Silver and Gold by Leigh Riker
Why hadn’t she stayed home? Instead, Dakota Moore was standing by a huge Christmas tree in the high school gymnasium. Annie, her best friend since fifth grade, peered around the branches.“Dakota. Stop hiding.”
Their ten-year class reunion would end with this ball, andDakota couldn’t leave without making a spectacle of herself. Wobbling on her too-high heels, she ducked away from the tree, praying she wouldn’t run intoone particular classmate tonight.
“Let’s circulate,” Annie said. “Everyone always asks about you.”
But what did they ask? “I would have had bells on, Annie,if I’d won the 400-meter freestyle in London.” The words stuck in her throat. As a swimmer, her Olympic dream was long over.
As they crossed the room, Dakota’s heart began to pound. Her hope died. He was suddenly here in the crowd, coming toward them, and ten years passed again in the blink of an eye. The very sight of Kieran Gardner would always be a shock, his good looks, that dark hair and those teal blue eyes…And isn’t this awkward?
Dakota took one more step in her gold strappy sandals—and lurched right into him.
The Christmas Key, by LeAnne Bristow
“Doesn’t the gym look great?” Becca Jacobs appeared beside him.
Alonzo nodded. Did the former prom queen even remember him? “The decorating committee did a lot of work.”
Becca looked around before leaning closer to him. “Tiffany Walker was our biggest helper. Can you imagine her going out of the way to help anyone?”
Alonzo stiffened. After all this time, he still felt the urge to defend her. “Actually, it doesn’t surprise me.”
She gave him a pointed look. “Really? After all she did to make your life miserable?”
He shrugged. “I asked for it most of the time. Besides, that was ten years ago. People can change.”
“We’re about to find out. Here she comes.”
A Kiss to Remember by Claire McEwen
Phoebe? Damon jogged toward the ladder, the woman’s thick blonde hair and slim frame becoming clearer with each step he took. It was her. Right here at the lodge, in danger of breaking her neck. “Don’t move,” he called.
“Don’t worry.” Her face was buried in her arms, which were still wrapped around the beam. “I don’t plan to. Ever.”
“I’m not sure they serve breakfast up there.”
“Maybe people could throw a few pancakes up to me.”
He couldn’t help but smile at the image. “But then you’d need syrup, and that might get messy.”
She gave a short laugh. “True.”
“I’m going to help you down, okay?”
“Yes, please.”
It was hard to make his voice steady when he felt shaken to the core. “When I climb the ladder, it’s going to move a little. Don’t let that worry you. You’re not going to fall.”
Gabi had arrived at his side. “Is it okay if I put Piston down for a moment? I’d feel better if I tried to hold the ladder steady.”
“I think he’ll be fine.”
She set Piston on the floor. The little dog limped over to Damon and put his front paws up on his shin.
“You’ve got to be on your best behavior, okay? Go lie down.” He pointed to a spot under the nearest table. Piston hobbled over and flopped down with a small sigh.
“Is there a dog down there?” Phoebe’s voice sounded a little less shaky.
“A really cute one,” Gabi called. “With a sore paw. It’s going to need your help once Damon gets you down from there.”
“Damon? Damon from high school?”
Damon was almost positive he heard horror in her tone.
Adventures in Amore by Beth Carpenter
Last weekend’s snowshoe lessons proved woefully inadequate. As she struggled up a hill after Ryker, Marissa was halfway convinced she was having a heart attack, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. At least if she collapsed in the snow, Ryker might be forced to stop and look her way. Or maybe not. Maybe he'd just leave her there and keep going. At least Will would probably call the paramedics.
Who was Will? Ryker had introduced him as his cousin, but that's all she knew about him. And yet, there was something about him that drew her, like when a familiar tune played and she could almost remember the words, but not quite. And just like one of those songs, the mystery would bug her until she'd come up with the answer.
"Hey, Ryker," Will called from the back. "Us mortals could use a break."
