Art Imitating Life, or Why I'm Dreading Tomorrow

As some of you may know, I have three kids in various stages of teen- and tween-hood. And one of the shows they have watched with varying degrees of consistency is Glee.

(Last season was pretty much a miss to the Davies family, but prior to that, it was must see TV for several of us.)

Yes, I count myself among the Glee-watchers. I started watching to have something to do with my kids, but ended up sticking around for the songs and the storylines. Sometimes we loved it, sometimes we hate-watched, but either way, we watched.

And if every episode there was at least one action or decision by a main character that ended up in a "THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER DO THAT" conversation with my kids, well, I took it as a teaching moment.

But last summer, real life intruded on the little microcosm that is Glee, when actor Cory Monteith was found dead in a Vancouver hotel, a death that was tied to drug and alcohol abuse. My kids were saddened but not distraught, and sadly, it was another teaching moment for our family - about how hard addiction can be to beat, and how even people with advantages and resources can get caught in that downward spiral.

Which brings us to tomorrow. The show will be airing its tribute episode, saying goodbye to both Cory and the character he played, Finn. Midkid asked on the way to soccer, "What happened to Finn? Have they announced how he died?"

As far as I know, they haven't. And I'm a little wary of watching the episode, for several reasons. Trepidation over how they'll walk the fine line between grieving for a character and castmate, and putting him up on a pedestal. Concern that the 'cause of death' will be too close to how he really died - or not close at all. And not sure how I'll make it through the episode without a box of kleenex, for me and my kids.

But we'll be there, nonetheless, hoping that this episode, more than any other, the creative team gets it right.

Guest Blogger Sascha Illyvich - Rare Interview with Józsi from the Opeth Pack

Illusive as he is, we finally managed to catch up to Józsi, current Opeth Pack Alpha and convince him to shed some light on what is really lurking out in the woods. His messenger, Lukina, and pack Healer Ilona are also present, presumably to rein him in. We sat down in my loft for the interview. 

And keep me safe. We're seated in plush leather chairs around a coffee table, thick cigar smoke billows around our heads from the Ecuadorian puro Józsi is smoking. Dark hair has fallen roughly around his face but those ice cold blue eyes stare at me. Of course Lukina is dressed in her soft white cloak but she, like Ilona, is dressed in jeans and sweaters. Lukina's red hair falls loosely over her shoulders and she sits relaxed, one hand in Józsi's. Ilona's red hair has been pulled into a ponytail, emphasizing the soft features of her face. The two women gaze at each other, caress and touch Józsi often. Only Józsi is menacing in black, and the look in his eyes is hardened but I'm sensing a bit of softness but that's probably because his lovers flank him. He's only been Alpha less than a month and the wear in his face shows. It's early January and we're back in his home in Texas, Lukina has assured me she has to find another of their pack.

All four of us have whiskey in our glass and the bottle's on the table.
SI: Mr. --

Józsi: Józsi is fine. (He takes a long draw on the cigar, blows a thick plume of smoke over our heads. His jaw twitches and he reached for his whiskey. Ilona pats his thigh.)

SI: You've been Alpha all of what, a month now? How's that and why you?

Józsi: Yes. All of about a month. It's not been my idea of fun. (he smirks) As to why me? Prophecy which no one understands, is why I'm alpha. Because my two lovers required it of me. They asked me to stop running from them and when faced with life without them and responsibilities I didn't want, or dealing, I made the obvious choice.

SI: I see. Can you tell us more about Prophecy?

Józsi: Yeah. Fuck it. It's ruining the lives of our wolves and putting humans in danger. This drive man and wolf has to find this perfect place is maddening and the concept of a Heaven is one I find fucking repugnant. (Lukina slaps his thigh. He glares at her. Quite frankly I'm a little more scared of the tiny redhead than I am of the big bad alpha.)

SI: So are you telling us you're not really a fan of organized religion?

Józsi: I'm telling you none of that matters. According to legend, if we're to buy into that nonsense, wolves were created by the Boldog Asszynoy and given to a distant relative of our current pack witch just seems ludicrous. The fact that a deity of that caliber force children on a human witch, then would forsake her children and leave us to deal with both our problems and that of the human world is offensive. But, (he sighs, takes a drag on his cigar) shit's gotta be done. I don't know if we can ever find any semblance of peace in the afterlife but I'm damn sure going to make sure the pack destiny has shoved in my face is smart and safe and stable.

(His tone has grown more morose over the course of his rant. I need another whiskey)

SI: You are a frightful race.

