Holiday Party - Happy New Year's Eve!

I’ve had a great time this month putting together this holiday party. I hope y’all had a great time and enjoyed these posts as well. The giveaways are open until the end of the 1st, so I’m giving y’all an extra day to enter. Have a happy New Year’s Eve, and a wonderful 2016!

Holiday Party - Christmas Movies

One of the biggest things people do during the holiday season is watch Christmas movies. I’ve never met anyone who hasn’t seen one. Even the people I know who don’t celebrate Christmas have seen Christmas movies and some even watch them every year.

It’s a cultural experience. Every TV station plays at least one or two during December, and some stations play nothing but Christmas movies during December. New Christmas movies are released every year (Lifetime is big on this). People take quotes from the movies to use for various items (like on my Christmas sweater), others take decorations (such as the infamous lamp leg in A Christmas Story), lingo from the movies becomes pop culture references and more. Companies even make commercials using characters from these movies (such as the AT&T ones this year with the old characters from Rudolph).

In my family, we have a giant collection of holiday movies that we watch. However, there is one movie that we absolutely have to watch every year together. In fact, since my sister wasn't able to come down until later this week, she forbid us from seeing the movie until she got here. For us, that movie is Christmas Vacation. I can’t tell you how this became our must watch movie. It just did. It’s the one holiday movie that we all love. The jokes and craziness make me laugh even to this day, no matter how many times I see the movie. It’s funny, it’s heartwarming, and it’s an absolute delight that I look forward to every year.

Do you have a favorite Christmas (or holiday) movie that you absolutely have to watch every year? Do you like experimenting, watching all the new movies coming out or do you just stick with all your old favorites?

Holiday Party - On This Day in History Fun Facts

I’ve always loved fun facts, the random little things that you wouldn’t really need to know unless you were going to go on Jeopardy or try to stump or impress someone with random trivia facts. When thinking about what I want to do in the upcoming year, I wanted to add another weekly meme that would be interesting to read about and research, without requiring a huge time commitment. Let me know if that’s something you’d be interested in seeing as a weekly meme here, or if you have any other ideas for weekly memes, let me know. But for now, here are my top 10 facts about events that happened on this day.

1732 - "The Pennsylvania Gazette," owned by Benjamin Franklin, ran an ad for the first issue of "Poor Richard’s Almanack."

1832 - John C. Calhoun became the first vice president of the United States to resign, stepping down over differences with President Jackson.

1846 - Iowa became the 29th state to be admitted to the Union (and tomorrow marks the anniversary of Texas becoming the 28th state).

1869 - William E. Semple patented an acceptable chewing gum.

1895 - In Paris, the first commercial public screening of cinematographic films took place.

1902 - The first professional indoor football game was played at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Syracuse defeated the Philadelphia Nationals 6-0.

1912 - The first municipally-owned street cars were used on the streets of San Francisco, CA. 

1945 - The U.S. Congress officially recognized the "Pledge of Allegiance."

1964 - Initial filming of the movie "Dr. Zhivago" began on location near Madrid, Spain. The movies total running time is 197 minutes.

1981 - Elizabeth Jordan Carr, the first American test-tube baby, was born in Norfolk, VA. 

Holiday Party - Taking a Break

I’m taking a break from posting today. Unfortunately, the authors that were going to be posting over the next few days had to cancel for various reasons, and will be doing posts in the new year instead. That being said, I am planning other posts to do instead, since I did have some ideas on back-up. However, I also have a lot to do in my personal life before I go back to school, so I decided to take a break from posting today. I will be posting again tomorrow through New Year’s Eve, so you’ll have that to look forward to.

Holiday Party - Boxing Day and Start of Kwanzaa

Today marks both Boxing Day and the start of Kwanzaa. I talked about Kwanzaa last year, so I decided that I wanted to touch on Boxing Day this year since it’s a holiday that I’ve heard mentioned often, but have never really celebrated since it’s not as big of a holiday here in the US. However, it’s a big deal across the pond (and to the North).

