WADE ROUSE (AKA Viola Shipman) is the USA TODAY, Publishers Weekly and #1 internationally bestselling author of 21 books, including five memoirs, 13 novels and three holiday novellas. Wade’s books have been translated into nearly 30 languages and have been bestsellers across the world. His novels, The Secret of Snow, The Clover Girls, and A Wish for Winter, have been optioned for film and TV. Wade’s books have been selected multiple times as Must-Reads by NBC’s Today Show, Indie Next Picks by the nation’s independent booksellers as well as Michigan Notable Books of the Year. Wade was a finalist for the Goodreads Choice Awards in Humor (he lost to Tina Fey) and was named by Writer’s Digest as “The #2 Writer, Dead or Alive, We’d Like to Have Drinks With”.
Succession meets The Family Stone in bestselling author Wade Rouse’s humorous and sharply observant look at a family teetering on the edge of merry mayhem…
The Chapmans do Christmas the way they do everything: impeccably, expensively, and with the unshakable belief that good lighting can conceal bad blood. Their annual Christmas card may look picture-perfect, but behind the polite smiles there’s a storm brewing. This year, at their grand lakefront cottage on Mackinac Island, a snowstorm traps generations of Chapmans under one roof.
Chris Chapman is on the verge of losing everything: his father’s trust, his role at the helm of the family business, and his wife’s respect.
Kat Chapman is already fed up with hosting her critical, stuck-up in-laws and their impossibly inflexible holiday traditions. Her solution? Invite her working-class parents – born and bred Islanders – for Christmas, much to the horror of the Chapmans, whose rule that “We do not share Christmas with other people” is about to be broken.
As the snow piles up, so do the grievances: their children are locked in a battle of wits, Chris’s vaguely corrupt brother Cormac and his calculating trophy wife are stirring the pot, and Kat’s mother is holding onto a secret that could upend the entire game…
Date: Friday, October 16th 2026
Location: Pine Lakes Golf & Country Club- 5603 Granddaddy Dr, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
Time: 10:45AM-1:00PM
Your Ticket Includes:
Guaranteed seating via our curated seating chart (no rushing for a spot).
An intimate talk and Q&A with Wade Rouse.
A multi-course lunch , dessert, and beverages provided by Pine Lakes.
A signed $19.00 paperback copy of The Bluff.
A dedicated window for personalized book signing and a brief meet-and-greet.
Refund Policy- Thank you for signing up for an event at Litchfield Books! Cards will be charged upon time of ticket purchase. We will refund your ticket, excluding our merchant banker convenience fee and credit card reversal fee. Cancellations are accepted up until seven days prior to the event date. If the cancellation is past the seven days you will not be offered a refund but you will be offered the signed copy of the event book.