Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
When I first heard the premise of this novel “Love, Lies and Mistletoe” – let’s face it, I immediately was drawn back to why I love to binge Hallmark Channel or Lifetime Christmas movies EVERY single year save 2020. I’m currently watching a few via Hoopla – though my favourite find was “One Christmas” which is about an autobiographical slice of life from Truman Capote! (see also this *thread | see also this tweet) The night before I saw a film by Lisa Durupt which sparked this *thread of tweeting!* as well. You could say it has been a Hoopla, Christmas binge!
The reasons I love Christmas films is they are generally set in places I’d love to relocate too – such as “Evergreen” – as who wouldn’t want to live in Evergreen? The whole community pitches in and they have the most #awesomesauce life experiences in that towne! Plus, I love the randomness of people coming together at the holidays – how sometimes there is a reason they have to cross paths – whether that is by grand design or by idle fate twisting things up a bit – the curious ways in which people find each other, better understand themselves and find truer happiness by the end of the film(s) or specials for the Christmas season are my kind of jam! I love finding the stories which are a cuppa of love & comfy respite – where you can soak into a world similar to our own but without a) the pandemic and b) the chaos of our everyday lives! Sometimes it is nice to see life as it should be lived rather than how it is more readily known and stuffed with the angst most of us regularly transition through as we live!
I love the fact this is a series – and the quirky titles which are a part of it – plus, of course, the fact “love & lies” is a part of all the titles – as that just makes you ponder the finer points behind the series itself – what sparked the coupling of the words, what truly motivated the series and what inspired the writer to enter into the series from the places she had!! I am hoping I can start to seek these lovelies out in the New Year but like most years of #blogmas, some of the stories are readily available in public libraries (either locally, regionally or through inter-library loan) and other times, the stories are either digitally released or lesser known and are not regularly stocked in public libraries. Hence why I am seriously underread in most of my #blogmas showcases these past three years!
Have heart though – eventually I’ll be gathering copies of them – for now, I have been contemplating the series whilst listening to Christmas Coffeehouse via #Spotify and feeling grateful there are authors out there who are creating these kinds of series for the Christmas Romance readers like me who are seeking their stories and are thankful they took part in a series of #blogmas promotions to get their stories in front of us and to give us a chance to ‘meet them’.
Curiously – What do you love most about small towne Romances and those which are set at Christmastime? Do you have favourite small townes in fiction? Romance or otherwise? I mean, I could relocate not just to Evergreen in those lovely Evergreen movies but I could also take up residence in Eden Lake which is where #MurderSheBaked is happily set and visually the kind of small towne everyone would feel #blessed to call HOME. Although Aurora Teagarden’s series has some serious EPIC visuals in the background – I mean, hallo British Columbia you’ve spoilt me on Western townes and natural landscapes!!
One stolen kiss.
A little Christmas magic.
And the snowy inn where love stands a chance.
Interior designer Layla Dean can’t believe her good fortune at snagging the holiday decorating gig at Blueberry Point Lodge. And even though her fledgling business has a growing list of happy clients, her personal life isn’t filled with the same Christmas magic. She needs a man in her life like she does coal in her stocking. But tell that to Brant Johnsson.
Brant is known as the Twin Cities’ Master of Lights and Luminaria for good reason. His company oversees most of the downtown’s outdoor displays every season. But when a professional snag sends him reeling, he’s ready to quit the business. Until he runs into Layla again. Forgetting their awkward mistletoe kiss last year just isn’t possible, but she doesn’t share the pleasant memory. Now that they’re decking the halls together for the newly opened inn’s first Christmas, Brant hopes for a replay of their first encounter. And something more.
When a misdirected text message pairs them together for a fundraising event, Brant and Layla find they have more in common than just a flare for holiday decorating and one mistaken kiss. If Layla can overcome her sour first impression, Brant might get his very merry second chance.
Add to LibraryThing | ISBN: 978-1951516055
Blueberry Point Romances:
Love, Lies & Lavender (book one)
Love, Lies & Mistletoe (book two)
Love, Lies & Fireflies (book three)
Converse via: #CleanRomanceForChristmas and/or #ContemporaryRomance
as well #SweetRomance and/or #CleanRomance or #CleanReads
Enjoy an Extract from
“Love, Lies & mistletoe”:
Frustrated, Layla unpacked while the sour details of their first meeting stirred.
It had been at a fundraiser for Friendship House, a social service organization in the Twin Cities, and had attracted the heads of companies and old-money philanthropists. The ballroom of the historic Rennselaer Hotel had been transformed to showcase Brant Johnsson’s famed lights displays. Its ballroom was all plaster moldings, ceiling frescos, and soaring balconies on four sides with polished pillars of red oak standing like silent sentinels overhead. Someone mentioned Brant had used more than 25,000 lights on the balconies alone.
