Holiday Reads and Giveaway!!

Happy holidays, everyone! I'm continuing the December fun. Today my guest is LAURA BROWNING. (Check out the cover!!!) Please leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for an e-copy of SANTA'S HELPER.

Now, help me welcome, Laura -

Are you ready for Christmas? I think my teenager has been ready since birth. Combine the proximity of Christmas with the end of exams and the break from school, and his excitement’s reached darn near torturous levels. Torturous for me. I finally told him if I heard one more word about how I need to wrap gifts and not leave it until the last minute I would return all of his, so there would be no need to wrap gifts. I am the Grinch. He is Cindy Lou Who.

Now I only have to listen to the countdown to school being out. Sigh.

I need some help from the heroine of my newest Wild Rose Press release, Santa’s Helper. Merry has plenty of Christmas spirit. In fact, she works part time as an elf at the local mall. That’s where she meets Jack, the unlucky sucker who lost a bet with his employees and now has to ring the bell out front.

Here’s an excerpt from Santa’s Helper:

 Merry sipped her coffee and angled her head at him. “You know, the first night I saw you, you didn’t look like the bell ringer type. And even though you’ve changed out of the fancy clothes, you still don’t look the type. How did you end up doing it…and doing it every night?”

Jack laughed. “I lost a bet with my employees and had to take over all their shifts.”

He watched in fascination as color stained her creamy cheeks. “Well, I’m glad. I’ve liked being able to bring you coffee and getting to know you.”

“I have another week, Merry.”

Her eyes widened. Was that hope he saw there? Gladness? “You do?”

He nodded before touching the delicate skin inside her wrist. “I want to kiss you. Will you let me?”

He watched her hesitate, and then she nodded. He smiled and scooped the last bit of brownie and ice

cream. “Here. It’s yours.” Her eyes held his as she slid the sweet from the spoon. Jack dropped the spoon into the bowl. “Let’s go,” he growled.

***

Watch it, Merry. Jack’s got a whole lot more than kisses on his mind…lol.

You can purchase Santa’s Helper from The Wild Rose Press. It’s also available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

You can also visit me at my website www.laurabrowningbooks.com or my blog www.laurabrowningbooks.blogspot.com.

Thanks so much for the chance to visit today. If anyone has a surefire way to ramp up the Christmas spirit, I’d sure like to hear it!

Holiday Reads and Giveaway!

WIN IT BEFORE YOU CAN BUY IT!!!

Please help me welcome my friend and RWA Chapter Mate, Megan Kelly. She's brought her brand new -- and I mean so new you'll have to go to her website this week to get the BUY Link - SANTA DEAR!  

Here is Megan's website. Please check back tomorrow if you're not the lucky winner. http://www.megankellybooks.com

Thanks for being here today, Megan. This sounds like a great read!

Trish needs a man--but ONLY to play Santa for her five-year-old son.
Sam wants to build a family, but not with a woman after his money.
Tyler just wants a bike.

Does Santa have enough magic to fulfill the wishes of these three people?

Trish Howell finds a letter to Santa Claus from her five-year-old son, Tyler.  In it, Tyler mentions that Santa might "just be a story," like his dad, who passed away when Ty was one.  The doubt breaks Trish's heart but steels her resolve to reassure her son.  She'll hire a man to play Santa.  It will be neat and tidy, with no strings--unlike those her husband used in his manipulation of her time after time.  She's not looking to repeat that experience.
Sam Carrow is taking a break from his successful construction business to rehab a house for resale.  Meanwhile, he's living with his friends, Bart and Jenny, to escape the plaster dust and enjoy a family holiday, even though it's not his family.  He can't refuse to play Santa for Tyler, but Sam has no intention of getting mixed up with Trish, who admits she'd like a rich husband.  He's been burned by ambitious career women in his past, including his mom and almost-fiancee.  No way is he getting mixed up with another.
Trish's mother-in-law is threatening a custody battle over Tyler.  Trish has to be careful to give her no reason to charge her with being an unfit parent.  Fortunately, her business is supporting them well enough, and there's no man in her life to compromise her reputation.  Especially not the man using her friend Jenny as a housemaid, cook, laundress, and cleaning lady..
Santa has his hands full with this bunch.

EXCERPT:
"She doesn't need just the rich part, Sam. She needs someone to take care of her for a change. She's a really nice woman, if you'd just give her a chance."
"I'm not in the market for a gold-digger."
Laying a hand on his forearm, Jenny met his gaze and held it. "Not all women are like Sherry."
An image of his ex-girlfriend came unbidden to his mind. Sleek. Beautiful. Cold. Living together suited Sherry. She liked being seen at the places he'd taken her. Until he'd proposed.
She'd refused, stating that planning a wedding would sidetrack her from getting ahead in the corporation. She'd have been satisfied with continuing her relationship as it stood, but she needed to concentrate on her career.
Sam had declined and moved to Cloverdale.
He wouldn't get mixed up with another woman who put her career before her family, no matter if she was Jenny's best friend. His mother and Sherry had been lessons enough. He would find the ideal woman someday, but it wasn't Trish Howell.
"Tell her to look elsewhere for Santa and for a husband."


In unpublished form, this book won the GRW Maggie Award of Excellence.  This is my first self-published work, although I have four Harlequin Americans in digital form also. 
Website: www.megankellybooks.com