Good morning! Please welcome guest author Anne Kane. Though I will be away for most of the day, please feel free to leave comments for Anne and I will post them as soon as I return. Thank you!
~Kate
How to Avoid the Christmas Panic…
By Procrastinator Extraordinaire
Author Anne Kane
Christmas! It’s almost here. Are you excited, or is that last minute I-still-haven’t-got-the-shopping-done panic starting to surface? I’m past the panicky point. That was last week, when I finally got over the flu and realized that I simply couldn’t manage to bake up a storm, show up for work every morning, elbow my way through the crowds at the mall, put up a tree, and still have fun – all in the short time left before the big day. So, I decided to prioritize. Let me share some of my tips with you.
- The tree. If you put enough lights and shiny things on it, no one will notice that the ornaments are not perfectly spaced. Lets face it, most of my family knows that I have no clue who Martha Stewart is, and they expect cheerful and sloppy. It’s a matter of conditioning them over the course of decades to just be happy that you didn’t call them to help.
- Baking. Announce you are on a diet, and that if you bake you might be tempted to eat it all. Not only does that get you out of baking, but everyone who isn’t on a diet feels honor bound to make sure you don’t succeed, so they will show up at your house with plates of shortbread and Santa cookies!
- Work. Okay, unless your boss amazingly understanding you still have to show up for work in the mornings if you want to get paid. Since I’m currently self employed my boss knows exactly how stressed I am and she does everything she can to make my life easier. And, on the plus side, this is the time of year when good customers feel like bringing you little presents. Got to love that!
- Shopping. Unless you did it all in August (which I didn’t) try to order things online. I managed to get just about everything I needed ordered in less than an hour. ( Hint: give gift certificates to your favorite online bookseller or publisher, and the recipient won’t have to go to the mall either!) Of course, I’ve heard rumors that some of you actually enjoy shopping. If you’re one of those types, I envy you. Go. Shop. Enjoy. And rest easy in the knowledge that I won’t be there getting in your way.
- Win an e-book or two or fifty-two! Yes that’s right. One way to shed some of the stress of the season is to read a good book, so to help you with that Changeling Press is running their annual Win Free Books for A Year contest. Check out the details here https://www.changelingpress.com/special_event.php and then go buy some Christmas books to read. The Peppermint Twist series has a dozen great stories! Check out the excerpt for my contribution, Puppy Love, below.
There! Now you can get down to the fun stuff like playing with the kids and grandkids and gathering to sing Christmas carols. Christmas is all about family and fun and appreciating the miracle of the season. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas with lots of love and laughter.
Series: Peppermint Twist
Title: Puppy Love
Genres/Themes: Paranormal, Urban Fantsy, Romance, Interracial/Multicultural
Magic, Christmas, Werewolves, Big Beautiful Women
Author: Anne Kane
Buy Link – https://www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=2327
BLURB:
Sarah wants a normal life, without all the fur, fangs and drama that comes with her werewolf heritage. She left her home pack and moved to a small town in the Northern Rockies hoping to leave the past behind.
The first time Drake crossed her scent, he knew he wanted Sarah for his mate. Now he just has to convince her that she wants that too. With a wicked sense of humor and a little bit of Christmas magic he hopes to bring her over to his side — permanently.
EXCERPT:
She moved, shifting in his arms so that she lay on her side facing him. Opening his eyes, he found himself staring directly into hers. Not a bad way to wake up. He could drown in those deep pools and die a happy wolf.
“I don’t like werewolves, especially males.” She looked straight at him, as if daring him to point out the ludicrousness of the statement.
“We’re not all the same.” Lame, but her statement caught him totally off guard. So much for post sex snuggling. “And you let me into your house so you must like me just a little bit.
She let out a long, soft sigh. “Would you have gone away quietly if I’d asked?”
“No.” Might as well be honest here. “You wanted this just as much as I did. You enjoyed it.”
Sarah shook her head, a frown marring the perfection of her brow. “I know that. It’s crazy. I wanted you more than I’ve wanted anything in a long time. I can’t explain it, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let it continue. Insanity doesn’t run in my family. You have to leave. Now.”
She pushed away from him, rising to her knees on the far side of the bed. He felt her mind slam shut against him.
A pang of hurt lanced through him. He hadn’t expected that. It wasn’t the first time a female had rejected him after a thoroughly satisfying sexual encounter. He shook his head. “We need to talk.”
“No.” Her eyes were wide with a sudden fear. Of him, or herself? He wasn’t sure even she knew the answer to that one.
“And what the hell is it about my scent that attracted you anyway? I thought once I left Grace Harbor, I’d be free. I didn’t tell anyone where I was going.”
“You smell like peace.” He said it quietly.
She let out a very unladylike snort. “Peace doesn’t have a smell.”
“You asked what it was about your scent that I found attractive. It’s peace. When I inhale your scent, the wolf inside me calms. Until the other day, the concept of peace was foreign to me. Then I crossed your scent at the market in town, and for the first time I can recall, my wolf wasn’t raging to get out. It just… settled.”
She stared at him as if he’d just grown a second head. “You know that sounds crazy, right? I thought I had the corner on the crazy market.”
He shrugged. “It might sound crazy, but it’s the truth.”
She started to shiver, and he realized they were both covered in goose bumps. Getting to his feet, he scooped her clothes up off the floor and tossed them to her.
She raised one eyebrow. “You want me to put my clothes on? That’s a new one.”
“Not really. You look cold. I’d prefer to snuggle under the blankets with you, but I have a feeling that’s out of the question. For now.”
She started to pull her clothing on, one piece at a time. “Good guess. And not just for now. Permanently.”
He reluctantly stepped into his jeans and pulled them up over his hips. The zipper was a whole lot more cooperative going up than it had been going down. “I’ll call you later, okay?”
She shook her head. “No. I’m serious. This was a mistake, and one I don’t intend to repeat. Don’t call me, or come by. Ever.”
“I’ll do better next time. Woo you like you deserve. I’ll take you out to dinner, maybe some dancing.” He gave her his most engaging smile. “Food. Flowers. Wine. The whole nine yards. A real date.”
She stared at him with that you-have-two-heads look. “You don’t get it, do you?
I don’t date werewolves.
Buy Link – https://www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=2327
Sci –Fi and Fantasy with a sensual twist!
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