Józsi: Only if you piss us off. We have to hunt and live and feed like every other creature. It wasn't our fault or even our Elders faults. A few generations back maybe. I'm not saying we're perfect but damnit this shouldn't be our mess. It pisses me off (he glares at Lukina, then stops.)

Lukina: Józsi is rather passionate in his beliefs but let me see if I can help explain. (Her voice is much calmer) Fate has, (she pauses as if searching for the right word) put us in a position where we are aware of who we are, what we are and what our potential may be. But, it has not been so forthcoming in the details.

SI: I see. What are your goals for the pack? You've told me your story, it's out with the world now. How did you find the strength to overcome your fears?

Józsi: growls, slams his drink back and glares at me.

Ilona: Draga! (She turns to face me) You'll have to forgive us. This is…a delicate subject for him and for his patience we are grateful. (She pats his thigh, nuzzles him) But our history is long and rich, that we have not shared with you. Wolves are no more dangerous than man, but many of us have…lost our way.

Józsi: Lost our way. Yeah. That's it. Look. The best I can promise is that our pack, while not whole right now, will no longer have to starve and maybe we can coexist with man someday. Until that time comes, I'm going to make sure each strong male works, each woman tends to her duties and that we can function in a society that outnumbers us. A strong man is no match for a thousand ants if he's caught sleeping.

SI: I see. What are your plans for the future, aside from getting the pack to function in the human world?

Józsi: I still have no idea. Truthfully if it weren't for Lukina and Ilona I wouldn't be here right now. I've ran for so long, avoiding my destiny, never knowing truly what it was. Now that I'm facing it, I have no idea what it truly is, other than to spend the time with my two lovers while we figure out the best course of action for the Opeth Pack. (He stands, puffs one more time on the nub of his cigar and sets it down in the ash filled tray. The band slips off and I noticed he's smoking Don Cervantes, a personal favorite of mine.) Time to go. Ladies?

Lukina and Ilona: Pleasure to meet you.

I nod and watch the three of them leave in peace, knowing that the menacing tone Józsi used is a defense mechanism because as he told me earlier when I wrote his book, he'd found love finally and would die to protect that love.

Website: Http://saschaillyvichauthor.com

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/saschaillyvich

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/saschaillyvich

Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/RomanceAuthorSaschaIllyvich

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SaschaIllyvich

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2928546.Sascha_Illyvich

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/SaschaIllyvich?feature=mhee

Kelly Jamieson releases OFFSIDE

Congratulations to Kelly Jamieson!

Offside,  book 5 in her Heller Brothers Hockey series, is now available!

Honey Holbrook is trying hard to leave her past behind her and make a new life for herself. A former spoiled, rich, wild child, her attention-grabbing antics were tabloid fodder for years. Now she has a new job, a new home, and is staying out of the limelight. But the first day of the new job doesn’t go like she expects when her boss and coworkers make it clear she’s not wanted there, and the first project she has to work on is with pro hockey player Matt Heller.

Matt and Honey had a wild and wicked fling eight years ago when he was attending summer development camp for the California Condors – the NHL team Honey’s dad owns. But the relationship ended when they argued over the loser friends Honey hung around with and Matt had to return to college hockey. Before he left, Matt talked to Honey’s dad about Honey’s exploits. She felt betrayed and rejected, and threw herself even harder into her partying lifestyle while Matt tried to carve out a career for himself in the NHL.

Now Matt’s back with the Condors but recovering from a serious injury that has changed his whole outlook on life. He’s not impressed to be working with Honey Holbrook, although her cleaned up image arouses his curiosity. And arouses something else...


Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Smashwords

What I did on my summer vacation...

A funny thing happened on the way to writing this post. I forgot what I was planning on writing about. But I promise I have a better excuse than "the dog ate my homework"...or maybe not. Maybe "jet lag ate my brain" is just a grown up version of the same thing.

Either way, it's true. I remember sitting on the plane home...the second flight, some eighteen hours into a Very. Long. Day. making notes for the various blog posts that all happened to be due this week. I swear I had an idea. But it disappeared somewhere  over Oklahoma...or thereabouts. I'm not really sure. After about 28 hours of being awake (thanks, hurling fans, for that 3 am wake up call!) everything tends to take on a surreal quality.

It was an interesting trip...but more surreal than usual.  In New York, for example, in order to get from one connecting flight to the other we had to leave the airport, walk through the parking garage, and go through security...which meant the water we'd just bought in the airport and forgot about in the course of our trek was still in our carry-on luggage. uh...ooops?

