A TYPEWRITER with a mind of its own plays matchmaker between two young people.

A young man moves mountains to buy the girl of his dreams a pair of beautiful white mittens.

And an advent calendar transforms the gloomy home of one woman.

These intriguing storylines make up three of those in a new book penned by nine romantic novelists from Yorkshire and Lancashire.

The writers, all women, including best-selling and award-winning authors, have joined together to create a collection of uplifting festive stories.

It is their second collaboration featuring the mysterious, kindly Miss Moonshine, whose quirky emporium in the town of Haven Bridge lies at the centre of each heartwarming tale.

In her story The Ghost in the Machine, writer Mary Jane Baker, of Harden, describes how intrepid Yorkshire Enquirer reporter Scarlett Greenwood reporter had been given the ‘unenviable job’ of covering the town’s Dickensian Christmas Festival.

Yet the task leads to romance, helped by a gift of an old typewriter she had admired in Miss Moonshine’s Emporium. Sadly, she could not afford the machine, but to her delight it later arrived parcelled up at her lodgings. Little did she know, it was to play a part in her finding love.

Saltaire-based author Helena Fairfax makes Alfie Thomas the central character of her story Make My Wish Come True, as the lad worked his socks off on the family farm, and later for Miss Moonshine, to raise cash to by local girls Mary a pair of gloves. But all did not go according to plan…

Jacqui Cooper, of Frizinghall, uses an advent calendar depicting a house in Haven Bridge, as a means of brightening up a woman’s home as well as her love life.

Jacqui says: “‘My Miss Moonshine has always been magical. That’s what I love about her - that anything is possible.”

Writer Helen Pollard, from Menston, whose romance ‘The Boy Next Door’, involves another happy ending, says: “Working on the Miss Moonshine anthologies has been such a wonderful experience. We all have a slightly different take on Haven Bridge and Miss Moonshine, but the stories have come together so well, each unique but with common threads running through.

“Working on the first anthology brought us closer together, turning us from writing acquaintances into friends, so when readers asked for more, we were more than happy to oblige with this festive set of stories.”

The inspiration for Miss Moonshine’s Emporium came from the beautifully-decorated Heart Gallery in Hebden Bridge.

The West Yorkshire authors from Bradford area, along with Angela Wren from Doncaster, meet regularly in Hebden Bridge with Lancashire authors Marie Laval, Kate Field, Sophie Claire and Melinda Hammond.

“As Hebden Bridge is on the border between the two counties, we call ourselves Authors on the Edge,” says Helena. “There is something about Miss Moonshine that readers have really taken to their hearts. When we realised how many people were keen for us to write another set of Miss Moonshine stories, we decide to put together a second anthology, this time set at Christmas. It is the perfect time of year for Miss Moonshine, who adds sparkle and a touch of magic to everyone who comes into her shop. We’re delighted with the response to this festive set of stories - and we’re already thinking about the next.”

Alison Bartram, who owns the Heart Gallery, says: ‘We’re delighted the gallery has inspired these uplifting stories.”

Helen Mead