Spotlight & Giveaway: A Merry Mountain Christmas by Trish Milburn

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Trish Milburn to HJ!

Hi Trish and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, A Merry Mountain Christmas!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

It’s a fun, sweet holiday romance in which social media executive Heidi Forrester takes a Christmas vacation to a mountain town in Montana where it’s always Christmas. While in Merry, Montana, she meets and unexpectedly falls for Christmas store owner Ben McNamara. And while she loves all things Christmas, it takes Ben a while to recapture his love for the holiday that has always been a part of his life 365 days of the year.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

It had to be a pre-Christmas miracle. That’s the only thing that could explain how Heidi Forrester was able to keep a cool, composed expression until she was a full two blocks away from the luxurious boutique condo building. Not even the leaden skies hovering over downtown Chicago or the frigid wind tunneling between the high-rises could dampen her mood.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

I love Christmas stores. Any time I go on vacation and there’s a Christmas store in the town, I’m there. I try to buy a Christmas ornament from every new place I visit. So I gave that love for Christmas décor and the habit of buying ornaments on vacation to my heroine, Heidi. I loved creating the town of Merry and just going all in on building a town where literally everything is Christmas-themed.

Please tell us a little about the characters in your book. As you wrote your protagonist was there anything about them that surprised you?

Heidi is a driven career woman who has always lived in a city, but her love of Christmas (it’s also her birthday) takes her to the small mountain town of Merry where she discovers that small town life might just be for her. As for Ben, I wondered if you started with a love of Christmas, would it get really old really fast if it was part of your life literally every day? And what would help you recapture the love for the holiday if you’d lost it?

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would you use for the audition of the main characters and why?

The scene where Ben and Heidi first meet:

“So, Ben huh?”
“Yeah, Ben McNamara. Nice to officially meet you, Heidi Forrester. Or should I say Queen of Gift Wrapping?”
“It’s amazing what you can learn by watching online vid- eos.”
“So when you’re not perfecting the art of gift wrapping, what do you do for a living?”
“I work for Konnect.”
“The social media company? Russ Fairchild’s company?” She broke off a piece of her cookie. “That’s the one.” “What do you do there?”
She took a drink of her coffee before answering. “I’m the
new vice president of Marketing.”
“Wow. That sounds important.”
“I hope so. Importance means job security, and consider-
ing I’m about to sign for a new condo when I get home I need that job security.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” When she smiled, it was the prettiest thing he’d seen in a long time. And he really wished she didn’t live halfway across the country.
But he was planning to leave Merry behind, right? Why not try Chicago? Granted, he’d always envisioned someplace warmer, perhaps by the ocean, but Chicago had seasons and a big lake.
He was already thinking of relocating somewhere just because a woman he barely knew lived there? Yeah, he needed a change bad.
“So, of all the places to vacation, why Merry?”
“Well, my college roommate grew up here. I was sup- posed to meet her and her boyfriend, but they’ve had some car trouble and are running late.”
“If she’s from here, I probably know her.”
“Phoebe Waterson.”
“Really? I haven’t seen her in ages. I don’t think she ever
came back after college.”
“She lives in Southern California, near San Diego.”
“So she roped you into visiting her little hometown,
huh?”
“No roping necessary. I love Christmas. I mean, really
love it. Probably because I was born on Christmas.” “Most people hate being born on Christmas.” “I’m not most people.”
No, she wasn’t.
“So, VP of Marketing. What exactly does someone in that position do?”
“What do I not do?” She took a bite of her cookie and seemed to think about her answer. “I basically oversee all the marketing plans for the company. I coordinate the different spokes in the marketing wheel, so to speak, and am the liaison between the people working in all the departments and the top executives. Strategize, brainstorm and implement marketing that will help the company grow—but in the right way.”
Her phone buzzed where it sat on the table, causing her to sigh.
“And I answer eighty billion questions from my boss a day. I swear, for such a smart man it’s a wonder he knows how to put on his pants in the morning without me.”

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

To remember the childlike joy of Christmas, to not let it get overshadowed by all the stress that comes with the holiday season.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

The Cowboy Next Door, which is the third book in my Once Upon a Western series is coming out in February!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Tule tote, print copy of A Merry Mountain Christmas and Tule Publishing swag.

