Saturday, December 21, 2013

Celebrate the season with Pepper Anthony... Giveaway


I'm thrilled to celebrate the season with Pepper Anthony. Please be sure to check out her giveaway at the bottom of the post!



Thanks so much for having me as your guest today, Ella. I’m very excited to be a part of a great three-story holiday anthology this Christmas. Candlelight and Kisses brings you a trio of sexy love stories, just right for the holidays. Here’s the info about my story, Sunny’s Second Chance (27,000 words): 


Blurb:
It’s a rough Christmas for the just-divorced Sunny and her six-year-old daughter, Jasmine. When your no-good husband leaves you for a pretty young dancer, it’s hard not to feel old, fat and frumpy. But then she meets a handsome widower, Ben Stillman, and his young son, Spencer. The two kids hit it off, dragging their parents into an unwitting friendship. 

Sunny’s never thought about dating a white man. The whole interracial thing seems risky, especially since Jasmine is still struggling with adjusting to her father’s defection. What if the little girl gets attached to Ben and Spencer, and things don’t work out? 

Ben has been struggling under the weight of grief since his wife’s death a year ago. He suspects it’s too soon to move on, but somehow he wants to make Christmas special for Spencer. Then he meets Sunny and everything changes. She chases away the darkness and makes him feel alive again. Can the two of them learn to trust the magic between them long enough to give love a second chance?

Excerpt:
They pulled into her driveway. Leaving the motor running, he cracked his door open.
“If you can get your picnic basket, I’ll carry Jasmine inside,” he whispered.
“Okay. But what if Ben wakes up while you’re gone?”
“He’s a heavy sleeper. He’ll be fine. I’ll only be in the house for a minute.”
He undid Jasmine’s seatbelt and scooped the little girl up in his arms, then followed Sunny through the back door. They went up a few steps and into a roomy kitchen, where a night light burned above the stove. For a moment he thought he could still detect the smell of cookies in the air.
“This way.” She beckoned from another doorway. He went behind her down the hall and into a small, dimly lit bedroom that was decorated with posters of ponies and fairies. He laid Jasmine on the bed and turned to go.
“Thank you, Ben,” she whispered, following him out into the hall.
He came to a stop there, where a slice of soft yellow light came from what was probably the bathroom door. It fell directly across her face, making her eyes shine like golden pools.
“You’re welcome.” His heart was suddenly going a million miles an hour.
“I had a wonderful day. Jasmine did too. The best day in a long time.”
“Good. Good. I’ll email you the pictures.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Several beats of awkward silence ticked by. He cleared his throat and took a half step forward. They were still whispering.
“Sunny.”
“Yes?”
“I had a wonderful day too.”  
“Uh huh.”
“I really want to kiss you.” His heart slammed even harder in his chest.
She stared up at him for several seconds. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”
“Yes. I do.” Before she could stop him, he grasped her shoulders and pulled her in.
They were both still dressed in their coats, so he had only the vaguest impression of her breasts and hips pressed against him. He hovered above her lips for only a second, enough time to register the look of surprise on her face and then the sweep of her lashes as she let her eyes go closed and lifted her mouth to his.
Her lips were full and cushy, and she still tasted faintly of the mint candy cane she’d been sucking during the drive home. As he pressed his mouth to hers, careful to keep the kiss chaste, his whole body reacted. To her smell, her softness. To the kittenish sound she was making deep in her throat. His belly tightened and his cock hardened. His blood raced in his veins.
Holy shit! He was so ready to take this to the next level. Somehow he managed to rein himself in. He pulled his lips away from hers and stepped back, leaving her with a stunned expression on her face.
“Goodnight,” he whispered, and turned to go, not waiting for a response.

Along with Sunny’s Second Chance, readers will also enjoy a sexy Christmas reunion story by Kaylie Newell called The Mariner’s Gift (14,000 words) and a tale of small town romance by Nola Cross called A Home for my Heart (25,000 words). That’s three heart-warming, sexy stories for the price of one. Who can resist that?

Giveaway:

As a thanks to your readers for stopping by today, I’m awarding one copy of Candlelight and Kisses to a random commenter, so be sure and leave me a little note that you were here.

You can buy Candlelight and Kisses on Amazon here.

I’d also love to have readers stop by my website/blog:  http://www.PepperAnthony.com

5 comments:

  1. Hey Ella and Pepper,
    I just read Pepper's blurb and thoroughly enjoyed it! I love happy Christmas stories with that little bit of naughtiness. ❤️ The other thing that attracts me to these stories are two families drawing together to make one happy family. :-) Thank you both for your time!

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  2. Thanks for the Christmas giveaway...Love your stories~

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  3. I loved the excerpt! Thank you for the giveaway. Happy Holidays! kbinmich AT yahoo DOT com

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  4. This Christmas anthology looks great and by such great authors! I read Holiday Kisses awhile back and it was amazing! Have a Merry Christmas
    amybowens34@yahoo.com

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  5. The winner of this drawing is Kimberly Mayberry. Congrats! The author will contact you soon. Congrats!

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