Ho Ho Ho Harlequin Holiday Extravaganza - Caro Carson - The Maverick's Holiday Masquerade **Giveaway**

Wow and just like that its December 9th and I'm turning the blog over to Caro Carson and her spectacular Snow Globe Stories. Then hang around because she's sponsoring a fabulous giveaway. I also have my review of her holiday tale, The Maverick's Holiday Masquerade courtesy of RT magazine.

Enjoy!

Snow Globe Stories

By Caro Carson

I woke up this morning to the first frosty day of winter. It put me in the mood for another white Christmas, just like the ones I’ve been lucky to know since childhood.

Except...

I live in Florida. Frosty means the thermometer reads 65. I was born and raised near subtropical Miami. The first time I saw snow, I was wearing Dress Gray as a cadet—a plebe!—at West Point. The Hudson River froze over that year. So did I.

But my childhood memories of white Christmases are real. They were made while I lay by the tree in my air-conditioned house. My mother used cotton batting and glitter and a Lionel toy train to create a winter wonderland. The village surrounded by those little train tracks was a perfect town of perfectly mismatched buildings, antique houses and a modern church, a tinfoil pond with cast iron park benches and large plastic ducks.

That town was more than just snowy. It was the setting for my daydreams. I imagined the children who were waiting for Santa in each little house. I dreamed of the glamorous people who were taking the train somewhere exciting, living in a past century where airplanes were still a fantasy. And yes, I daydreamed about romance.

My mother played Bing Crosby’s “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” a song that spoke to World War II soldiers who were far from their own villages. Some of them were on my train, ready to surprise their sweethearts when they stopped at the station. I imagined happy weddings in that contemporary church.

As an adult in Florida, my white Christmas is contained in a snow globe, another perfect town to inspire me as I write novels set against the romantic winter holidays. Last December, A Texas Rescue Christmas brought together two people who will never again live in isolation now that they’ve been stranded together and fallen in love. The rickety cabin that sheltered them would look both lonely and lovely, surrounded by nothing but trees, in a snow globe.

This year, The Maverick’s Holiday Masquerade is a holiday romance for lovers of wounded heroes. This hero has seen the perfect world inside a snow globe shatter into shards so painfully sharp, the scars cripple him still. He is afraid to take any step for fear of its being the wrong one, but he opens himself to the heroine’s unbreakable love in time for the lighting of the town Christmas tree.

Next year...well, I have to gaze into my snow globe and imagine a hero and heroine who need one another, who deserve one another, who will end up happily ever after in the frosty cold of December. I hope next year finds us all still dreaming of white Christmases and reading warm romances.

All the best to you and yours,

Caro Carson

 

Despite a no-nonsense background as a West Point graduate and U.S. Army officer, Caro Carson has always treasured the happily-ever-after of a good romance novel. After reading romances no matter where in the world the Army sent her, Caro began a career in the pharmaceutical industry. Little did she know the years she spent discussing science with physicians would provide excellent story material for her new career as a romance author. Now, Caro is delighted to be living her own happily-ever-after with her husband and two children in the great state of Florida, a location which has saved the coaster-loving theme park fanatic a fortune on plane tickets. 

http://www.carocarson.com/

Caro was kind enough to model her contest offerings
to one lucky winner US ONLY!
Sweater is size XL
Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget Gonereading for the perfect

Stocking Stuffers.