Winter Blogfest: Laura Strickland

December 30, 2019 By 5 Comments


This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of the Holiday novella ebook, Northern Magic, a love story set at the North Pole.

A Dose of Good Will

Whether you look forward to the holidays all year, or dread them as a time of hectic shopping frenzies and awkward family gatherings, I think everyone can agree, they bring us together. For better or worse, we gather for parties, dinners, and gift exchanges. At these moments, we reach for good will.

I don’t know about you, but given the past year, I’m ready for a dose of good will—a big, warm, fuzzy one. Though I always do my best to avoid political discussion, I will say it grieves me to see how divided our nation has become. Hate and ugliness seem to have joined hands and surfaced from the deep, dark cave into which we banished them on our long walk from the ‘60s forward. It doesn’t matter who you support, or whose side you’re on, anger rules the day.

I believe it’s time for some peace, love and good will toward all to surface. I’m ready for that holiday feeling—the one that grips you when you’re driving your car through the neighborhood and see those first twinkling lights on a neighbor’s house.  The one that urges you to patiently hold the shop door open for that woman toting three kiddies and an armful of packages. The feeling prompted by the sound of jingly songs on the radio, the scent of newly-baked cookies in the air, and a big tree going up in the town square. 

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Meghan Martin fears it’s going to be a lean Christmas. Since her husband, Dustin, abandoned her and their six-year-old daughter, Angie, she’s been forced to give up their cozy house in the suburbs and move to a small apartment in the city. Though she loves the multicultural flavor of the new neighborhood and how people help each other, she fears she won’t be able to make all Angie’s Christmas wishes come true, especially when Angie falls in love with an expensive, hand-made doll in the toy maker’s shop downstairs.
Now mysterious things are going on at the community center where Meghan works. Instead of too few packages beneath the giving tree, there are too many, and nobody can tell how they’re arriving. Could it be a touch of Christmas magic?
Jonas Kristensen has been making toys for children a long time, but when he sees Angie’s longing for the doll he’s made, it touches his heart, just like Meghan’s beauty and determination. Used to giving to others, he’s nearly stopped hoping for his own happiness. It’s been ages since he shared the secret of his magic with anyone. Will this be the year the toy maker receives a gift of his own?

Multi award-winning author Laura Strickland delights in time traveling to the past and searching out settings for her books, be they Historical Romance, Steampunk or something in between. Her first Scottish Historical hero, Devil Black, battled his way onto the publishing scene in 2013, and the author never looked back. Nor has she tapped the limits of her imagination. Venturing beyond Historical and Contemporary Romance, she created a new world with her ground-breaking Buffalo Steampunk Adventure series set in her native city, in Western New York. Married and the parent of one grown daughter, Laura has also been privileged to mother a number of very special rescue dogs, and is intensely interested in animal welfare. These days while she’s writing, you can always find her latest rescue, Lacy, nearby. Her love of dogs, and her lifelong interest in Celtic history, magic and music, are all reflected in her writing. Laura’s mantra is Lore, Legend, Love, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

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Winter Blogfest: Laura M. Baird

December 27, 2019 By 11 Comments


This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a digital copy of Rory’s Christmas Angel, delivered via Amazon. 

Appreciating the Little Things

My first Christmas away from home and family was spent in Honduras while serving in the U. S. Army. I did rotations of temporary duty there, and when I realized I’d be there for the holiday, it struck me that this was my life now. No longer would I have the easy ability to return home for every holiday, birthday, or anniversary.

I also realized that we (as in my fellow servicemen and women) were a family of sorts and were going to have the best holiday we could while away from our true family. After all, we signed up for this and had to make the most of it. Luckily, my closest friend was also on the same rotation, and I was oh so happy we’d be spending the time together. 

Our conditions were pretty simple, living in what were basically shacks. I liked to think of them as rustic cabins. We had a mess hall (our version of a cafeteria) along with a small store where we could purchase items sent down from the states. Having fresh bread and soda was an actual luxury! Within our officers’ section, they had a simple kitchen set-up that only they were allowed to utilize. However, an exception was made when I proposed cooking the holiday meal for our intimate group of enlisted personnel and officers.

