Is Love at First Sight for Real?

Hello, friends! Today I wrap up my series of holiday guest posts featuring talented authors. I hope you’ve had fun learning a little about them and their books. I asked them each to answer some holiday-related questions. For the grand finale, here’s Chloe Holiday. Welcome, Chloe!

–What’s your favorite holiday tradition and why? I find that just as scents do, music can transport me to another place, and I love holiday music of all kinds. We have an old 25-disc CD changer, and I load it up on the first of December with my favorites. It’s an eclectic mix of tunes: a Jazz Nutcracker Suite, instrumental carols in brass, sax, steel drum, and hammered dulcimer as well as full orchestral versions of Baroque Christmas music, and even one made from different pitches of frog croaks. Those with vocals range from old Nat King Cole songs to modern pop stars to the Vienna Children’s Chorus. It always gets me in the mood for all the holiday preparations.

–What’s your holiday “specialty?”  We grew up well-fed, but with not much left over, and the Christmas stockings were a big part of the celebrations, since the gifts were modest and limited. How we savored the treats, and traded them! My mother made each of us a custom, handmade stocking, and I’ve continued that tradition with my own family. They don’t match, but were made with love and laden with symbolism meaningful for each person.

Chloe is a military physician-turned-novelist who writes the things she loves to read: steamy, fun stories about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, smart women and men who aren’t jerks. About friendships, whether close women or a good bromance. She wants to bring you all the feels: the thrill of a smoldering gaze or the barest brush of fingertips, the shocked gasp at the underhanded villain, the angst of heartbreak, the joy of reunion, and of course, happily ever after!

A bit of danger always gets her going, so many of her Romances have a suspense subplot, and they all contain a dose of humor.

She hates to read the same old thing, with only the names and places changed, so her goal is to bring you a fresh, fun, NEW story every time, with NO CLIFFHANGERS– a rollicking, great story you can’t put down, where love prevails in the end, that will whisk you away from your own tribulations. Escape, relax, indulge—you deserve a Holiday!

FK cover

Finders Keepers Book blurb:  Convinced her boyfriend is cheating, free-spirited Farrah flees a holiday party and dodges into a bar where straitlaced Caleb indulges in one drink. Charmed, she goes home with him, but her boyfriend’s later texts persuade her she was mistaken. Horrified by what she’s done, she sneaks out in the night, leaving Caleb with a single mitten …

A favorite short quote from the book:  He didn’t believe in love at first sight. His parents had gotten engaged after only two days, but that was a one-in-a-million thing. Still, Caleb felt her pull, more intense than simple lust. Like a solar flare, disrupting everything around her, white-hot.

Connect with Chloe:  https://www.chloeholiday.com/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088GSS28W

Thanks so much for joining us, Chloe. Love how your last name goes with the theme! 🙂  I, too, made handmade Christmas stockings for my kids. Makes them one-of-a-kind! I love hanging–and filling–them every year even though the kids are grown!

Happy holidays to all, and best wishes for a joyous season and new year.

Darlene

Going Home and Finding Love

Hello, friends! Today I continue a series of holiday guest posts featuring talented authors who will share a little about themselves and their books. I asked them each to answer some holiday-related questions. Let’s get to know author Maria Imbalzano. Welcome, Maria!

–What’s your favorite holiday movie and why? I love “The Holiday” with Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Jack Black. It’s a “swapping homes” story where two women, one a wealthy California producer who lives in a mansion and one an English journalist who lives in the countryside, find each other through a house exchange website. Each of them is nursing a heartbreak and want to get away for the Christmas holiday. And of course, each of them finds love in their home away from home. This movie has just the right amount of conflict, humor, tenderness, and spirit without being the normal fare we usually see around the holidays.

–What’s your holiday “specialty?”  I’m not much of a cook, but I do like to bake—probably because I’m addicted to sugar. Christmas cookies are my favorite, so I guess that’s my specialty, although I want to be clear that I really don’t belong in the kitchen. I always baked these treats with my mom, and now I do it with my daughters and granddaughters. Of course, they don’t come out as good as when my mom was involved.  The problem with my baking in general is that I’m a little casual with quantities. My mother, daughters and husband have all commented on my methods of measuring water, flour, sugar etc. My response: Is there really a difference between dry measuring cups and wet? And do the measurements actually have to be exact?

Despite my shortcomings, we make butterballs, kiefli, chocolate walnut, and recently added red velvet crinkles (in honor of my book). In my opinion, they are all delicious.

Maria Imbalzano is an award-winning contemporary author who writes about strong, independent women and the men who fall in love with them. She recently retired from the practice of law, but legal issues have a way of showing up in many of her novels.

Maria is a member of New Jersey Romance Writers and has received many honors and awards for her work including the Readers’ Choice Heart of Excellence Award, the Write Touch Readers Award, The NEST (National Excellence In Story Telling) Award, the Carolyn Award, The Stiletto Reader’s Choice Award, Book Buyers Best Award, Long & Short Reviews Book of the Month Award, and Still Moments Magazine Reader’s Choice Award.

When not writing, she loves to travel both abroad and in the states.  Maria lives in Lawrenceville with her husband–not far from her two daughters and granddaughters.

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Book blurb:

Competitive, work-obsessed Bella Simonetti has just been fired from her high-paying job at a Manhattan law firm. At an all-time low, she returns home and helps her parents at their small-town gift shop, but the business is failing and may not make it past the Christmas holidays.

Successful landscape architect Dean Jackson is like a son to Bella’s parents. But he’s a persistent annoyance to her—he seems to have forgotten his unforgivable blunder thirteen years earlier.