Boxing Day is a holiday traditionally celebrated on the 26th, when servants and tradesmen would receive gifts, known as a "Christmas box", from their bosses or employers. It is now considered a bank holiday in the countries it is celebrated in: the United Kingdom, Barbados, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Bermuda, New Zealand, Kenya, South Africa, and other former British colonies.

This day also has many other names. For instance, in South Africa, Boxing Day was renamed Day of Goodwill in 1994. 

It is also known as St. Stephen’s Day since the day is dedicated to St. Stephen in the Roman Catholic Church's liturgical calendar. 

And in Ireland, it is known as both St. Stephen's Day and the Day of the Wren. It is also celebrated in some European countries as the Second Christmas Day.

Just like Black Friday in the US, Boxing Day is considered a major shopping holiday. It is also a major day for sports, particularly in the UK, Australia, South Africa and Sweden, with all having major sporting events occurring on the 26th.

So in other words, this day is a big deal for many people. I think the closest comparison here in the US would be a mix of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and the Super Bowl. It sounds like an interesting holiday, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on it, so feel free to share below. And have a good Boxing Day and Kwanzaa!

Holiday Party - Merry Christmas

I meant to put this up earlier today, but I’ve been busy spending time with my family celebrating (which is the best kind of busy to be I think). I hope you all had a wonderful and merry Christmas (or Friday, for those who don’t celebrate).

Oh, and I did end up making that roasted almonds recipe yesterday. They lasted less than 24 hours, they were so good. I couldn’t stop eating them! So I highly recommend trying that recipe (and I’m going to upload my recommendations and adjustments to the recipe later tomorrow, so don’t forget to check it again. I’m also making fudge tomorrow, hopefully that turns out well too. Anyways, enough from me, enjoy the rest of your Christmas!

Holiday Party - Christmas Eve

It’s Christmas Eve! Only one day left to go until Christmas! I can’t wait for the holiday to be here (both for the celebrations and so that the holiday stress can pass). Today is a big day in my house, as I’m doing the holiday baking AND finishing decorating. Today’s going to be a busy day here, so I’m going to keep this short. I might update (or at least post photos on Facebook or Instagram) with my adventures, as well as share my recipes and such, so don’t forget to check back in at the end of the day (or tomorrow). For all those celebrating, good luck with all the last minute Christmas preparations. And for those who don’t celebrate…you only need to wait two more days for the holiday craziness to begin to die down. Cheers everyone!

P.S. Don't forget, today is the second to last day to get 6 free books from Forbidden Fiction and two free books from ARe.

Holiday Party - Festivus

Today’s Festivus (Festivus for the rest of us). This is a holiday originally created for the show Seinfeld, but has since become a popular non-denominational holiday. Here are some rules associated with Festivus:

- Instead of a Christmas tree, there is the Festivus Pole, an unadorned, aluminum pole. Decorations are strictly forbidden.

- The Festivus Feast consists of anything except ham or turkey. Dessert consists of Festivus Fruitcake, which is not eaten but is instead saved from year to year and put on display.

- Airing of Grievances - participants discuss how much others have disappointed them during the past year.

- The holiday is officially over when a holiday participant pins the head-of-the-household during a wrestling match after dinner during the Feats of Strength.

To learn more about how this holiday came to be, here is the full story of Festivus, courtesy of the Seinfeld gang.

Holiday Party - Winter Solstice

Today marks the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere (and the longest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere). The second solstice occurs in June, which is when the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere occurs.

This solstice happened for everyone on Earth on December 21 at 11:48 p.m. ET (though the 22^nd is the day it is “officially” counted as).

While this day is also known as the darkest day of the year, it is also seen as a moment to celebrate the return of longer days to come. Many cultures and religions celebrate holidays (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, pagan festivals, etc.) around this time of the year to mark the return of the sun and longer days.

So bundle up, settle down in front of a roaring fire and stay warm through our longest night. Warmer weather and longer days are on their way.