Knowing when the next transport would be arriving, I made a “shopping list” a few friends state-side took care of, sending down not only food items, but decorations as well. We turned our tropical setting into a holiday spectacle with Christmas trees, cardboard snowmen, and plenty of silver garland; right down to our military-issued green socks for stockings being hung from the rails on our wooden porches with candy canes nestled inside.
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When it came time for our holiday dinner, I took pride in being able to cook a traditional feast consisting of turkey, dressing, potatoes, and vegetables. (I’m certain we had some sort of dessert, but honestly can’t remember if it was pumpkin pie or other.) 

Once the meal was ready, I was asked to say a prayer (being the facilitator of the event) and readily thanked God for all he provided us, including the bond we shared in our time together. It was a memorable holiday indeed, making the most of what we had and who we had around us. And I for one know that when I spent subsequent holidays and time with family and friends, I simply enjoyed the gatherings; uncaring of fancy dishes or the number of presents under the tree. For me it was about quality time together.

Frankie Chandler left the Navy to become a rural veterinarian while also helping raise her nephew. State Trooper Rory Sanders is raising his daughter after the death of his wife. Neither is looking for love, but fate has a way of intervening.

Wife, mother, grandmother; veteran, dental hygienist, romance author. I write what I enjoy – contemporary romance with humor, emotion, and always a happily-ever-after. When not writing or reading, I’m enjoying time with family in the Pacific Northwest and dreaming of worldly travel with my husband.

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Winter Blogfest: Ellen Mint

December 27, 2019 By 5 Comments


This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an ebook copy of Pride & Pancakes..

Hot Cocoa Pancakes!

People always start these recipe blog posts with a meandering story no one reads, so here goes:

One December 25th, I was trapped in a cave as a wild Yeti prowled the mountainside. He’d snapped my climbing gear, leaving me stranded with only a snuggie to wrap around my shoulders. Starving, I ripped into the stack of presents I’d been trying to leave for all the good little mountain gnomes and winter fairies. But seeing as how I faced being dinner for an abominable snowman (who did much less singing than cartoons had led me to believe) I needed them more.

All I found was a hand wrapped skillet, in no way a passive-aggressive gift, a pancake mix stuffed inside an oven mitt, and three packets of hot cocoa without the marshmallows. While, as everyone knows, that is the worst kind of hot cocoa, I instantly had an idea on how to survive the freezing Yeti attacks.

Hot Cocoa…you already know what I’m making. You read the headline.

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking

powder

1/2 teaspoon baking

soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 packets hot coca

1 1/4 cup milk

1 egg

4 tablespoons melted 

butter

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topping

1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and cocoa mix in a bowl.

2. In another bowl, whisk together butter, milk, and the egg. Add a little vanilla if you wish.

3. Stir the flour mixture into the milk until both are wet with some lumps.

4. Heat skillet to medium. Pour batter and cook until some bubbles appear on the top, usually about two minutes. Flip to cook for another two minutes.  

5. Top with whipped cream and enjoy!

As the delectable scent of pancakes frying on the skillet combined with the rich chocolate from the hot cocoa danced through the air, I heard a deadly growl. The yeti began to paw at the rocks that I’d once thought were unmovable. Apparently, Yetis didn’t know the meaning of the word impossible. Or the meaning of any other word because they don’t speak English.

Grabbing the delectable pancakes, I leaped deeper into the cave when a massive head poked in. Snow drenched its scraggly white fur, horns of an undead gray scratching along the rocks as two eyes of coal hunted through the darkness. In that moment, pity for this massive creature overtook me. Here he was, his hair matted with ice and snow, his poor horns scraped on the ends, wasting his Christmas night hunting for what he saw as an invader of his mountain.

With my heart in my throat, I extended the plate of pancakes. Hot steam snorted from his nostrils smoking so thick through the air I lost sight of him. A giant paw with two-inch claws picked at the pancakes. Impaling them deeply upon his nails, he hoisted the fluffy chocolate griddlecakes up into the air and inhaled them in one big gulp.

I held my breath, terrified that once he finished with dessert, he’d turn on me.

The yeti’s massive black tongue lolled around his mouth, licking down giant fangs before the turned to me. Pulling the lips back in a terrifying rictus he said, “Damn, that’s good.”

If this holiday season, you find yourself trapped in a cave (or a house thanks to a blizzard), and have a packet of hot cocoa and pancakes at hand, why not give hot cocoa pancakes a try?