Customs and immigration officials ask the weirdest questions. While looking at my passport they've asked me my name. And here I'd assumed being able to read was surely a prerequisite for the job!

After learning that we were flying back to San Francisco, one customs official asked if we were Giants fans. What makes that surreal is the fact that I grew up on the east coast, where the Giants are a football team. Out west, it's baseball. I had no idea what sport we were talking about. In either case, the answer is no. I don't follow sports. Luckily, I let my husband field the question.

Every time we flew on Aer Lingus, they tried to give us fruit plates. I'm not sure what that was about since we were both pretty sure we hadn't ordered fruit plates, so...yeah, that was weird. Also, the tea in Ireland and England must be chock-full of caffeine. I went weeks without a single cup of coffee and didn't get a single headache.

Also, despite the fact that we moved from town to town pretty much every day while we were in Ireland, we kept running into the same people at each stop. From Galway to Inish Mor, to Killarney, to Cork. I'm reasonably certain that all these places have multiple places for tourists to stay. But no. It was just like being on a tour...only none of us were.

Oh, and speaking of tours--they're all completely nuts. And that's all I'm gonna say about that.

While in Dublin we witnessed the most bizarre "air show" ever. I wouldn't have known it was an air show if the tons of people lining the bridges, gazing at the sky hadn't tipped me off. It seemed to consist of commercial jets flying over the city, at odd intervals, en route to...wherever they were headed.  Top that Blue Angels!

Irish ice cream. OMFG. So good you don't even know.

Paris has undergone a weird transformation. For one thing, there's a large, extremely ugly structure, consisting mostly of bleachers and an elevator, that's been built directly in front of the cathedral, obscuring the view of it from almost every angle. Apparently it was built to commemorate the 850th anniversary of the cathedral. I could think of better ways to celebrate.

The second change...it's a two part change, actually, having to do with the upswing in petty crime. Thieves and con-artists are everywhere. They're not good con-artists, I have to say, and I don't think they're particularly good thieves either...which is a blessing of sorts. But they're so very bad at what they do that it's kind of a wonder they don't just give up. The way they do it, it can't possibly be lucrative. On the plus side, the formerly aloof Parisians seem quite annoyed about it. To the point where they will stop if they see you being harassed and warn you to be careful. Last time I was in France, they liked to pretend they didn't speak English. This is better.

One of the more amazing things I saw on this trip was the cathedral at Beauvais. It's huge. It's the tallest cathedral in Europe...I'm pretty sure that's what I was told. And stumbling across it while strolling around town was probably the most surreal moment of the trip.

I'm sure there were more surreal moments, but that's all I can think of right now.

Thursday 13: The BEST Halloween candy

Halloween is almost here. Whether you trick or treat, buy candy, or sneak it from your kid's haul...everyone has their favorite pieces! What's yours?

1. Caramilk (Kelly)
2. Whoppers (Kinsey) 
3. Hershey's mini chocolate with almonds (Skylar)
4. Kit Kats (Juniper)
5. Snickers (Erin)
6. Almond Joy (Kate)
7. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (Meg)
8. Pumpkin Spice Hershey's Kisses (PG)
9.  Milk Duds (Kinsey)
10. Twix (Juniper and Erin)
11. 100 Grand Bar (Kate)
12. mini Hershey's Crackle bars (Kinsey)
13. Reese's Pumpkins (Skylar)

photo credit: NCReedplayer via photopin cc

A Special Giveaway

 

Memorial for the Granite Mountain Hotshots

On July 1, I’d just finished the final galley proofs of HOW TO TAME A WILD FIREMAN when news hit of the 19 hotshots who lost their lives fighting a fierce wildfire in Arizona. They followed their training, which was to deploy their fire shelters, but the fire was simply too intense. “Hotshots” are a specialized type of firefighter, highly trained, very physically fit, daring. They work in crews of about 20, and during wildfire season they often travel from one fire to another.  This particular hotshot crew was local, however, based out of Prescott, Arizona. Their deaths hit the entire firefighting community very hard, and especially their home state.

The hero of my book, Patrick “Psycho” Callahan, isn’t a hotshot, but he has all the training to become one, along with heli-rappelling skills. He leaves the firehouse in San Gabriel, California for Nevada, where a huge wildfire threatening his hometown. His role is to rappel out of a helicopter behind the fire lines. It’s dangerous, risky work, and what happened to the Granite Mountain hotshots could easily have happened to him.