Thanks to the CNN article that provided easily summable information.

Holiday Party - Humbug Day

Today is Humbug Day, a holiday invented to allow people to vent their holiday stress before Christmas (as well as bringing out people’s inner Scrooges for a day). Yes, this is actually something people celebrate. Personally, I actually like the idea of a day like this where people can release their stress (this is the most stressful part of the year after all) in a fun and healthy way. And what better way to get your holiday blues and stress out of the way then to do it like Scrooge. Bah humbug!

What do you think about this holiday? Would you celebrate it? Let me know in the comments below, and don’t forget to enter the grand prize giveaway!

Holiday Party - Holiday Fiascos

I was originally going to just post some more of my favorite Christmas carols today, but instead, I want to talk about putting up lights on a Christmas tree. Yes, this sounds random, but hear me out.

This year, due to commitments and other such family stuff, I am the number one person in charge of preparing for Christmas. I’m doing the grocery shopping and a lot of the baking, as well as putting up decorations and such. So this year, for the first time ever, I had to put Christmas lights up on the tree. I’ve set up the tree before, I’ve fluffed the branches out, and I’ve hung ornaments, but I’ve never actually had to deal with hanging the lights on the tree. Heck, I’ve never even seen someone put up Christmas lights on a tree. They just seemed to appear on their own.

So I was a little hesitant about this task. I decided to look up advice, which netted me about 8,000,000 results, each one saying something different. I finally ended up following Michael Walter’s advice, since it closely matched what my dad told me (with a helpful video included). I was set. And then I went to actually put up the lights.

Needless to say, this turned into an hours long affair, and the tree still isn’t finished yet. However, I can now say that I know how to hang lights on a Christmas tree.

So why did I want to share this with y’all? One, because the author who was going to originally post today was unable to due to a conflict and two, because I feel like this time of year can get crazy. I have a giant list of items that need to be completed within the next few days, and it’s stressful.

I think it’s important to take a step back sometimes and just recognize and laugh at what we’re doing. I must have looked like quite a sight while first hanging those lights, tripping all over them, getting stuck in the tree, having to finally throw the lights over parts of the tree in order to continue hanging them. While it wasn’t funny while it was happening, I can now look back on my decorating fiasco and laugh.

So even though things don’t always work out quite as we intended, don’t forget to take a moment to laugh and enjoy the holidays, even when they don’t go quite as planned.

What about y’all? What was your most spectacular holiday fiasco that you laugh at looking back on? 

Holiday Party - Bodhi Day

So, I planned on celebrating this on the actual day, but genius that I am marked it down as the wrong day. Bodhi Day was actually celebrated on December 8 this year, not the 19th, but it’s a beautiful holiday, so I still wanted to share about it. Note: I don't claim to be an expert, this is my understanding of this holiday after much research on it. I may have misunderstood or gotten details wrong, so if you know more, feel free to share in the comments section as I'm always open to learning new things.

Buddha under a Bodhi tree

Bodhi Day is the celebration of the day the Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. It is a day of enlightenment, remembrance and meditation, which can be celebrated many days.

Often, multi-colored lights are strung about the home to symbolize the many pathwa+ys to enlightenment.  The lights are turned on each evening beginning on December 8th and for 30 days thereafter.  A candle is also lit for these thirty days to symbolize enlightenment.

A meal of rice and milk is significant on this holiday.  According to Buddhist legend, Sujata offered this to the Buddha upon his awakening to help him regain strength.

Bodhi tree

Bodhi trees in the home are sometimes decorated with multi-colored lights, strung with beads to symbolize the way all things are united, and hung with three shiny ornaments to represent the Three Jewels - The Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

This is a beautiful holiday and one of the most important days to Buddhists. I hope you had as much fun learning about Bodhi Day as I did.