When Beth Cho is tasked with interviewing elusive musician Tristan Harty, it’s hate at first sight. Despite his sapphire eyes and lithe frame, he’s got to be the most infuriating man on the planet.

Tristan Harty is already sick of reporters and this one is proving no different. Sure, she might be adorable with her ebony hair and big brown eyes. But her incessant need to dig into his past is dragging on his last nerve.

The bickering duo vow never to meet again, but Mother Nature has other plans for them, trapping them in a Vermont cabin via a blizzard. The more Beth learns about the aristocratic Tristan, the harder it is for her to keep her professional distance, just as Tristan discovers a familiar heart beating in the beautiful reporter’s heart.

But what happens when the snowstorm’s over, and the melted Tristan and enamored Beth are free to leave? Can their reluctant attraction bloom into a deeper love with the thaw of their judgmental ice. Pride & Pancakes is a sweet yet steamy contemporary story inspired by Pride & Prejudice.

Ellen Mint adores the adorkable heroes who charm with their shy smiles and heroines that pack a punch. She has a needy black lab named after Granny Weatherwax from Discworld. Sadly, her dog is more of a Magrat.

Her first two books, Undercover Siren and Fever are available in both ebook and paperback. Gettin’ Lucky and Reefcake are two of her newest paranormals in the Wild Ménage series. Her next book Pride & Pancakes is to be released by Totally Bound. Look for it Christmas 2019.

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Winter Blogfest: Stacey Wilk

December 27, 2019 By 24 Comments


This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a $15 Amazon Gift Card.

Holiday Traditions

I love dessert. It’s my favorite meal. In fact, if I could eat sweets instead of real food, I would. My sweet tooth lends itself to my fancy for baking. If you ask me to bake you anything, I will. If you ask me to make you dinner, my skin starts to crawl, my eye twitches and suddenly the idea of cutting the grass with a pair of scissors becomes very appealing.

Christmastime provides me a good excuse to stretch my baking wings. All the possible cookie choices! Some years I make more than others, but every year I make Tarallis. Those are Italian buttery cookies my family has made for decades. The Tarallis are a popular southern Italy cookie (my baking family is from Calabria) and can be made in varying ways. Understand that my way is best. That’s why I won’t link you to someone else’s site about them. So, if you’re interested in learning more about these or other Italian cookies, you’re on your own this time.

Why are mine the best? Because of my grandfather. Pop-Pop was a baker by trade and an excellent one. (I’m not showing favoritism either. Anyone who ate his pastries and cakes would have told you the same.) He was also one of my favorite people in the whole world. He taught me how to bake. (Among other things like how to drive and to stay away from boys. Though I didn’t listen on that last one.) He taught me to bake by marching over, assessing my progress, grabbing whatever was in my hand and saying in his heavy Italian accent only strangers heard and with complete love, “What are you doing? Let me do that.” That was when I took a step back and handled the clean-up.

I lost him twenty years ago. Christmas and those Tarallis give me an excuse to bake and when I bake, I feel like I’m spending time with him. He is the person I think of as I crack an egg, or line a pan with parchment paper, or make sure I stir in only one direction. I don’t like to let this time of year go by without baking something. If I had my way, he’d be baking with me (though he’d be 98 now. Not sure how much baking he’d be doing.) But having him to bake with now, is not the way the story goes. Instead, my holiday tradition has been to bake in his memory and hopefully the results would do him proud.

What are your holiday traditions? What makes your holiday complete? Who do you share them with?

Twenty-five years ago, Savannah Savage-Montgomery spoke four little words that sent her first love running. Forced to get on with her life, she met another man, married him, and raised a family. Now her past has returned, and JT’s presence threatens to unhinge the emotional façade she constructed.​JT Davies left Heritage River as the least likely to succeed, but he’s back and ready to prove his worth, especially to the only woman he’s ever loved. He’ll start by winning the catering spot for the town’s anniversary event. But the problem is he’ll have to push Savannah out to do it. ​​Savannah wants to protect her reputation and her late husband’s memory, but she can’t stay away from JT. She will be forced to choose between a happy family, a successful business, and the only man who ever made her feel like herself.
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Stacey Wilk wrote her first novel in middle school to quiet the characters in her head. It was that or let them out to eat the cannolis, and she wasn’t sharing her grandfather’s Italian pastries.
Many years later her life took an adventurous turn when she gave birth to two different kinds of characters. She often sits in awe of their abilities to roll their eyes, stay-up all hours of the night, and misplace everything. She does share the cannolis with them for fear of having her fingers bitten off.
Because of the extraordinary characters in her home, including a king who surfaces after dark and for coffee, she writes novels in multiple genres about family, home, and second chances.
When she’s not creating stories in make-believe places, she can be found hanging with the cast members of her house or teaching others how to make make-believe worlds of their own.

