Celebration Christmas by Nancy Robards Thompson

A Celebration Christmas by Nancy Robards Thompson is a wonderful holiday read! The book has great characters, romance and a unique message about the gift of love.

Cullen Dunlevy had never begged for anything in his adult life, but right now he was desperate."I'll pay you triple your salary if you will stay for two more hours, Angie," he said. "And you don't need to clean up after the kids."

"Dr. Dunlevy, there isn't enough money in the world to make me stay." Unmoved, the housekeeper brushed past him. She paused at the top of the stairs. "Call me when you find a home for them."

A home for them? They're kids, not stray animals.

Cullen glanced down at ten-year old Megan Thomas. All the color drained from her already pale cheeks. Then his gaze founds it's way back to the hall-bath toilet, which was overflowing with some kind of expanding blue goop that seemed to be growing exponentially. The prank had been the final straw, the reason for Angie's noon phone call to Cullen at the hospital , informing him that he had exactly one hour to get home because she was fed up and leaving.

Lily Palmer arrives at Cullen Dunlevy's home as Angie, his former housekeeper is running out the front door. Angie advises Lily to "Run while you can. Run and save yourself." Lily is a second grade teacher who needs a part time job during the holiday school break. As Cullen interviews Lily for the nanny position, she takes in her surroundings. The home is designer perfect, stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops, large couch and huge flat screen TV. Lily notices that there are no holiday decorations and Cullen has not bought a Christmas tree. Although the Dunlevy house appears to be perfect at first glance, it's missing the spirit of Christmas.

Nancy Robards Thompson creates a fabulous holiday story. The four Thomas children are orphans; their parents were killed in a car accident and they have no relatives. Cullen has agreed to take them for the month of December while his attorney searches for a home for them. Cullen is dedicated doctor--- he's all business -- a Grinch--until Lily takes charge of his household. Lily gets the children in the holiday spirit, they bake cookies, decorate and buy a tree. 

Loved how the author wove in Lily's tradition of baking stollen bread with her grandmother to the story. To keep the children busy,  Lily taught them how to bake cookies and stollen bread. In the true spirit of Christmas, the children decided to bake stollen, sell it at the holiday market and donate the profits to a children's charity.

The romance between Lily and Cullen hits a few roadblocks as they come to terms with their feelings while caring for four active children. Well meaning friends, an ex wife and an ex fiancé  all play a part in this charming holiday adventure. Out of the blue, Cullen and Lily are gifted tickets to the annual Jingle Bell Ball. Will Cullen remember his date with Lily? Does Lily have a chance with Cullen? Read A Celebration Christmas to see if some Christmas magic occurs at the holiday dance! 

Reviewed by Susan Gorman

Copy of the book provided by the author.

Tough Love by Lori Foster ARC copy

Tough Love

by Lori Foster

Tough Love is part of the Ultimate series by Lori Foster.

This edition has the tale of MMA fighter Stack Hannigan
and model Vanity Baker.
I always think that women are smarter about love than men.
And here is a story that proves it. Well, kind of.
Vanity knows she wants Stack. He is the guy for her.
And that is that.

She has a plan. But as everyone knows, the road leading
to true love is never smooth. So, of course, the plan runs
 into one problem after another.
Luckily, the problems seem to keep putting Stack and
Vanity closer and closer together.
Stack, as with most men, is slower to catch onto the
karma that is bringing them together. He is paying
closer attention to anyone that even looks at Vanity.
And his mom. Plus his sister. Then there is f***ing Phil.
 Geesh, with all these things to pay attention to,
its no wonder he is slow to feel cupids arrow.

Vanity is enjoying Stacks family. She misses being
part of one. The more Vanity fits in, the closer Stack
is to falling head over heels. How long can he
tell himself that this is all just for fun with Vanity?

I usually enjoy Lori Foster's writing. They have a lot
of feeling. There is action. The people in them often
have interesting backgrounds. I like watching for
the skeletons. Everybody has one.
This series has a lot of talk about MMA fighters and
their lives. Its obvious that Lori has a great respect for
the MMA. For myself, I enjoy the love story more.

I won this ARC copy from Lori Foster.
Review by Lisa Hutson





Spotlight tour for Named of the Dragon by Susanna Kearsley

Title: Named of the Dragon

Author: Susanna Kearsley

ISBN: 9781402258640

Pubdate: October 6, 2015

Imprint: Sourcebooks Landmark

Summary

A haunting tale of intrigue from New York Times bestselling author Susanna
Kearsley.

