Category Archives: Christmas

CHILL WITH A BOOK READERS’ AWARD goes to…

It Happened on Dufferin Terrace!

chill readers award

Receiving the award is the protagonist, Serenity Layne.

* applause*

Thank you. I’m speechless. I’ve accepted many awards on behalf of Thacker, Price & Associates, but none have thrilled me more than the Chill with a Book Readers’ Award. *nervous laugh*

Not so long ago, this would have been routine. Not to belittle the firm, but it was me. Me, before I met Roger Scott, his delightful son, Adam, and their goofy dog, Tori.

These incredible people opened my eyes to life, love and taking chances.

Our initial meeting was unconventional. I mean, how many couples end up together because of one party getting knocked down by a dog? Roger was so remorseful, so gracious, how could a girl not be attracted to him? Did I mention he’s also attractive?

I know. I’m babbling. It’s the excitement of the moment.

Doesn’t the cover look wonderful with the award on it?

chill readers' award

Here’s what my story is about.

She’s married to her job… He’s a widowed father…

Miracle on 34th Street meets Sleepless in Seattle…

Toronto business consultant, Serenity Layne, knew the only person she could depend on was herself. Busy with her career, she has no time for other pursuits and life’s intangibles

Widowed for three years, Roger Scott, a data security specialist in Quebec City, is a single parent to his ten-year-old son, Adam.

On a day out on the Plains of Abraham with their black Labrador Retriever, Roger’s cell phone rings incessantly. Adam has played matchmaker and put his father’s profile on a number of online dating sites.

The week before Christmas, Serenity is heading up a series of meetings after a six-month study of the Canadian retail chain, jonathans. After an unpleasant encounter with one of the store managers, she escapes from the boardroom of the Château Frontenac Hotel, only to be bowled over by Roger and Adam’s dog.

Guilty over the accident, Roger invites Serenity out for a drink by way of apology. Over the course of the week, and spending time together, feelings long dormant for Roger are re-awakened. At the same time, emotions foreign to Serenity fill her with contentment and happiness.

Will the couple get their happily ever after?

It Happened on Dufferin Terrace is available at these retailers.

amazon

Books a Million

Barnes & Noble

kobo

Meet the Scotts & Laynes – stars of the It Happened Series #sweetromance #Canada

The Scotts & Laynes are the stars of the It Happened Series – sweet romances set in picturesque Canadian locations.

You met Roger Scott; his son, Adam, and Serenity Layne in the first book of the It Happened Series – It Happened on DufferinTerrace, a Christmas novella set in Quebec City.

Scotts & Laynes

Here’s what Book 1 is about…

Miracle on 34th Street meets Sleepless in Seattle

Toronto business consultant, Serenity Layne, knew the only person she could depend on was herself. Married to her career, she has no time for other pursuits and life’s intangibles.

Widowed for three years, Roger Scott, a data security specialist in Quebec City, is a single parent to his ten-year-old son, Adam.

On a day out on the Plains of Abraham with their black Labrador retriever, Roger’s cell phone rings incessantly. Adam has played matchmaker and put his father’s profile on a number of online dating sites.

The week before Christmas, Serenity is heading up a series of meetings after a six-month study of the Canadian retail chain, jonathans. After an unpleasant encounter with one of the store managers, she escapes from the boardroom of the Château Frontenac Hotel, only to be bowled over by Roger and Adam’s dog.

Guilty over the accident, Roger invites Serenity out for a drink by way of apology. Over the course of the week, and spending time together, feelings long dormant for Roger are re-awakened. At the same time, emotions foreign to Serenity fill her with contentment and happiness.

Will the couple get their happily ever after?

In It Happened on Dufferin Terrace, readers were also introduced to Roger’s younger sister Melissa and her beau Gareth, along with the matriarch of the Scott family.

At the end of the book, Serenity’s brother Erik made a cameo appearance.

What about the rest of the Scotts & Laynes? All of the siblings (some mentioned by name only in Book 1) and their partners will have books of their own.

Here they are in no particular order…

Christopher Scott & Lori Brownlee in It Happened at Lake Louise.