Stop by for a visit and make sure to bring some cannolis. www.staceywilk.com Or her private Facebook group for her amazing readers – Stacey’s Novel Family https://bit.ly/2FK8Lae Or her newsletter – https://bit.ly/2A0jEFk

 

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Winter Blogfest: January Bain

December 26, 2019 By 17 Comments


This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a $15 gift certificate from Amazon..

What is the Perfect Story for Christmas?

Christmas is truly my favorite time of the year! And this year it has even more special
meaning than usual because I’m going to write my very own Christmas story set in Sweetwater, North Dakota and Joy’s All Things Christmas Shoppe! So of course, I had to watch ALL the Hallmark movies on tv that thankfully are shown every hour by the hour, looking for the inspiration for the perfect story. I’ve been thrilled with stories of small-town heroes, small-town celebrations, and best of all, lonely people finding and helping each other during the magic that is Christmas. I’ve watched the heroine and hero fall in love over coffee, and Christmas tree decorating, over Christmas Pageants, and racing about solving a scavenger hunt, during cookie making and crafting gingerbread houses, and over the simple pleasure of sitting before the fire together, eating popcorn and watching a Christmas movie. And after watching oodles and oodles of them, I’ve come to the conclusion there is no one perfect story, but hundreds of them! All entrancing you with the magic of the season. And on that note, I wish all of you the very best and may you live your own perfect Xmas story, whether in real life or through the pages of a book, and be blessed with the gift that is Christmas.

Fondest regards,
January Bain
Storyteller
(and writing from a very small town in Canada)


Charm McCall, armed with a library full of Agatha Christie stories and her unique witchy gifts, knows how to solve a small-town murder…
Charm McCall, the oldest of the McCall triplets by a whole day—or one minute before midnight if one’s being picky—is the designated driver for her whole town. Why, if it wasn’t for her, Snowy Lake would incinerate or fall into Hudson’s Bay. With her unique abilities, she’s all set to keep her family and town safe and on its proper course.
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And why does he have to be so darn hot?

 

I think I’ve wished on every falling star, every blown-out birthday candle, and every coin thrown in a fountain to be a storyteller. And I know where it all began! I was blessed by being read to by my mom every night at bedtime. 🙂
I love spending hundreds of hours researching the unusual and the mundane to create books that feature strong, kickass women, hot complicated men who aren’t afraid to take risks, and wild adventures full of twists and turns.
You can find me hard at work every morning without fail in my office with a furry baby trying to prove she does a better job of guarding the universe than anyone.
I enjoy talking books, so please connect on Facebook!

 

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Winter Blogfest: Mariah Lynne

December 26, 2019 By 12 Comments


This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an e-book copy of SHADOWS ACROSS TIME.

It Sure Is a Wonderful Life

SAMSUNG

That magical time of year for family, turkey, greetings, and carols is here. Holiday movies will soon prevail on TV. I can’t lie. I love to watch them all, but one black and white movie that opened in theaters in 1946 is my favorite. “It’s A Wonderful Life” has always stood out in my mind and heart because of its beautiful message.

The lead character George Bailey is a kind man who has spent his entire life helping his neighbors in Bedford Falls. He always wanted to travel but never had the opportunity. He had to take over the family business and by doing so, tries to prevent the rich greedy Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town. All that prevents Potter from doing that is George’s modest Mortgage and Loan Company, which was founded by his generous father. But one Christmas Eve, George’s Uncle Billy loses the business’s $8,000 in cash (which back then was a fortune) while intending to deposit the money in the bank. The greedy Mr. Potter discovers the misplaced funds and hides that fact from Billy for personal gain. 