"Oh, sorry." Ryker looked back with a sheepish grin at his red-faced, panting flock. "Let's stop at this clearing."
Starts with a Kiss by Cheryl Harper
“Okay,” Sydney said as she straightened her shoulders, “I’m getting the gym decorated for the ball tonight right now. If we’re going to argue, can we do it later? Tomorrow? Next week?” She could be better prepared by then.
“If you had answered my phone calls, we might have already hashed this out.” Alex ruffled his hair. Sydney realized he needed a hat if he was going to stick it out here.
“So, whatever you need to say is simple. Good. Go ahead.” Sydney crossed her arms over her chest and juggled the clipboard as she tried to be patient. Then she waved a hand. “Never mind. Let me say this first.”
Alex shook his head but his eyes crinkled on the edges with amusement. They did that a lot when they talked. Over five years, she’d seen that amusement more and more. He knew what he was dealing with when he talked with her. The first time they’d shared a hurried break in Paris, he’d been surprised by the flood of words, but she didn’t manage to surprise him much anymore.
Surprise had been his thing.
Delay of Reindeer Games by Melinda Curtis
“Hell-on-Wheels,” a deep male voice teased from the front walk.
Helen gritted her teeth and dropped her wheelbarrow to the ground, hating that what she’d dreaded during about the reunion was hitting her this early in the weekend.
Hell-on-Wheels was the nickname Brandi Sue Duckweiller had given Helen as a freshman during a 1970s-themed rally week where Helen had been chosen to compete in a roller-skating race. Given that Helen was capriciously tall – nearly six-feet – and not athletically inclined – she’d sat the bench on the volleyball and basketball teams – why would anyone think she could stay on her feet on roller skates?
Stupid high school reunion.
Who remembered her that way? Only everyone.
Helen pasted a smile on her face and turned.
A strong pair of arms encircled her, dragging her forward to be crushed against a broad chest. And then she was released and held at arms’ length by –
Helen froze.
“Hell-on-Wheels.” Marshall Jacobs tsked. “Becca didn’t tell me you were in town.”
“Likewise,” Helen mumbled, grinning and blushing furiously as Becca’s older brother – Helen’s high school crush – continued to hold her in place. “Aren’t you on injured reserve?” He played for the Boston Bruins and had received a concussion a week ago. “Should you be driving?” Or should he be at home in a dark room under a nurse’s care?
“It’s just a bump on the head.” Marsh gave Helen that trademark grin that used to cause her legs to shake like a bowlful of jelly. He wore a black leather bomber’s jacket, a Bruins baseball cap and mirrored aviator sunglasses. “I’m in the NHL’s concussion protocol. Nothing to worry about.”
“Unless you don’t normally blare holiday tunes out your open truck window in the middle of a snowstorm.” Helen knew she should step back and compose herself. She was grinning back at Marsh, still blushing, and couldn’t bring herself to move a muscle – not in her face or in her legs – because he was looking at her with a flirty gleam in his eye.
He sees me!
Helen smiled harder.
With This Ring by Anna J Stewart
After the past few days it was clear Miles Fuller had offended not only Karma, but he’d somehow managed to tick off every single deity in the cosmic Parthenon.
He wouldn’t have thought it possible. A delayed, then diverted flight. A rental car shortage, a snow-storm induced highway closure, black ice, an unforgiving, harder than brick snow bank along a two-year old cell phone that chose to die an unnatural death when he was thirty thousand feet in the air. It had all added up to one, simple silent yet screaming suggestion: give up, turn around, and go home.
“Not an option.”
Not because he didn’t give up; for the record he didn’t.
Not because he couldn’t catch the next flight home: his black AMEX could get him anywhere he needed to go.
He wasn’t giving up and going home for one simple reason.
There was no home without Delta.
Remember When
Liz Flaherty
“Want me to pick you up? Maybe we could walk the green again on the way. It has new stuff going on every hour of the day.”
