Hi everyone! Hopefully all of you are staying safe, and are enjoying the peace of December. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m going to be really happy to see 2020 over with, even if I had two stories come out this year. Overall, it was a crappy year for a lot of us – especially my province of Nova Scotia.
Anyway, I’m proud to say I’m with good company in this year’s Stocking
Stuffers from eXtasy Books. My friends Diana Waters and Tim Smith are also
celebrating new releases in the collection, and all three of our stories are
available for preorder now.
***All covers were done by Angela Waters of eXtasy Books and Devine Destinies***
One Lonely Christmas Eve by Tim
Smith:
- Published By: eXtasy Books
- Author: Tim Smith
- ISBN: 978-1-4874-3093-1
- Page: 35
- Word Count: 10036
- Estimated Publish Date: December 18, 2020
https://www.extasybooks.com/preorder/978-1-4874-3093-1-one-lonely-christmas-eve/
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Third Time’s the Charm by Diana
Waters:
- Published By: eXtasy Books
- Author: Diana Waters
- ISBN: 978-1-4874-3137-2
- Page: 29
- Word Count: 6404
- Estimated Publish Date: December 25, 2020
https://www.extasybooks.com/preorder/978-1-4874-3137-2-third-times-the-charm/
Blurb
As an empath, Alek is ironically used to shutting people out—until, several days before Christmas, a one-night stand forces him to let someone in.
Being an empath is a lonely business, and Alek’s one-night stands do little to ease that feeling, even if he isn’t looking for anything more. He prefers to bury himself in his artwork anyway, or so he tells himself. That is until a young man named Jasper appears on his doorstep one December evening, threatening Alek’s careful control and making him want more than he’s ever dared ask for. Meanwhile, Jasper’s only two previous sexual encounters have made him more wary than hopeful—but tonight, he, too, may be getting more than he bargained for.
Excerpt
When Jasper, his voice
sounding strained even to himself, asked for his wrists to be bound, Alek used
a silk wrapping from a deck of Tarot cards on a shelf above the bed. It looped
around Jasper’s wrists once, twice, three times before it became short enough
to attach to the wrought iron bed frame.
“Are you sure you want
this?” Alek didn’t sound worried, exactly—more like he just needed to be
absolutely certain that Jasper understood, that he really didn’t want to back
out at the last minute.
Despite the almost painful
pounding of his heart, Jasper was sure. Alek was still half-clothed, his bare
chest glowing richly in the lamplight. The tattoo curling over his left
shoulder blade seemed to take on a sinuous life of its own. He was pale and
long-limbed and self-assured, and here Jasper was, splayed beneath him naked
and exposed like a sacrificial offering, arms stretched out over and behind
him. Helpless. He was helpless, he reminded himself. The thought was at once
both disconcerting and arousing.
Oh, Jasper was nervous all
right—his heartbeat so rapid it was already making it hard to breathe—but even
so, he knew exactly what it was he wanted. This time, it finally felt right.
He opened his mouth.
“Yes.”
Author Bio
Diana is a New Zealand M/M
romance author currently residing in New York. However, she has also lived and
worked for several years in Japan and several months in Thailand. She has no
idea where in the world she’ll be this time next year and is pretty okay with
that. Other than reading and writing, her main passions include international
travel, amateur photography, and competitive swimming.
Author Website: https://www.dianawaters.com/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Diana-Waters/e/B07T61DMGX
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/diana-waters
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/diana_waters
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diana.c.waters
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Sweet Child of Mine (Feathered Tartan Book 2) by V.J. Allison:
- Published By: eXtasy Books
- Author: V.J. Allison
- ISBN: 978-1-4874-3069-6
- Page: 40
- Word Count: 11464
- Estimated Publish Date: December 25, 2020
Blurb:
In the city on the harbour, miracles happen.
It’s Christmas Eve. Ewan and Marti Campbell are hoping to have a quiet holiday
season, their first as a married couple, and the last one before their new baby
arrives.
A crisis at the real estate agency tosses a huge wrench into their plans, as
does the sudden onset of Marti’s labour. As Ewan fights to get home before his
child appears, more crises are flung at him. If he is to make it on time to
help his wife bring their baby into the world, he’ll need a miracle… A big one.
EXCERPT:
Ewan wondered if a virus could be eating their files. “Jeff, tell
everyone to do a full virus scan on their computers. I don’t care if they are
turned on or not, you turn them on and just do it.” He stared at his best
friend over the top of his glasses to emphasize his point. Jeff went from clear
to blurry, which threw Ewan off a bit. He hated being nearsighted. It was a
royal pain in the ass.
“Gotcha, boss. Run a malware scan, too?”
“Great idea and get an emergency tool for each of them, as well. Can’t
be too safe,” Ewan replied. He did a quick calculation. Six computers in the
back, one at the reception desk, and four laptops used on the road. Eleven
computers, plus his, to be checked. It was going to be a long day unless
Miranda finally showed her face.
Jeff nodded and disappeared, his footsteps thankfully louder than the
holiday music drifting down the hall.