Later that same night, the bank examiner discovers the shortage and George Bailey realizes since he is the head of the company that he will be held responsible, sent to jail, and his company will dissolve. With Bailey Mortgage and Loan gone, Potter will finally be able to take over the town.

Concerned about his wife and their young children, as well as his many friends, George decides they all would be better off if he died. Suicide is the only answer. But a gentle angel named Clarence answers the prayers of George’s loved ones and comes to earth to help George through this difficult time. Clarence in doing so will earn his angel wings. 
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Clarence shows George what things would have been like in Bedford Falls if George had never been born. George decides not to jump into the icy river. By seeing how he impacted so many people’s lives, George’s entire view on life takes a radical turn. He’s happy to have so many friends and family whom he helped along the way. Now they all come to his aid when he has to pay back the bank shortage. George’s change of heart demonstrates what we all should be thankful for – what really counts in life –love, family, and good friends.  

So if you’re feeling a bit down this holiday season, maybe think your problems are insurmountable, this movie will pick you up and give you hope. If you’re not, “It’s A Wonderful Life” is a Christmas fantasy that will warm your heart with holiday cheer and good wishes. You’ll want to hold your loved ones a little closer. It’s my favorite holiday movie and I watch it each and every year.

Florida homicide detective Brianna Breeze can’t seem to catch a man unless she handcuffs him. So her best friend decides to take matters into her own hands and tricks Brianna into seeing the Love Gypsy, a Time Traveler’s friend noted for her extraordinary matchmaking skills.

When a tall, muscular man wearing jeans, a black leather jacket, and slicked back 50’s hair, bursts in on her first visit, Brianna is bewitched. Despite the gypsy’s warning not to get involved with him, Brianna can’t get him out of her mind –even though she more than anyone knows the pitfalls of romancing a stranger.

A present day murder, a mysterious vintage car registered in the past, and a smoking gun complicate the puzzle. Brianna doesn’t know if her lover from the past is a murderer or a savior, but she’s willing to risk Time Travel to find out.

Mariah Lynne writes about strong heroines and distant places. A bit of mystery, a bit of romance,
and some adventure make her stories fun to read.
A resident of a small Gulf Coast Florida island, her surroundings play a role in all of her books.

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Winter Blogfest: Liz Crowe

December 26, 2019 By 7 Comments


This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a signed copy of LIGHTSTRUCK book 2 of the Brewing Passion series, with an official Liz Crowe tote bag! (U.S. Only).

Love the Ones You’re With: A Holiday Remembrance

Growing up, my family was not exactly poor, but our vacations mostly consisted of going to my grandparents’ Kentucky Lake house. We also spent every single Christmas Eve and Day + the Week After there, which was sometimes a challenge, considering my father was a minister of music at our church and head of the music department at a small Baptist college. In short, we were committed to this tradition, and while sometimes we were rushed to make it happen, we would always make the trek across the entirety of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in time to soak up all the awesomeness of the holiday PLUS (bonus) more birthday love for me, since I’m one of the Blessed Few who get to have a birthday and Christmas in one full-filled month.

I’m now in the fifty plus category when asked by marketing professionals and have had some time to create my own family traditions. Thanks to the six Christmases I spent with my family in three different countries, I’m somewhat averse to turning “traditions” into hard and fast rules. In my experience, the only real tradition necessary is that you and your family are together, happy, and healthy. It certainly worked for the Crowes as we celebrated alongside our new friends and neighbors in Japan, Turkey, and England. 

As I get older, I think back on my childhood Christmases spent in at that lake house, at meals that never, ever included alcohol, always involved at least one trip to church, with most evenings culminating in family-wide gin rummy games where we ate fresh popped popcorn and drank sugary co-colas, and realize that I probably did not realize how good I had it. It was, without a doubt, a more innocent world—sans social media, smart phones, and other interpersonal skill-killing devices. And I was, of course, madly in love with the holiday itself—the music most especially, plus the ballet, and the hush of a Christmas Eve carol service. It was all I needed in the whole wide world—my parents, my brother (ok, I had to include him), my grandparents, and extended family all living nearby. 

