the most of them. So he continued this with us, using a special Christmas bell and waking us eight children up at an ungodly hour of the morning, while it was still dark. He’d climb the stairs ringing that bell, and calling out, “Merry Christmas! Santa Claus was here! HO HO HO! Merry Christmas!” He’d go through every bedroom, to the third floor, and then back down, until we were all herded downstairs and we’d sit on the sofa and stare, dazzled, at the wonderful sight of all the presents beneath the tree.

He’d have Christmas music playing, and my mom was already busy in the kitchen where the smell of pancakes and bacon or sausage would be wafting out. We kids would be grinning at each other, and it was just a magical time. My husband and I have tried to make Christmas just as special, but we generally are still asleep when the kids wake us up! We’ve usually been up so late waiting for them to fall asleep the night before that we’re pretty zonked by morning.

That is a wonderful memory. I can relate to the kids waking us up to but it is still at an ungodly hour and seems to get earlier every year.

I love all of the holiday movies but White Christmas is my favorite. I make my family sit down every year to watch this classic. Do you have a favorite holiday movie?

Absolutely—I have a handful of favorites, actually. Miracle on 34th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life, Christmas in Connecticut (with Barbara Stanwyck),--and oh, I can’t leave out A Christmas Carol! The old version with Alistair Sim is priceless. My kids enjoy the goofy “Christmas with the Kranks.” And I always squeeze in a performance of The Nutcracker, (or two—I have a few versions, with different ballet companies). Seeing it live is preferable, but I can’t always do that.

We took our kids to the children's theater this year to see the musical Rudolph and it was wonderful. I have taken them in the past to see The Nutcracker but only my daughter really appreciated that one.

Out of all the mythical Christmas creatures who do you relate to the most?


I can’t say I “relate” to them, but I guess if you had to liken me to any, it would be a Christmas elf, for sure! I generally start the next year’s shopping right after Christmas, so that I’m concerned all year with gathering and storing presents.

I have a lot of hiding spots, and I’ve been known to “lose” gifts, too, finding them after Christmas (I knew I had one of these! Darn!) I’ve had years when I’m done shopping by September, for the most part. (But not lately!)

Oh I wish I was that organized. I am still pondering what to get some of my family. What pet peeves do you have associated with the Holiday season?


Well, I love the holiday season, so my pet peeve would be that it goes so fast I can’t do everything I wish I could, or wish my family could. I ALWAYS want to bake more recipes than I’ve time for, or enjoy more Christmas-y events than we can afford.

I’d love to include a little message in every card I write, and some years I try to do just that—but it’s a big time commitment. On a personal level, my pet peeve is that I don’t always stop long enough to lose myself at God’s feet and just worship Him for His coming. And, that children can complain after we’ve worked so hard to make the day a thrill!

I can relate to not having enough time. I always want to bake and do all sort of crafty gifts like I have been wanting to make a quilt for my mom and one for my husband and well they ain't gonna see one this year. I do get caught up in the hustle and bustle and don't take the time to spend with God. Since Advent is a time to watch sometimes we forget to watch for the coming of Christ and go right to His birth missing so much of the importance.

Could you please briefly describe your novel?

Before the Season Ends is a romantic foray into the elegance and grand manners of Regency England. My heroine is a young woman of strong convictions who finds herself having to deal with feelings for the wrong man.

He’s handsome, he’s rich and powerful, and he does come to her aid in some important ways. But he’s not her idea of proper “husband” material. The book has excitement and adventure, an authentic regency atmosphere that is fun-filled and glittering, and of course what I call a “prodigiously” happy ending.



Thank you so much for stopping by. I absolutely loved your novel and I can't wait until the sequel comes out in April. I hope you have a very merry Christmas. Linore where can readers find you?

My website URL is: http://www.linoreroseburkard.com/
I may be dropping my blogs, but right now readers can go to this one:
http://regencyyuletide.blogspot.com/ or, http://shesgotcharacter.blogspot.com/

Thank you, Donna!!

Linore has graciously offered to give away a copy to a blessed reader who leaves a comment on this blog. I have to tell you this is a wonderful book and I highly reccomend it to anyone who enjoys reading regency novels.

To win a copy Before the Season Ends by Linore Rose Burkard answer the daily question and leave a way for me to contact you if you win.
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Today's question: What is your favorite mythical Christmas creature and Why? Mine is Frosty. I love the snow. Although in Texas it is rare. I have fond memories of spending time at my Grandparents in Illinois and playing in the snow.