Holiday Party - Christmas Carols

Since we are now a week away from Christmas, I decided to share my favorite Christmas song - Carol of the Bells. I absolutely love this song and could listen to it on repeat all holiday season. I not only love the iconic music, but I also love how many different versions of the song exist. This is one of those songs that people can easily add their own twists to, while still being recognizable as the traditional Carol of the Bells. These are just three of the versions I’ve found that I love listening to. All three are unique and different, yet they also all share similar elements. Enjoy :)

What’s your favorite Christmas song? Is there a certain version of a Christmas song that you absolutely love (even if it’s unorthodox)? Share links or titles below, I’m always looking for new songs to listen to during the holidays. One lucky commenter will win a $5 Amazon GC, so be sure to leave your email address in your comment. 

Also, don't forget to enter the grand prize giveaway as well!

Holiday Party - Roasted Almonds Recipe

This year, I plan on doing a lot of holiday baking since my family members who normally do the holiday baking are unable to this year. So while I plan on making old favorites such as pecan pie and sugar cookies, I’m also looking for new recipes to try. I found this roasted almonds recipe and am going to try making it. I’ll let you know how it goes. However, I want to hear about what recipes you plan on trying this holiday season. Feel free to share the recipes in the comments, I’m always looking for new things to try. And if you end up making these, let me know what you think of them!

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 10 min. Cook: 20 min. + cooling

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon egg white
• 2 cups blanched almonds

Directions

1.      In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and seasonings; set aside. In another bowl, whisk egg white until foamy. Add almonds; toss to coat. Add spice mixture; toss to coat.

2.    Spread on a greased foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.

3.    Cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 2 cups.

Holiday Party - Free Books

Thank you to all the people who emailed me and let me know that my posts weren't going live. I don't know why the scheduler wasn't working, but it should be all good now. I left an entry for y'all on the grand prize giveaway as thanks for helping me out. :)

I'm here today to spread some Christmas cheer to y'all! And what better way to do that then to let y'all know about free books!

As of yesterday, ARe has started their Twelve Days of Christmas event. Each day up until Christmas, a new book will be available for free on their website. Missed a day? Don’t worry, because each book is available for free for two days, so if you miss a day, just make sure to download both the previous day’s free book and the current day’s free book. The first two books available are:

- Delicate Ink by Carrie Ann Ryan

- Circe’s Recruits by Marie Harte

Also, for even more free books, stop by Forbidden Fiction every day leading up to the 21st for a free book (several of which are holiday stories). The free book is only available on the day stated, so don’t miss out! Plus, check back on the 24th and 25th to get 6 free books! Awesome, right? You can get started today with Spidermilk by Konrad Hartmann.

Holiday Party - Tory Richards

Here to share her holiday traditions, as well as an excerpt from her book A Soldier's Promise (and some awesome giveaways) is the wonderful Tory Richards!

Traditions 

Definition - custom or belief, a long-established action or pattern of behavior, often one that has been handed down from generation to generation, the handing down of patterns of behavior, practices, and beliefs.

How many of you have traditions on the holidays? The kind created from someone special in your family, just for your family? For years our Christmas Eve tradition was to all gather at my parent’s house for mom’s famous spam salad sandwiches, and then open gifts. No kidding! However once mom passed that particular tradition stopped, even though we still talk about it with fond memories. Why no one else in the family continued that tradition I don’t know, but it was a special and highly looked forward to night. It was so much more than just opening gifts, it was just being together and eating those spam sandwiches, which mom always made-up into finger sandwiches.

As we grow, marry and begin our families certain traditions might follow us that were established by another family member, or you may create your own. Traditions come from the heart, and make the holidays so much more special.

 

Hey, before I forget, I have a page of giveaways going on the whole month of December over on my blog. I’ve set up rafflecopters to go live at different times but there are a few you can enter now. Just make sure you follow the specific guidelines for entering so that your entry will be valid. I’m giving away artwork, ebooks, calendars, earrings, egift cards and more! Go here, click on the Christmas giveaway page tab at the top, and good luck! 

  

A Soldier’s Promise

Now I’d like to mention one of my books. A Soldier’s Promise, which is a contemporary holiday romance with a lot of heat.