That solid base of holiday traditions stood me in good stead when I began creating my own—the last minute shopping (I hate shopping), the very last minute gift wrapping session, and a delicious meal—although we do include the Devil’s Juice, sorry Nana. One thing I do always try to do is find a new game—card* or board or otherwise—that we can all play a few times in the week leading up to New Year’s Eve, when the now-grown Crowes take flight for their now-grown lives and we all settle in to tackle a new year with good food, fun times, a fair bit of booze, and family game time to sustain us until the next December. 

*Remind me to tell you about that time we taught my 77-year old mother how to play Cards Against Humanity….

Happy Holidays to you all, no matter how, or with whom, you celebrate them!

Book one in the Brewing Passion series
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One hot entrepreneur plus a driven saleswoman and sultry brewer: simmered in the craft beer world for a unique, sexy reading experience!

When wealthy brewery owner Austin Fitzgerald meets sexy saleswoman Evelyn Benedict, angry sparks fly. They seem destined to clash, until a hot hookup in a cold beer cooler changes everything.

For Austin, it’s a life-altering moment that sets him on a path away from his birthright, while Evelyn must face her fears about committing to a man considered the playboy of the micro-brewing world.

The power of their preconceived notions nearly tears them apart—until they meet up with brewmaster Ross, who opens their eyes to a deeper, more erotic connection.

But three strong personalities don’t always make for the best emotional mix and when a simple misunderstanding causes chaos, it’s up to Ross to somehow repair the tattered shreds of their relationship.

Amazon best-selling author, mom of three, Realtor, beer blogger, brewery marketing expert, and soccer fan, Liz Crowe is a Kentucky native and graduate of the University of Louisville currently living in Ann Arbor. She has decades of experience in sales and fund raising, plus an eight-year stint as a three-continent, ex-pat trailing spouse to call upon for inspiration.
With stories set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch, in successful real estate offices and at times in exotic locales like Istanbul, Turkey, her books are unique and told with a fresh voice. The Liz Crowe backlist has something for any reader seeking complex storylines with humor and complete casts of characters that will delight, frustrate and linger in the imagination long after the book is finished. Liz books bring something unique, both in settings and characters, that will hook readers of romance, women’s fiction and chick lit alike.

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Winter Blogfest: Jaqueline Snowe

December 25, 2019 By 4 Comments


This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a paperback copy of The Game Changer.

Christmas Traditions

The holidays are my favorite time of year—from Halloween to Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. There is something magical about the final three months of the year. It could be the chilling temperatures, the smell of fireplaces burning in the air, or the excitement of seeing family. I grew up with millions of memories and cannot express out thankful I am for everything my parents did for me and my brother. 

Everything is different this year though: we have a son. I’ve been thinking a lot about what we are going to do for our first real Christmas as a family. Previously, we lived in apartments and always traveled back to the cold Midwest to celebrate the holidays with our parents, but now? We have a house and cannot travel since our little guy is so young!

It gives us free reign to establish our own traditions and I want to pick the best parts I remember from my childhood to create the same sense of excitement for our dude. So far, my list includes:

-decorating the CRAP out of our house

-watching my favorite Christmas movie with my homemade popcorn recipe (Home Alone)

-watching my husband’s favorite Christmas movie with eggnog (Christmas Story)

-play Christmas music the second Thanksgiving is over

-buy and create a stocking for our little guy

-have a lazy, food-filled Christmas morning in matching pajamas. (my husband’s family gets matching PJ pants for everyone every year and the pictures are awesome)

-take pictures. Lots of pictures.

-make cookies and eat them without shame or remorse
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-buy gifts for our fur babies and spoil them with treats

-enjoy each moment without always thinking about what’s next 

Because we were always traveling for the holidays, we always put our dogs in a doggie hotel when we were away and this year, we get to wake up with them Christmas morning. We are so excited to not have to worry about airports or crowds, packing or trying to fit gifts into suitcases. Yes, not seeing my parents on Christmas will be tough, but thank God for technology. We’ll facetime and laugh.

One tradition that I want to pass onto my son is what my mom started for my brother and I when we were young. I’m not sure what year it started. My guess is about seventeen years ago but every year, I would get a Harry Potter ornament where my brother would get a guitar. Each one was different but followed the same theme. So now, I have seventeen Harry Potter ornaments that all get their own little tree to display. I love it so much and once I had my first kid, my mom said her reign is done and it’s my turn to start with my own child and I can’t wait…but there is a lot of pressure. He’s so little that we don’t know what he likes!  Do I pick elephants, baseball, sloths, dogs, dinosaurs, trucks, football?

