Guest Blogger ~ Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

Christmas has always been a magical time for me. When I was growing up in St. Joseph, Missouri, the elements for the stereotypical holiday were present, snow on the ground, a sweet smelling Douglas Fir decked with tinsel and pretties, holly on the mantelpiece, and family filling the house. The sounds of the season were always important to me, too, from the carols we learned at school or heard in church, the ringing bells from churches downtown, or the occasional caroler. I’ve always wanted to write Christmas fiction and I now have two works to offer, both published this year. The longer work is a love story and it takes place from one holiday season to the next. Events in between threaten the happiness and future of newlyweds Johnny and Jessica. The title, Tidings of Comfort and Joy, comes from one of my favorite carols, the traditional God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.

The second is a short work but it too pays homage to the English Christmas traditions. Charles Dickens’ classic tale, A Christmas Carol, captured my fancy as a child and I enjoy watching the many film versions of the story, from my favorite starring Patrick Stewart as Scrooge to the 1940’s versions and even one with Henry Winkler. The Courtship of Ebenezer Scrooge is not just a Christmas tale, however, it’s also a sweet romance.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays from my home and heart to yours!

Btw, I live just east of Oklahoma in far southwestern Missouri and in the second of the two Christmas stories, Tidings of Comfort and Joy, my hero has an Oklahoma twang!

~Lee Ann.

The Courtship of Ebenezer Scrooge

Release Date: February 2014

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Blurb:

Ebenezer Scrooge changed for the better after three Christmas ghosts impacted his life and heart. His miserly ways vanished as he gained happiness and his family ties with nephew Fred have improved. There’s something missing, however, and when Ebenezer meets Widow Abigail Collins, he realizes what he lacks. He sets out to court Abigail, object marriage and learns the many ways love can further improve his disposition and life!

Short excerpt:

He watched her descend the steps with graceful movements, her bell-shaped skirts swirling in a way he found appealing. Ebenezer caught a brief glimpse of her many petticoats and hid a sly grin. He’d seen a flash of her ankles too and liked it. Before his wicked imagination could get the best of him, he stepped forward, top hat in his hand.

  

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Release Date: November 2014

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Blurb:

They met during the holiday season and married in May. Jessica savored every moment of happiness with her beloved husband Johnny but their newlywed bliss is shattered when he’s caught in a storm on the lake on the Fourth of July. First missing, then presumed dead, Johnny Devereaux appears to be gone and everyone mourns him except his wife. Jessica refuses to believe he could be dead and she steadfastly refuses to give up hope that he is alive and will return.

As the months pass, each holiday is another reminder of his absence and it becomes harder to believe but she refuses to yield to despair. As his family, especially his brother Tad, struggles to accept Johnny’s death, only his great-grandmother and bride hang onto their hope. Jessica comes to believe he’ll return to her at Christmas so the holiday takes on new significance as she waits for tidings of comfort and joy.

Excerpt:

That first time he came to her old apartment, Jessica had her Christmas decorations out. That slender but elegant tree she'd had since college stood against one wall, decked with all the beautiful and unique ornaments she'd collected. Each one had a special meaning, a memory of someone or something. Twinkling little multi-colored lights framed the mirror on the wall, and a silk bouquet of poinsettias graced her tiny dining table. Five or six Christmas cards hung from a ribbon she put up beside the door, and even to her jaded eyes, it felt festive. The scent of evergreen and holly berry potpourri wafted from a crystal bowl beside the lamp. Even that plastic Santa figure her grandmother bought her when she was about six stood in a place of honor.

She waited, wondering what he might say. In the past, men she dated called it "cute," or "too much," or even labeled it some way that ended up sarcastic. Johnny, still wearing that black-and-red plaid hunting coat, stood looking at it with wonder, and then he smiled.

"It gives me the Christmas spirit just looking at it," he said in that countrified voice she loved so much. "It's pretty, honey, almost as beautiful as you."

Delight as light as champagne bubbles rushed over her. "There's one thing I think you missed."

"What's that?" he asked, looking around, and she pointed up to where she'd hung a little bough of mistletoe, tied with a red bow. He grinned. "Oh, that. Even a country boy like me knows what to do under the mistletoe."

She touched his lips with one finger. "Then do it."

