Showing posts with label Home for Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home for Christmas. Show all posts

Monday, 7 December 2015

Miranda's Musings

CHRISTMAS 2015 SUPER DUPER BUMPER EDITION!



Happy Christmas, darlings, from me to you. And if you don't celebrate Christmas, have a happy festive season and happy holidays. It's such a lovely time in the calendar, all glittery and happy and wonderful. So without further ado let me lay a very small portion of my Christmas reading in front of you.

Picture: debbiemacomber.com


I look forward to Debbie Macomber's Christmas book every year, buying the hardback because - well, because I can. And because the cover is gorgeous and sparkly and tactile... This year it's Dashing Through The Snow - a road trip story with a gorgeous H&H (hero & heroine), a puppy, the FBI, Home Security, bikies and aliens. Yes, really! A fabulously funny romp.



Picture: alexbrownauthor.com



If you're in the mood for snowy English village festiveness, try The Great Christmas Knitoff by Alexandra Brown. I so so so wanted to have a slice of the oozy lemon drizzle cake and drink tea and knit with Sybil and these amazing ladies. Having the gorgeous green-eyed Irish Dr Darcy around would also definitely mend any broken heart.



Picture: amazon.co.uk



And while we're in England, how about A Vintage Christmas by the always entertaining Trisha Ashley? I adore her books, they're full of dry British humour, entertaining characters and luscious food. A bit more women's lit rather than romance, but this one has a wedding + Christmas! 'Nuff said.



Picture: amazon.com.au



Here's a terrific anthology with beloved Aussie authors Marion Lennox, Kandy Shepherd and Michelle Douglas: Home For An Aussie Christmas. From reuniting a husband and wife through a terrifying bushfire, to the beautiful setting of Dolphin Bay (and yummy cooking), to childhood friends finally becoming lovers (this one has kittens) - three romantic stories to cherish.


Picture: kandyshepherd.com



And here's another Kandy Shepherd to pop in your stocking: Gift-Wrapped In Her Wedding Dress. Cue the billionaire and the party planner - and another wedding. Yes please! And look below for another story from Kandy in a Christmassy Aussie box set from the Love Cats Down Under. You've got Christmas all wrapped up indeed, Kandy!





Picture: itunes.apple.com


Can you squeeze in some more? Happy Historical Christmas! Christmas Revels II is by authors previously unknown to me but now I'm a huge fan, and am planning to catch up with Christmas Revels, last year's anthology. I don't want to miss a word. I think my favourite was A Christmas Equation by Anna D Allen, with a tall, big-hearted, seriously scrrrumptious red-headed hero. 



Picture: amazon.com.au


And I must, must, must add everyone's beloved author Anna Campbell and her new, dazzlingly super-hot romantic Regency novella, A Pirate For Christmas. Arrrrghh, count me in. It's all about a vicar's daughter, the new earl/pirate (?!), and the naughty donkey Daisy, who provides such laughs, all wrapped up in a big Christmassy bow. And just look at that gorgeous red frock on the cover and all the gold decoration. A swoon-worthy book, inside and out! Anna, we love you. Just keep writing. Psst! See below for the chance to win a great freebie from Anna with just one comment!

Picture:
heroesandheartbreakers.com



And wait, there's The Last Chance Christmas Ball with fabulous author favourites Mary Jo Putney and Jo Beverley, et al. A scrumptious upstairs, downstairs anthology with linked stories. Oh my word, you can never have too much of that.



Picture: www.amazon.com



I've really enjoyed the inspirational 'boxed set' Love's Gift, all Christmassy and delightful to read. Heather Gray's story An Informal Christmas is set in a hospital with sick kids, so get the tissues ready.




I've only recently stumbled on these 'boxed sets' in all romance sub-genres, which sell for a ridiculously low price and give hours of reading enjoyment. On my hit list are Home For Christmas, another inspirational box; there's also Christmas Pets and Kisses, a PG rated box. You can go much hotter with Red Hot Holidays featuring shifters, billionaires, officers, rock stars and alpha males. Fan, fan, fan. Or Shifter Wonderland (the title says it all). Or Alien Wishes and Holiday Kisses, a sci-fi boxed set. There really is something for everyone! You're welcome.

I could go on. And on and on and on! So many seasonal books come out at Christmas, and they're perfect to give away, or give yourself (no-one will notice that extra stocking stuffer; but if they do they'll think someone else gave it to you).

Picture: amazon.co.uk


Last but definitely not least, here are two super special releases, just for you... I simply cannot resist mentioning these delicious looking anthologies. They're are in my Christmas stocking ready to go, and I can't wait to dive in. First up is Hot Christmas Nights with some of my fave Love Cats Down Under authors, so dear to us. Kisses to you all, you amazing authors. Finally, don't forget The Ultimate Christmas Anthology 2015. Look at those delish covers, wow, the temp just skyrocketed...!

Picture:millsandboon.com.au



STOP THE PRESS!  Happy holiday news! The very generous and beautiful ANNA CAMPBELL has donated TWO copies of A Pirate For Christmas for two lucky commenters. I cannot recommend this novella highly enough, it is beyond fabulous. So get your typing fingers ready and comment, comment, comment for your chance to win one before the week is out. Tell me about your Christmas reading, and what you long for under the Christmas tree?


Happy Christmas, beautiful people. Cherish your precious ones and be kind to each other. Thank you for sharing your reading journeys with me through 2015, and I look forward to seeing you again at Miranda's Musings in 2016. And psst, look for a very special reading event (drumroll): The Breathless List, published early next year.


Love from Miranda xxx

 

Love to love:     Christmas romances!

Love to laugh:   well, it is the season to ho, ho, ho!

Love to learn:    what books do you want Santa to bring?



Monday, 15 December 2014

The Romance of Christmas

with guest blogger Fiona Greene






A few years ago if someone had told me that my first published work would be a contemporary Christmas romance I would have fallen off the chair laughing. I love my sci-fi and futuristic romance, and while I am still writing spec fiction, I'm now exploring the contemporary side of things as well. I always have a few Christmas romances in my Christmas stocking but I was surprised to find myself writing one. I think the success of Home for Christmas stems from my love of the festive season.


I thought I would share ten reasons why Christmas is an inspiration to my writing.

I love to love… 
  • Getting together with family and friends, especially the ones I may not catch up with during the year. 
  • Giving to family and friends, but more importantly to strangers. Knowing you made a difference in the life of a stranger doing it tough at Christmas is so worthwhile. 
  • Family traditions. My family always starts Christmas day with bacon and eggs, while my husband's family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve. My family does pudding and custard, my husband's family likes chocolate and ice-cream. All great traditions that I look forward to. Of course, there are the extended family "sucking the joy out of life" traditions and I've sprinkled a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly into Home for Christmas. 
  • Christmas carols and lights. We've just moved this year to a new neighbourhood and I can't wait to explore the Christmas light displays and the local carols. 
  • Going for a run really early Christmas morning and listening to the silence, punctuated by the excited yells of children discovering a new bike or trampoline. 
  • For the month of December, doing the bulk of my shopping at the IGA and strip shops rather than the local Westfield shopping centre and giving back to the community of retailers who were open at 5.30am when I needed bread and milk. Parking is also so much easier. 
I love to laugh…



  • Hells Belles Christmas Party, where we celebrate our writing successes and set goals for the year ahead. 
  • The annual city council bus decorating competition, the fiercest competition in all of Queensland, where rival bus depots vie for the honour of best decorated bus. Our local depot ensures whoever drives the decorated bus wears a Santa suit. The passengers can't help but smile when St Nick is driving! 
  • The annual "firefighters rescuing Santa from the roof of our local children's hospital", while the kids in isolation "help" with the rescue by pointing, holding up signs, clapping and cheering. It’s a heap of fun and I try to time our run between families to arrive at the same time as the firefighters. If you thought firefighters were generally hot, imagine how much hotter they are when they are saving Santa from certain death after he became stuck on the roof. 

I love to learn…
  • Resetting for the year ahead. We have one day over the Christmas season where we do nothing at all. That's when the Christmas romances and the chocolates come out. 


So, those are my Christmas inspirations.  What about the holidays inspires you?  

I wish you and your family all the best for the festive season and hope you are blessed with everything your heart desires. 
-Fiona

           Fiona Greene's debut romance novella, Home for Christmas (published by Escape) is 
           available through all major etailers.
What began as an impersonal-but-cheerful holiday gift for a soldier far from home becomes so much more...
Sergeant Tate McAuliffe, stationed in Afghanistan, opens his Christmas care package from Australia and is stunned by both its contents and the sender. 
Fun-loving Christmas tree designer Layla Preston is a breath of fresh air for loner Tate. Although they’ve never met, their email friendship quickly develops and their feelings for each other deepen.
But Layla knows the heartache that loving a soldier can bring and when Tate is injured, her deep-seated fear drives them apart. With their relationship in tatters, can Layla and Tate work through their differences, so Layla can welcome Tate home for Christmas?