{"id":18222,"date":"2026-10-07T00:01:29","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T04:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222"},"modified":"2026-09-03T07:16:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T11:16:53","slug":"by-next-christmas-by-sharon-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222","title":{"rendered":"By Next Christmas by Sharon Black"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m pleased to feature By Next Christmas by Sharon Black on its launch day. Don’t you just love the cover? I know I do.<\/p>\n

\"By<\/p>\n

Blurb<\/h2>\n

For Ria Joyce, love belongs in the past. But when she spots her ex-boyfriend Jon Donnelly via the Dublin-New York Portal, she wonders if it\u2019s fate. Especially as it falls on her late husband\u2019s anniversary, just before Christmas.<\/p>\n

Then her daughter Amelie posts a photo of Jon, snapped at the Portal, together with a plea to help find him and, to Ria\u2019s horror, the post goes viral.<\/p>\n

When Nick Newland, host of the popular podcast, Sex and the Single Dad, asks Ria to appear on his show, she reluctantly agrees. And after Jon, AKA American thriller writer JL Walker, gets in touch, Nick sweeps her off to New York, to document the reunion for his hit podcast.<\/p>\n

There, old feelings resurface. Amid twinkling lights, snowy streets and reawakened memories, Jon offers a second chance. But the mistakes of the past must be confronted before she can move forward into an unexpected future.<\/p>\n

Will Ria take the ultimate leap of faith this Christmas?<\/p>\n

Heart-warming and full of festive magic, this is a story about second chances and discovering that love often arrives when \u2013 and where \u2013 you least expect it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Praise for By Next Christmas<\/h2>\n

\u2018Heart-warming, funny and enthralling, with engaging characters,
\na gripping plot line, and a loveable heroine in the tender-hearted Ria.
\nI laughed and I cried. Perfect for fans of Marian Keyes.\u2019
\nZOE MILLER \u2013 author of The Birthday Weekend<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018I loved this book! It\u2019s full of heart and humour and real life complications.\u2019
\nSE\u00c1NA TINLEY \u2013 Award winning Irish author<\/strong><\/p>\n

Buy Link<\/h2>\n

bit.ly\/4zR2Mgd<\/a><\/p>\n

About the Author<\/h2>\n

\"By<\/p>\n

A recovered journalist, Sharon Black is a member of Writing.ie, Writers Ink and the Romantic Novelists Association. She is also a Curtis Brown Creative alumna and was long-listed for the 2023 Retreat West \u2018Opening Lines\u2019 Competition. She has published short stories in women’s magazines.<\/p>\n

When she\u2019s not writing, she catches up with family and friends and drinks a lot of coffee. She is a grateful member of a long-running book club in her village, where books and wine are consumed in roughly equal amounts. She loves theatre, old Hollywood films, romantic comedies and live stand-up comedy.<\/p>\n

In recent years, she has developed a close relationship with Google Maps, thanks to her appalling sense of direction. She is highly allergic to shopping. Except for bag shopping. She lives in Dublin with her husband and the youngest of her grown-up family.<\/p>\n

Love like the (Real) Reel Thing is her third novel and can happily be read as a standalone or as a sequel to The Last Saturday in July.<\/p>\n