Johnny nestled her against him tightly and, soft as a snowflake, touched his lips to hers. Their lips devoured with yearning, not greed. His kiss became the flame for her inner candle, the trimming for her tree, and the joy of the season wove around them like a benediction, cozy as a flannel blanket on a cold winter's night and as lasting as the stars that spangled the winter night.

Author Bio:

Growing up in historic St. Joseph, Missouri, Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy scribbled her stories from an early age. Her first publication—a poem on the children’s page of the local newspaper – seems to have set her fate. As a full time author, she has more than two dozen full length novels published along with assorted novellas and short fiction. Her publishers include Astraea Press. A contributor to more than two dozen anthologies, her credits include Chicken Soup For The Soul among many collections of short fiction. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Missouri Writers Guild, and the Ozark Writers League. Lee Ann earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Missouri Southern State University as well as an Associate Degree from Crowder College. She has worked in broadcasting, retail, and other fields including education. As a wife and mother of three, she spends her days penning stories, cooking, reading, and other daily duties. She currently makes her home in the Missouri Ozarks, living in what passes for suburbs in a small town and works as a substitute teacher in the local school district.

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Guest Blogger ~ Pelaam: The Magic Of Christmas

Release Date: December 5, 2014

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One thing I miss living in New Zealand is a winter Christmas. Down here, December is the first month of summer. The days are lengthening, the temperature is rising, and it's time to dust off the barbeque. As much as I'm adapting to all of that, I miss being able to put my Christmas lights on early to appreciate them.  I love Christmas lights and decorating the tree.

To get the best of both worlds for my book "The Magic of Christmas" I've actually set it in mid-September. At this time of year down on the South Island there would still be snow, skiers, and sledding.  Having a mid-winter Christmas, where there is a tree and full dinner done in June, is also growing in popularity.

Despite the summer sun, at least we hope we get a sunny day, a lot of people still hold out for the full blown turkey or a glazed ham dinner, with all the usual accompaniments. This year I'm opting for ham, with some baby potatoes made into a salad, as well as a watermelon and feta cheese salad. For dessert, pavlova decorated with strawberries and blueberries I'll have picked myself. YUM!!

I don't want to give too much away about my book, but I enjoyed focusing on the magical elements of Christmas as you might guess from the title.  My main characters have loved each other for years, but naturally-shy Jared has never had the courage to speak out, and although Casey appears to be a natural extrovert, behind the gregarious mask, there hides an insecure and needy Casey.

All that changes and Casey is forced to find his inner courage when Jared mysteriously vanishes after going to get more firewood for the cabin. In his search for Jared, Casey discovers that something very dark has entered our world. He gets help from some very familiar characters, but in very unfamiliar ways.

Blurb:

On a friends' getaway in a winter wonderland, Jared and Casey discover real Christmas magic.

Jared joins his four best friends on an early Christmas holiday in a beautiful winter wonderland. He's been in love with the talented and extroverted Casey for years, but lacked the courage to say anything.

Casey loves Jared, but despite his gregarious exterior, inside lurks someone shy and insecure and so he's never spoken up.

Both men are about to experience real Christmas magic.

Excerpt:

The sounds of his friends chatter and laughter made him smile, and there was a steady stream of visitors into the kitchen area as he prepared the fondue. He loved to cook, so he was more than happy to do this for them.

He snuck a quick look over at Casey. His friend was wearing a T-shirt, and boxers, and Jared's cock reacted. He quickly looked away. Sarah and Amber were in flannel pyjamas, and Chase wore just pyjama bottoms. He glanced down at his sweat shorts. They didn't leave much to the imagination if his dick misbehaved. His T-shirt wasn't long enough to hide a give-away erection.

They didn't need to wear anything more. The cabin was gloriously warm, and Casey kept the real fire burning merrily away. Jared looked over at the wood pile and pursed his lips. The supply was running low, so he'd need to get some from the pile at the back of the cabin in the morning before starting breakfast.

His gaze shifted to the merrily-twinkling tree standing next to the fire. That had been Amber and Sarah's idea. Since Casey never seemed to be home at Christmas, and they knew he never bothered for just himself, they'd decided to make sure that even though it was mid-September, they would have their own Christmas while in the cabin. It was a very sweet idea.

He tasted the fondue, and grinned widely. Perfect. Pouring it into his serving bowl, he carried it through to the table to an impromptu fanfare from his friends. Laughing he headed back to the kitchen to collect the basket of bread, and the bottle of wine.

