Cover, Excerpt & Book Trailer Reveal
A collection of short Christmas stories from the international author group Exquisite Quills and a few friends written for adults who love romance stories but is family friendly. Each holiday-themed short story is unique. From contemporary to historical, the Exquisite Quills authors and friends wish you a happy holiday filled with wonderful books.
Stories include:
Christmas Knight by Victoria Adams
Star of Wonder by Rose Anderson
The Kissing Ball by E. Ayers
The Christmas Risk by Beverley Bateman
Fallen In Love by Helena Fairfax
Snow Job by J.D. Faver
Christmas Miracle by Jennifer Garcia
Highland Hogmanay by Romy Gemmell
Almost Christmas by Vonnie Hughes
The Unexpected Gift by Susan Jaymes
Shooting Star Holiday Express by Gemma Juliana
The Christmas Gift by Jean Lamb
A Faery's Wish by Jane Leopold Quinn
Joyeux Noel by Zanna Mackenzie
Gifts To Treasure by Kaye Spencer
Read on for more on the stories, the book trailer, and where to get your free copy
Genre: Various Romance - Free Read
Content/Theme(s): Holiday, Historical, Contemporary, Regency, Faery, Scottish, Sweet romance, Hogmanay holiday & more
Release Date: November 6, 2013
Publisher: Exquisite Quills
Get your free copy at Smashwords
Collection Overview by E. Ayers
The idea of an anthology came up and we discussed it. (I'm blaming Rose Anderson for all of this!) We tossed it out to the Exquisite Quill members. The idea was to have tiny stories, something that could be read in just a few minutes. We limited it to 2000 words or less. We also asked that all the stories be family friendly, because we all write in various heat levels. The response was overwhelming!
In an attempt to create a cohesive book, we selected only a handful of the stories submitted and pulled them into A Holiday Anthology. Carey Abbott is a member of the Exquisite Quills and she is also a well-known cover artist. She graciously donated the beautiful cover to us.
We ran it through several editors and that created a new set of problems, as it is an international collection of authors. English and English grammar varies across the oceans. Okay, you can blame me for this one. I wanted each author to be able to keep that uniqueness that comes with the variation between countries. So if something looks like it might be spelled funny, because it has an s instead of a z, you are probably reading an author from someplace in the United Kingdom.
We've all decided that we'd love to do this again, but it was by far much more work than we realized it would be. We were all coping with our own deadlines while working this one, but all the authors were such good sports and hung in there with us. So our gift to all readers is a free holiday anthology filled with heart-warming stories that you can read when you only have a few minutes to spare.
My own story in the anthology, The Kissing Ball, is absolutely the shortest thing I've ever written! I took the setting of my River City novels and tried to bring the flavor of those books into this short story. I've paired two sisters together who are best friends but completely different, gave one a boyfriend, tossed in a craft, and life is never simple when you're in love.
Did I succeed? I hope so and I hope everyone enjoys the anthology as much as I did writing that very short story and working to pull the entire book together.
www.AyersBooks.com
Twitter: @ayersbooks
authorsofmainstreet.wordpress.com
Christmas Knight by Victoria Adams Genre: Christmas Contemporary
A belly dancer, a cruise ship and a Christmas knight.
On the Christmas Caribbean cruise as a belly dancer, Tamara fights back the tears as she reads her parent's text. Due to a vicious blizzard, this will be their first Christmas apart. Leaning on the deck railing with bloodshot eyes and red and runny nose, Tamara looks up into the gaze of a handsome passenger, with the initials S.C. Can S.C. save Tamara's ruined Christmas?
www.facebook.com/victoriaadams.romancewriter
Twitter: @_VictoriaAdams
Gifts To Treasure by Kaye Spencer Genre: Historical
America is in the throes of the Great Depression, and Mike Rockeford finds himself disinherited, homeless, and bitter at having his playboy lifestyle snatched from his grasp. He is now just one of countless men hopping freight trains for a free ride from somewhere, going nowhere. Then an encounter with two young fatherless children on a snowy Christmas Eve causes Mike to reassess what is important in his life.
www.KayeSpencer.com
Twitter: @kayespencer
Kaye Spencer Amazon author page
A Faery's Wish by Jane Leopold Quinn Genre: Fairy Tale, Medieval Romance
A mini sequel to Winning Violetta, a sensual faery tale. Rose, one of Princess Violetta's hapless faery god-sisters, has always wanted a love of her own, especially after being part of Violetta and Prince Colin's romance and facilitator of their marriage. If only she could now be with the mortal knight she's fallen in love with. If only… "I'd give anything to be mortal." Rose, faery god-sister extraordinaire, sighed as she gazed down from the Fae Sanctum in the highest of the castle battlements.
www.janeleopoldquinn.com
Twitter: @jelquinnauthor
Jane Leopold Quinn Amazon author page
Christmas Miracle by Jennifer Garcia Genre: Contemporary Romance
Christmas miracle brings long lost love
jenniferfgarcia.com
Twitter: @jennfgarcia
Jennifer Garcia Amazon author page
Shooting Star Holiday Express by Gemma Juliana Genre: Christmas Contemporary
Bella White, a young widow, takes her daughter Julie by train to spend Christmas in San Francisco. She received a pink slip just before the trip but doesn’t have the heart to disappoint her daughter. When they enter the dining car, Nick Crowley, an old boyfriend, comes back into Bella’s life. Magical moments and shooting stars make all things possible.
www.facebook.com/gemma.juliana
Twitter: @Gemma_Juliana
Gemma Juliana Amazon author page
Get your free copy at Smashwords
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This is lovely! Thank you for sharing. :)
ReplyDeletexoxo
Jennifer Garcia