This humorous holiday/mystery trilogy puts belief in Santa Claus on trial in three stand-alone cozies with a lovable cast of characters and a host of non-believer adversaries. The trilogy starts with “The Christmas Heist,” a “script somewhere between the screenplays for My Cousin Vinny and Miracle on 34th Street,” says the former Dean of Wake Forest University School of Law “and that’s a wonderful place to be.” Defendant Henry Edmonds, a homeless man who looks a bit like Santa Claus, is put on trial on Christmas Eve for stealing a flash drive full of secrets, and if he goes to jail, Christmas won’t come. Book two is “The Legally Binding Christmas,” a Christmas mystery with romantic tension, where now widowed lawyer, Thad Raker, goes up against a formidable single female adversary and tries to save Christmas once again. When the local government his adversary represents moves to condemn the dilapidated home of Raker’s eccentric new client, the trial puts Santa’s distribution system at risk and Christmas in peril. The final story, “The Christmas Redemption,” won the 2018 Holiday category of the 12th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards and was Honorable Mention in the 2018 Holiday category in the 10th Annual Readers’ Favorite Awards. Thad Raker is hired to defend the toy company that made the most popular Christmas present in 50 years—the Reindeer Hoverboard—and becomes entangled in the greatest threat to Christmas yet when he learns that the survival of Santa’s North Pole village is at risk. Standing in Raker’s way are a large class of angry plaintiffs, an unbelieving judge, the FBI, several North Pole conspirators and Hank Snow, Raker’s nemesis from his previous Christmas trials. “The Christmas Redemption” is where “John Grisham meets Santa Claus,” says humorist and author Tracy Curtis, “for a hoverboard ride that seamlessly blends courtroom drama, corruption, climate change and Christmas with great humor and with a message about the true meaning of Christmas and the importance of family.”

Small town lawyer Thad Raker represents an eccentric client living in an old house with a Christmas secret. When the county moves to condemn the house, Raker takes the case. If he doesn’t win, Christmas won’t come for hundreds of thousands of children. Twirly Masters is an affable man who talks in circles and who believes that evil forces within Santa’s operation are up to no good in taking his property. He calls on Thad Raker to handle his case, as much to help Raker as to save his house, because life’s misfortunes have caused now widowed and single dad Raker to become a non-believer, a fact Twirly intends to change. When the county goes to court to take his new client’s property, Raker must battle conspiring adversaries, a cantankerous judge, a formidable female lawyer he cares for, and his own personal feelings and doubts. Can Raker save Christmas once more, and in the process, save himself? As the fate of Santa and his legion of helpers hangs in the balance, the courtroom battle comes down to where it is always won or lost – the human heart. –Mark de Castrique, award-winning author of the Sam Blackman and Buryin’ Barry mysteries If you don’t feel like watching It’s a Wonderful Life for a third time this holiday season, mix things up a bit and read this sweet Christmas story instead. –Mary Laura Philpott, author of the national bestseller, I Miss You When I Blink If you don’t believe in Santa when you start this book, you will when you finish. A perfect complement to The Christmas Heist, with just the right mix of suspense, humor, and magic. –Bud Schill, co-author of Not Exactly Rocket Scientists and Other Stories

Small town lawyer Thad Raker must win a case or Santa won’t come to town, but he doesn’t believe in Santa Claus or know the stakes when he takes the case for a homeless man who says he works for Santa. Henry Edmonds is on trial for stealing a flash drive which holds the key to Christmas coming. Several people claim ownership of the flash drive and want Edmonds in jail, including an elfish looking man who says he works for an international toy company. Witness by witness the facts come out but who is to be believed and are there any True Believers? And what’s so important about the flash drive to the fate of Christmas? A local newspaper reporter stirs things up by blogging about what he calls the “Trial of the Century” and tweets that the “Court’s Ruling Could Halt Christmas for Thousands.” Can an irascible judge looking toward retirement find it within himself to save Christmas? Landis Wade writes a script somewhere between the screenplays for My Cousin Vinny and Miracle on 34th Street, and that’s a wonderful place to be. –Suzanne Reynolds, former Dean, Wake Forest University School of Law The wisdom of Sheriff Andy Taylor, the witty banter of Night Court, and the magic of Miracle on 34th Street are presented as a joyous gift to all generations! –Chase Boone Saunders, Superior Court judge, retired Landis Wade combines his decades of crafty courtroom experience with his innocent appreciation of the magic of Santa to weave a clever, heart-warming legal who-done-it. –Jon Buchan, author of Code of the Forest

Attorney Thad Raker has already saved Christmas twice in the courtroom. Now he is hired to defend a toy company and learns that the survival of Santa's North Pole village is at risk. Raker needs all the help he can get in this, his toughest case ever, but can he rely on his nemesis in the prior cases, the keeper of Santa's deepest secrets?

Winner of the 2018 Holiday category of the National Indie Excellence Awards and Honorable Mention in the 2018 Holiday category in the Readers’ Favorite Awards, this book completes the Christmas Courtroom Trilogy, revealing secrets about the North Pole kept from attorney Thad Raker, a man who, for reasons made clear in the first two books, now believes in Santa Claus. When Raker is hired to defend the toy company that made the most popular Christmas present in 50 years—the Reindeer Hoverboard—he becomes entangled in the greatest threat to Christmas yet. And he learns that the survival of Santa’s North Pole village is at risk. Standing in Raker’s way are a large class of angry plaintiffs, an unbelieving judge, the FBI, several North Pole conspirators and Hank Snow, Raker’s nemesis from his previous Christmas trials. Raker needs all the help he can get in this, his toughest case ever, but Snow is the guardian of many secrets and has his own plans for the future of Christmas. Readers will delight in the surprising, multi-layered plot and cleverly-drawn characters, and their hearts will be warmed. - Ann Campanella, author of Motherhood: Lost and Found At once clever, heartfelt, and engaging, The Christmas Redemption is a merry legal adventure that is perfect for holiday reading. Phillip Lewis, author of The Barrowfields It's John Grisham meets Santa Claus, for a hoverboard ride that seamlessly blends courtroom drama, corruption, and Christmas with great humor--and with a message about the true meaning of Christmas. Landis Wade makes a True Believer out of me, in the magic of the holiday season! Tracy Curtis, humorist and author of Holidazed

The flame of love burns bright in the second book of Sharon M. Draper’s award-winning Hazelwood High trilogy. When Gerald was a child he was fascinated by fire. But fire is dangerous and powerful, and tragedy strikes. His substance-addicted mother is taken from him. Then he loses the loving generosity of a favorite aunt, and a brutal stepfather with a flaming temper and an evil secret makes his life miserable. The one bright light in Gerald's life is his little half sister, Angel, whom he struggles to protect from her father, who is abusing her. Somehow Gerald manages to finds success as a member of the Hazelwood Tigers basketball team, and Angel develops her talents as a dancer, despite the trouble that still haunts them. And Gerald learns, painfully, that young friends can die and old enemies must be faced. In the end he must stand up to his stepfather alone in a blazing confrontation. In this second book of the Hazelwood High trilogy, Sharon M. Draper has woven characters and events from Tears of a Tiger in an unflinchingly realistic portrayal of poverty and child abuse. It is an inspiring story of a young man who rises above the tragic circumstances of his life by drawing on the love and strength of family and friends.