Erik Layne & Hilary Dunbar in It Happened in Gastown.

Michael Scott & Jennifer Fox in It Happened at Niagara Falls.

Melissa Scott & Gareth Young in It Happened at Percé Rock

and finally

Amy Scott & Kyle Ferris in It Happened … at an as yet undetermined location.

Have a favourite Canadian city or other destination? Leave it in the comments. I’d love some additional input.

If you want to get acquainted with the Scotts & Laynes and enjoy sweet romances, why not start with It Happened on Dufferin Terrace?

amazon
kobo

And in print at

amazon
Books a Million
And
Barnes & Noble

 

SALE ENDS SOON! Oct 1st the price goes up ~ It Happened on Dufferin Terrace #Christmas #sweetromance

sale ends soon

The sale ends soon! The 99¢/99p price of It Happened on Dufferin Terrace goes up on Monday, Oct 1st.

Pick your copy of this #Christmas, #sweetromance novella brimming with that “feel good” up this weekend for the bargain price.

She’s married to her career… He’s a widowed father…

Miracle on 34th Street meets Sleepless in Seattle in

It Happened on Dufferin Terrace

Toronto business consultant, Serenity Layne, knew the only person she could depend on was herself. Married to her career, she has no time for other pursuits and life’s intangibles.

Widowed for three years, Roger Scott, a data security specialist in Quebec City, is a single parent to his ten-year-old son, Adam.

On a day out on the Plains of Abraham with their black Labrador retriever, Roger’s cell phone rings incessantly. Adam has played matchmaker and put his father’s profile on a number of online dating sites.

The week before Christmas, Serenity is heading up a series of meetings after a six-month study of the Canadian retail chain, jonathans. After an unpleasant encounter with one of the store managers, she escapes from the boardroom of the Château Frontenac Hotel, only to be bowled over by Roger and Adam’s dog.

Guilty over the accident, Roger invites Serenity out for a drink by way of apology. Over the course of the week, and spending time together, feelings long dormant for Roger are re-awakened. At the same time, emotions foreign to Serenity fill her with contentment and happiness.

Will the couple get their happily ever after?

BUY LINKS

 kindle

Kobo Canada

Kobo US

 

CHRISTMAS AT BAY TREE COTTAGE by Linn B Halton #Christmas #giveaway

bay tree cottageChristmas at Bay Tree Cottage

by

Linn B. Halton

bay tree cottageGenre: Romance/women’s contemporary/holidays

Release Date: 3 Nov 2017

Publisher: Harper Impulse

The countdown to Christmas is usually a magical time, but Elana James is fed up with living on a building site! The renovations on her beautiful cottage – like her heart – have been frozen in limbo ever since she was unexpectedly widowed.

Elana calls in a professional, Luke Stevenson, to help finish the cottage, so her little girl can send letters to Santa up the newly-repaired chimney. Luke’s kind, capable and sexy – but he’s also ten years younger than Elana. So why has her heart decided it’s finally time for a thaw?

The perfect read to curl up by the fire with … for fans of Rebecca Boxall.

EXTRACT

‘Mum, can we light the log fire tonight?’ Maya looks up at me with eager eyes.

‘I think we should wait until the weekend, darling. There isn’t really time to appreciate it on a school night, is there? Besides, I’m not even sure whether there are any logs left in the store. I promise to get it sorted as soon as I can.’

It was Niall’s job, sorting the fire. He would have booked the chimney sweep in early autumn and had the logs all ready and waiting, stacked neatly against the back wall of the garage. Ironically, last year I was much more organised. I suppose it was one of my coping mechanisms during those raw, early weeks and months. Keep going; keep doing something – anything, so I didn’t have to listen to what was in my head. But I feel bad. Maya will remember that this time last year we spent every evening huddled together on the sofa in front of the fire, reading. Hour upon hour we escaped into alternative worlds inspired by some wonderful authors. Roald Dahl’s Matilda, E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, and Maya’s favourite, Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch, a story of tenderness and triumph.