I’m not sure what I’ll end up picking but I do know that our first family Christmas will be amazing without all the flare of gifts and pressure of getting the “right thing.” We’ll be together and that is the best gift of all. 

I love hearing about traditions or stories from others. Do you have a friends-mas story or a quirky tradition in your family? Please share!

Pretending to date your best friend is always a good idea…right? Wrong.

Greta Aske has a lot on her mind, and a string of bad dates has her giving up on men, at least for the time being. Her life contains a little too much drama, meaning she needs a break and to save money and get good grades. The perfect solution presents itself—pretend to date the campus playboy. That’ll keep the guys away for sure.

Aaron Hill is desperate to save his baseball career because, with his dad fighting cancer, he damn well knows he can’t ask for a single penny from his parents. Baseball is his past, present and future, so when a scandal threatens his chance in the MLB, he turns to his best friend for help. A fake relationship will keep him out of trouble. It’s perfect, really. Greta’s taking a break from dating and Aaron needs to focus on training.

Nothing could go wrong…as long as neither falls for the other. But when lines are crossed, what’s real and fake blurs and the two are forced to face their fears. Could Greta be the game changer Aaron needs?

Jaqueline Snowe lives in Arizona where the “dry heat” really isn’t that bad. She identifies as a full-blown Gryffindor and prefers drinking coffee all hours of the day. She is the mother to two fur-babies who don’t realize they aren’t humans and her new son who smiles all the time. Her life revolves around balancing her day job in education and her incessant need to write and explore the world with her wonderful baseball-loving husband.

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Winter Blogfest: Peggy Chambers

December 25, 2019 By 5 Comments


This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a print copy of Blooming Justice to the winner inside the US.

The Scent of Christmas

I walked in the door at Lowes near the garden area and it caught me by surprise – cinnamon. Not the common fertilizer and weed killer smells. It smelled like Christmas. It took a while to find where they hid it. The scent was somewhere in the store  – after all it wasn’t even Thanksgiving.  My Halloween candy wasn’t even gone. And I followed my nose. Up high above my head, I found them. Cinnamon pinecones.  The scent of Christmas.  I had to have those – later – after Thanksgiving.  If they were still there.  I love the scent of cinnamon no matter the time of year, but it probably reminds me of my mother’s snickerdoodle cookies and Christmas as a child.

But cinnamon isn’t my only love. I loved the smell of a real evergreen in the living room. The smell of an alpine forest inside for all to enjoy.  Unless you were allergic to it as my son was. 

Growing up, like many families, we always had oranges in our stocking.  We never had a fireplace, but we still hung the stockings somewhere for Santa and in the morning they would be full of nuts and oranges, our presents under the tree.  I was never sure why oranges.  They weren’t a winter fruit – not local to where we lived.  But it was a tradition.

Cinnamon, evergreens, oranges. I found a potpourri once called Scent of Christmas and I think it smelled like all of these together.  It was so strong, I had to let it sit on the porch for a day or two so we could breath, but it was Christmas.  Add some nutmeg and cloves and you have almost found it.  Maybe the scent of my mother’s mincemeat pie.  Many people don’t like mincemeat, but it was a staple in our house for the holidays and it had every spice and herb available in it.  

Why are the holidays such an olfactory experience?  Why do we remember the spices and sweet treats from our childhoods? They were from the good times. A simpler time in our lives.  Remember waking on Thanksgiving morning to the smell of turkey roasting?  Mom had been up for hours working tirelessly so we could gorge ourselves and then take a nap on tryptophan while she cleaned up the mess. 
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Now the best smell of Christmas will be family. I’ll remember my mother’s perfume as I hug my daughter. Fresh washed children run through the house squealing with delight. Warm sweaters and warm smiles, soon the room will warm with all the bodies until we have to turn on the ceiling fans and turn down the heat.  The smell of food and love are one whether we realize it at the time or not.  Probably not. But the scent of Christmas is full not just of things we ate but people we loved.  

Family is the true scent of Christmas, but cinnamon . . .

Erin Sampson always wanted to be an attorney. But until she experiences a real taste of injustice, she has no idea what the legal field is all about. After being sexually harassed at the senior prom by a boy, she learns he has escalated from bullying to rape.