"Right." Jared picked up a fondue fork, and waved it like a conductor's baton. "You all know the drill, grab yourself some bread, and dig in. There's salad if you want. Just yell out."

He sat down, and caught Casey's eye. Something made him cock his head quizzically. "What?"

"Nothing." Casey shook his head. "You're just…amazing. This is incredible. I'd pile on so much weight if we— Well, I'd pile on the weight. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jared stared at Casey for a moment, but his friend just smiled and began to dig into the fondue with abandonment. Jared speared his own piece of bread, and dipped it in the fondue. He'd been so sure Casey had been about to say something else.

Author Bio:

Living in clean, green New Zealand, Pelaam is a best-selling, multi-published author of gay romance and erotic books. When not busy writing she can be found indulging in her other passions of cookery and wine appreciation.

Pelaam’s book "Breath of the Feathered Serpent" is a finalist for the 2014 Rainbow Awards in Gay futuristic/sci-fi .“Bedazzled” and “Firebird” were a combined finalist for the Rainbow Awards in Gay futuristic/sci-fi 2013.

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Guest Blogger ~ Missy Welsh: Wonderful Life

Re-releasing: December 5, 2014 

See Missy Welsh for eventual buy links.

BLURB:

Every Time a Bell Rings

Brian dropped everything last year when his mother became ill so he could take care of her until the day she died. People he thought were friends didn't stick with him and he's somehow become kind of a recluse without meaning to be. Only Mike, his best friend since they were kids, has stuck by him and is now saving him from homelessness after a fire destroys Brian's apartment building days before Christmas. Though Mike has to go down South for the holiday, Brian stays in Mike's apartment with his slightly singed kitten Oreo. Brian's only goal is to set his affairs back in order before everything shuts down for the holidays and then make it through those holidays in one piece. He's lost so much—his only real possession is a photo album of his mom that he risked death to save from the fire—and he's feeling lost and very alone... until Mike, his hot neighbor Trent, and even little Oreo conspire to give Brian the best Christmas possible and a future that looks a lot brighter.

An Angel Gets His Wings

Mike Sharp is in Little Rock, Arkansas, visiting his family for Christmas while his best friend Brian Bailey's up north walking right into Mike's plans to hook him up with his neighbor Trent. Unfortunately, it seems like someone's conspiring to get Mike panting after his third cousin, twice removed (or something like that) named George Whitlock. George who keeps sneaking up on him, being all shy and cute, and then having the audacity to give Mike great big calf eyes that are just begging Mike to drop to his knees. Mike will not give in because, if he does, he could lose his entire family when they discover he's gay.

EXCERPT:

Mike’s apartment building was two floors with four units on the quiet, family-oriented Casterton Avenue. The structure was old and brick with high ceilings and original oak woodwork throughout. I’d always loved the balcony because he had plants all over it. The plants were gone now, but he had replaced them with an abundance of kitschy, lighted Christmas decorations. His electric bill must be outrageous.

He carried the album like the precious cargo it was all the way from the car to the hallway outside his apartment door. The whole neighborhood seemed fast asleep, so it rattled me when the door opposite Mike’s suddenly opened. Then there was this hunk of divinity standing there, and my libido kicked in with a flash of heat that sizzled through me because my every wet dream was embodied in this man.

And I was covered in soot and probably had tear tracks on my face. Not to mention the fact I hadn’t been with a man in over a year. At least the plumbing hadn’t forgotten how to work. That was nice.

“Hey,” he said, his voice deep and scratchy. “Mike told me what happened, man. Glad to see you’re okay.”

“When?” I asked. It was practically morning. Oh wow. Had they been together when Mike got the call from the ER nurse? I stared at him, unable to believe he was involved with his neighbor and hadn’t told me.

“Oh, well.” Mike looked a little sheepish. “I kind of freaked out when they called me. I accidentally woke Trent up while I was trying to get the door locked to leave. He helped.”

Suspicions gone, I mumbled, “I’m really sorry,” and meant it to both of them.

“Jeez, Brian,” Mike said. “There’s nothing for you to be sorry about.”

“We got through it,” Trent said and smiled as he patted Mike’s shoulder. The gesture and his expression didn’t look like anything more than friendship to me.

“Okay,” I said lamely.

“Oh!” Mike said, making me jerk. “Forgot all my manners! Brian, this is Trent Stewart. Trent, Brian Bailey.”

