Add Romance to Your Holidays

The holiday season is a busy and often stressful time. Days are filled with shopping, wrapping, baking and holiday parties. For couples who have children, family time is important but can become consuming. Sometimes it seems as if the holidays are too commercial and geared towards children. Perhaps we need to encourage the inner child in all of us to come out and play.

The holidays are the perfect time to relight that fire with your honey. Being married to a pilot with a crazy type of schedule has taught me to grab romance when I can. We are lucky enough to live close to Frankenmuth (Michigan) home of Bronner’s – the World’s Largest Christmas Store. However, we haven’t visited Bronner’s in many years we do enjoy wandering around the quaint German influenced town filled with unique shops, coffee houses, wineries and a brewery. Even our boys appreciate the opportunity to nibble on fresh sausage sticks while milling around the shops

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Romance doesn’t have to take up an entire day and you don’t necessarily have to be alone together. Cherish little moments. Add some mistletoe to your decorations and take advantage when you and your honey are caught under it.

Here a few ideas to add some romance to your holiday:

1.       Take a walk in a park

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2.       Visit a local tree farm. Cut down a tree or purchase some fresh greens to decorate with. Many local farms have bonfires and offer cocoa.

3.       Go ice skating. Many towns will have an outdoor rink for the season. Indoor rinks often have rental skates available.

4.       Sip hot chocolate by the fire. Try adding a little Bailey’s Irish Cream, Peppermint Schnapps or Cherry Schnapps to your cocoa. Warm, mulled cider or wine is a delight as well.

5.       Share a dessert by candlelight. Make sure you have whipped cream handy. It might come in handy later. *wink, wink*

6.       Cook a meal together. Even if kids are helping, you and your honey can sip wine and steal some sexy glances. Flirt with each other.

7.       Watch a Christmas themed movie. Cuddle together under a blanket. Feed each other popcorn.

8.       Have a leisurely breakfast in bed. At our house, the boys sleep in late so hubby and I lounge in bed sipping coffee and watching the birds at the feeder outside our bedroom window.

9.       Spend an evening at the theater. Local theater troops and orchestras often have Christmas themed performances at reasonable prices.

10.   Take a drive to “nowhere in particular” and stop whenever inspired or park in a secluded spot to gaze at the stars. Maybe even pack a light picnic basket and be sure to take a warm blanket.

111. Visit a coffee shop you’ve never been to. Some shops have local musicians and poetry readings.

1  12. Want to do something big? Rent a cabin in the woods for a weekend getaway.

Keep It Together During Holidays

Work. Shopping. Parties. Travel. Special Events.

During the month of December, there will be many demands on your time. 

Stress levels may rise. At the end of the day, exhaustion sets in. 

Even Santa and Mrs. Claus make time for alone time.

Here a few tips to "keep it together" during the holiday season.

* Try not to schedule to many events right after each other. Give yourself time between each one.

* Take time to sit with your honey and make a list of things you enjoy the most about the holiday.
This will not only give you quality time together, but also help keep you in the Christmas spirit.

*Schedule certain things from your list to do together. Yes... write it down! Make a date of it.

*Speak with family members in advance. Schedule family meals, parties and limit gift giving.

*Help each other. Help a friend make cookies. Help a relative wrap gifts. Spending time together and taking care of a "chore" at the same time.

*As a couple make a new family tradition.

Monday Mistletoe

"The mistletoe is hung up near a doorway or in the kitchen and young men have the privilege of kissing girls under it, plucking each time a berry from the bush. When the berries are all plucked the privilege ceases." 

The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe is one of my favorites and I believe a lot of kissing under the mistletoe has been going on for ages. In today's tradition the part about plucking the berries (which, incidentally, are poisonous), and then all kissing under the mistletoe ends when the berries run out!

As a little girl, my mother told me how a young lady standing under a ball of mistletoe, brightly trimmed with evergreens, ribbons, and ornaments, cannot refuse to be kissed. Such a kiss could mean deep romance or lasting friendship and goodwill. If the girl remained unkissed, she cannot expect not to marry the following year. 