To find out more about Sharon, visit sharonblackwriter.ie<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m pleased to feature By Next Christmas by Sharon Black on its launch day. Don’t you just love the cover? I know I do. Blurb For Ria Joyce, love belongs in the past. But when she spots her ex-boyfriend Jon Donnelly via the Dublin-New York Portal, she wonders if it\u2019s fate. Especially as it falls … Continue reading By Next Christmas by Sharon Black<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41,730,67,752,1323,1813,6,979,952,587],"tags":[106,228,589],"class_list":["post-18222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-launch","category-book-promo","category-christmas","category-contemporary-romance","category-fiction","category-holiday","category-novels","category-romance","category-romantic-fiction","category-sharon-black","tag-authors-2","tag-novels-2","tag-sharon-black"],"yoast_head":"\nBy Next Christmas by Sharon Black - Celtic Connexions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today, on its launch day, I'm featuring By Next Christmas written by Irish author, Sharon Black. A feel-good Christmas romance.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"By Next Christmas by Sharon Black - Celtic Connexions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today, on its launch day, I'm featuring By Next Christmas written by Irish author, Sharon Black. A feel-good Christmas romance.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Celtic Connexions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-07T04:01:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/christmascover-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1524\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2353\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Melanie\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Melanie\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18222#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18222\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Melanie\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc1dc45dd87a15ec9c0044a4fe9cd612\"},\"headline\":\"By Next Christmas by Sharon Black\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-07T04:01:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18222\"},\"wordCount\":472,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18222#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/christmascover-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"authors\",\"novels\",\"Sharon Black\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Book Launch\",\"Book Promo\",\"Christmas\",\"contemporary romance\",\"fiction\",\"holiday\",\"Novels\",\"romance\",\"romantic fiction\",\"Sharon Black\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18222#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18222\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18222\",\"name\":\"By Next Christmas by Sharon Black - Celtic Connexions\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18222#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18222#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/christmascover-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-07T04:01:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc1dc45dd87a15ec9c0044a4fe9cd612\"},\"description\":\"Today, on its launch day, I'm featuring By Next Christmas written by Irish author, Sharon Black. A feel-good Christmas romance.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18222#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18222\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18222#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/christmascover-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/christmascover-1.jpg\",\"width\":1524,\"height\":2353},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18222#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"By Next Christmas by Sharon Black\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/\",\"name\":\"Celtic Connexions\",\"description\":\"My Scottish roots and writing by Melanie Robertson-King\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc1dc45dd87a15ec9c0044a4fe9cd612\",\"name\":\"Melanie\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ac3ad22152d09e4a7bd2cb3bae125e6661ce011f61dfc62b8aaa5f8f911edff9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ac3ad22152d09e4a7bd2cb3bae125e6661ce011f61dfc62b8aaa5f8f911edff9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ac3ad22152d09e4a7bd2cb3bae125e6661ce011f61dfc62b8aaa5f8f911edff9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Melanie\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.melanierobertson-king.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"By Next Christmas by Sharon Black - Celtic Connexions","description":"Today, on its launch day, I'm featuring By Next Christmas written by Irish author, Sharon Black. A feel-good Christmas romance.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"By Next Christmas by Sharon Black - Celtic Connexions","og_description":"Today, on its launch day, I'm featuring By Next Christmas written by Irish author, Sharon Black. A feel-good Christmas romance.","og_url":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222","og_site_name":"Celtic Connexions","article_published_time":"2026-10-07T04:01:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1524,"height":2353,"url":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/christmascover-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Melanie","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Melanie","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222"},"author":{"name":"Melanie","@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/#\/schema\/person\/fc1dc45dd87a15ec9c0044a4fe9cd612"},"headline":"By Next Christmas by Sharon Black","datePublished":"2026-10-07T04:01:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222"},"wordCount":472,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/christmascover-1.jpg","keywords":["authors","novels","Sharon Black"],"articleSection":["Book Launch","Book Promo","Christmas","contemporary romance","fiction","holiday","Novels","romance","romantic fiction","Sharon Black"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222","url":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222","name":"By Next Christmas by Sharon Black - Celtic Connexions","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/christmascover-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-10-07T04:01:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/#\/schema\/person\/fc1dc45dd87a15ec9c0044a4fe9cd612"},"description":"Today, on its launch day, I'm featuring By Next Christmas written by Irish author, Sharon Black. A feel-good Christmas romance.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/christmascover-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/christmascover-1.jpg","width":1524,"height":2353},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18222#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"By Next Christmas by Sharon Black"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/#website","url":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/","name":"Celtic Connexions","description":"My Scottish roots and writing by Melanie Robertson-King","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/#\/schema\/person\/fc1dc45dd87a15ec9c0044a4fe9cd612","name":"Melanie","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ac3ad22152d09e4a7bd2cb3bae125e6661ce011f61dfc62b8aaa5f8f911edff9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ac3ad22152d09e4a7bd2cb3bae125e6661ce011f61dfc62b8aaa5f8f911edff9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ac3ad22152d09e4a7bd2cb3bae125e6661ce011f61dfc62b8aaa5f8f911edff9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Melanie"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.melanierobertson-king.com"],"url":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?author=2"}]}},"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2NmRa-4JU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18222"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18226,"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18222\/revisions\/18226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}