Trent’s big paw came out to grasp my hand, making mine look delicate. All of me felt delicate around this guy despite the fact we were about the same six-foot height. Probably because he had about fifty pounds of hard muscle on me. I really loved that.

The rumpled, just-woke-up thing worked in his favor too. His dark blond hair stuck up in the back and his face was pink on one side. I tried to keep my eyes above his neck because he wore only a pair of black sweatpants that barely hung onto his slim hips and showed off his rippled abs like a frame. But I was too tired to get any of my body parts to obey me now, and couldn’t resist sliding a glance up the trail of blond past his navel and over the pelt covering the center of his mounded chest. His nipples were pink and peaked, and I had a momentary fantasy of suckling them while I played in all that golden hair. To let the world fall away and give into sensation while wrapped in his arms and—

Oreo dug a few claws into my gut, making me flinch, and Trent dropped my hand.

“Damn,” he chuckled. “That looks like something out of Alien.”

“It’s Oreo.” I fished her out. “My kitten.”

Trent reached over and patted her back. He could’ve palmed her entire body. “Both of you were really lucky.”

I nodded. We were, sure. Maybe tomorrow it would feel that way.

“Look, Mike said he was going out of town tomorrow,” Trent said, brown eyes looking right at me, “so if you need anything, you just come to me.”

I nodded at his sincerity. “Thanks.”

He smiled again. It was a really sweet smile. “Well, I’ll let you go. Just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

He moved back into his apartment and shut the door with one more glance back.

I turned to Mike and found him grinning knowingly at me. “Shut up.”

He giggled, then let us into his place. Whispering, he said, “Did you just pick out your Christmas present?”

About Missy:

Missy Welsh stares into space a lot, has conversations with cats, takes notes while people-watching, records conversations (not the ones with cats), named her laptop Norbert and her phone Pushkin, has backups of her backups’ backups, faints at the sight of a misused semi-colon, and will often ask socially unacceptable questions of strangers. Basically, she’s a writer.

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Guest Blogger ~ Lucy Felthouse: Cupid

Release Date: December 2012

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Blurb:

As a postman by day, and one of Santa’s reindeer on a single very special night, Cassius Cupid eats, sleeps, and breathes deliveries. He doesn’t mind, but sometimes wishes that someone would send him something more exciting than bills and junk mail.

One cold January morning, Cassius gets his wish. A young woman arrives with a parcel. Turns out it’s for his housemate – but Cassius doesn’t care. All he’s interested in is Carina – the beautiful female courier.

Has Cupid finally met his match?

Excerpt:

Cassius Cupid woke with a start, and then sat bolt upright in his bed. Shit, I’m going to be late! was his first thought.

Milliseconds later his brain switched on, and he remembered. He was on holiday. Flopping back onto the warm mattress and pillows with a contented sigh, he smiled. No work for fourteen whole days—it was going to be utter bliss. He stretched, relishing the feeling it created in his sleep-softened muscles. Ahhh…this is the life.

He knew he wouldn’t go back to sleep—hell, it was eight o’clock, which was practically the middle of the day for someone in his profession—so Cassius fell to thinking about how he was going to spend his day, not to mention the several others in front of him. God knew he deserved to relax and have some fun. He’d just emerged from the busiest part of his year, and he was more than ready to do some chilling out.

He enjoyed his job as a postman—he really did—but the Christmas period was a total killer. He idly wondered how many cards and presents he’d delivered over the past few weeks. It didn’t bear thinking about. Once you factored in the festive period itself, the weird few days between Christmas and New Year, and then the flurry of mail that got sent when everyone went back to work properly at the beginning of January, he’d racked up some serious deliveries. And that was before you even thought about his other job—which was for just one day a year, but was arguably more important than the other 364 put together.

Cassius—or Cupid, as he was known to his boss and colleagues in his second, but most important job—was not only a regular postman for the Royal Mail, but also a reindeer. For a single day of the year, Cassius had the supernatural power to transform into one of Santa’s faithful steeds and help pull that famous magical sleigh, delivering presents to excited children the world over.

Therefore, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Cassius really did eat, sleep and breathe deliveries, but not for the next fourteen days. All he planned to do was watch some TV, read some books, maybe go out hiking, meet some friends… basically anything that wasn’t delivering something to someone. Hey, he might even receive something through the post himself—preferably not the usual crap; bills and junk mail. He didn’t hold out much hope.