Which is why the tragedy of the 19 hotshots struck home for me. I’d immersed myself in the world of wildland firefighting while working on HOW TO TAME A WILD FIREMAN, I’d spoken to guys like those hotshots. I know how grueling and difficult their work is.

Hot Shot crew

I was horrified by such an awful loss and wanted to do something to show my support. I immediately emailed my editor, hoping I could include the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew in my dedication, or make a reference to them somewhere in the text. But it was too late for any of that.

So instead, I decided to try something different. I researched ways to help the families of those fallen 19, and found a website run by the Prescott Firefighters themselves. Of course I donated right away, but then it occurred to me that I could get more people involved – at no cost to them.

So for every comment on this blog post, I’ll donate another dollar to the Prescott Firefighters Charities. The last time I did this, I got a great response and gave a nice, hefty donation. So let’s keep the momentum going! And to add some motivation, I’ll also give one commenter a signed copy of any book in the Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel series – your choice.

Here’s a little bit about HOW TO TAME A WILD FIREMAN, and a short snippet. Don’t forget to leave a comment! I'll keep the giveaway open until midnight EST on October 3.

Thank you for your support. :-) 

   

The Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel have a rebel among them, and there's only one woman who

can put his flames out.

Firefighter Patrick “Psycho” Callahan earns his nickname every day. Fast, fit, and a furious worker, he thrives on the danger which helps him forget a near-tragedy that changed his life forever. But when his off-duty carousing gets out of hand, Patrick is sent back to Loveless, Nevada, where the wildfire threatening his hometown has nothing on sizzling Dr. Lara Nelson.

Lara would rather be thought of as the physician who returned to Loveless than as the misfit brought up at a hippie New Age commune. But right now she’s focused on her job at hand, patching up injured firemen...until the past hits her in the hard-muscled, blue-eyed form of Patrick Callahan. Now, the embers of their decade-old attraction have ignited into a full-on inferno, as the bad-boy firefighter and the good doctor take a walk on the wild side they'll never forget.

EXCERPT

Fury carried her the rest of the way into the belly of the chopper. As she rolled onto the steel floor, warm from the flames still only a few yards beneath the helicopter, Patrick reached over and pulled the door shut.

Immediately the terrible roar of the wind and flames lessened. Lara lay panting on the floor until Patrick hauled her into one of the pull-down seats. “I hate you, Patrick Callahan IV.”

“If I had a nickel for every time I heard that from a woman whose life I just saved, I’d … well, I’d have a nickel. Most women want to kiss me.”

“You didn’t save my life,” she ground out. She checked the gash on her shin. Sure enough, blood dripped onto her boots.

From the chair next to her, Patrick fixed his vivid blue gaze on her.

“Fine. Thanks for that part,” she said grudgingly. “But I’m really pissed about the rest of it. You had no right to come onto Haven property and—”

He shrugged, grabbing two water bottles and tossing one to her. “I couldn’t have if I wanted to. Your aunt was pretty strict with her security.”

“You mean … ” She gaped at him. The water bottle felt cool in her hands. She pressed it against her hot cheek.

“I lied. I was trying to piss you off. You always moved faster when you were fired up.”

He gave her a diabolical wink. God, she wanted to rip his head off. Smash his face in. Scratch his eyes out. It took her right back to her teenage years, before she’d claimed her life as a rational med student.

“Congratulations,” she gritted. “I didn’t think I could hate you more, but I do.”

“What’s that they say about the thin line?” He toasted her with his water bottle, then glugged from it. She watched his Adam’s apple move under the stubbly, tanned, filthy skin of his neck. Dirt and sweat shouldn’t be this sexy, should it? Her gaze traveled to the other side of the chopper, where Grant sat opposite them, head tilted back, eyes shut. Even though he too was handsome—and almost as dirty as Patrick—he didn’t have a fraction of Patrick’s impact on her.

She ground her teeth. “In this case, that thin line is the size of a superhighway.”

“Then I think it’s time for you to cross to the other side. In return for saving your life—for which I have yet to receive a decent thank-you—you’re going to do something for me.”

“Dream on.”

“Can you deny that you owe me?”

“Don’t I get any thanks for risking my life in the first place? I’m not a firefighter. Someone owes me!”

He jerked his head toward the injured man. “On his behalf, thank you. He’ll be your love slave as soon as he wakes up.”

Lara ground her teeth.

“Come on, it’s not that hard. All you have to do is go to dinner with me.”

Click here for all buy links

Jennifer Bernard is the author of the Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel series, which Romantic Times says is full of "quick wit and sizzling love scenes," and Romance Junkies calls "a captivating series." Visit her at JenniferBernard.net or JenniferBernardBooks on Facebook.

