by: Charlotte Rains Dixon
Genre: Contemporary Holiday Romance
Release Date: November 1, 2022
Christmas isn’t Christmas without snow.
So Dixie Dunham believes.
But she’s about to experience a Christmas with nothing but cold, gray rain after taking a job at the Starlight Winery in Pineview, Oregon, smack in the middle of wine country. Dixie likes her new job at the winery and she’s hoping owners Jamie and Ernest will soon name her to the position of national sales manager. She’s certain the proposal she’s working on for a city-sponsored contest will cement her claim to the job. That would be something to impress the friends and family she left behind in New York.
And Dixie is desperate to impress them, seeing as how she fled after her fiancée jilted her at the altar in favor of her maid-of-honor best friend. Now as the December days shorten and darken and Pineview celebrates the season with lavish decorations and festive events, it’s hitting Dixie hard how much she’s lost. All she has left besides her job is the company of her loyal dog, Bo. And a Christmas without snow.
When Jamie and Ernest introduce her to their good friend Max Pettigrew, who has just moved from Paris back to Pineview after a wrenching divorce, she’s instantly attracted to him. But Max Pettigrew never met a woman he didn’t want to flirt with. All in the strictest of innocence, of course. Too bad what he thinks is charming flirtatiousness is off-putting to Dixie. Ridiculously handsome he may be, but he’s also ridiculously annoying. And she does not need more annoyance in her life. When the two of them turn out to be vying to win the same city contest, her annoyance turns to anger. But Max grows more determined to win her over, inviting her to the Pineview Christmas parade and holiday parties, and turning to a stream of self-help books to help improve himself.
Can Max mend his entitled bro ways? Will Dixie get her promotion, and perhaps more important, her snow at Christmas in rainy Oregon?
The rain had let up, so Dixie decided to walk. Pineview was a safe little town, and its main thoroughfare was situated across a dark street and down one block of old bungalows and Victorians. She’d arrive at the lights and energy of downtown in a few minutes and the wine bar would be within sight. She zipped up her rain jacket and stepped into the street.
But then.
A bump against her hip. The screech of brakes. Suddenly she was down on the ground.
A car door slammed, and a man’s voice yelled out. “Oh, God. I’m so sorry, are you okay?”
Dixie scrambled to her feet and stood wavering for a minute, the glare of the car’s headlights causing her to squint. Was she okay? She wiggled her hips, wagged her head from side to side, raised her shoulders up and down, made circles with her feet. Miraculously, she did seem to be okay. She glanced down at her jacket. Aside from a couple smudges of mud, it had survived as well. And thank goodness she’d changed out of the skirt she’d worn to work into jeans.
“I think I am.” She peered at the man who stood by his car, some kind of monster SUV. It was hard to make him or the car out in the brightness of his headlights. “But you should be more careful driving down these dark streets.”
“You came out of nowhere, charging across the street! And you’re wearing all black. How was I supposed to be able to see you?”
His voice sounded familiar. As he stepped closer to her, she realized who it was. That man. Max. The one she’d met at the winery earlier. The handsome one, her traitorous brain reminded her. She made a disgusted sound. “I should have known it was you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That you’re exactly who I thought you were earlier.” This ass was the front-runner for her job and thought he was God’s gift to women. “You’re an arrogant entitled jerk. And reckless, too.”
To her surprise, Max grinned.
“That’s me, all right. Reckless. At least I was. I used to have a business by that name.” He gazed down at her. “Geesh, I could really have hurt you. I’m so sorry. Where are you headed? I’ll give you a lift.”
She shook her head. “I’m fine, thank you. I’m just going into town.” She pointed a vague finger in the direction of Main Street.
“Where in town?”
“To the wine bar.”
Max laughed. “Oh, that’s helpful. There’s only about twenty of them.”
Damnit, she felt herself starting to laugh, too. She squelched it quickly.
But then.
A bump against her hip. The screech of brakes. Suddenly she was down on the ground.
A car door slammed, and a man’s voice yelled out. “Oh, God. I’m so sorry, are you okay?”
Dixie scrambled to her feet and stood wavering for a minute, the glare of the car’s headlights causing her to squint. Was she okay? She wiggled her hips, wagged her head from side to side, raised her shoulders up and down, made circles with her feet. Miraculously, she did seem to be okay. She glanced down at her jacket. Aside from a couple smudges of mud, it had survived as well. And thank goodness she’d changed out of the skirt she’d worn to work into jeans.
“I think I am.” She peered at the man who stood by his car, some kind of monster SUV. It was hard to make him or the car out in the brightness of his headlights. “But you should be more careful driving down these dark streets.”
“You came out of nowhere, charging across the street! And you’re wearing all black. How was I supposed to be able to see you?”
His voice sounded familiar. As he stepped closer to her, she realized who it was. That man. Max. The one she’d met at the winery earlier. The handsome one, her traitorous brain reminded her. She made a disgusted sound. “I should have known it was you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That you’re exactly who I thought you were earlier.” This ass was the front-runner for her job and thought he was God’s gift to women. “You’re an arrogant entitled jerk. And reckless, too.”
To her surprise, Max grinned.
“That’s me, all right. Reckless. At least I was. I used to have a business by that name.” He gazed down at her. “Geesh, I could really have hurt you. I’m so sorry. Where are you headed? I’ll give you a lift.”
She shook her head. “I’m fine, thank you. I’m just going into town.” She pointed a vague finger in the direction of Main Street.
“Where in town?”
“To the wine bar.”
Max laughed. “Oh, that’s helpful. There’s only about twenty of them.”
Damnit, she felt herself starting to laugh, too. She squelched it quickly.
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When not writing fiction, Charlotte teaches writing in England, the south of France, and around the Pacific Northwest. She also coaches writers privately. She is Director Emeritus and a current mentor at the Writer's Loft, a certificate-in-writing program at Middle Tennessee State University. She earned her MFA in creative writing from Spalding University and is also the author Emma Jean’s Bad Behavior.
Charlotte lives with her husband in Portland, Oregon, in a multi-generational home that is by turns boisterous and exuberant but seldom quiet. She believes no breakfast is complete without a crossword puzzle to work and no Happy Hour can actually be happy without popcorn. (Wine goes without saying.) Despite frequent stays in France, she regularly fractures the language. She is, however, fluent in Carney.
Charlotte writes stories about places you long to live filled with people you’d love to know.
Places to find Charlotte Rains Dixon:
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