It was the very worst of times, but I focused on getting us through it one day at a time. My gut instinct, immediately after the accident, had been to sell the cottage just to escape that prevailing sense that something was missing. Niall was no longer here and it would never, ever be the same again. But soon realisation dawned that Maya needed a sense of continuity; the memories trapped within these walls were a lifeline for her, although a cruelly painful reminder for me. In a way she feels her dad is still here and I can’t take that away from her.

BUY LINKS

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

ABOUT LINN B HALTON

bay tree cottage

Bristol-born Linn lives in the Forest of Dean, in the UK. She resides there with her lovely husband and cat, Ziggy. She has been writing novels since 2009 and has written short stories for a number of magazines. She is also known for her series of ‘Home by Design’ articles wearing her former interior designer hat.

“I’m a hopeless romantic, self-confessed chocaholic, and lover of coffee. For me, life is about family, friends, and writing. Oh, and the occasional glass of White Grenache …”

An Amazon UK Top 100 best-selling author with A Cottage in the Country in November 2015, Under The Stars also became a best-selling novel in November 2016. Linn’s novels have been short-listed in the UK’s Festival of Romance and the eFestival of Words Book Awards. Linn won the 2013 UK Festival of Romance: Innovation in Romantic Fiction award.

Linn writes chick lit, romantic comedy, women’s contemporary fiction and psychic romance. Publishers include Harper Impulse, Choc Lit and Endeavour Press.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LinnBHaltonAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LinnBHalton

Goodreads Author Page: http://ow.ly/mk3H30atV5h

Website: http://linnbhalton.co.uk/

COMPETITION – No purchase necessary

A pamper kit (UK only)

bay tree cottage

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The stockings were hung…

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

The stockings were hung…

stockings… by the chimney with care…

waiting for the arrival of the man with flair

not to mention his long, curly white hair

stockingsShh… he’s arrived, sat on a barrel as his chair

Sneak in and see what what he has, if your dare

But remember, t’is the season to share…

And now my poem is over (thankfully, you say)

But before I bid my final adieu, if I may…

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Merry Christmas everyone!

**********

 Wishing you all the merriest of Christmases. May all your wishes have come true.

What did you get in your Christmas stocking? Were you naughty or nice? Treats or a lump of coal?

 

Santa Claus Comes Tonight

It’s Christmas Eve…

Santa Claus comes tonight!

 

Santa Claus

The lists have been made. The shopping is done. Perhaps a wrapping marathon is in your future tonight? And there’s always the assembly of bicycles and other toys so that everything will be perfect in the morning.

Did you know you can track Santa’s progress as he makes his way around the world? NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense) has a website dedicated to following the jolly old soul’s whereabouts. 2015 marks the 60th anniversary of NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) tracking Santa’s flight. Pretty amazing when you think about it.

Tracking Santa is a fun activity for everyone, not to mention it keeps the little ones occupied when you’re trying to clean up after your Christmas Eve supper. You can follow Santa at the Official NORAD Santa Tracker site.

And in keeping with Santa coming tonight, enjoy this video.

 

Christmas baking ~ Treats I grew up with…

Christmas baking

When I was growing up the Christmas baking started before Halloween to ensure there was enough to get us through from Christmas Eve to after New Years.

My mum had a set of metal Christmas themed cookie cutters – Christmas tree, bell, holly leave and Santa with his bag of toys on his back.

Christmas baking
By No machine-readable author provided. AdinaB-O’B assumed (based on copyright claims). [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Mum’s shortbread recipe:

1 cup soft butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen.

Once these were out of the oven and cooled, they were put in special cookie tins that were only used this time of year.

Another treat that was made for Christmas was chocolate fudge.

My mum used the Carnation 5 minute fudge recipe. Easy to make and did it ever taste good!

Christmas baking
By theilr (originally posted to Flickr as fudge) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
I loved being home when this was made because I got to lick the wooden spoon that was used in the making of it and have the scrapings from the pot.

The fudge was stored in a waxed-paper lined tin with sheets of the paper between the layers of candy to keep them from sticking to each other.

Mum also made mincemeat and cranberry tarts which she froze. Now we didn’t have a big freezer and the tiny one in the top corner of our fridge was barely big enough for a brick of ice cream.  Being the resourceful person she was, all the tarts were individually wrapped in foil and placed in one of her large roast pans and buried in the snow outside the backdoor.