SOMEWHERE IN THE HEART OF LEGEND

LIES THE KEY TO HER TERRIFYING DREAMS

The charm of spending the Christmas holidays in South Wales, with its crumbling castles and ancient myths, seems the perfect distraction from the nightmares that have plagued literary agent Lyn Ravenshaw since the loss of her baby five years ago.

Instead, she meets an emotionally fragile young widow who's convinced that Lyn's recurring dreams have drawn her to Castle Farm for an important purpose--and she’s running out of time.

With the help of a reclusive, brooding playwright, Lyn begins to untangle the mystery and is pulled into a world of Celtic legends, dangerous prophecies, and a child destined for greatness.

Author Bio

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author and RITA award winner Susanna Kearsley is known for her meticulous research and exotic settings from Russia to Italy to Cornwall, which not only entertain her readers but give her a great reason to travel. Her lush writing has been compared to Mary Stewart, Daphne Du Maurier, and Diana Gabaldon. She won the coveted Romance Writers of America RITA Award for The Firebird, and hit the bestseller lists in the U.S. with The Winter Sea and The Rose Garden, both RITA finalists and winners of RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards. Other honors include finaling for the UK’s Romantic Novel of the Year Award, National Readers’ Choice Awards, and the prestigious Catherine Cookson Fiction Prize. Her popular and critically-acclaimed books are available in translation in more than 20 countries and as audio books. She lives in Canada, near the shores of Lake Ontario.

Social Networking Links

Website: http://susannakearsley.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSusannaKearsley

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SusannaKearsley

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/486812.Susanna_Kearsley

Buy Links

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Named-Dragon-Susanna-Kearsley/dp/140225864X

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/named-of-the-dragon-susanna-kearsley/1003614908

Indie Bound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781402258640

Excerpt

While the halls beside it crumbled from the strain of staying upright, Pembroke Castle’s keep had stood through eight long centuries of tumult, and looked capable of weathering another eight with ease. It had been poked at, over time. Bits of the parapet surrounding the domed roof had tumbled down, or been removed, and when we walked round to the north side I could see the black and jagged hole that marked the first-floor entrance, stripped of all its finer facing stones. But such small scars went virtually unnoticed on a building so imposing.

“I’m not sure you should be doing that,” said James, as I scampered up the flight of steps toward the gaping doorway. “Those steps might not be safe. And anyway, you can’t get in that way, you have to go through here.”

The steps didn’t feel dangerous, but I didn’t imagine that open defiance was something James craved in an agent, and I ought to be trying to show him how well I could listen. Reluctantly, I turned back and went through the proper entrance, a much smaller door set at ground level. It felt like walking through a tunnel—the walls of the keep must have been a good twenty feet thick—but at length it discharged us, like puny adventurers, into the cavernous space.

“You see?” James, who had seen it before, pointed up at a ragged-edged hole, streaming light. “It’s a doorway to nothing, the floors have all gone.”

I had tipped my head backward, struck dumb by the sight.

Originally, there would have been three or more levels here, comfortable rooms, wooden floors, warming fires that burned in the royal apartments, but all of that was lost now to the callous hand of time. What remained, though, was in some ways more impressive.

Stripped to its bare outer walls, it was like a cathedral, a great hollow soaring cathedral of stone, with a perfect domed ceiling and small arching windows that slanted pale light through the reverent gloom. From every ledge and opening long streaks of soft and mossy green dripped downward, passing shades of rust and gentle blues that stained the walls in places where the plaster had not fallen from the gray, unyielding stones.

I took a breath, inhaling dust, and fumbled for my guidebook. “Seventy-five feet,” I said, in awe. “This shaft is seventy-five feet tall.”

James looked at me. “You say that as though it’s a challenge.”

“It is.” I’d always liked climbing things. Turning, I spotted the newel stair, and happily squeezed up one tight winding flight to the first narrow landing. Resting my hands on the cold metal piping that served as a guardrail, I leaned through the open arched doorway to look down at James. “Coming up?”

“No, I’ve done it once, thank you.” He sauntered forward, moving through a shifting web of light and shadow, to see me better. By the time I reached the third and final landing, he was standing in the center of the floor. “Do warn me if you’re going to fall,” he said, “so I can step aside.”

“You wouldn’t catch me?”

“From that height? You must be mad.”

I took a firm grip on the guardrail and leaned out as far as I dared, to admire the view. The dome, from this height, was a marvel of masonry, hundreds of stones set with perfect precision to form an impossible half sphere that floated above me. Absorbed, I leaned further, and felt my hand slip in the instant before something clamped round my shoulder.

“Don’t worry,” said Gareth, behind me. “I’ll catch you.”

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