A Christmas Reunion by Susanna Fraser

Please join Susanna Fraser as she tours the blogosphere with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for her Historical Romance Novella, A Christmas Reunion, from November 24-December 12, and enter to win a $50 Gift Card to Amazon, Barne & Noble, and Powell's.

Publication Date: November 24, 2014

Carina Press

eBook; ASIN B00MTGFB9S

Genre: Historical Romance

READ AN EXCERPT.

Lady Catherine Trevilian and Gabriel Shepherd met in the Earl of Edenwell’s household, he the earl’s bastard nephew adopted as an infant, and she the countess’s highborn niece taken in after being orphaned as a young lady. Though not a suitable match by society’s standards, they fell hopelessly in love – but everything ended when they were caught kissing under the mistletoe. To protect Cat from Gabe’s lowborn charms, the earl bought him an army commission and shipped him out of the country. Catherine eventually accepted an arranged engagement, but never stopped scouring casualty lists for Gabe’s name.

Five years later, Gabe is home on leave for Christmas. Catherine and Gabe quickly learn their feelings have not dimmed – and a forbidden kiss confirms they’ve deepened into passion. But with Cat due to be married in eight days and Gabe still far below her social station, it will take a Christmas miracle for the star-crossed lovers to find happiness...

*****REVIEW*****

It's been awhile since I've read a historical romance. Susanna Fraser is a new author to me. I liked her writing style. It was easy to read and kept my attention. 

This is a shorter story - roughly 27,000 words. The story felt complete and well written. No details were left out and I felt like I got as much detail as I would a full length.

This is a second chance story, which is a favorite trope of mine. Lady Catherine's first taste of love is with Gabe, however, he isn't anyone in her ranks. So he is sent away and she spends a few years trying out different suitors. Finally Anthony comes in to her life and he's someone she can live with. They are due to be married when Gabe comes back into her life.

The moment the two see each other, the chemistry is back. The conflict comes in when Lady Cat says she won't back down from her engagement since Anthony has been left at the alter before.

There is a nice twist to the story that made me smile. This was a entertaining read and perfect for a quiet evening when you want to get lost in a good story.

I'd recommend this book to my friends who enjoy historical romance. If you're not a big Christmas reads fan (like me), then this one is pretty tame. You will forget you're reading a holiday novella. 

Lacey's Rating

About the Author

Susanna Fraser wrote her first novel in fourth grade. It starred a family of talking horses who ruled a magical land. In high school she started, but never finished, a succession of tales of girls who were just like her, only with long, naturally curly and often unusually colored hair, who, perhaps because of the hair, had much greater success with boys than she ever did.

Along the way she read her hometown library’s entire collection of Regency romance, fell in love with the works of Jane Austen, and discovered in Patrick O’Brian’s and Bernard Cornwell’s novels another side of the opening decades of the 19th century. When she started to write again as an adult, she knew exactly where she wanted to set her books. Her writing has come a long way from her youthful efforts, but she still gives her heroines great hair.

Susanna grew up in rural Alabama. After high school she left home for the University of Pennsylvania and has been a city girl ever since. She worked in England for a year after college, using her days off to explore history from ancient stone circles to Jane Austen’s Bath.

Susanna lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and daughter. When not writing or reading, she goes to baseball games, sings alto in a local choir and watches cooking competition shows.

For more information please visit Susanna's website and blog. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

A Christmas Reunion Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, November 24
Review at Romantic Historical Reviews
Spotlight at Literary Chanteuse

Wednesday, November 26
Review at Laurie Here
Review at Let Them Read Books
Guest Post at Ramblings From This Chick

Thursday, November 27
Spotlight at The True Book Addict

Monday, December 1
Review at By the Book Reviews

Tuesday, December 2
Guest Post at SOS Aloha

Friday, December 5
Spotlight at Historical Fiction Connection

Tuesday, December 9
Review at Historical Romance Lover

Wednesday, December 10
Review at Book Babe
Mistletoe Madness Guest Post at The Book Nympho

Friday, December 12
Review at The Christmas Spirit

Giveaway

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Rules

– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm on December 12th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
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– Only one entry per household.
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– Winner have 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Menace Under the Mistletoe by Lisa Greer

My Holiday read for this year surprised me...in a good way. I was expecting a frightening, give me goose bumps tale with just a touch of romance. Now, it wasn't as frightening as I hoped, but the romance is cute and believable and there's no sex, which pleased me. *Hey, there's comes a point, especially if you're an editor in the romance industry, when you get oversexed. When everyone copulates 5 times per book and you read at least three books a week, that's a lot of copulation!*


What surprised me was the serious issue touched on in this short story. The heroine goes to her aunt's, who is dying, for Christmas. There's an undercurrent of..."who is inheriting, him or me?" as she meets a "cousin" she didn't know she had. Then there's a strange man on the premises who's supposedly helping her aunt with her spiritual stuff.

Though attracted to her "cousin", one thing stops Lambert from pursuing anything with him: he's a psychiatrist and she has a secret she doesn't wish to reveal. She has an eating disorder and major self esteem issues.

As a reader, I've grown sick and tired of the lack of serious issues in books. I'm not that into fluff. So I appreciate Ms. Greer's bringing up of an issue most prefer to sweep under the rug. I got a drastic and surprising look into a disorder I'm not real familiar with.