“Yes.” The word came almost before he’d finished the question. She’d always loved their conversations, and there wasn’t going to be nearly enough time in this weekend to have them. There would be other people around all the time, and as glad as she was to see them, she would love to have more time with just Aaron. “Remember when you would walk me home,” she whispered, “just like you did today? With the snow and the stars and all of the magic of Christmas Town at our fingertips?”
“I do.” He caught her hand again and pressed his lips to her fingers. The feeling was even more delicious than it had been just a moment before, when she’d touched his mouth. “I remember so many things.”
Before she was ready, he was gone, pulling the door closed behind him. She went upstairs, thinking back over the time on the green, the fact that in unspoken agreement, they’d avoided the popular gazebo. Esther would be disappointed, but it was a part of their shared past neither of them wanted to revisit.
The Candy Cane Contingency by Cari Lynn Webb
Owen laughed and met her in front of the truck. “How about Posey’s and we can split a piece of peppermint pie? I’ll even let you have the last bite.”
“That’s generous.” They usually fork wrestled for the last bite of pie.
“It’s the least I can do.” Owen adjusted her scarf, drawing the thick fleece up and around her chin exactly the way she preferred to block the cold.
Nothing blocked the soft sigh shifting through her chest. Becca tucked her chin further inside her scarf.
Satisfied, he lifted his warm gaze to her face. “Consider it my thank you for letting me borrow your truck again.”
What would he say when she gave him her heart?
The Magic of This Place by Anna Adams
Cait braced to see Gabe, hiding self-consciousness as she opened the door.
And there he was, so tall she wasface to face with him on the top step. Snow glistened in his hair. Sharp features, raw with cold, were softened by a smile that didn't hide his joy at seeing her.
Joy.
He melted her heart. He’d never resented her as she’d deserved to be resented. She smiled into his dark eyes, finding the comfort of coming home.
He pulled her into his arms. She didn't deserve his strength either, but she was grateful to lean into him for a brief second and take all he offered.
She pulled back. “You have free time this close to Christmas?”
“You came back for your class reunion?” He grabbed her coat off the hook beside the door.
She put it on. “I went to the dinner, but I left early.” She pulled out her knitted cap and gloves—and came upon the promise ring she’d found at the community center. She had to put it in the lost and found.
“Why’d you leave? Going was the hard part.” He tugged her knitted mitten up to her wrist, cutting her breath short with his casual touch. She shrugged and he smiled. “I’m in charge of your class bonfire. Let’s go burn some stuff down.”
“You want me to help you set something on fire?” That was her super skill. She’d sent her own life up in flames. “Sounds good.”
Tell us a little about your characters in your story in Christmas Town Homecoming.
Cari: The Candy Cane Contingency features best friends, Becca Jacobs and Owen Price. Back in high school, Becca and Owen made a pact. If they were not married by their ten-year high school reunion, they'd marry each other. Well, the ten-year reunion has arrived and they're both still single. But everyone knows back-up plans are nothing more than empty promises and silly things kids say. Or are they?
Leigh: In my story for Christmas Town Homecoming, “Silver and Gold,” Dakota Moore was the star ten years ago of the school's swim team. But her dreams of Olympic gold were shattered when at the games in London the next year Dakota was disqualified. Humiliated then, she still believes she let down the people in her hometown who had been so proud of her—especially her biggest supporter, Kieran Gardner, Dakota’s longtime crush. That hadn’t ended well either.
Kieran, a math nerd, was the polar opposite of super-athlete Dakota years ago, and it always amazed him that they’d become such good friends. But to want more of their relationship then? That didn’t seem like a good idea and Kieran made a bad mistake. Still, a decade is a long time. Now the owner of a successful college prep firm specializing in STEM subjects, he’s trying to decide whether to expand his business in Boston or stay in the hometown he loves. Maybe this high school reunion will help him figure that out—and it could be Kieran’s one chance to tell Dakota how he still feels.
