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| Christmas Pudding featured in A Dark Hero Xmas |
Christmas is upon us. It's December, my favorite time of year. I'm celebrating by having a 3 day ebook giveaway on Amazon.com of one of my Christmas Stories.
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| Click link below to get your free copy |
The Widow's Christmas Wish--Free today and Friday only
The Widow's Christmas Wish is book two in the A Dark Hero Christmas Series. It is part of a Trilogy that continues the story of three women from the full length historical novel, Dark Hero, as they celebrate the Christmas season. The Widow's Christmas Wish is the second book in the series, but a stand alone.
Backstory:
At the end of Dark Hero, the hero's mother arrived to celebrate Christmas. I ended the book with mom freaking out as she thought her son was dead. He's a recluse and shuns social gatherings. She walks in on Christmas Eve to find a party in full swing, complete with musicians playing and dancing. So, her first thought is that he died and someone else lives at the manor. Now, the reason I had to have an abrupt end to Dark Hero--leaving it with mom arriving and freaking out--is because the book was already a full 400 page novel. So, I wrote three new stories, love stories with each one featuring one of the female characters in the main story. The series features three women, a bride, a widow and a companion (single woman) celebrating Christmas together over the week of a family houseparty. It's about family traditions, romance, Christmas traditions, and the irritations of family that come with the holidays. The series is also available in one book, if you prefer to have them all in one set. You can buy them separately or in one volume.
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| Christmas Feast in Dining Room circa 1800 |
Chances are, if you have a few decades of Christmases under your belt, you've experienced Christmas with that annoying, arrogant or unpleasant relative. In the first story, Christmas at Ravencrest, the new bride Elizabeth is struggling to create a wonderful Christmas for her family, both old and new. She's got two brothers to please, a cantankerous grandfather, a new husband, his family--including his mother--ah, the mother-in-law. We all have fond memories our husband's mother, right? Especially in those first months of marriage, when everything is new and expectations are high.
Elizabeth is in a strange place, the Caribbean, in a new home, far from her beloved England. She's trying to create a traditional Christmas for her family in a non-traditional setting. Her grandfather is ill, and is being a jerk about celebrating Christmas, making everyone uncomfortable. Her younger brother is being petulant, demanding a traditional English Christmas Pudding when they are on a remote island in the tropics, and the mother-in-law will arrive at any moment. Elizabeth has not yet met her husband's mother, so this Christmas celebration is fraught with anxiety for her, as you can well imagine! Worse for it, her new husband is acting odd, playing pranks on her and trying to keep her distracted. Could he be hiding a very special present or is he just being a jerk--as the honeymoon fever wanes? (You'll learn why he's doing this in A Christmas Kiss, as Chloe the companion and the staff are instructed by him to keep Elizabeth from entering her private salon for two days before Christmas--to hide his gift)
The current free offering is about the Widow, Elizabeth's Mother-in-Law, Alicia Beaumont. See top link and 1st book cover above) The story is told from Alicia's point of view, with her struggles with her grown son who is a very difficult person to deal with. Her only child, Donovan, is a recluse. She learns on arrival that he's finally married, and is hurt that he didn't even invite her to the wedding or notify her that he married a few months earlier. Alicia also encounters a new butler, Giles St. Vincent, who will turn her heart and her predictable life upside down during her stay at Ravencrest Plantation. It was a fun book to write, as anyone with adult children and can fully understand a mother's disappointent or irritation with how her child turned out as an adult, despite her best intentions.
The Third book is about the Paid Companion, Chloe Ramirez. She is a servant at Ravencrest. An upper servant, but even so, a paid companion to the lady of the house. Chloe's never had a real Christmas before. She is confused by the traditions, and sees all the prep and fuss as a lot of work. Chloe is in love with the master's dependent relative, Gareth. They have been meeting in secret, having a little romance on the side. Chloe is hoping to get Gareth to reveal his affections for her publicly, so they don't have to hide their relationship. She's using some good old fashioned voodoo magic and a Christmas tradition of the kissing ball to get Gareth to come forward. Her story is about new love, a servant and a single woman reaching for forbidden love in the form of her employer's family member. Her Voodoo spell affects other men instead of the one she intended.
As we enter the Christmas Season, take time for joy. Take time for you. As a mom and grandma I know how hectic it all gets as we shop, make cookies and oodles of goodies for the family, plan the meal, and coordinate the family event. It might even involve extensive cleaning if you are hosting Christmas at your house this year. But PLEASE---Don't get too busy and become frustrated. Do something nice, just for you, to make you happy. Eat chocolate, take a day off for just you, buy yourself that nice thing you've been wanting. Watch a Christmas movie--tear jerker or romantic comedy--your choice, not the kids this time. Read a Christmas romance--I'm giving you one here if you like. But please, please indulge yourself a little so when the big day finally comes, you can be calm, serene, and enjoy the day with friends and family.
As an added bonus, you can download Dark Hero, the first book in the series, and the main book, FREE, on smashwords.com. Smashwords allows you to pick your ebook device, and offers all kinds of e-reader or pdf options. Smashwords link
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL,
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