Blurb - Keeping promises is important to Ryan, but keeping his promise to his younger brother David will be hard. David’s final wish is for Ryan to watch over his wife and daughter, but Ryan’s been in love with Shannon for years. This holiday season, Ryan will learn he can keep his promise and still have his heart’s desire.

Excerpt:

“You want to help me, Shannon?” Something in his tone warned her she should turn and run back to her room, but that same something excited her into staying. “This is the only way you can help me.”

In one smooth move, Ryan pulled her over to the bed with him and pushed her down, following her until he covered her with his half-naked body. Gasping with surprise, Shannon found her mouth being ground beneath his. She struggled, but if he noticed, he didn’t let that or his split lip stop him from stealing her breath. Then his hands took hold of her wrists and pinned them to the bed. Against her will, she responded when he arched his hips into the lower half of her body.

His thick, hard cock slid into the crevice between her legs and brushed against her clit.

Shannon moaned and became aware of other sensations brought upon by her squirming. She arched in hunger, thrust against his erection with sharp accuracy, wishing they were naked and he was sliding into her. She moved her hips again, rewarded when Ryan ground his shaft against her.

He groaned and shuddered, slid his tongue inside her mouth, swallowing her sound of pleasure. For a spellbinding moment, they were caught up in the heat of the moment. She was no longer interested in freedom. Her hands weren’t pushing against his chest, but had gone to his shoulders and roamed his back in heated caresses, nails lightly scraping defined muscles. Her hips strained upwards to meet his as he ground his hard-on into the sweet, hot place between her thighs.

She welcomed his hand beneath her pajama top as he claimed her breast, palming the globe and flicking his thumb over the burgeoning nipple. Her response was wild and wanton, encouraged him to continue, as she silently begged him to do even more. Ryan tore his mouth from hers, pushed her top out of the way and took her nipple into his mouth.

“Oh, God!” Shannon hissed beneath him, in nothing more than a whisper. She arched her back, holding his head against her flesh. She was throbbing below, where his shaft provided enough friction on her clit to make her burst with sweet release.

His mouth returned to hers, and he kissed her savagely while his hand skimmed down her body, snaking inside her pajama bottoms and cupping her bottom. And Shannon thought, this is it, he was going to slide her bottoms down and take her.

All at once, a muffled noise penetrated their sounds of hunger. Ryan froze. And during those brief seconds of listening for the sound again sanity returned to both of them. Realizing she’d been about to let him make love to her, Shannon closed her eyes and willed the whole thing away. There was no way she could ignore Ryan’s hard body or his warm breath against her mouth. His warmth, coupled with the stimulating scent of their passion, would remain long after she went back to her room.

“Hell, Shannon. I’m sorry. I got carried away.”

“I guess we both did.” She wasn’t about to let him take all of the blame. “I ah, don’t know what came over me, Ryan. I…I’ve been so lonely. It’s, been a long time.”

“For both of us.” He rolled away. “I think I hear Alivia.”

“Yes, she sometimes wakes during the night.” Shannon scooted off the bed and looked down at him. Ryan continued to lie there silently, folded his arms behind his head. “Do you think we can be friends?”

He released a long breath. “Sorry, I don’t think you and I can ever be friends.”

“Why?” That wasn’t the answer she’d been expecting. “Is sex all you’re looking for in a woman?”

“Does that shock you? I’m a Marine on the go, Shannon. I don’t have time to build relationships. I never know when the opportunity for a good lay will arise and have to get it when I can.”

“I don’t believe you,” she shot back with strong disappointment. She refused to think he was that cold hearted.

“Why would I lie to you?” There was indifference in his tone.

Shannon thought about it for a moment. “I know why,” she said sadly.

“Why?”

“Because you’re scared,” she breathed softly. “Goodnight, Ryan.” She turned and left the room.

Not until she was back in her own room with the door closed did Shannon begin to breathe normally again. How was she going to face him in the morning and look him in the eye?

