The Romance Reviews

Sunday 27 December 2009

A Contract for Christmas - MISTLETOE EVERYWHERE


The Wild Rose Press has contracted my Regency Christmas novella, Mistletoe Everywhere, my third contract. I've been bouncing around for a while now, and I've finally written the blurb and picked out an excerpt.

BLURB:
A man who sees mistletoe everywhere is mad--or in love.

Charles sees mistletoe. Not surprising, since he's spending Christmas at Mistletoe Manor. But, the mistletoe always hangs over Penelope, the despised lady who jilted him after their last meeting. And no one except him sees the mistletoe.

Penelope wants nothing to do with the faithless Charles, the man who cried off after she had accepted his marriage proposal. But he stares at her all the time. Or rather, he stares at the empty ceiling over her head. What does he see?

According to folklore, mistletoe is the plant of peace. Penelope and Charles, so full of hurt and anger, must decide if they will heed the mistletoe's message and make peace.

EXCERPT:

After Charles had heaped his plate with more food than he wanted, he took one of the empty places at the table bottom, as far from Penelope as possible.

His tensed muscles eased as he joked with his friends. Smythe made a comment and Charles turned to answer. He caught sight of Penelope…and a monstrous sprig of mistletoe over her head.

"Gordon? What is it?" Smythe swiveled in the direction Charles was staring. He looked up and down, and from one side to the other. "I say, with your mouth hanging open like that, you must see something spectacular, but I'm damned if I know what it is."

Charles clamped his jaw shut. "I thought I saw…" He forced his gaze back to his companion. "Nothing. I imagined I saw mistletoe."

Smythe's eyebrows rose. "Mistletoe?"

"Yes. The house is named 'Mistletoe Manor', so the place is filled with mistletoe decorations. Pictures, wall hangings, ceiling trim, and whatnot."

"Indeed." Smythe's eyebrows rose higher. "That 'mistletoe' you saw is over Miss Lawrence. Lovely little filly." His lips curved into a knowing grin. "My jaw dropped the first time I saw her, too."

Charles stiffened. "I was not looking at Miss Lawrence. I believed I saw mistletoe over her."

"Mistletoe." Symthe's grin widened. "Of course."

Merry Christmas all,

Linda
Linda Banche
Regency romance--most with humor, some with fantasy, and occasionally a paranormal
Lady of the Stars--4 stars from Romantic Times, 2010 EPIC EBook Competition finalist, Regency time travel available from The Wild Rose Press
Pumpkinnapper--Regency Halloween comedy available from The Wild Rose Press
Website Blog Myspace Facebook Twitter

12 comments:

Lindsay Townsend said...

CONGRATULATIONS, Linda, on your latest contract for TWRP! I love the title of you novella and the blurb and excerpt are both delicious - a real feast!

What a perfect way to round off Xmas!

Jan Bowles said...

I certainly enjoyed your excerpt from Mistletoe Everywhere.

Congratulations on your new contract.

Jan

Unknown said...

LINDA--how funny! This sounds like a clever tale--I liked the excerpt. Celia

Linda Banche said...

Thank you all, Lindsay, Jan, and Celia.

Yes, my stories always come out at least partly funny, and MISTLETOE EVERYWHERE is true to form.

Happy New Year!

Zequeatta Jaques said...

LOL. Loved the excerpt, Linda.

Chelle Cordero said...

what an adorable concept = great excerpt. Congrats on the contract.

Linda Banche said...

Thanks, Zeaquetta and Chelle. Glad you liked the excerpt. Happy New Year, all!

Savanna Kougar said...

Linda, congrats on your Christmas contract.
Loved the end of your excerpt especially.
I was thinking of doing a mistletoe story, too. But don't worry, it wouldn't be a Regency, so no competition to each other.

Unknown said...

Congrats Linda. I just love holiday themed stories. I wish you a ton of sales.
Happy Holidays!

Linda Banche said...

Thanks, Savanna and Adelle.

Savanna, there's always room for more Christmas stories.

Adelle, I like holiday-themed stories, too, especially Christmas stories.

LK Hunsaker said...

Linda, congrats again, and this sounds wonderful!! I'll look forward to it. :-)

Linda Banche said...

Hi Loraine, thanks, and Happy New Year.