by: Aidee Ladnier
Genre: Contemporary Gay Romance/Holiday
Release Date: December 8, 2017
Publisher: MLR Press
For Ethan and Nico, a broken millefiori ornament is more than a few shards of glass−it’s a chance at finding love at Christmas.
Ethan Carson wants to treat his mother to the perfect Christmas while she’s visiting over the holidays. He’s spent all his savings on presents and bought an enormous tree that takes up half his living room. But when he starts to trim the tree with the family heirloom decorations, he finds her favorite ornament, the one his late father bought on their honeymoon, is broken.
Glassblower Nico Kazan doesn’t celebrate Christmas—unless you count trying to sell the art glass in his gallery to holiday shoppers. When Ethan, the object of his secret crush, asks him to recreate a broken Murano ball, he knows it will take more than his skill and time. Can he risk his heart to give Ethan back a symbol of love and family for Christmas?
On the Christmas card, two fluffy Persian cats sporting felt antlers stared at Ethan in disgust. Behind them a miniature sleigh sat empty. A thought balloon rose above one cat with the words, “Pull your own sleigh, fat man.” Ha. Ethan tried to smother the chuckle, but it escaped.
“Are you laughing at your Cousin Emmylou’s lumbago?” His mom’s disapproving question snapped Ethan back to the conversation on his phone. He shoved the card back in the rack and lined them up from where the last customer picked through them.
“What? No. What is lumbago, anyway?” His Cousin Emmylou always had some ailment discussed ad nauseam by the family. A pang of regret thrummed in his chest as Ethan realized he wouldn’t see Cousin Emmylou or any of the extended family this Christmas.
At least his mom would be here to celebrate.
“It’s a three-dollar word for back pain.” Ethan’s mom sighed. “Last month it was impetigo. I swear that woman is a walking health hazard.”
“Well, you’ll get a week off from Cousin Emmylou. I’m looking forward to your visit, Mom.” And he was. His mom traveled little, and he wanted to pamper her this Christmas. He’d spent his cash, extra savings, and maxed out his puny credit card to buy spa day gift certificates, theatre tickets, and a special weekend stay at the Opryland hotel. He’d even sprung for passes to see his mom’s favorite performer in concert. He’d need to watch his budget through January to make sure he didn’t overdraw his checking account, but she deserved it. Christmas was always hard, now that Dad had passed. And with her move out of the family home this year... He wanted her new memories to be just as special.
“I can’t wait to spend quality time with my baby boy again.”
“Well, it will be a whole new experience to see Nashville at Christmas. Don’t forget to bring a warm coat.”
His mom’s laughter sparkled through the phone’s speaker. “No shorts for Christmas?”
“I’m hoping for snow.” Ethan chuckled at his mom’s exaggerated “brrr” noise in response.
“There’s something else I—” She began but movement beyond the coffee shop’s plate glass window caught his eye.
Ethan recognized the tall, delicious figure in purple lens sunglasses striding toward him. He interrupted her mid-sentence. “Oops. Gotta go, Mom. Love you.”
“Love you too, baby boy.”
Ethan rammed the phone back in his pocket and ducked behind the counter a minute before the bell over the door jingled.
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congrats on the tour and thanks for the chance to win :)
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa!!! ***waves***
DeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great heartwarming story, looking forward to reading it!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nikolina! Two lonely guys at Christmas could definitely use a little warming.
DeleteGreat excerpt, thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Victoria! There's a little Easter Egg tidbit in this excerpt - the purple sunglasses. Glassblowers use them to protect their eyes from the glass furnace. Purple=awesome :D
DeleteThank you so much for hosting me today!!!
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed the description of the book. Sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dianne! Do you think you'll get snow for the holidays?
DeleteThis sounds like I really good book! I would love to read this one while I am off for Christmas!
ReplyDeleteYay! It's one of my first Christmas novellas and it has all my favorite Christmas things in it. Even my famous gingerbread husbands!
DeleteI just love your cover and I would love to read your book.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you look for in a book cover, Bridgett? I like to evoke a mood. This one definitely has the holiday spirit!
DeleteI have always been curious as to how you get ideas for the book covers? Do you base them solely on the a certain part of the book?
ReplyDeleteUsually what happens is that the cover artist will ask me about the book. They ask me about the characters, what they look like, where the story takes place, what I'd like to see on the cover, etc. For this one I specifically requested a Christmas scene and the cover artist Melody Pond gave me that. I think she did a wonderful job of evoking the classic romance with a holiday twist.
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