As the high school gym's decorations sparkle and glitter, a gorgeous, softly lit Christmas tree adorns the space, and the dancing begins at the reunion’s final event, in such a romantic setting can these two get their chance at love after all?
Anna A: In The Magic of This Place, Cait Dancer, the one most likely to succeed, returns home a failure in her own eyes, but never in the man she left behind. Gabe Palmer, who made his own mistakes when they loved each other, still loves Cait enough to help her find a new--and glorious Christmas Town start.
If you could spend time with a character from Christmas Town, who would it be and what would you do?
Cari: This one will be obvious for me. I'd spend time with the Knotty Elves: Prudence, June and Odette and of course take part in whatever matchmaking scheme the Knotty Elves were up too. I'd also like to check out the game room the Knotty Elves updated at the Over the River Retirement Home and spend time hanging out there.
Leigh: I can’t pick just one. I’d love to check out the holiday windows at Dockery’s Department Store then go shopping for presents with Cara, Jill, Holly (who appeared in my previous Christmas Town novellas) and, of course, Dakota.
Anna A: Since I love all the stories that come from Christmas Town, I'd like to spend some time with Santa and discover all the secrets he's keeping for the characters I have yet to meet!
For those who don't already know you, tell us what your writing/author journey has been.
Cari: My author journey began as a secret. I wrote my first manuscript without telling anyone. When I finished, I showed my husband and asked if I should keep on writing. He said definitely and with his support I kept on writing, learning the craft, and dreaming. Fast forward through more manuscripts, a large collection of rejections and a deep desire to be published, I met the people who would become my writing tribe thanks to a Saturday writer's meeting at a clubhouse in Sacramento. What started as a critique group turned into strong friendships and because of Anna J. Stewart and Melinda Curtis, my publishing journey began. And Anna and Melinda have helped me through every book I've written since that first one - to say I'm blessed to have them in my life is an understatement. My journey would not be the same without them in my corner. To anyone who is pursuing a writing career - don't ever give up and find your tribe. Surround yourself with the people who will support your dreams and help you grow. You won't regret it.
Leigh: My writing journey has been a blast—and quite varied. I knew early on that my dream job would be as an author. I started my career writing short stories, but since then I’ve written glitz and glamour, women’s fiction, romantic suspense, chick lit, and romantic comedy. Obviously, I like a challenge!
I’m currently doing a Western series that I love, Kansas Cowboys, for Harlequin Heartwarming. The latest title, A Cowboy’s Homecoming, came out in July, and I’m just finishing the first of two more books (working title Millionaire Cowboy) in that series.
Anna A: My name is Anna Adams. I've written for Harlequin Superromance, Harlequin Heartwarming, and I love writing stories from Christmas Town with some of my own favorite writers!
Cari: The Candy Cane Contingency was fun to write because I was ready for a little Christmas cheer done Christmas Town style. I liked the idea that all these characters were connected for this one weekend in Christmas Town and who doesn't love a high school class reunion. And pretty much any time I can visit The Knotty Elves, I'm happy.
Leigh: I had such a good time writing “Silver and Gold” for this new Christmas Town anthology. After ten years, Dakota still felt like an Olympic failure, and giving her a fresh take on her life and her relationship with Kieran, who has grown up very nicely, was not only fun but satisfying.
Anna A: The past year and a half has been hard for my family as it has been for yours and everyone we all know. Writing has been hard, too, and this visit to Christmas Town made me remember how much I crave stories of compassion and hope and real love.
Describe yourself in five words.
Cari: Loyal. Optimistic. Easygoing. Hard-working. Strong sense of humor.
Leigh: Persistent, dedicated, loyal, caring, happy.
@MelindaCurtisAuthor @AuthorAnnaJStewart @AnnaAdamsAuthor @carilynnwebb @CherylHarperRomance @authorlizflaherty @LeighRikerAuthor @BethCarpenterBooks @AuthorLeAnneBristow @CmcEwenwriter
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