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she buried her face into her hands and began to cry. Something was happening between them and she wasn’t sure what. No matter how much Ryan tried to make her believe it was only sexual, she knew it went much deeper than that.

Now all she had to do was make him see it.

Author Bio:

Tory Richards is a fun-loving grandma who writes smut. Born in 1955 in the small town of Milo, Maine, she's lived most of her life in Florida. Today she lives with her daughter and her family. She has her own woman-cave which she shares with four felines whose main goal in life is getting as much cat hair on everything that they can.

Penning stories by hand and then on manual typewriter at the age of thirteen, Tory was a closet writer until the encouragement of her family prompted her into submitting to a publisher. She's been published since 2005, and has since retired from Disney to focus on family and writing. 

Links:

Amazon     |     Smashwords     |     Barnes and Nobles

Facebook     |     Twitter     |     Goodreads

Holiday Party - Ugly Sweater Day

Today is Ugly Sweater Day! It seems that ugly sweaters have now become the new “it” thing to do during the holiday season. It has gone from being the worried about, worst part of Christmas to becoming a sort of badge of pride.

Now, people strive to find the ugliest sweaters possible, often purposefully making them ugly. I’ve seen more ugly sweaters than Christmas shirts in stores this year alone. Even companies like Starbucks are getting in on the ugly sweater craze. My friend and I went in this week and got these adorable ugly sweater reusable Christmas sleeves on our cups.

While I don’t really have an ugly Christmas sweater, I do have this one,which is super comfortable, which means it gets pulled out fairly often even if it’s not Christmas time.

What do you think about this craze? Do you like participating, or do you want nothing to do with them? Share your thoughts and pictures of your ugliest Christmas sweater (along with your email address) below, and the person with the ugliest sweater wins a $5 Amazon GC. Bonus points to whoever can name the movie this quote comes from.

Holiday Party - Hanukkah Videos

Since I’m currently up finishing my comic for my final today, I want to share two of my favorite Hanukkah videos that I enjoy watching when I need a break. Enjoy and have a great day!

Also, don't forget to enter the grand prize giveaway.

Holiday Party - Human Rights Day

Today, I want to talk about international Human Rights Day. Human Rights Day is celebrated annually across the world on December 10. This date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption and proclamation, on December 10, 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first global enunciation of human rights.

Human Rights Logo

This Declaration covers a wide range of political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights. Even though it is technically not a binding document, it inspired more than 60 human rights instruments which constitute an international standard of human rights. Today, the general consent of all United Nations Member States on the basic human rights laid down in the Declaration makes it even stronger and emphasizes the relevance of human rights. The Declaration is now the most translated document in the world except for the Bible.

This is one of the most widely celebrated days internationally and it is on this day that the five-yearly United Nations Prizes in the Field of Human Rights and the Nobel Peace Prizes are traditionally awarded. The theme for 2015 is "Our Rights, Our Freedoms, Always.” - Information courtesy of sources found via Wikipedia

Holiday Party - Layla Dorine

Joining us today is Layla Dorine. She's sharing a specially written Christmas story featuring characters from her new novel, Broken Prince, Mismatched Eyes. Enjoy!

Caden stumbled back from the garderobe, fully intent on falling back into bed with his husband, Rhys, when his eyes caught sight of the countryside outside their window and his eyes lit up with glee. Sometime during the course of the night snow had begun to fall on Mauritania, and now the rolling hills and steep cliffs were covered in white as far as the eye could see.

Fat fluffy flakes clung together in clumps on tree branches and leaves, hiding the green and what remained of the fall colors. Beside him, Titus’ ears perked up as they watched a rabbit zig zag his way across the fresh powder, leaving a trail of tracks in his wake. Everything sparkled and twinkled in the early morning light as excitement built in Caden’s belly and spilled over into a joyful laugh.

He raced back to the pile of furs in front of the fireplace where Rhys still slept, mostly buried in their warmth. Only the top of his head was visible as Caden dropped to his knees beside him and began shaking him awake.

