Wednesday, December 9, 2015

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. 



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




Don't forget Gonereading for the perfect
Stocking Stuffers.

41 comments:

  1. Great post, Caro! As I live in Florida too, I thought it was freezing the other, only 65 like you said, but that for us IS cold! Wait till it hits 40, we'll be shivering! My last white Christmas was a few years ago when we drove up to NJ to spend the holidays with my dad, aunt and grandmother. It's always wonderful when we can visit family. And play with snow😄 Great giveaway! Hugs to you and darling Deb!

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    1. Thanks Lorelei, I have an author friend who moved from St. Louis and now lives in FL I remember she came home one October when Bouchercon was here in town and we're all about to wear shorts because its 70º in late October and she's got on suede, boots and a coat. :) Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. Thanks for the great post and give-away!

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  3. Well, I live in MN, so I think that question is kind of stacked the wrong way--pretty much every year has some white!! Actually, with the strong El Nino this year, and the October like temps we are having now, they are saying it could be a brown Christmas. The earlier snowfall has pretty much melted away!

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    1. Minnesota! Brrr.... I hope you get a White Christmas. If you live somewhere freezing, you should get the reward of a wintery wonderland, at least!

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    2. Yes holdenj we in the St. Louis area are feeling the effects of El Nino too. Today is in the 60s LOL

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  4. I live in northern Wisconsin so every Christmas is a white Christmas!

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    1. Wow. It's funny, when I was little and would see these Christmas stories where the big crisis was "What if it doesn't snow? How will Santa get here?", I was a bit baffled. Maybe that was what kids in Wisconsin worried about. LOL. I did worry one year because we didn't have a fireplace, so I wondered how Santa got in the house. My mom said he used the sliding glass door. I was fine with that.

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    2. Yeah I know what you're talking about Caro, bc here in my area a white Christmas doesn't happen often.
      Thanks for sharing Laurie :)

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  5. It wouldn't be so bad being in the sunny weather this time of year. ;) Fun guest post!!

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    1. Thank you! And I think it wouldn't be so bad to be in snow this time of year. I just don't want to actually have to drive in it every day for months. ;) But to visit? Pretty!

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    2. Thanks Ali, I've been trying to convince the hubs to move to FL but now with his health issues I guess its good to be near family

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  6. Even up here in Ontario, Canada, the forecast is for a green Christmas. Oh well, we can always dream :-) Great post, Caro-and great book! And thanks, Debbie, for putting together this fabulous holiday extravaganza!

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  7. Never had a white Christmas

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  8. Last Christmas was white. Most are here in NH. although this year we've had very warm weather so far.

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    1. Hi Jodi, thanks for sharing. Yes I think a lot of the US will feel the effects of El Nino

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  9. This brings back memories. I grew up in Northern California. We lived in the Sierra foothills so got snow on occasion, but it was twenty minutes away if we wanted to go play in the snow. I thought I was used to snow until I moved to the north east. Now, I know what real winter, snow, and ice are. LOL. But there is enough of the California Girl in me to get giddy over snowfall and white Christmases.

    The book sounds good.

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    1. the book and the author are fabulous Sophia Rose. Thanks for sharing some memories :)

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  10. Can't remember my last white Christmas. Has to be when I lived in MN years ago. But we did have a white New Year's Eve and New Year's Day (2014 / 2015) here in Vail, AZ. It was so beautiful, I ran around taking pictures of snow on our oranges!

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    1. I remember seeing that on the Weather Channel kind of rare there I think I remember too

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  11. live in Massachusetts... had snow last year hubby said...only a couple of inches in my yard... I don't remember cause I was in ICU after having over 100 strokes a couple weeks before

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    1. Oh My Gosh Diana I'm so glad you've recovered. I must admit I didn't know you could have so many. The wonders of modern medicine and the miracles of the season to you once more.
      Thanks for the comment!

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  12. I can't remember the last time we had snow fall on Christmas. We have had a white Christmas last year but it wasn't freshly fallen snow. Your husband did a beautiful job of photographing you holding the beautiful sweater. It would be delightful and so warm to wear here in our cold Pennsylvania winters. Thank you for the chance to win a copy of The Maverick's Holiday Masquerade and the sweater. Merry Christmas : )

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    1. Deanne, I think we had snow here in the St. Louis area a couple of years ago. The trouble was it started as freezing rain and my daughter and I were slip sliding on the highway on the way to my sister's house. Then the temperature warmed and there was no snow! Crazy
      thanks for the comment and Good Luck!

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  13. it was either last year or the year before

    Denise

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  14. I live in Michigan, so it's more unusual to NOT have a white Christmas. LOL I've never spent Christmas in a warm state. Though Michigan is strange and it's 60 degrees today and that's supposed to continue through the weekend.

    Marcy Shuler

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    1. I know it was 70 and broke a record today in St. Louis!!

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  15. LOL I'm a florida girl too and yeah I had one white Christmas before leaving for college and that was more ice than snow. Heh My grandparents would always turn the AC down as low as it would go though and we'd do a fire a night or two during the Winter season which was so much fun to little me. lol

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  16. Last year. I live in PA and it's usually cold and snowy but this year is very strange and warmish. Don't know if it will be white this year or not!

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  17. Last year...I think. I live it upstate NY so I get to have a white Christmas a lot :) Not too sure about this year though!

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    1. Yeah you do I see your neck of the woods a lot with snow at this time of year

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  18. Great post Caro my last white Christmas was last year lol it hasn't started snowing in NY as yet this year

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    1. Here either Natasha, just rain and almost 70 degrees last week, Yikes

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