Best-selling
authors Sharon Kleve and Jennifer Conner adore animals. That's why
they collaborated on this blog tour together. To showcase their
Christmas stories celebrating our beloved pets. They hope you enjoy
reading them as much as they did writing them.
Halo
Ann Carlyle wishes for a home, family, and a boat-load of pets. What
she gets is a bruised hip, a lump on the head, a broken ankle, and
her new yellow Honda Civic is demolished.
Rich
McFarland, a sexy veterinarian, keeps showing up in the most
unexpected places, promising everything she's ever wanted.
Halo
believes she only has time to pursue her career as a pet detective
and must ignore her growing attraction to achieve her dreams.
Will
Halo trust her heart, and find a way to get both for Christmas?
Excerpt:
She'd
just placed another call through to Pemsky's office, which went
straight to his voicemail, when the office door opened. Halo smiled
and looked up into dreamy, gold-flecked green eyes, short sandy brown
hair, a slight cleft chin, and full lips set in a hard line. Even
with the stern look he had on his face, my hormones jumped into
overdrive.
Mr.
Dreamy cleared his throat—she must've been staring. In her most
professional voice she said, "Good morning. How may I help you?"
He
removed a piece of paper from his shirt pocket and unfolded the
sheet.
"I
was parked in front of the Beacon Hill Ale House and my driver's side
mirror was sideswiped by one of Pemsky's Security's SUV's Friday
night."
Halo
loved the Beacon Hill Ale House. Every Saturday night the Ale House
allowed local bands to jam together. That's where she'd met her last
loser
boyfriend. She'd had a lot of loser boyfriends. She's currently on a
hiatus from dating, but she wouldn't mind jumping back into the
dating game for this dream-boat.
He
handed her the piece of paper.
"I
wasn't able to get a look at the driver, but I got the license plate
number of the vehicle that hit my car and drove
away."
He
emphasized the last part.
"I'm
very sorry about your car. I'm sure Mr. Pemsky will be happy to cover
the damage." Halo checked the company log and Pemsky's name
popped up as the driver—she gulped.
Like
any child Brenda Howser loved Christmas until her parents were killed
by a drunk driver during their annual shopping trip.
Brenda
went to live with her aunt, who blamed their death on everything that
represented Christmas; the gifts, the tree, and all the decorations.
The
festivities' Brenda once cherished became something she dreaded under
the shadow of her parents death. She lived in fear of something
happening to the people she loved during Christmas.
Christmas
approaches and Brenda has to decide if she’s going to let the past
hold her prisoner for another year or if she can finally enjoy what
Christmas used to mean to her—love.
DEA
agent, John Smith knows the significance of December fifteenth to
Brenda, but when the head of the Nuevo Cartel escapes federal prison
he's forced to let her face the day without him, but not quite alone.
Can
Daisy, a golden Labrador puppy, a huge sale on decorations at the
hardware store, and a gift from her aunt restore her love of
Christmas?
Excerpt:
December
2013
The
weather forecast for the Western Washington area, specifically North
Seattle, predicted a good five-to-six inches of snow. Brenda Houser
watched the flakes float like cotton balls from the sky as she dipped
a tortilla chip into a bowl of thick and chunky salsa and popped the
morsel into her mouth.
Her
boss, Corny Myers, tapped her pencil on Brenda's reception desk to
the beat of The Little
Drummer Boy, which
streamed from the Green Hornet Investigations Bose speakers.
"Hey,
Brenda. I have bad eating habits but I've never started the day with
chips and salsa. What's up?" Corny asked.
"You
know how I feel about all the holiday hoopla. I'd rather stick my
head in the sand and pull it back out in January."
"Do
you really think Mexican food is going to make you feel better?"
"Probably
not, but a couple margaritas might help."
When
Tennyson’s boyfriend left her for her best friend from high-school,
all Tennyson received in the break up was her dog. She’s sworn off
men and now is rebuilding her life. The only thing Par does is work.
He barely has time to do anything he wants for himself other than
take his dog to the dog park. When Par and Tennyson find an abandoned
dog at the park named Duke. Will they find room in their hearts to
take him in? And can this Christmas season weave some special magic
for the two of them?
Book
Excerpt:
“I’m happy this
wasn’t your worst date ever, because I had a great time.” He
lifted her chin with the tips of his finger. Slowly he lowered his
head until she thought she would die of anticipation. He clamped his
hands to her waist and gazed into her eyes. “You’re so
beautiful…” There was depth and sincerity in the tone of his
voice. She felt special. Desired. He dropped his head and kissed her.
Gentle
at first and then deep. She couldn’t breathe. He’d sucked all the
air from her lungs, but there was no way she wanted him to stop. As
she brushed his firm lips to hers, she relished the feel of her blood
simmering in her veins. Par slid his fingers through her long hair to
cradle and position her head to kiss her even more thoroughly.
His
lips pulled away from hers and he stepped back. She reached for the
roof of the car to steady herself. Oh.
My. God… could this man kiss.
“Not
bad for a first date,” he whispered and then kissed her gently
again.
Okay…
so it was
a
date. After that kiss it turned into an ‘official date’ and she
had no regrets at all.
Julian
Barrows has his hands full working full time and being a single dad
to his kindergarten, special needs son, Gabe. Gabe’s teacher
convinces Julian he doesn’t need to do everything on his own and
introduces him to a seizure dog trainer, Hanna Acker.
Hanna and
her sister grew up without any ‘Christmas Cheer’. She’s trying
to get her sister through college and doesn’t have time to let
anyone too close, especially the handsome single dad with a kid.
But, Christmas has a way of changing what we thought we wanted…
especially when Santa and an adorable four-legged ‘elf’ are
involved.
Book
Excerpt:
“What’s
this?” Hanna asked, as she ran a hand over the grocery bag wrapping
paper. Julian took her coat and hung it by the door so she could
follow Gabe into the living room.
“Daddy
saw this in a store window and said that we had to get it for you.
Open it!” Gabe said. “I wrapped it myself,” he added proudly.
“But
it’s not Christmas.”
“No.
This is a before Christmas gift. You have to open it now.”
She
pulled off a half-pound of scotch tape and finally the paper fell
away. Hanna stared at the gift in disbelief. “A Christmas sock…
with my name on it.”
Julian
came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “You told
me that you’d never had a Christmas stocking of your own when you
were growing up. Gabe knew Santa wouldn’t know where you were if
you didn’t have you sock hung somewhere.” He winked. “So you
needed it.”
“You
can take it to your home or you can hang it here!” Gabe shouted
almost tripping over Cody.
Giveaway
Prizes:
One
(1) Winner will receive a $25 gift card to a book seller of their
choice
One
(1) Winner will receive Sharon Kleve’s Book one and two of the
Dreams Come True Series.
One
(1) Winner will receive Jennifer Conner’s Book one and two of the
Dog Tails Series.