I found references of "kissing under the mistletoe" in Celtic rituals and Norse mythology. In Gaul, the land of the Celts, for instance, the Druids considered it a sacred plant. It was believed to have medicinal qualities and mysterious supernatural powers.  (Hmm... I wonder what kind of "power" I would have if I wear a piece of mistletoe on my coat. After all... I am Scandinavian.)

The Norse myth of Baldur. Baldur's death and resurrection is one of the most fascinating Norse myths and stands at the beginning of the history of mistletoe as a "kissing" plant. 

Baldur's mother was the Norse goddess, Frigga. When Baldur was born, Frigga made each and every plant, animal and inanimate object promise not to harm Baldur. But Frigga overlooked the mistletoe plant -- and the mischievous god of the Norse myths, Loki, took advantage of this oversight.

Ever the prankster, Loki tricked one of the other gods into killing Baldur with a spear fashioned from mistletoe. The demise of Baldur, a vegetation deity in the Norse myths, brought winter into the world, although the gods did eventually restore Baldur to life.

After which Frigga pronounced the mistletoe sacred,
 ordering that from now on it should bring love rather than death into the world.

Happily complying with Frigga's wishes, any two people passing under the plant from now on would celebrate Baldur's resurrection by kissing under the mistletoe. 

I have my mistletoe hanging. 

Do you?

 

Her Undercover Christmas

Let's kick off December with a holiday themed book from Decadent Publishing and Gina Wynn.

Blurb:

Christmas is approaching and Phil is a girl out to get what she wants—the life of her choosing. She wants it all: a good looking man, his money, and the respect he commands. She just needs to throw her lot in with her criminal cousins for one day. Long enough to pull off a theft and come to the attention of the man she desires. But the job goes wrong.

Bastian is a man on the run—from a lifestyle he never chose and can’t seem to escape. One last favour before he disappears for good, and then he can start afresh somewhere new. But the favour balloons into more than he anticipated, and suddenly there are two of them on the run, and two of them snowed in and hiding out in his one last safe place.

Can a woman who thinks she knows where she belongs help a man who has never really belonged anywhere?

Excerpt:

He shrugged her off his shoulder and stood her close to his body, hand clamped firmly across her mouth.

“What are you doing?” She’d get them both discovered, and the boys after him left Joe looking like a pre-schooler who’d missed naptime.

She shook her head and he loosened his grip as her teeth grazed his skin. “My mother told me stories about you.”

“Well, well. I didn’t know I was quite so widely known to have become part of London lore. That must put me in the same league as legends like the Tooth Fairy and Father Christmas. I’m honoured.” He kept his arm wrapped around her waist.

“More like Wee Willie Winkie or that thing lurking under the bed.” She bent her leg and stamped on his toe.

“Try harder,” he whispered into her ear. “Not only do I have boots with superior grip, they have steel toe caps. And, if you recall, you have bare feet.”

She wriggled, grinding her body against his. He looked into her eyes, focusing on the confusion he found there.

“If you do that again, I’ll kiss you.”

She stopped, and he would have plucked his words from the air to shove back down his throat…but the thought of her lips teased him, still. He let his hands fall away from her as sudden need pulsed through him.

“You’re free to go. Tell your mother you met her bogeyman, her personal Pitch Black, whatever. You won’t see me again. And I won’t hurt you.” He turned to go. “Or kiss you, so don’t worry.” His last words were a regrettable afterthought.

“I…I can’t. I don’t know how to get home. My cousins brought me.”

He held his sigh in his chest and faced her. “There’s a bus stop over there, and busses stop at it all day long.”

She cast a glare in his direction that almost had a look of Rosa, and huffed out a determined breath. “Well, good. I didn’t want you to carry me about, anyway, like some abducting, murdering, debauching Neanderthal. Yet, now you expect me to conjure a bus to get home, in a strange place, when it looks like we’re expecting snow. Some gentleman you are.”