Guest Blogger Heather Lire - Holiday, Vermont

It's October 1st and officially my favorite season of the year FALL. I love the cool weather, the aromas, the clothes, the colors, oh and The World Series.

But that's now what I'm going to talk about today...as much as it pains me not to. Nope today I'm going to talk about the wonderful town of Holiday, Vermont.

What is Holiday, Vermont you ask?

Well, it’s a town I made up.

Is it based on a real town?

Why, yes it is. It's based on a small college town in Southern Utah at the base of mountain called Cedar City. It’s where I spent the first thirteen years of my life, and if Mr. Lire and I had our way, where we would be living now.

Where Holiday and Cedar City differ is in the fact that Cedar didn't go all out for the holidays like in Holiday. Which I have to admit sucks, but I fixed that in my town. Much to the annoyance of some of the residents of Holiday.

Namely Averie Baldwin, local school teacher. She hates the fact that her town goes all out and then some, but as the daughter of the former Mayor she didn't have a choice about participating in all the hoopla. So as soon as she could, she escaped. Now she's back and has been chosen to represent the local school district in the town’s annual holiday play.

In A Holiday Christmas (yes it's time for all the Christmas stories to start showing up) Averie discovers that with the right person the holidays, especially Christmas can be magical.

Now that I've caught your attention about her how about a sneak peek into her story? 

Averie took a deep breath and opened the door to the mayor's office. She'd been praying to every deity she could think of that her name wouldn't be drawn out of the bowl. She didn't want to be the school district's representative in the however many annual Holiday Christmas production.

When she was a little girl she had loved the annual play. When she was a teenager she had tolerated it. Now that she was an adult she dreaded it.

Averie paused in the doorway and took in the various people in the room. She knew all of them, well, all but one, and she ignored him.

"Hi, everyone. Sorry I'm late. What did I miss?"

She took her seat on the opposite side of the room from the man who made her squirm every time he looked at her. He affected her like no one ever had, and every time she saw him her heart rap-tap-tapped. Not that she was interested in him, or any man for that matter.

Nope no men. Not for her.

She'd sworn off the entire species almost a year ago and hadn't looked back, except for those moments when she could swear he was looking at her. Then her entire body would tingle with awareness.

"You're just in time to find out the name of the play we will be performing this year…"

Averie smiled at the barely-contained excitement she could hear in the older woman's voice. Mrs. Bullock was her grandma's best friend and had been in charge of the play for as long as anyone in town could remember.

Averie caught her excitement and wrapped it around her like a warm coat on a cold winter day. As much as she didn't want to be in the play, she couldn't ignore the excitement in the air. She accepted the manila envelope with her copy of the script and waited like everyone else to be told when they could open it.

"And open them." Mrs. Bullock laughed as everyone pretended they were opening the envelopes at an award show.

Averie pulled out her script and that warm coat was ripped away from her body, leaving her standing in summer-weight clothing with freezing temperatures.

The Gift of the Maji.

She normally loved this story. But not this year.

Not when the only two people under the age of fifty working on the play were her and Officer Sexy.

She glanced around the room as the others talked about the play and who would do what. She caught the looks being passed between Mrs. Bullock and the mayor. If he mentioned pairing her up with the "I'm too sexy for my own good" cop, there would be words. And as the mayor hadn't won an argument with her in twenty years, she was fairly confident she wouldn't be starring opposite the officer in a Christmas love story.

Mrs. Bullock clapped her hands for everyone's attention.

"Ok then, we have a little more than three weeks to get this show ready. As it's a small cast we thought it would be nice if, Averie, you played the female lead, and Corey, you the male lead."

Averie kept her eyes glued to the script in her lap. She didn't want to see his reaction to playing opposite her.

The timbre in his voice sounded throughout her system, like hitting a note on the piano. He was the hammer and she the wire. How was this possible? The last time she'd seen him he was eighteen and she was fifteen, and only at a distance. Yet he affected her like no one ever had before.

"Good then. Averie my dear, exchange phone numbers with Corey and set up a time to go over the script. We'll have our first practice in three days."

Averie stayed in her seat as the room emptied, except for her, the mayor, and the man who threatened her vow of no men. She waited for him to approach her. If she attempted to stand and walk, she was afraid her legs would crumble beneath her and she would look weak and pathetic -- the very last thing she wanted to be in front of him.

"Hi, I guess we should exchange numbers."