He lounged in bed for another ten minutes before realising he was lying there just for the sake of it. Being on holiday didn’t have to equal staying in bed all day—and certainly not for someone as active as him. He reached over to his bedside table, grabbed his glasses and put them on. Throwing off his thick duvet, he walked to his bedroom window and peeked out through the curtains, immediately glad of the effective central heating he and his housemate had forked out to have installed the previous year.

The outside world was covered in a thick layer of snow, and Cassius was mightily glad that he wasn’t out delivering letters and parcels. The stuff was treacherous enough without having to carry a heavy bag up and down driveways, paths, and pavements — most of which either hadn’t been cleared, or had been cleared badly, leaving incredibly slippery patches of ground for an unsuspecting postie to come across. God knows he’d gone down enough times, but, much to his relief, nobody had ever seen him do it. He’d always been relatively unharmed—excerpt for his pride, of course—and had been able to scramble back to his feet and carry on.

The eerie silence outside was broken by the rumble of an engine, and Cassius turned his head to look up the street—he lived in a cul-de-sac, so he knew that’s where the vehicle would come from—and watched as a delivery van made its way slowly and carefully down the road. He hoped the driver was sensible enough to try and steer over the thickest parts of the snow—the more people went over and over the same patches, packing it down, the more the road surface resembled an ice rink. And since the cul-de-sac was on a slight hill, it was easy enough to get stuck. He’d seen it so many times—even going outside one time last winter to suggest the driver go down to the bottom of the road, turn around and try reversing up the hill—an almost foolproof plan for vans with rear-wheel drive. He’d gotten a big thumbs-up for that suggestion as the driver finally got to the junction where the road became flat, and went on his merry way.

As the van drew closer to his house, he saw that the driver was a woman. That would explain her cautious driving—he’d never admit it to one of his drinking buddies, but women were far superior when it came to driving in adverse weather conditions. He even thought he’d seen some survey containing statistics that proved it.

Author bio:

Lucy Felthouse is a very busy woman! She writes erotica and erotic romance in a variety of subgenres and pairings, and has over 100 publications to her name, with many more in the pipeline. These include several editions of Best Bondage Erotica, Best Women's Erotica 2013 and Best Erotic Romance 2014. Another string to her bow is editing, and she has edited and co-edited a number of anthologies, and also edits for a small publishing house. She owns Erotica For All, is book editor for Cliterati, and is one eighth of The Brit Babes. Find out more at http://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk. Join her on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to her newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/gMQb9

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Guest Blogger ~ Hunter Frost: Angel In Eyeliner

First, I’d like to thank NJ for the opportunity to share my newest release with all of you. An Angel in Eyeliner is my contribution to Boughs of Evergreen: A Holiday Anthology that celebrates the season with a diverse collection of stories by a wonderful group of authors promoting hope and love.

My story revolves around Mitch, a lonely former combat medic who just so happens to love to decorate for Christmas. Growing up, my mother never went as far Mitch when it came to the extent of his decorating, but she did have a few traditional pieces that were always displayed. And most of them still are come mid-December. I pay homage to one of those pieces in An Angel in Eyeliner—the ceramic Santa statue.

If any of you grew up in the seventies or eighties your family may have the winking Santa

pictured here. Apparently, it was extremely popular. I can never quite remember the story, but I believe either my mother or my grandmother purchased the ceramic statue unpainted. They decided to paint it themselves one fateful Christmas Eve, making sure Santa’s cheeks were perfectly rosy and his mittens shiny and black. Come Christmas morning it was finished and there at the foot of my parents’ fireplace. It has been displayed during the holiday ever since. It really wouldn’t be Christmas if Santa wasn’t there watching over the festivities.

Does your family have any traditional pieces that make your holidays come to life?

Or maybe an item Mitch displays reminds you of something you have in your decoration collection?

Check out An Angel in Eyeliner and let me know!    

An Angel in Eyeliner

Buy Links:

Amazon.com [Kindle Edition]

Smashwords [eBook - various formats]

Blurb:

All Mitch wants for Christmas is a quiet holiday free from grief. Patching up the face of the target of a mugging in the back alley of his bar seems to throw that wish right out into the cold Chicago night. But the tatted, pierced, and skinny-jean wearing Keller Graham is fearless and proves to be more than a pair of icy blue eyes lined in black. Keller may be a thief, but Mitch never expected him to steal his lonely heart.