When Bella transforms her parents’ gift shop into a cookie cottage, Dean’s generosity and magnetic smile are hard to resist, and those feelings of unrequited adolescent love come rushing back. But can Bella let go of the past and accept Dean for the man he is today?

A favorite line from the book: Some women fear the fire. Some simply become it.

Connect with Maria:  http://www.mariaimbalzano.com

https://books2read.com/u/38d09r

Thanks for joining us today, Maria! I also enjoy The Holiday and have already seen it a couple of times this season! And I love your quote from the book! Readers, what’s your favorite holiday movie?

Darlene

Discover winter charm in a Crystal Castle!

Hello, friends! Today kicks off a series of holiday guest posts featuring talented authors who will share a little about themselves and their books. I asked them each to answer a few holiday-related questions. Let’s get started with author Jennifer Ivy Walker. Welcome, Jennifer!

–What’s your favorite holiday tradition and why? I love making homemade Christmas Spice Cookies with my children—and now my grandchildren. I love sharing my own grandmother’s recipe and have been passing down this tradition for over thirty years now.

–What’s your favorite holiday movie and why? I love “It’s A Wonderful Life” with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. It’s poignant and emphasizes the value of love, family, and friendship, especially during the holidays.

–What’s your holiday “specialty?”  My holiday specialty is homemade pecan pie!

–A favorite holiday travel story to share? It’s always fun when out of state family members come to Florida for Christmas. We wear tank tops and go to the beach to enjoy the balmy weather!

    Enthralled with legends of medieval knights and ladies, dark fairy tales and fantasies about Druids, wizards and magic, Jennifer Ivy Walker always dreamed of becoming a writer. She fell in love with French in junior high school, continuing her study of the language throughout college, eventually becoming a high school teacher and college professor of French.
     Her new release, “Winter Solstice in the Crystal Castle,” is a steamy medieval romance between a flame-haired, fire-hearted French princess descended from Viking Valkyrie and the solitary, sullen knight who suffers an impossible love for her. Readers who enjoyed The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven trilogy will recognize several of the main characters in this new novel as well.
     Explore her realm of Medieval French Fantasy. She hopes her novels will enchant you.

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Book blurb:

Gabrielle is a flame haired, fire hearted French princess who dreams of becoming a Valkyrie warrior queen like her Viking ancestors from Normandy. Sent to Paris to learn the proper etiquette for a future French queen, she is called home to le Château de Beaufort for a forced marriage to a man she loathes when her father the king’s precarious health takes a sudden turn for the worse.

Chivalrous, solitary knight Sir Bastien de Landuc suffers an impossible love for Gabrielle, the unattainable princess he can never have. Without a title of nobility, he is ineligible to compete in the tournament for her hand in marriage, despite his unparalleled equestrian skills and inimitable swordsmanship.

Yet, Yuletide wishes for a wondrous winter solstice in the glorious Crystal Castle might make impossible dreams come true.

Can the valiant knight win the coveted hand of his Viking Valkyrie?

A favorite quote from the book:

“I shall be a warrior queen,” she’d told him, emerald eyes ablaze with fierce pride as she’d blocked and parried his blows. “A Valkyrie shield maiden, like my ancestor, Brunnhild.” Agile and graceful as a dancer, she’d spun with stunning elegance and surprising force, disarming him with a glorious, gloating grin. “And I shall defend this kingdom with my sword… thanks to you.”

Connect with Jennifer at https://jenniferivywalker.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Winter-Solstice-Crystal-Castle-Christmas-ebook/dp/B0CHG3ZQ8J/

Sounds enchanting, right? Tell us about your holiday traditions or books!

Happy reading, everyone!

Darlene

Celebrating a Book Birthday!

Ta-dah! After months of writing and editing, numerous rough drafts and revisions, a book is born! Yesterday was the official release date for my new holiday romance Christmas at Tall Pines! Curl up with this heartwarming story for an early dose of holiday cheer!

–Melanie Beck is searching for an idyllic Christmas like the ones her small family used to have. Traveling solo and still grieving the loss of her parents, she’s counting on cozy Tall Pines Lodge tucked into the mountains of Utah to provide the elusive holiday feels with merry music, stunning decorations and traditional Christmas feast in a beautiful frosty setting.

But a blizzard turns the winter wonderland into a hazard, and a chance encounter with a now-famous high school crush has her reeling with emotions she’s never quite gotten over. SomethingGood

Tyler Shaw, a Hollywood heartthrob and silver screen star, is so over a grueling film schedule and persistent paparazzi. In disguise and using a fake name, he comes to Tall Pines to escape the spotlight and get some much-needed rest. He’s hoping the adrenaline rush of downhill skiing at the nearby slopes will give him the reboot he’s looking for.

Instead, he’s stuck at the lodge and is shocked to run into an old high school friend that he left behind more than a decade ago. He’s even more surprised to discover how much he’s missed her.

As their past and present collide, can an old flame ignite some Christmas magic?–

Christmas at Tall Pines is available in digital and paperback formats from your favorite online retailer!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BK1TP381/

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1174660

https://books.apple.com/us/book/christmas-at-tall-pines/id6443949366

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/christmas-at-tall-pines

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/christmas-at-tall-pines-darlene-deluca/1142549099?ean=2940165952432

Christmas at Tall Pines already has two 5-star reviews!

— ‘Tis the season for holiday romance and this book will tug at your heartstrings. With emotions running high, a beautiful setting, and a festive ambiance, this romance will sweep you away. –N.N. Light’s Book Heaven

— This story was a delightful read. The setting, though storming, was charming inside the lodge from the decorations to the music and holiday cheer, as well as the fireside warmth. Melanie and Tyler have great chemistry. –Still Moments Magazine

Pick up your copy today! Happy reading to all!

Darlene