 

Peggy Chambers calls Enid, Oklahoma home. She is an award winning, published author. Blooming Justice is her seventh book. She has two children, five grandchildren and lives with her husband and dog.
She attended Phillips University, the University of Central Oklahoma and is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. She is a member of the Enid Writers’ Club and Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc.

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Winter Blogfest: Catherine Curzon and Eleanor Harkstead

December 25, 2019 By 6 Comments


This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an an ebook of The Captain and the Best Man or The Captain’s Cornish Christmas.

Christmas is Made for Traveling

At first sight, there might not seem anything particularly festive about our new addition to the Captivating Captains series – The Captain and the Best Man, which was released early in December. It’s a holiday fling between a floppy-haired young man on his first long haul flight and the dashing airline pilot who flies him to a tropical island. Had they been travelling to Lapland to ride with the reindeers and visit Father Christmas, then it would have been a far more festive affair.

But then, travelling is an intrinsic part of Christmas. Aside from battling the crowds to get home in time for the turkey and mince pies, many people plan their summer holidays in the lull just after Christmas. The short days make us pine for long summer evenings, the cold and dreary weather make us wish for the sun. And reading a story set in the sunshine is almost as good as being there.

Even the original Christmas story itself involved travel. And how many Christmas films involve travel as well? Because so often at Christmas time, as in the original Christmas story, we’re trying to get back to somewhere we, in some way or another, belong.

From Home Alone, where Kevin’s mother desperately tries to get back to her son, to The Snowman, where a little boy goes on a magical voyage once his parents are asleep, travel pops up again and again in Christmas stories. 

The late John Hughes liked his characters to race against the clock to get home – before he made Home Alone, he made Planes, Trains and Automobiles, where the two men make emotional as well physical journeys, without breaking the mould of a roadtrip comedy. I might be British and have never been to a Thanksgiving dinner, but I can still understand the sentiment that underpins the urge to get home in time to celebrate a special time with family and friends. It would be the same if it was a get-together for Hanukkah, Diwali, Eid, Kwanzaa, New Year, or any other celebration. That urge is universally human. Planes, Trains and Automobiles resolves with Steve Martin’s character looking beneath the surface of his annoying, accidental fellow traveller to see his loneliness and good-heartedness underneath. And he gets home on time.

Our novella The Captain’s Cornish Christmas partly came about because I’d got into the habit of reading festive romances on my train journey down to the West Country to visit my parents at Christmas. And seeing people in Santa hats wandering through a frosty fishing village on the rocky coastline contributed to my personal take on Christmas – it has a distinctly coastal feel. In that story, too, there’s a homecoming, when Sam Coryton decides to leave London and return to his childhood home in Cornwall. It of course helps that the local lifeboat captain is rather gorgeous. Will a sprinkle of Christmas magic help them get their happy ever after?
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Are you travelling somewhere this holiday season? And if you’re staying at home, is there somewhere you wish you could go?

When Josh meets handsome airline pilot Captain Guy Collingwood on a sun-kissed island, he finds out what flying first class really means!

When Josh leaves the rainy shore of England for the sun-drenched tropical island of St Sebastian, his biggest worry is remembering his best man’s speech. But a chance meeting with handsome airline pilot Captain Guy Collingwood leads to a hot and raunchy holiday romance.

Guy’s everything Josh is looking for in his ideal man. Mature, dashing and confident, he’s also single and more than happy to show Josh the pleasures of St Sebastian. Yet Guy’s unruffled demeanor hides a past regret. Is the wedding of Josh’s best friend about to reopen a painful chapter that has never fully closed?

As a fearsome tropical storm threatens the island paradise and a broken family threatens Josh and Guy’s happiness, the stakes have never been higher. Can St Sebastian work its magic to heal past wounds and will Josh and Guy’s holiday fling take flight?

Catherine Curzon and Eleanor Harkstead began writing together in the spring of 2017 and swiftly discovered a shared love of sauce, well-dressed gents and a uniquely British sort of romance. They drink gallons of tea, spend hours discussing the importance of good tailoring and are never at a loss for a double entendre.

They are the authors of numerous short stories and two novel series, the de Chastelaine Chronicles, and the Captivating Captains, published by Totally Bound and Pride.

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