“I never claimed to be that, JB.”

She closed her eyes and let out a low groan. “Stop calling me that stupid name. Phil. I’m Phil.”

He swallowed hard and took a small step away before recovering himself. Bollocks, and shit and bollocks again. Of course, Rosa didn’t have son. She had a daughter…with eyes so full of fear as they peered out from her darkened bedroom, until Rosa noticed her watching the adults talk and sent her back to bed, that the memory haunted him when he slept. He’d always lurked in the shadows of Rosa’s life, unwilling for anyone but Rosa to see him, especially anyone so scared. But…he juggled his thoughts. Time had moved on. He’d grown older…so had Rosa’s daughter. Twelve years had passed. She wasn’t eleven anymore, that much he could tell from her bad attitude, with no need for some of the more appealing visual cues. His gaze took her in once more, lingering a little longer than necessary on her curves. Rosa’s “beautiful” comment made a little more sense with the new information. He clenched his hands into fists, counting off the reasons not to embroil himself in the situation further—too young, Rosa’s daughter, and he’d think of a third.

He reached for her again, drawing her back into his arms and cradling her against his chest. “Well then, that changes everything. I thought you’d stood me up.”

Buy Links:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Undercover-Christmas-Gina-Wynn-ebook/dp/B0189S86UA/

http://www.amazon.com/Her-Undercover-Christmas-Gina-Wynn-ebook/dp/B0189S86UA/

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/her-undercover-christmas-gina-wynn/1122995895?ean=2940157810504

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/her-undercover-christmas/id1060713093?mt=11

http://www.bookstrand.com/her-undercover-christmas

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/594487

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-herundercoverchristmas-1933598-149.html

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/her-undercover-christmas

http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookStore/pubs_product_book_info/decadent-publishing-c-93/her-undercover-christmas-p-14364#.VlDG-4QyDdl

About Gina:

From a magical land of castles and kings (Okay, it’s England), Gina doesn’t feel as old as she looks, owns three children (aged 2, 5 and 7) who can’t be tamed, and writes in spare – usually stolen – time. She sometimes bakes—not always with quite the desired results, and has found the only solution to keeping the characters in her head quiet is to placate them with lots of other lovely books and worlds. As well as Her Undercover Christmas, Gina has written two other books. Her Dollmaker’s Desire is also published by Decadent Publishing, and What You Wish For is published by Three Worlds Press.

Tasty Tuesday - BAILEY'S IRISH CREAM FUDGE

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk

½ cup Baileys Irish Cream
36oz white chocolate chips
½ cup raw pistachios, chopped

Instructions

Line a 9x9 baking dish with nonstick foil, parchment paper, or lightly grease.
In a heavy saucepan over low heat, combine the chocolate, condensed milk and Bailey's. Stir constantly until the chocolate is completely melted--you'll need to watch it closely so that it doesn't get scorched. Remove from the heat and stir in the pistachios.
Pour into the pan and let cool until set. Once set, peel off the foil and cut into one inch squares.

OPTIONS:
You can add a half cup of chopped candied red cherries when you add the pistachios, for an extra bit of color.
If you don't like pistachios, add pecans or walnuts instead.

Tuesday Teaser - The Real Saint Nic & Drea Becraft

Let's give a warm RWBB welcome to our guest today, Drea Becraft!  Yay!

Thank you so much for having me on your blog.

Tis the season…yes that’s right the Christmas season. I have most of my outside family already bought for but my children only a few things so far. I am so looking forward to seeing all the faces of my loved ones as they open their gifts.

Below is the info on my newest release The Real Saint Nic…ONLY $0.99...I hope it strikes your fancy.

