I am so excited to be participating in the HARLEQUIN HOLIDAY BLOG TOUR. Today I am hosting SHEILA ROBERTS' book CHRISTMAS FROM THE HEART. Be sure to scroll down and grab your copy today!
CHRISTMAS FROM THE HEART
SHEILA ROBERTS
On Sale Date: September 24, 2019
Fiction / Romance / Contemporary
304 pages
Olivia Berg’s charity, Christmas from the Heart, has helped generations of families in need in Pine River, Washington, but this year might be the end of the road. Hightower Enterprises, one of their biggest donors since way back when Olivia’s grandmother ran the charity, has been taken over by Ebenezer Scrooge the Second, aka CFO Guy Hightower, and he’s declared there will be no more money coming to Christmas from the Heart. Guy is simply being practical. Hightower Enterprises needs to tighten its belt, and when you don’t have money to spare, you don’t have money to share. You’d think even the pushy Olivia Berg could understand that. With charitable donations dwindling, Olivia’s Christmas budget depends on Hightower’s contribution. She’s focused her whole life on helping this small town, even putting her love life on hold to support her mission. When Guy’s Maserati breaks down at the edge of the Cascade foothills, he’s relieved to be rescued by a pretty young woman who drives him to the nearby town of Pine River. Until he realizes his rescuer is none other than Olivia Berg. What’s a Scrooge to do? Plug his nose and eat fruitcake and hope she doesn’t learn his true identity before he can get out of town. What could go wrong?
~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt:
He didn’t
want to go too far into the future, either. Except maybe he could change it.
Maybe he could change her opinion of him. His was changing toward her. Olivia
Berg, he was coming to realize, was something special.
They played
out a few hands, the score remaining close. Until the last hand. Oh yeah, luck
was being a lady tonight. He stuck Livi with thirty points and that won the
game for him.
She looked
stunned. “I can’t believe you beat me.”
“Well, you
know what they say. Pride goes before a fall,” he teased.
She stuck out
her lower lip. Oh yeah, he was ready for that kiss. “Hey now, no pouting just
because I’m not making breakfast.”
“You got
lucky.”
Oh, how he’d
like to get lucky. “Okay, time to pay up.”
Her cheeks
turned pink again.
“I promise
I’ll make it painless,” he murmured with a smile.
He
leaned across the table and she did the same. Then he slipped a hand behind her
neck and drew her to him. He could smell that peppermint perfume. Her hair was
so soft. So were her lips and they tasted like hot chocolate. She sighed into
the kiss and he let the moment
stretch out, threading his fingers through her hair. Her hands slipped up to
the nape of his neck, her fingers soft and warm against his skin.
He could have
gone on like that all night, moving them away from the table and out onto that
living room couch, deepening their kiss, pulling her close, enjoying the feel
of her curves, inhaling her scent. But that wouldn’t have been right. Even what
he was doing was sure to put him on Santa’s naughty list for life.
It had been
worth it though. He pulled back. “You’re a good loser. And a good kisser,” he
added, making her cheeks turn pink. “Now, you have to have had other men tell
you that,” he said.
She shrugged.
“There’s been
no one special?”
“In college.
And Morris and I once, when we were younger. But…” She sighed. “I don’t know
what I’m waiting for.”
“The right
one?” Someone who deserved her. Which instantly disqualified him.
“I guess. How
about you?”
“I thought I
was in love once. Turned out I was wrong.”
Okay, they
were wandering into chick territory. Next they’d be sharing their every
heartbreak. He stood. “I’ve had enough sitting. How about a walk?”
She smiled up
at him. “I love walking in the snow.”
Of course she
did. He sensed a holiday movie scene coming up.
Sure enough. The scene came to life when she turned on the
Christmas lights and they stepped outside. Between her house and the neighbors,
the street looked like a set on the Universal back lot. A light snow was
falling to add to the already-thick white coat frosting yards and houses.
Rooflines, bushes and trees all
dripped with colored lights like jewels on a woman’s neck.
The woman he was
with needed no jewels. Her smile sparkled more than any diamond ever could.
~~~~~~~~~~
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA Today best-selling author Sheila Roberts lives on a lake in the Pacific Northwest. Her novels have been published in several languages. Her book, Angel Lane, was an Amazon Top Ten Romance pick for 2009. Her holiday perennial, On Strike for Christmas, was made into a movie for the Lifetime Movie Network and her novel, The Nine Lives of Christmas, was made into a movie for Hallmark. You can visit Sheila on Twitter and Facebook or on her website (http://www.sheilasplace.com).
Social Links:
Facebook: @funwithsheila
Twitter: @_Sheila_Roberts
Instagram: @funwithsheila
Buy Links:
