An excerpt and a deal!

My Christmas novella, The Key to Christmas, releases on Friday and my publisher is offering it for a limited time for the preorder price of just .99!

Christmas in the Village is the highlight of the year for the town of Charlee Falls, but this year Alexis Crossman is anything but inspired. Devastated by her father’ s death, she can barely summon the energy to decorate the window of the furniture store she’ s inherited, let alone officiate the store’ s annual Christmas contest.

Jessie Wainright is struggling to navigate parenthood alone. Especially when it comes to his daughter’ s first date. He attends the annual festival hoping to lighten his mood, and inadvertently wins a key to the contest. But can he find the key that will unlock lovely Alexis’ s heart?

Here’s an excerpt …

Jessie Wainwright didn’t know, sitting at the breakfast table that Saturday morning, his cell phone propped against a cereal box as he streamed last night’s football game, that this was the day when everything would change. Weeks later, he’d think back and pinpoint that exact morning as the end of life as he knew it.

 His daughter, Izabella, sat across from him, busy on her own phone.

“What’s your plan for the day?” he asked.

“Emma and are going to the mall. I need my color refreshed.”

His gaze skimmed over her hair, recently dyed black with two inches of purple peeking out from the bottom. Along with her pale blue eyes, she’d inherited a mane of lustrous honey -colored hair from her mother. He hated what she’d done to it. But Izzy’s hair was not a hill he was willing to die on.

“And I need a new pair of jeans.”

“Do you need some money?” Already his hand was sliding into his pocket.

“I have my birthday money.”

He pulled out two twenties and set them beside her plate. “I’ll get the jeans. Just don’t buy a pair that’s full of holes.”

She sighed. “OK, Dad. Thanks.”

“How are you girls getting to the mall?”

“Emma’s mom is taking us. She has to do her Christmas shopping.”

Izzy had turned sixteen three months before, and so far, had no interest in getting her driver’s license. Which suited Jessie just fine.

He finished watching the game highlights and turned off his phone. A disappointing end to a disastrous season. There was always next year, except maybe there wasn’t. He’d stopped taking things like next year for granted.

He swallowed the last of his egg and sausage sandwich while Izzy nibbled at a slice of dry toast. The egg and sausage sandwiches had been their Saturday morning thing for as long as he could remember. He’d learned to make them after Nicole died, wanting to keep at least one small thing the same. But last week Izzy informed him she was a vegan now. That wasn’t his hill either.

He carried his plate to the sink and filled it with soapy water, grabbed the scraper and went to work on the fry pan. “I have a drywall job to finish up today. I shouldn’t be much later than six. Do you want me to bring home subs for dinner, or shall we grab something to eat at the festival?”

“Dad, about tonight. Can I tell you something without you making a federal case out of it?”

A federal case. His wife used to say that when she thought he was being unreasonable It’s fine, Jessie. Don’t make a federal case out of it. He didn’t like the way it sounded any better coming from his daughter. He took a moment to compose his face before turning around. 

“What is it?”

“I got invited to the movies.”

A fist squeezed in his chest.

“Who invited you?”

“His name is Lon. And before you ask, you don’t know his family. They just moved here from Brooklyn. Mrs. Murphy made him my study partner in science class. That’s how I know him.”

It was too much information coming at him all at once. A movie date. With a boy he didn’t know. Lon from Brooklyn. Thank you, Mrs. Murphy.

If it looks good to you hop over to my publisher’s book store and snag your copy today! It’s also available for preorder at Amazon.