Oh my, a shiver went through her body, and she clasped her phone so hard she was surprised it didn't break.

"Sure." She rattled off her number and watched as he input it into his phone. Open your mouth and say something, Averie, she thought. She opened her mouth, but shut it without uttering a single word. She had no idea what to say.

Her phone buzzed in her hand. She glanced at the screen and saw an unknown number.

"I texted you so you could have my number as well."

She resisted slapping her forehead in a duh moment.

"Thanks."

"So when do you want to get together?"

He wanted her to think right now? That wasn't going to happen.

"I'm not sure what my schedule is like right now. Can I text you?" There, she didn't sound like an idiot.

"That's fine. If I don't answer leave me a message at the station.."

Call the police station. Was he insane? There was no way she was calling there and leaving a message.

"If you don't answer, I'll just leave a message on your voice mail."

"That works. I have to get to work so I'll talk to you later."

He said something to the mayor she didn't catch, before he left the office. When only she and the mayor remained, she stood and turned to face him. She put on her sit-down-and-listen-to-me teacher face she'd been told intimidated not just her second graders, but their parents as well.

"You better be careful with that face you're making, wouldn't want it to become permanent."

"You," she growled. "You are the worst big brother in the universe, do you know that?" She dumped her stuff on the chair she'd just vacated, and began to pace the length of the office.

The mayor -- a.k.a her pesky older brother -- leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on his desk.

"No, I'm not. I'm the best big brother in the universe."

"Really? Because you couldn't tell by me. You threw me under the bus with Mrs. Bullock."

"How?"

"You supported her making me the lead."

His brow creased in confusion.

"How is that throwing you under the bus?"

She stopped her pacing in front of this desk, clenched her fists, tilted her head back to look at the ceiling and yelled, "Because I don't want to be in the damn play!"

Oh wow, that felt good, she thought.

"Since when do you not want to participate in the holiday play? You've always been a part of it." Averie could hear the confusion in Zach's voice. She knew he didn't understand why she didn't want to be a part of it. But she had her reasons.

"Yeah, I did when I was ten." There was no keeping the sarcasm out of her voice, not that she wanted to. "I can think of several things I'd rather be doing than being in this play."

Zach snorted.

"Like what? Moping around your townhouse? Not interacting with anyone?"

Averie ignored Zach. She'd never told anyone she hated the fact her family's Christmases were politically motivated. Maybe that was harsh. They weren't politically motivated, but her mother had been one of those "appearances matter" kind of people. She hated it.

Not that she could tell her family that. If she even mentioned hating all the crap her mother made them do during the holidays she would get a lecture on how her family was one of the oldest families in town, and it was their civic duty to participate.

They could take their civic duty and shove it up their civic asses.

"I'm not moping in my townhouse. I go out with my friends. I'm just not dating."

She didn't look at him as she gathered up her things and left.



Isn't she great? I think so. Do you want to see the blurb for the book? I thought you might.

There’s magic in the air this Christmas Season in Holiday.

Averie Baldwin wants nothing to do with men. But her family and friends are determined she won’t spend her first Christmas back in Holiday, Vermont alone. So far she’s managed to avoid all their attempts to set her up on dates. Until she’s chosen to represent the school district in the town’s annual Christmas play…with the sexiest man she’s ever seen.

Corey Evans has a job he loves, great friends and a loving, if interfering family, but something is missing. When Averie shows back up in town he knows exactly what he needs in his life. Her. Getting to know her however has proven difficult, until they are thrown together on the annual Christmas play.

And I can't wait for everyone to discover the spirit of Christmas (yes I know it's still October 1st) in Holiday.

A Holiday Christmas will be available on November 1st at all major e-retailers.

Because it is October I thought I'd give away a copy of Second Chance of Forever the first book in the Holiday, Vermont Series. All you have to do is tell me what you love about this time of year.

Heather Lire has traveled all over the world, speaks multiple languages, collects romance books like they’re going out of style, and has multiple book boyfriends. Ok, she hasn’t been all over the world, except in her mind. She does however speak multiple languages and collect romance books. Her long suffering husband and sons roll their eyes at all her book boyfriends. When she’s not busy traveling the world in her mind she can be found at one of her sons many sporting events and on twitter, where she talks about what else, romance books. She loves to hear what you think about her stories so please drop her a note and tell her.  www.heatherlire.com

Places to Find her around the internet:

www.heatherlire.com

www.facebook.com/heatherlire

www.twitter.com/heatherlire

www.pinterest.com/heatherlire/

www.goodreads.com/heatherlire