Blurb:

Aimee’s life changed one night, not long ago, when she staked a vampire to save another. Still reeling from that life changing night, Aimee decides to go home with Brenda, her best friend, for the holidays. She never expected Brenda’s brother, who comes off more like the Grinch then Santa, to have so many saint like qualities. Years spent alone, with no family or friends, plays heavy on her mind but Nic could possible be the one who changes it all.

Christma has always been a sore spot for Nicolai. He’s the real saint Nic, but society has him all wrong. He’s no saint. In truth, he’s a vampire. Over the centuries, Nic has spent the holidays fighting off the ridicule from his younger brother and giving to those less fortune, not seeing his own worth. Until one mortal, brought home by his sister Brenda, changes the holiday and his outlook on life for eternity.

Is it possible that Nic has finally found his Mrs. Clause? When worlds meld, can Aimee find the happy ever after she once asked Santa for so many years ago, or is she doomed to spend forever lonely on Christmas?



Excerpt:

With a flick of his hand, the lights next to the bed turned on as did a few lamps across the room. Once my eyes adjusted, I got a better look at the amount of presents. Hundreds, littered the room. The only space not filled was around the bed and a path to two doors in opposite directions. Red, green, and golds splattered the room in a festive show of color.

“You really are Saint Nic.” Astonished I tried desperately to keep my mouth closed.

“Please don’t call me that.”

“Why not?” Turning away from the presents I turned my gaze to Nic’s in question.

“Because I’m nowhere near a saint.” Brows furrowing Nic stared intently at the computer screen.

“Then how did you get the name?”

“That would be Jaysen’s doing. One day, not to long after I started giving the gifts, we got into an argument. I don’t remember most of what was said, after all, it was quite a while ago, but I do remember the comment was rather snide. To this day neither of us knows how it ended up outside our argument, but it still reminds me of that comment. Besides saints are deemed so because of the greatness they do for mankind all I do is give a few toys to some kids.”

Moved by the noticeable hurt in his eyes, a relentless knot twisted in my stomach. Though I still didn’t know him, the connection between us grew with each passing moment.

Whether it was hormones or the fact that we were supposed to be mates, I didn’t know, but I couldn’t stand to see him sad.

I scooted out of the bed and made my way to him, wrapping paper shuffling under my feet. Then, as if it were the most natural thing to do, I lowered myself into his lap and hugged him close. “To those kids you are the world.”

“That’s why I do it every year. Though not in the grand scale that everyone thinks. I try to help at least a few orphanages and hospitals each year.”

“See, you are a saint. Every year you create the biggest rush of hope and joy to the children across the world. Though you can‘t help them all, the small sacrifices you have made over the centuries have helped to shape our world and helps friends and families learn the true meaning of giving. Without you there would be no hope of a perfect

Christmas. If that isn‘t the act of a saint, I don‘t know what is.”

With a grunt in my ear, Nic’s arms tightened around me as he buried his head in the hair between my shoulder blade and ear.

Pulling away slightly, I raised my hands and held of each side of his head. My fingers ran though the silken strands of his hair using that leverage I brought his head up until our eyes met. Leaning down I kissed his full lips with a slight brush of mine.

You are the best mate anyone could ask for. Speaking while our mouths were still fused, Nic sipped from my lips slowly.

The Real Saint Nic Buy Links

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

ARe

Free Read

My Wish For Christmas Is You

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Growing up Drea Becraft wanted to save the world one dead body at a time as a homicide detective. After high school her dreams turned to the wayside when she found out she was going to be a mother. Eight years later she is now the mother of three beautiful girls, who are a handful, and married to her high school sweetheart. When she is not frantically getting two kids to and from school, to cheer practice, or cleaning up the after a full household she enjoys reading anything and everything she can get her hands on. After a few years of simply reading for enjoyment she began to get excellent ideas for stories of her very own and began to write them as much as time will allow. Watching as her dreams and characters become solid on paper has been exciting to say the least. Drea can't wait to share every dream one story at a time. Until then she enjoys tons of conversation and laughs on twitter, facebook, and yahoo loops and would love to hear from you on any or all of them.

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