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IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS
Mona Risk
New York Times and USA
Today Bestselling Author
IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS is my contribution to SWEET CHRISTMAS
KISSES 4
The previous Christmas anthologies presented by the authors
of Sweet Romance Reads have all been USA Today bestsellers:
Sweet Christmas Kisses in 2014
Sweet Christmas Kisses 2 in 2015
Sweet Christmas Kisses 3 in 2016
A few years ago, I was caught in a blizzard while flying to
Chicago. Unable to land, our plane was rerouted to Detroit where we waited for more
than twelve hours for the bad weather to subside. Many things can happen in a
crowded airport when you don’t have anything to do but watch the board covered
with canceled flights.
What if the toddler sitting in his mother’s arms, next to
you, got sick and threw up on you?
Trust me it wasn’t a pleasant moment, and I’ve never
forgotten it. Yet bad things don’t last forever and may lead to the beginning
of a happy ending. At least they did for my heroine, Dr. Sylvia Reynolds.
IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS is the story of two workaholic people
dedicated to their careers and too busy to waste their precious time waiting
for endless hours in an airport or playing with small children. When brought
together by a five-month-old baby during a blizzard, the young pediatrician and
the successful lawyer have no choice but to cope with the bad weather, the
cancellation of flights and the adorable baby who has no one else to care for
her.
Excerpt:
What better way to spend time when stuck in a plane with a
baby than to chat with a smart beautiful woman?
“Well, tell me the baby’s story.” Dr. Sylvia Reynolds
narrowed her eyes—large hazel eyes, their almond shape accentuated by dark
lashes and dark hair pulled back into a ponytail.
“A messy story. My brother Joshua, a Navy doctor, had an
affair with a French-American artist.” James sobered and glanced at his niece
lovingly cuddled in Sylvia’s arms. “She got pregnant but wanted to abort. Josh
insisted he wanted his child. They signed an agreement. She would leave after
the delivery to go back to France and her career, and he would raise the child
and let her see it if she so desires.”
“Quite noble on his part.”
“Now, Josh has been deployed to the Mediterranean. My mother
offered to keep Clementine during the time he’ll be away. Unfortunately, my
mother broke her leg a month ago. She’s still in physiotherapy. The maternal
grandmother who lives in Chicago didn’t mind keeping the baby for a week until
Mom returns home.”
“Poor Clementine.” Sylvia brushed a kiss on the baby’s silky
hair. “No mother, and shuffled right and left.” Did he detect a note of scorn
in her voice?
Clementine dug her head into the crook of Sylvia’s neck and
whined.
James squinted at the smart baby. “Right now, she’s telling
us she likes it in your arms.” No doubt he’d like it too if he had the chance
to be in Sylvia’s arms—or better, if he could hold her in his arms. He frowned,
puzzled by his sudden attraction to a woman he’d just met. He’d never believed
in love at first sight—love meaning
desire or interest in his vocabulary. Why today and why with this serious
pediatrician who didn’t look anything like the elegant beauties he often dated?
“You want to sleep, little doll.” Sylvia laid the baby in
her arms and rocked her.
A moment later, the baby slept peacefully.
“I’ll put her in the car seat.” James took the baby and
received a loud shriek of reprove when he bent to set her in her seat. The
little angel screamed her head off as if he had tortured her.
“Give her back, please,” Sylvia insisted. “She was so comfy.
How would you like to be awoken abruptly and almost thrown on the floor?”
“Huh… on…no…no.” Indignation made him stutter. “I was very
gentle, and never threw her.” Ungrateful
kid. I took a day off for you and you make me look like a monster in front of
pretty Sylvia.
Sylvia held the baby and James let go to avoid a tug of war.
“Relax, sweetie-pie. Everything is okay.” Clementine
clutched Sylvia’s sweater and let out a big sigh.
Sylvia cast him the reproachful look of a principal
expecting a student to apologize, and caressed the baby’s head until she
resumed her nap.
“You really know a thing or two about babies.” In awe of her
easy bonding with his niece, he considered her with respect. And amazement.
And… She had such a pert profile and luscious lips. To avoid temptation, he
spun his head toward the window. Not a reassuring view. Beneath the plane, a
gray carpet of clouds forecasted storms and problems in the area they overflew.
*~*~*~*~*~*
UNIQUE CHRISTMAS
Beate Boeker
USA Today Bestselling Author
After a hectic
December in the office, Chiara is looking forward to a solitary, peaceful
Christmas. However, fate has other plans. First, while opening a window, she
accidentally manages to nearly knock herself unconscious (yes, she's just a
teeny bit clumsy). Next, a gorgeous man jumps through that same window. Dazed,
she's not quite sure if he's an elf or some other heavenly being. However, the
wildly unexpected events of the next hours soon drive everything else out of
her mind, and her Christmas turns out to be truly . . . unique!
Excerpt:
The attic window in the house next door, the one that had
intrigued me, was alight. I could see it clearly, a rectangle in the dark, like
a medium-sized television screen or a tiny theater stage. A man sat at a desk
that seemed to have materialized out of nowhere. He had his profile to me, and
I could see his strong jaw, his coffee latte skin, and his mop of dark curls as
if I stood in the same room. He stared at the screen of a notebook with a frown
that made his eyebrows bristle, and he was wearing an ugly, hand-knitted
sweater made of some mottled brown wool. Where had he sprung from?
Mesmerized, I took a step forward. In all these weeks, I had
never seen a soul up there. The attics had been my private area, giving me the
feeling the roofs were my world alone, and now, just before Christmas, this guy
had appeared like . . . like Father Christmas.
I smiled at myself. No, he didn't look like Father Christmas
at all. I took my time to survey him a bit better. He looked like a teddy bear.
A brown, cuddly teddy bear, particularly with that rough sweater and those
unruly curls. A Christmas Teddy.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
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