I decided to write my first Christmas book in the series, honestly, when I started reading other clean romance Christmas books! The magic of Christmas, the settings, and all the wonderful plot devices that are possible when it comes to the holiday season really feel infinite. It was the Christmas season of 2021 when I first started reading Christmas romances and couldn’t get enough, and the moment struck that I just had to do one of these festive, snowy books with all the feels. So I started this series in early 2022 and completed it in 2023.
Here are some details of A Mistletoe Romance.
One small town. One December. One chance to believe again.
Returning to her charming Pennsylvania hometown for the holidays stirs up painful memories for Jocelyn about a car accident five years ago, reminding her why Christmas lost its magic. But determined to survive the season for the sake of her sister, Jocelyn keeps her heart guarded and her expectations low.
That is, until she meets Wade Olsen—a kind, handsome stranger whose easy smile and gentle warmth make the sugar cookies sweeter, the carols easier to bear, and the snowfall magical once more. As the town of New Haven Falls glows with Christmas cheer, Jocelyn begins to wonder if love—and the season itself—might still hold room for hope.
What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?
Decorating the house and the tree while playing holiday music is always the starter to my season and always happens right around Thanksgiving for us. Baking sugar cookies with my kids just like I used to do with my grandmother and then decorating them with frosting. (My twenty-two year old daughter has already taken on this tradition herself every year when she comes home, and honestly, she is way better at it than I am. Can someone say artist, please?) And going to 'see the lights’: driving around with the kids to see homes decorated with lights, and often getting out to walk around and see them on foot. I live in southern California, so we don’t have snow to play in, but I grew up in Pennsylvania, so I remember how magical the snow can make everything feel. For now, though, neighborhoods full of colorful holiday lights do a very nice job of creating that magical feeling.
What other books are in the works?
This particular series is probably complete (although it could be added to, and I think about that sometimes), but I recently went back and wrote a prequel novella for it which provides the love story for the main character’s older sister and takes place six years before Book One.
I’m in the middle of writing a series called Meet Me for Romance. These are completely standalone romances, united by vacation and travel themes but not by character associations or setting. I wanted to live vicariously through my characters as they trot the globe because I love to travel and I don’t get to do it enough. Right now, these take places mostly in beachy destinations, so the first one is a trip across the islands of Tahiti on a yacht. The second is a small-town Florida Keys story with a hurricane, and the third, which I’m publishing in January, is another small-town-feel story which takes place on the island of Nantucket. I’m going to keep adding to this series, but I’ll also be starting a small-town contemporary cowboy romance series in 2026 in between "Meet Me" books, which I’m very excited to get to!
What’s the best writing tip you’ve learned or been given you’d like to share?
One of the best writing tips I’ve ever been given is to trust the emotional truth of the story more than the “rules.”Craft and structure matter, but if a scene feels emotionally honest, the story will hit the right notes regardless.
In clean romance especially, I’ve learned that what’s left unsaid is often more powerful than what’s spelled out. A lingering look, an unfinished sentence, or a quiet moment can carry just as much weight as a dramatic declaration.
Another tip I return to again and again is to write the characters as real people first, and “romance characters” second. When I focus on their fears, wounds, and hopes, rather than the trope I’m trying to hit, the romance unfolds naturally and feels earned.
And finally, something practical but essential: finish the book. You can revise a messy draft, but you can’t revise a blank page. Give yourself permission to write imperfectly, because that’s where the heart of the story is.
What do you know now about writing and publishing you wish you had learned sooner?
I wish I’d understood earlier that there’s no single “right” path to success. Comparison can be discouraging if you choose to let it but incredibly freeing once you realize every author’s journey looks different. Steady progress, consistency, and patience matter far more than chasing trends or overnight success.
Any last words or tips?
What’s the best writing tip you’ve learned or been given you’d like to share?
One of the best writing tips I’ve ever been given is to trust the emotional truth of the story more than the “rules.”Craft and structure matter, but if a scene feels emotionally honest, the story will hit the right notes regardless.
In clean romance especially, I’ve learned that what’s left unsaid is often more powerful than what’s spelled out. A lingering look, an unfinished sentence, or a quiet moment can carry just as much weight as a dramatic declaration.
And finally, something practical but essential: finish the book. You can revise a messy draft, but you can’t revise a blank page. Give yourself permission to write imperfectly, because that’s where the heart of the story is.
What do you know now about writing and publishing you wish you had learned sooner?
I wish I’d understood earlier that there’s no single “right” path to success. Comparison can be discouraging if you choose to let it but incredibly freeing once you realize every author’s journey looks different. Steady progress, consistency, and patience matter far more than chasing trends or overnight success.
Any last words or tips?
I wish I had learned earlier that my backlist is one of my greatest assets. Every book I write builds trust with readers and gives them another reason to stay with me. Especially because I don’t always write quickly (although sometimes I do, and I’m working on getting faster because it’s fairly essential for an indie author, at least the way I see things), I’ve found that focusing on long-term relationships with readers—rather than just individual launches—has made the entire process more sustainable and rewarding.
Are there any other books you’d like to tell my readers about?
So many! I have another five-book series called One Sweet Day, which, overall, uses the ‘found family’ trope as a theme. It follows five couples in their twenties who started out as friends or ‘friends of friends’ in a very real way on the Door County peninsula of Wisconsin (small-town theme, too), as they navigate the ups and downs of their lives. The series is already six years old but is getting more page-reads and sales than it ever did back when I released it, and I love that! (See earlier backlist comment.) It’s less conventional than my newer series because I was new at all of this (it was my first series), but each book has a lot of heart. These are still some of my very favorite characters I’ve ever written.
That's all for today's interview. To learn more about Jillian's books, check out these links.
Website: https://jillianwalshromance.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jwsweetromance/
Website: https://jillianwalshromance.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jwsweetromance/
And here's a special tip for my readers... Sign up for Jillian's newsletter and you'll get the prequel to the New Haven Falls series for FREE. It's called A Snowfall Romance. Get it here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/x4jtbbsxyf
It makes a nice opener for the three-book series.
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