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Excerpt from A Merry Mountain Christmas:

When Phoebe ushered her out of the room, Heidi accepted there was no keeping her friend at bay. When they reached her room, she wished she had a fresh supply of cookies from Silver Bells. She felt like the next several minutes were going to require copious amounts of sugar.
Phoebe wasted no time kicking off her shoes and crawl- ing up onto Heidi’s bed, her back against the fabric-covered headboard. Heidi chose to sit in the comfortable chair with the ottoman in the corner.
“So, I want to know everything,” Phoebe said.
If her friend hadn’t been holding a big cup of coffee,
Heidi was fairly sure Phoebe would have rubbed her hands together in anticipation of something juicy.
“About?”
“Don’t play coy. It didn’t work when we were in school, and it won’t work now.”
“I assume you mean about Ben. Let’s see. I helped him out at the store because he was understaffed and you know I love Christmas. When he found out I was a marketing specialist, he asked for help in positioning the store for sale. I gave him some pointers and helped him with the verbiage for the listing and, voila, he thinks he’s close to having an offer on the table. Ta-da, the end.”
Phoebe actually snorted her disbelief. “If that’s all there is between the two of you, I’m the Queen of England.”
“Nice to meet you, Your Majesty.”
“I know what I saw in that courtyard. He was about to kiss you.”
“People kiss all the time and it means nothing.”
“Not when they kiss in the middle of a romantic winter courtyard filled with sparkly lights.”
Heidi sighed. “What do you want me to say? That I like him? Sure, he’s a nice guy, funny, works hard—”
“Don’t forget really handsome.”
“Careful, or Justin will get jealous.”
“Justin has nothing to worry about.”
Heidi stretched her arms out along the arms of the chair.
“Even if I said I was hopelessly head over heels for Ben— which I’m not, by the way—what could that possibly accomplish? Even if he sold the store tomorrow, there’s no way he’s going to declare his undying love and go back to Chicago with me where we’ll live happily ever after.”
“Why not?”
“Um, because that kind of thing only happens in novels and movies. It doesn’t happen in real life.”
“Sure it does.”
Heidi tilted her head. “Name one person you know who has had a fairy-tale moment like that.”
“Me.”
“Okay, that requires an explanation.”
“I was on the train one day, headed to work, and I look
out and see this gorgeous guy standing on the platform. Our eyes meet and I swear, Heidi, I saw fireworks. I couldn’t stop thinking about him all day and how I’d probably never see him again. But the next morning when I arrived for my train, he was waiting for me with a bouquet of gerbera daisies. We both called in to work and spent the whole day together, walking along the beach and talking. And we’ve been together ever since.”
“You are making that up.”
“I swear I’m not. I wouldn’t have believed it either if it hadn’t happened to me. And that’s why I’m now a firm believer in anything being possible.”
“So you have a ridiculously romantic meet-cute. That doesn’t mean I’m going to fall head over heels for a guy I’ve literally known a handful of days.”
“Doesn’t mean you’re not either. Because Ben was not the only person who looked smitten out there.” Phoebe pointed toward the courtyard outside the window. “And it is the season of miracles, after all.”
It was going to be a miracle if she got out of this town before the entire population boarded this crazy matchmaking train that didn’t have a viable destination.
“Ben and I are friends, that’s all.”
But if they ever lived in the same town, she couldn’t say she wouldn’t like to find out if there could be more.
*
CHRISTMAS EVE DAWNED cold and foggy. Heidi was up early so she could get some work done before Phoebe kidnapped her for whatever she had planned for the day. While Heidi could decline invitations from any of her new friends in Merry if she really needed to, she’d never get away with it with Phoebe. Her friend was a force of nature impos- sible to resist. She had once literally pulled Heidi out of their dorm room by her ear so she’d stop studying and “remember what fun was.” Heidi grudgingly remembered that she had enjoyed that night out at a local food and foreign film festival—the kind of event that didn’t really fit with Merry’s aesthetic.
But maybe it should. After all, A World of Christmas celebrated the holiday as it was celebrated all around the globe. Merry could host a variety of events that could attract visitors for more than its unique Christmas charm.
She shook her head, needing to stop thinking about ways to market A World of Christmas or the town as a whole. All her creative energies needed to go into the project staring at her from her computer screen. But though she was slogging through it, she was not enjoying herself. She couldn’t recall ever having to drag herself to work like this, but then she’d never had a vacation interrupted to this extent.