They were brought in as and when needed and warmed in the oven.

I always knew when I came home from school at lunch time and my grandmother was perched on the stool at the end of the counter that it was fruitcake making day. She always came to help.

During the Christmas baking season our house always smelled so good with the aromas of the various holiday treats. Thinking back to these days, I’m getting hungry.

What seasonal treats did you have when you were young?

 

Christmas must sees

Here is my list of Christmas must sees…

christmas must seesI’ll start with a couple of animated programs:

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! I caught this one on TV the other night and found myself singing along with “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch…”

A Charlie Brown Christmas I admit at the end when the Peanuts gang yells “Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown” I get a little lump in my throat.

Christmas must sees

Now for some movies…

Some of these I must watch at specific times:

A Christmas Story My husband doesn’t like this one so it’s popped in the DVD player while I put up and decorate the Christmas tree. He’s usually off doing something else so it works out perfectly.

This next group, while it doesn’t matter which order I watch them in, there are only certain versions I like…

Miracle on 34th Street but it has to be in black and white – not this colorized nonsense – and the one with Maureen O’Hara, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn.

The Bishop’s Wife with Carey Grant and David Niven.

Holiday Inn where White Christmas is sung for the first time.

White Christmas I love the costumes in this film. This is the only one I’ll watch in colour… somehow this one wouldn’t be the same in B&W. Not that it was made that way but many moons ago, all there was were Black & White televisions.

It’s a Wonderful Life but not the colorized version. Hope this is another that has to be in good old black and white.

Christmas Eve I have to see A Christmas Carol and not just any version. It has to be the black and white, 1951 with Alastair Sim version. (I know, I’m picky) I think this is the movie that turned me off colorized films in the first place. How many of you always thought the bed curtains in Scrooge’s room were a deep, reddish burgundy shade? And what did they come up with when they colorized the movie? Green!

Christmas Day, starts after the presents are opened, the meal is finished and it’s quiet time… relatively speaking.

First movie popped into the DVD player is Holiday Affair with Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh. It’s another classic in black and white. Unfortunately the imdb link didn’t work for this one.

And in the afternoon, while the turkey is cooking and we might be having snacks…

It’s the 1945 version of Christmas in Connecticut with Barbara Stanwyck.

Christmas must sees

That’s my list of Christmas must sees… what are some of yours?

 

Cards – to send them or not to send them… that is the question

Do you worry and wonder about sending cards at this time of year? Okay, this might be a bit late because most of the mailing deadlines have long since passed.

Well the folks at https://www.grammarly.com/grammar-check have put together a couple of tongue-in-cheek infographics to help you through this troublesome dilemma.

The New Adult…

 

Holiday Card Flow Chart Infographic1

The Pro Adult…

 

Holiday Card Flow Chart Infographic2

And some fun facts about holiday cards...

  • Americans send 1.6 billion holiday cards annually [source]
  • Women purchase an estimated 80% of all greeting cards [source]
  • E-cards have become an environmentally friendly alternative to paper cards [source]
  • Christmas cards originated in London, where Sir Henry Cole commissioned the first in 1843. [Source]
    • Two batches totaling 2,050 cards were printed and sold that year for a shilling each. [Source]
  • Despite the separation of church and state, it’s customary for the President and First Lady to send White House Christmas cards each holiday season. [source]
    • Calvin Coolidge issued the first official Christmas message to the American people in 1927. [source]

About Grammarly…

Grammarly is a simple and powerful writing app that corrects more types of spelling and grammar mistakes than any other software on the market. The product suite comprises: the Grammarly Editor online editing tool; browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari; Grammarly for Microsoft Office; and Grammarly for your Desktop, a convenient desktop editor for Mac and PC.

As a company, Grammarly’s mission is to improve communication among the world’s more than 2 billion native and non-native English writers. Millions of registered users worldwide trust Grammarly’s products, which are also licensed by more than 600 leading universities and corporations. Grammarly is an Inc. 500 company with offices in San Francisco and Kyiv.