The story takes place the week before Christmas and there's a tree, snow, lights, and Holiday songs, but it's not so Christmassy that one can't read and enjoy it at any time of the year. The mystery was predictable, the romance just the right amount, and the issue underneath it all super important. The ending isn't pit-pat, but realistic. The heroine can find happiness, but she must do it on her own. A man won't do it for her.

Four bikes. I bought this on Amazon Kindle.

Second Chance Christmas by Dahlia DeWinters

From one Christmas to the next, it's amazing what can happen, and in this case, the heroine's life changes drastically. Can a second chance Christmas erase the bad memories of the first?

Naomi is house sitting, and she's not 100% recovered from an emotional break down. But when her illegal movie downloading leads to almost frying someone else's computer, she must call a computer service for help, never mind it's Christmas Eve. And a man from her past swoops in to the rescue.

The story is filled with surprising quirks of humor and sarcasm. Loved the way the heroine thought and I smiled more than once at her wit. Zach...is so sweet. I give major thumbs up to this author for NOT doing the overdone to death alpha male. I'm so sick of alpha males. Thank you, Ms. DeWinters!

The sex is sensual and vivid without once ever crossing that fine line from erotica into porn. I felt the love and desire radiating off the page and never once grew uncomfortable or squeamish.

My favorite part is a brief mention about the Japanese, pottery, gold and silver, and cracks. It was awesome, and the message it conveyed was one we would all do well to remember. *I don't wish to ruin the surprise for anyone.*

My quibble: The heroine's emotional breakdown was never made clear to me. I couldn't figure out, really, WHY she did what she did. I never once got the impression she loved the man in the beginning so why did she react as she did? *Again, no spoilers here.*

Four bikes. I received this from the author with no strings attached.

High-Tech Holiday by Lorraine Nelson

Whatever would possess a woman to dress as a walking, talking holiday? And how can romance possibly evolve from a chance meeting on an airplane? Find out in Lorraine Nelson's short but cute High-Tech Holiday. I got more than a few chuckles from this one. It was a fun book to edit and read.

Blurb:

Kris Temple is a web graphics designer, an ambitious entrepreneur striving to survive in a dog-eat-dog world. She also wants to win her family’s Christmas contest. She adorns herself in full holiday gear the night before thanksgiving and is flying home fully decorated. She's thrilled to find herself seated next to a handsome man. But Kris has a speech problem. However would she converse with this man without stuttering and embarrassing herself?

Aaron Masters is not thrilled to be flying economy, but his personal jet is in for repairs. He’d had to scurry to the reservation desk at the last minute to book a seat on the only flight out, and now he finds his practical, no-nonsense demeanor assaulted by a woman dressed as a holiday advertisement…his seatmate. How could he hope to ignore this woman for the entire flight?
With their flight being rerouted, calls from her ex-fiancé/co-worker pleading for assistance, and his ex-girlfriend stalking him, they are certainly in for a memorable flight. 

Excerpt:
 “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain. We are being rerouted due to a severe storm front sweeping down from Canada. We are unable to return to Chicago or continue on to Minneapolis.” There was a general murmur of discontent at this announcement.

“We are being rerouted south to Atlanta. Attendants will be on hand to assist with reservations for accommodation and help reschedule your flights. We apologize for the delay in your travels but deem the safety of our passengers our top concern. We are sorry for any inconvenience.”

“I should have stayed in Chicago,” Ethan mumbled.

“I'm going to miss the contest. Darn.”

Ethan pulled out his cell phone. “George, have Donald bring the car around to the airport and instruct Maria to make up a guest room. I think I have a travel companion who'll be staying overnight.” He signed off a moment later and turned to her. “I hope you don't mind me making plans for you, but since Atlanta is one of the corporate locations for the businesses I run, I know finding decent accommodation will be next to impossible.”

She hesitated briefly, before replying, “That sounds fine. Thank you. Are you sure it won’t put you out?”

“I have a six thousand square-foot loft. You won’t be crowding me,” he said with just a hint of a smile.

“I should call my family and let them know about the delay.” Nothing like stating the obvious, Kris, she thought with disgust as she flipped open her cell phone.

“Hi, Mom. I'm going to be delayed. They've rerouted my flight due to a storm. Yes, we’re landing Atlanta. No, I have all my luggage with me. Yes, Mom, I do have clean underwear,” she whispered the last part. She could feel the flush of color rushing into her face. God! How embarrassing. Once again she could tell he was listening to her every word. Especially when she whispered her response to her mother and he'd leaned closer.

“Yes, I'll call as soon as I land. Bye for now.”

Shoving the phone deep into her pocket, she turned to see a huge grin on the handsome face next to her. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“More than I ever thought possible.” His answering smile showed off a dimple in his right cheek.

“Well, I'm feeling rather exposed at the moment. So maybe you can share something personal about yourself?”

“Actually I was going to ask you what color.”

“What color?”

“Are they?”

“Are what?” she was starting to wonder if he was a little tipsy.

“Your underwear.”

“That is none of your business,” she admonished, incredulous he would even dare ask.

“Well, it sounded like your mom was concerned about it. I just figured I should be too.”

Now she could see he was really having fun at her expense. But then, it was kind of funny that a successful, independent woman had a mother who still wanted to make sure she had clean underwear in case of an emergency.

“My mom's a bit old-fashioned and still thinks I'm twelve. She treats all of us that way.”