The only reason Layla got an invite from Friendship House was because she helped decorate the hotel lobby for the event. She’d been excited to go—it was a networker’s dream. But once the day arrived, Layla dreaded the night ahead. Socializing didn’t come naturally. The beaded sheath she wore didn’t ease her discomfort either. She’d bought it online, and while it was stunning, she couldn’t forget that it cost more than her food bill for three months.
She’d found a semi-quiet corner so she could people-watch. Her gaze fell on Brant more than a few times that night, the first time being when he’d walked through the room’s double doors like he expected a standing ovation. He was nothing short of dashing.
Later the night, Layla had been deep in conversation with Chuck Hennessy, president of a regional bank, talking about decorating the bank’s five branches when she felt a hand on her upper arm. Layla spun around. Before she could register a single, coherent thought, a pair of lips met hers. Layla couldn’t find her voice; the shock stole her breath like a vacuum.
Her hand pressed against a large, muscular chest, and for one swoony moment, she went all lightheaded and weak-kneed and hated herself for it. Then the person pulled away and she really hated herself.
Brant Johnsson.
Egotistical, ridiculously handsome Brant Johnsson.
His eyes widened when he looked at her, his mouth gaping open like a beached fish. It would have been almost comical if the whole embarrassing incident hadn’t happened right in front of Chuck.
Brant mumbled something, including a hurried “sorry,” before his girlfriend showed up. Layla burned with humiliation, while Brant made a joke about it to the woman.
Excerpted from Love, Lies and Mistletoe by D. E. Malone.
Copyright © D. E. Malone.
This has a touch of the opener for the Lisa Durupt film (#ACrownForChristmas) – wherein, two persons who would rather not be in each others’ company suddenly find themselves working together on a project which has a good cause behind it. Now when it comes to bad boys in Romances and/or Women’s Fiction stories, I tend to be a hard sell. I had mixed feelings when it came to Richard in Julie Klassen’s “An Ivy Hill Christmas” because I mentally just turn off when I find self-absorbed and full of it characters who haven’t been humbled through their experiences and/or have learnt a few hard knock lessons by being taken down a peg by people who choose not to deal with their egos.
Yet. I give characters a chance – to either prove me wrong or to give me a reason to rally behind them – none more apparent than how within the pages of “Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish” wherein the author not only CONVINCED me the character was redeemable but she gave me a wicked reason to get behind him! She literally took a disagreeable character and *altered!* my whole perception of them and even made me want to become one of their life cheerleaders! I mean, that is seriously AWESOMESAUCE. It doesn’t always happen though – some characters you just get burnt off on following further but I’m just saying – despite first impressions, sometimes I find characters can affect me far stronger than I originally gave them credit!
So, how will I feel after I read more about Brant!? Good question! I look forward to finding out myself – til then, is this series part of the stories you’ve considered reading yourself? If so, what drew you into it and if you’ve read them – did Brant sway your opinion of him or is he just a cad all the way round?
About D.E. Malone
D.E. Malone writes sweet contemporary romance and is the author of the Hearts in Hendricks and Blueberry Point Romance series. She also writes for middle-grade audiences as Dawn Malone. Her work has appeared in Highlights for Children, Pockets, and the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. She loves traveling to places off the beaten path which inspire the small-town settings in her stories. When she's not writing, she enjoys reading, hiking, and continuing her quest for the holy grail of bakeries.
This blog tour is courtesy of: Prism Book Tours
Click through via the badge to find out what else awaits you!
Each day, a new author is showcased – I selected the authors I wanted to feature ahead of time –
therefore, return to see which of the authors I am focusing on throughout the 12 days!
NOTE: Similar to blog tours wherein I feature book reviews, book spotlights (with or without extracts), book announcements (or Cover Reveals) – I may elect to feature an author, editor, narrator, publisher or other creative person connected to the book, audiobook, Indie film project or otherwise creative publishing medium being featured wherein the supplemental content on my blog is never compensated monetarily nor am I ever obligated to feature this kind of content. I provide (98.5%) of all questions and guest topics regularly featured on Jorie Loves A Story. I receive direct responses back to those enquiries by publicists, literary agents, authors, blog tour companies, etc of whom I am working with to bring these supplemental features and showcases to my blog. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them: I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers. Whenever there is a conflict of connection I do disclose those connections per post and disclose the connection as it applies.
{SOURCES: Cover art of “Love, Lies and Mistletoe”, “Love, Lies and Lavender”, the author’s photo (for DE Malone) and biography, the extract from “Love, Lies and Mistletoe”, the book photo for “Love, Lies and Mistletoe” as well as the blog tour banner and The Prism Book Tours badge were all provided by Prism Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers and My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded by codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: #blogmas 2020 banner & badge and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2020.
Leave a Reply