Brenda will be awarding a $100 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour as well as a tour specific contest you can enter by following the link at the end of the post.
The Heart of Christmas
by Brenda Novak
BLURB:
Just call her Christmas Eve…
Eve Harmon has always enjoyed Christmas, but this year it reminds
her of everything she doesn’t have. Almost all her friends are married now, and
that’s what Eve wants, too. Love. A husband and kids of her own. But the
B-and-B she manages and even Whiskey Creek, the small Gold Country town where
she was born and raised, suddenly seem…confining.
As Eve turns thirty-five, she’s worried that her future will
simply be a reflection of her past. She’s dated all the eligible men in the
area. There’s no one she could even imagine as a husband—until a handsome
stranger comes to town. Eve’s definitely attracted to him, and he seems to have
the same reaction to her. But his darkly mysterious past could ruin Eve’s
happily ever after—just when it finally seems within reach. Just when she’s
counting on the best Christmas of her life!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Review:
The Heart of
Christmas takes another single member of the Friday Coffee group and gives them
their own happy ending. Eve has been a featured character in each of the
previous Whiskey Creek books. Once
it looked like she might finally find her own HEA but it was not to be. Now she is 35 and feeling like she will
never find that special person. I
have always liked Eve. She is very
caring and very strong. Seeing her
down as she is in The Heart of Christmas was very sad. I just knew someone would show up to be
her very special person. What I
did not expect was a man with a very mysterious and dangerous past.
Brenda Novak
does a great job with that mysterious man. Why no name?
(small spoiler) Because his name has been changed several times for his
own protection. He does not want
anything to happen to Eve so it looks like no HEA for Eve again. Then the Friday Coffee group decides to
help and comes up with a winning solution.
I have to admit both the mysterious
man and how he and Eve came to have their own HEA surprised me. The Heart of Christmas has a much
darker tone than previous Whiskey Creek books. I think the slight change of pace strengthens the series and
helps keep it from being predictable.
Excerpt:
She stopped trying to act as if discovering him in
her bed was no big deal. “This whole situation embarrasses me,” she admitted.
“I’ve never taken anyone home from a bar before and, unlike you, I won’t be
leaving this town any time soon. That means I’ll have to face all the people
who witnessed my licentious behavior.”
He raised one eyebrow. “Licentious?”
“Promiscuous, debauched. Whatever you want to call
it. Waking up with a total stranger isn’t something that’s normal for me.”
He studied her, his gaze…thoughtful. “Last night
you told me it was your birthday.”
“And?”
“Quit being so hard on yourself. From what I could
gather, it was a rough one. And with the holidays coming up, and knowing you’re
going to spend another year alone, you said it wasn’t likely to get any
easier.”
Damn. She’d shared that? Hadn’t she revealed enough
when she took off her clothes? “My birthday was fine. Spending another
Christmas as a single woman is fine. Everything’s fine.” How could she complain
when she’d always had it so good?
She could hear the scrape of his beard growth as he
ran a hand over his chin. “What’s that saying about protesting too much?”
“I’m not protesting.”
“If you say so.”
Holding the sheet in place, she slid a few more
inches away from him, but she couldn’t go far. She was about to fall out of
bed. He wasn’t bulky, but he had wide shoulders and he didn’t seem to be
concerned about giving her space. “If you know it was my birthday, you remember
more than getting dropped off here,” she said.
“It’s coming back to me.”
Bits and pieces were coming back to her, too. How
she’d noticed him watching her from where he sat alone at the bar. How she’d
danced for him in such a seductive manner, reveling in the appreciation she
kindled in his eyes. How he’d eventually gotten up and walked over to join her.
How he’d danced with her, so cautiously and respectfully even though the sparks
between them felt like they were about to burn the place down.
How she’d slipped through the crush of bodies on
the dance floor to catch her breath outside and he’d followed….
There were still things she couldn’t recall,
however, and his name was one of them. Had he ever told her what it was?
“Who are you?” she asked.
Without even a stretch or a concluding peck on the
cheek, he climbed out of bed and started to dress.
At least she wouldn’t have to ask him to leave, she
told herself. It looked as if he planned on walking into the sunset—or sunrise
since it was early—as soon as possible. But this wasn’t New York or Los
Angeles. He couldn’t just hail a taxi. She lived in the Sierra Nevada foothills
of Northern California in one of the many mining towns along Highway 49 that
had sprung up when gold was discovered a century and a half ago. It was a
community that hadn’t changed as much as one might expect in such a modern,
technologically advanced world. And if the lack of urban conveniences in
Whiskey Creek wasn’t enough of an obstacle, she lived several miles outside
town. There was very little traffic out here and no buses or other public
transit.
He’d have a long hike if he intended to make his
way back to Whiskey Creek without catching a ride from her.
Or maybe he planned to call someone. He had a cell
phone and, for the most part, there was service.
“You won’t answer?” she asked.
“What difference does my name make?” he finally
responded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and
Links:
New
York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Brenda Novak is the author of
more than fifty books. A four-time Rita nominee, she has won many awards,
including the National Reader’s Choice, the Bookseller’s Best, the Book Buyer’s
Best, the Daphne, and the Holt Medallion. She also runs an annual on-line
auction for diabetes research every May at www.brendanovak.com (her youngest
son has this disease). To date, she’s raised over $2 million. For more about
Brenda, please visitwww.brendanovak.com.
links:
BarnesandNoble.com:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-heart-of-christmas-brenda-novak/1119221344?ean=9780778316398
Follow this link for an addition tour specific contest:
The 12 Days of
Christmas Contest:
http://www.brendanovak.com/monthlycontests/rafflecopterbloggercontest/
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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