Ewan quickly set up his system to do a virus scan. When it started, he
leaned back in his chair and glanced up at the clock. Ten AM. Marti should be
helping his parents make Christmas Eve brunch by now. God, he really missed
her. He should be home and helping her with all of it instead of sitting at
work, fighting with a fucking local area network that refused to get off its
ass and actually behave for once.
He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. In the distance, a phone
rang, and laughter drifted up the hallway. A festive air had swept through the
Halifax location, even with a huge file missing. Ewan wished he could
participate, even for a moment, but as part-owner and manager of their Halifax
location, he was forced to focus on the predicament at hand.
He stretched his neck. He hated to miss a moment of his days off with
Marti and his parents. It was the first time he had seen them since he and
Marti had visited Alberta in April to expose a rat among them and formally
announce their elopement. Talking via social networking, video calls, and email
wasn’t the same as being with them. As an only child, his parents tended to
fuss over him in a lot of ways but also understood his need to be his own
person, even if it meant living across the country from them.
Hopefully, something would crack with the files and allow them to make
headway so he could get home and hug his wife, tightly. Marti was his rock, and
being away from her during a time when they were supposed to be together irked
him.
His phone beeped, bringing him out of his reverie. He hit the button for
the intercom. “What’s up, Sheryl?”
The semi-retired secretary sounded happy when she replied, “Marti is on
line one. I thought you’d like to talk to her, since you’re stuck here with all
of us.”
Sheryl had been a godsend to him in the past and was still one now.
“Thank god. Put her through.” Just hearing Marti’s voice would keep him from
losing it if anything else went wrong.
The phone made three quick trills and a green light flashed by line one.
Ewan could not grab the receiver or hit the damn button fast enough. “Hey.”
“Hey. Any luck yet?” Marti’s sweet, soft tones echoed in his ears.
Ewan felt his frustration ebb slightly. There were some days he swore
she had a radar for his emotions, and today was one of them. “Nothing yet. Did
you hear from Miranda or Ralph?”
“No. I thought they were supposed to be handling this,” Marti said, her
voice tight. She sounded exhausted and as frustrated as he was.
Ewan closed his eyes again and sighed. It wasn’t good if his normally
serene and loving wife was not happy either. It spelled disaster with a capital
D. “I’ll be home as soon as I can, I
promise.” At least his parents were there with her. Between them, Joshua, Sybil
and Dana, Marti should be distracted until he got home. Talking to her made him
miss her more and wish he could kiss her senseless.
His wife let out a long breath that sounded like a soft moan. “Hopefully,
it’s sooner than later. Something happened,” she said, her voice tightening
more with each word.
That did not sound like his wife. Ewan wondered what was happening at
home. “Good or bad?” he asked and let out a low growl.
“Both.” She cleared her throat. “Are you sitting down?”
Puzzled, Ewan glanced around the room. “Yeah, I am. I’m in my office.”
“Are you alone?”
His left eyebrow rose a notch. “What’s with the inquisition,
sweetheart?”
“You know how my back has been bothering me for a few days?”
Ewan blinked. “Yeah. Is it worse?”
“Um, sort of.”
Bewilderment started turning to unease. “Sort of? Do you need to go to
the ER?”
She let out a long, hissing breath. “No, but, oh. Hang on.” He heard
rattling, and a low noise that sounded a lot like the phone dropping.
Panic started to rise in Ewan’s throat. She was hurt, and he wasn’t
there to help her. “Marti? What’s going on?” he demanded. “Marti? Talk to me,
dammit!”
His mother’s voice echoed in his ear. “Ewan? Sweetheart, Marti can’t
talk right now.”
“What do you mean she can’t talk? What the fuck is going on, Mom?”
“Um, her water broke a couple of hours ago—”
Shock rippled through him. A woman’s water breaking meant she was in
labour. “Say what? Why didn’t you call me earlier?” He leapt to his feet and
almost tripped over the legs of his desk chair.
“She was hoping you’d be on your way home now. She knows you have work
to do, but I insisted we call you now. Her contractions are about four minutes
apart and getting stronger fast.”
No. There was no fucking way this was happening, not now. Ewan’s mind
scrambled for the mental list he and Marti had prepared for her labour months
ago. She wanted a home birth with a midwife, and Ewan was determined to give
her that much. “Call Jennifer. Her number is on Marti’s cell phone.”
“She’s here, monitoring Marti. She’s using Joshua as a gofer.” There was
a tinkle of laughter in his mother’s voice.
He suspected his mom was trying to calm him with the mental picture of
Joshua kowtowing to the pint-sized Marti when she was on a tear. Normally he
would have laughed, but this time, it wasn’t working. His mind kept skipping
from the midwife to the crisis at work, to his wife needing him, and—
Where was Miranda? He was fit to strangle her for breaking her promise to handle any problems while he was on vacation. Today was a bust, thanks to her disappearing act, and he could easily miss his first child’s birth if she didn’t get her ass into either the Halifax office or company headquarters in Bridgewater.
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Hopefully all of you enjoy these heartwarming holiday stories. I’m in good company with Diana and Tim and with a little luck, all three of us will be doing holiday stories again next year.
Don't forget, if you send me a proof of purchase via my author page or profile on Facebook (includes preorders for Sweet Child of Mine), I'll send you a FREE digital copy of COVID's Arrow!
Have a great holiday everyone!