“Ugm…” Rhys muttered, rolling over and completely disappearing into the mound.

“Rhys, please get up, it’s snowing.”

“All the more reason to stay right where I am,” Rhys muttered.

“It’s beautiful out there, staying in here would be wasting it.”

“Staying in here would mean being safe from the cold, the ice and all the chances to slip and fall,” Rhys grumbled, then squawked in outrage as Caden grabbed hold of the furs and peeled them away.

Leaning in, Caden licked the stripe of flesh from Rhys’ navel to his throat, causing his husband to shiver and let out a low groan.

“Show me Mauritania like this,” Caden pleaded softly. “If you slip, I’ll steady you. If you fall, I’ll pick you back up. Please, Rhys. I want to see how beautiful it is all covered in snow, then we can come back and I promise I’ll warm you.”

Rhys groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m going to hold you to that promise.”

Caden threw his arms around his husband and hugged him tight, and the hounds, as if on cue, descended upon Rhys to lick his face.

“Okay, okay,” Rhys laughed, trying to fend them off. “I’m moving already!”

“Come on boys, give him some space, you’ve licked him enough now.”

The big hounds huffed but backed away, tongues lolling out of their mouths as their tails wagged joyfully.

Caden reached down to pull his husband up, and Rhys clasped his hand, then yanked him down into the furs and tickled him mercilessly. Caden bucked and twisted, laughing, hiccupping and trying to shove Rhys’ hands away but it seemed like they were everywhere.

“I give, I give,” Caden gasped, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes he was laughing so hard.

“Oh I can think of many, many things you can give me,” Rhys purred, right by his ear as he ceased tickling. “But you want to go outside.”

With a laugh, Rhys stumbled to his feet, but quickly got his balance and bad leg under control. Caden stared after him as he headed to the wardrobe, admiring the muscular plains of his husbands back before he picked himself up and started dressing for the cold.

Outside, the snow was still falling gently, and while the wind blew gusts of cold air down from the mountains it was nothing like the howling thunder storms the season before.

Caden raced outside, laughing, with Titus and Brutus on his heels. Rhys followed more slowly and carefully, reaching the door as Cadan threw his arms wide and began to spin around while trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue. A small smile stretched across Rhys’ face he watched his husband for a moment, before he gathered up a handful of snow and slowly began to creep up on him.

The snow he flung, intended to be packed tight, came apart in the air and blew into Caden’s hair, coating the dark strands with a glittering of white. Caden turned, a devilish look in his eyes as he scooped up his own handful of snow and advanced on Rhys.

“Wait,” Rhys said, slowly trying to backpedal. “Can’t we talk about this; negotiate?”

Caden seemed to pause, as if considering it, before reaching out to catch the front of Rhys’ fur coat and stuffing the entire handful of snow down it. Rhys howled and shook, which brought twin looks of confused amusement from the hounds as Caden laughed.

“Nope, I don’t think we can,” he said, before gathering Rhys in his arms and pulling him in for a kiss. Rhys snuggled against him, partly for warmth, but also because he loved being close to his husband and for a moment, they simply stood there as Caden’s gaze drifted over the countryside, taking it all in.

“Let’s take a walk up the hill, I want to show you something,” Rhys said, as he took Caden’s hand in his.

They fell into step easily, Caden having learned to modify his longer strides to ones that Rhys could more easily keep up with. As they reached the middle of the hill, however, Rhys paused and gazed up into his husband’s face.

“Close your eyes,” Rhys insisted.

With a nod, Caden complied, trusting him completely, and with Rhys guiding him, they finished climbing the hill. With his arms wrapped around Caden, Rhys stood on his toes and whispered in his husband’s ear.

“Open them.”

Caden opened his eyes and let out a soft gasp. Below them, in the valley, was the manor house and the trees boarding it, covered in show, the windows lit with a soft glow.

“It’s…beautiful,” Caden murmured.