Sure, Russ had texted her while she’d been on previous vacations. She’d even done a bit of work when she’d been on a cruise the year before. But Russ had upped his interruption game this year, and she realized that her resentment was growing each day. Maybe she should just cut her trip short and go home. At least there, she wouldn’t be tempted by Merry’s Christmas delights.
Well, being irritated that she had to work wasn’t going to make it get finished any sooner, so she put her nose to the virtual grindstone. When her stomach started to growl, she took a shower so she could go in search of breakfast. But despite the early hour, the moment she opened her door there stood Phoebe.
“Who are you, and what have you done with my friend, Phoebe?” In college, Phoebe had considered it a high crime for the administration to schedule classes before ten a.m. at the earliest.
“Okay, that’s fair,” Phoebe said. “But a lot can change when you meet The One.”
“If Justin turned you into a morning person, he’s not just your true love. He’s a magical unicorn.”
“Ha ha. I’m starving. Let’s go to the Candy Cane.” Downtown Merry was even more crowded than it had been before. They had to actually maneuver around groups of people stepping in and out of stores, stopping to take selfies, singing along to the songs filling the cold mountain air.
“Everyone seems to have turned into morning people,” Heidi said. “Has Justin been out shooting unicorn rainbows at everyone?”
“Christmas Eve is a full day in Merry. All the businesses open early and don’t close until midnight. All the different choirs come together for the biggest concert of the year. And of course there’s the Snowball War. Anyone tell you about that yet?”
“Yes. And apparently I’m on a team.”
Phoebe stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, turned to look at Heidi, and started laughing.
“I can’t believe you’ve only been here a few days and you’ve already been roped onto a Snowball War team.”
Heidi shrugged. “So what? It’s a snowball fight.”
“Oh, it’s so much more. It’s called a war for a reason,” she said. “And bragging rights for the winner are coveted like nothing else in Merry.”
“Okay.” Heidi laughed at the serious expression on Phoebe’s face. Everyone she’d met in Merry—with the exception of Abigail—had been almost unbelievably nice. Although she hadn’t known them long, it was amazing that she already considered them friends. The mental picture of all-out war Phoebe was painting didn’t compute, so Phoebe was likely exaggerating to mess with her.
“Well, maybe I’ll claim those bragging rights.”
“A first timer. I don’t think so.”
Heidi shrugged as she started to walk backward toward the entrance of the Candy Cane Café. “We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?”
Throughout breakfast, they caught up on each other’s lives—jobs, things they liked to do in their respective cities, Phoebe’s belief that she and Justin were in a happily ever after type of relationship. The happiness on her face when she talked about Justin caused a pang in Heidi’s chest. She’d never felt that depth of feeling for any guy. But then Ben’s face popped into her mind, which was crazy because she’d only known him a few days. Still, there had been an instant attraction and a connection from the first time they talked. If they had more time together, she wondered if something might develop.
But there was no sense thinking about that because their time of even being in the same state was quickly coming to an end.
“Did you even hear what I said?”
Heidi jerked her attention back to Phoebe. “What?”
“I asked what you wanted to do this morning, but I have
a feeling you were too lost in daydreams of Ben McNamara.” Heidi ignored Phoebe’s mention of Ben and instead an- swered her question. “I haven’t made it to the art exhibit
yet.”
Though Phoebe agreed that would be their next stop,
Heidi noticed the look in her friend’s eyes—the one that always indicated she had something up her sleeve. After they perused the art show and Heidi had bought a painting of Merry at night, all aglow in lights with snow on the ground, and made arrangements for it to be shipped back to Chicago, Phoebe wrapped her arm around Heidi’s and led her outside. They made their way through the various shops Heidi hadn’t yet visited, and she didn’t realize where Phoebe was steering her until they turned a corner and there sat A World of Christmas.
“I think I’ve seen inside of this one enough.” Although she still hadn’t managed to buy her Christmas ornament. Something—or rather, someone—always made her forget.
“Well, I haven’t been in here in an age.”
Phoebe wasn’t fooling Heidi one bit, but not following her friend inside would just make things worse. So into A World of Christmas she went once again.
Almost immediately, Heidi felt something different in the air. She spotted Gina at one of the registers, but the other woman looked away quickly. Eric similarly didn’t maintain eye contact when she noticed him restocking some of the Christmas village pieces.
“Is it just me, or is it a little frosty in here?” Phoebe asked.
“I was hoping I was imagining it.”