Excerpt:

“Hey!” he barked at the group of men crowding around the chain-link fence across the alleyway. None of them must have heard, for they carried on with their shoving and cussing. Light was scarce except for the multi-colored glow above Mitch’s back door, but he squinted toward the group’s kicking feet, down among the soot-tinged snow and puddles.

Someone was on the ground.

Mitch held the gun up and racked the slide.

They heard that. He hadn’t seen heads turn that fast since the tank backfired at camp in Fallujah.

“Get the hell out of here!” Mitch yelled as he stalked toward the group, the gun held high.

The guys instantly took off in all directions, cursing and scrambling through the snow, slicks, and refuse. Nothing like a shotgun to scatter a mob. It was too easy.

Once the last of the men had cleared out and he could only hear distant footfalls, Mitch’s gaze landed on what the jerks had been crowding. A lanky man wearing all black, lay on his back amid the trash, most of his face hidden behind his long hair.

As Mitch moved closer, the cracked streetlight cast a shimmering halo in the pool of water around the man’s head. An angel…with a bruised cheek and a bloody cut under his eye. But an angel nonetheless.

Author Bio:

Hunter lost a bet at a blackjack table and begrudgingly traded temperate Southern California for the sweltering heat of Las Vegas. There she resides with an extremely tolerant boyfriend and two cats named after her favorite beverage, Latte and Java.

When she's not dreaming of returning to coastal living, Hunter works at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, from where she recently received her Master’s in British history. In order to appease her muse, she writes the kind of fiction that keeps her sane. She adores romance in all forms, but prefers her stories with two heroes that find their happily-ever-after with each other.

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Authors: S.H. Allan, Larry Benjamin, Rick Bettencourt, L.L. Bucknor, K.C. Faelan, Hunter Frost, Ofelia Gränd, Kathleen Hayes, Hans M Hirschi, Laura Susan Johnson, Terry Kerr, Amelia Mann, Debbie McGowan, Shayla Mist, Raine O'Tierney, Ava Penn, Jonathan Penn, Amy Spector, L.M. Steel, Al Stewart and Claire Davis, J P Walker, Matthias Williamson, Alexis Woods

Language: English

Published: 21st November, 2014

Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing

Category: Fiction

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, LGBT, History, Romance, Fantasy, Women's Fiction, Short Stories, Humour, Contemporary Fiction, Holidays and Celebrations

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Boughs of Evergreen is a two-volume collection of short stories celebrating the holiday season in all its diversity. Penned by authors from the UK, the USA, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, these are tales of the young and the not-so-young from many different walks of life.

Themes of family, friendship and romance take readers on a journey through some of the major holidays, both past and present, including Thanksgiving, Advent, St. Lucia Day, Hanukkah, Eid, Saturnalia, Winter Solstice, Yule, Christmas and New Year. In each we find at the very least hope, and often love, peace and happiness.

Each story will also be published individually as ebooks on 1st December, 2014.

Proceeds from sales of this anthology will be donated to The Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is the leading national organization [USA] providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people ages 13-24. For more information, visit: www.thetrevorproject.org.

THE STORIES: (links go to samples and author biographies)

Volume One

"A Friend for Christmas"  JP Walker 

"A Midnight Clear" - Debbie McGowan

"From All of Us to All of You" - Ofelia Gränd

"Homme for the Holidays" - Jonathan Penn

"Kiss Me At Kwanzaa" - LL Bucknor

"Lion's Hero" - Alexis Woods

"One Nightstand" - Rick Bettencourt

"Shiny Things" - Amy Spector

"The Bard and his Boyfriend" - Kathleen Hayes

"The Christmas Present" - Larry Benjamin

"The Invasion of Tork" - Al Stewart and Claire Davis

"X-Mas Cake: A Modern Fairytale" - Raine O'Tierney

Volume Two

"A Christmas Tale" - Hans M Hirschi

"A Family Christmas" - Terry Kerr

"A Good Word" - L.M. Steel

"A Little Christmas Magic" - K.C. Faelan

"Always Have, Always Will" - Amelia Mann

"An Angel in Eyeliner" - Hunter Frost

"Boyfriend Goes Home" - Laura Susan Johnson

"Christmas Commitment" - Shayla Mist

"Coming in from the Cold" - Ava Penn

"Holidays with Drum and Bell!" - Matthias Williamson

"Te Amo, You Mushrooms" - S.H. Allan

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