“Just like you,” Rhys replied. “The only joy I ever expected to experience was from trying to grow to be the best leader I could possibly be for my people. After the accident, I stopped hopping that anyone would every fully see me as a man again. Thank you for changing all of that. Tomorrow, when we ride home for the Yule feast, I’ll already have the greatest gift anyone could have ever given me. In you.”

Caden turned and kissed him passionately, snow drifting down to cling to their clothes and hair, melting when their fingers grazed against it, tangling in the strands.

As they drew apart, Caden cupped Rhys’ face in his hand and gazed down into his eyes. “You’ve given me something I never thought I would have as well: a home and a family that loves me. You gave me you and there is no one more wondrous in the whole of this world.”

Stepping back, Caden reached into the pack he’d slung over his shoulder and retrieved from it a cloth wrapped bundle, which he quickly unwrapped, revealing a sleek, honey colored log.

“Anwen told me about your tradition of giving a Yule log to the one you love and burning it together in the hearth while sharing your hopes, dreams and wishes for the upcoming year. I like it a lot more than dragging home a whole tree and burning it while drinking and eating to excess the way we’d always done it on the mainland. Makes it special, at least, it does to me.”

Now it was Rhys’ turn to drag his husband into a round of rowdy kisses while the hounds rolled and played in the snow around them.

“You make everything special to me,” Rhys declared when he finally broke away, shivering a little. “Come on, let’s go back inside. I believe you have a promise to keep to me.”

Grinning, Caden whistled to the dogs who fell in beside them as he began leading Caden down the hill. “It will be my pleasure.”

“No,” Rhys replied with a wide smile. “The pleasure will be ours.”

Want to read more about these characters? Then read on to see how Caden and Rhys met and fell in love.

Synopsis:

All of his life, Caden DeMott’s mismatched eyes have made him the target of superstition and scorn. Though he is the son of a nobleman, he’s been allowed to run free over the hills and moors, mostly ignored by his family. No one ever thought to inform him that he had been betrothed since infancy, until the day his fiancé, Prince Rhys Gwyther arrived to marry him.

Rhys is the prince of the small island country of Mauritania, a land rich in gems, rose oil, and pearls, but poor in skilled artisans and seeds to grow crops. In order to further cement the trade route to the mainland, he’s been sent to marry a man he’s never met, and bring him back to Mauritania. Unfortunately, an accident years before has left Rhys with a lot of emotional baggage and very little trust in strangers.

But trust is exactly what Caden and Rhys are going to need if they are to make a life together, and help unravel the mystery of who’s been smuggling valuable gems and pearls off the island. Add in the realization that Caden’s stepmother, Mildred and her island representative, Maxwell, have been importing inferior goods for years, forcing Mauritania to become more dependent on them, and trust becomes even more difficult.

Caden possesses the knowledge to finally allow Rhys’ father to unravel the plot to ruin Mauritania, but only if the king and his son are willing to put their faith in Caden’s loyalty to his new home. Something that is difficult to do after Caden is accused of cheating on his marriage vows to Rhys with his guard, Luc. Will Rhys believe him innocent? Or will their marriage be over before it truly has a chance to begin?

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About the Author:

Layla Dorine lives among the sprawling prairies of Midwestern America, in a house with more cats than people. She loves hiking, fishing, swimming, martial arts, camping out, photography, cooking, and dabbling with several artistic mediums. In addition, she loves to travel and visit museums, historic, and haunted places.

Layla got hooked on writing as a child, starting with poetry and then branching out, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. Hard times, troubled times, the lives of her characters are never easy, but then what life is? The story is in the struggle, the journey, the triumphs and the falls. She writes about artists, musicians, loners, drifters, dreamers, hippies, bikers, truckers, hunters and all the other folks that she’s met and fallen in love with over the years. Sometimes she writes urban romance and sometimes its aliens crash landing near a roadside bar. When she isn’t writing, or wandering somewhere outdoors, she can often be found curled up with a good book and a kitty on her lap.

Layla Dorine can be found at:

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