“Did you quit in some dramatic fashion?”
Heidi shook her head. “I suspect they know I helped Ben
position the business for a quick sale, and that action was not popular.”
“But you said he was already on the path to selling the store, right?”
“Yeah, but I’m sure they don’t know all the details. And
I’m the outsider who came into the picture just before he announced it.”
That these people might see her as the reason they were being thrust into uncertainty about the future of their jobs made her sad, not a feeling she would have expected to feel on vacation. Not in a place as continuously upbeat and cheery as Merry.
“I’m going to go,” she said, but when she turned she found herself facing Ben, who had just come in through the door behind them.
“Hey,” he said, smiling, evidently completely unaware of the tension in the building.
“Hey.” She felt as if the eyes of every employee currently on the clock were pointed in their direction. “Sorry, have to run.”
Before he or Phoebe could stop her, she hurried out the door and headed up the street, feeling as if somehow in the past few days her perfectly ordered life had gotten turned upside down.
*
BEN WATCHED AS Heidi nearly left scorch marks on the floor as she left the store, then turned back toward Phoebe.
“What just happened?”
“She thinks your employees are upset with her, and she might be right.”
“Why would they be upset with her? Because she quit? She’s on vacation. I was surprised she wanted to work here in the first place.”
“No, because she helped you in your effort to sell the store.”
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I was already going to do that.”
“I know, but they might think she tipped you over the edge or made it happen faster.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Maybe so, but when people are put in an unenviable position they often look for someone to blame.”
“I’m the one who made the decision.”
“True, but they all know you and like you. They no doubt want you and how things are to stay the same. Heidi is an outsider.”
“I should go see if she’s okay.” He shifted his weight to turn toward the door.
“Now might not be the best time. She’ll be at the Snow- ball War tonight.”
“So will everyone else.” Let them all think what they wanted, he wasn’t about to let Heidi spend the rest of her day feeling bad because of a decision he made.
He retraced his steps out the door and up the sidewalk. At the pace she’d been going, she was probably halfway back to the inn by now. But as he walked past Silver Bells, his steps halted. So she hadn’t gone far after all.
She lifted a chocolate cupcake in greeting. “I’m guessing Phoebe told you why I left.”
“She did. I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “It’s not your fault. It’s not even theirs. If somebody started working at Konnect and spending time with Russ and a few days later he announced he was selling the company, I probably wouldn’t look too kindly on that person either.”
“But this would have happened with or without you.” She shrugged. “It won’t matter soon. I’ll be long gone.” “But I want you to enjoy the rest of your vacation. That’s
why you came here, after all.”
“I have enjoyed it. Merry is a fun community with great
people.” The look she sent his way warmed him more than Lacey’s largest cup of coffee could.
“You’re pretty great, too,” he said.
“Thanks.”
He wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw color rise in her
cheeks before she brought her cup up to her lips and took a drink. She didn’t seem like the type of woman who blushed easily, and he couldn’t help the smile that formed at the thought that he had the power to cause that reaction.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Heidi Forrester has it all–a new promotion, great friends, and plans to purchase a condo. But when her Christmas plans don’t pan out, she instead vacations solo in Merry, Montana–a picturesque mountain village where it’s Christmas year-round. Charmed, she jumps at the chance to join the festivities by assisting the incredibly handsome but understaffed owner of A World of Christmas, a two-story wonderland of Christmas decor, and finds more holiday spirit and fun than she ever did at glamorous resorts.

Ben McNamara can’t believe his luck when the beautiful visitor to his store offers to fill his seasonal help vacancy. Even more fortuitous, she’s a marketing genius who can help him make A World of Christmas more attractive to potential buyers. But as the date draws close for him to hand off his family’s legacy, Ben realizes that maybe it wasn’t the ever-present Christmas atmosphere that had bothered him, but rather the fact that he’d never had anyone to share it with.

Can Heidi convince Ben there’s so much more to love on Yule Mountain than just Christmas?

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Meet the Author:

Trish Milburn is the author of more than 40 novels and novellas in the romance, women’s fiction and young adult genres. She’s also a two-time winner of Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart Award, two-time Maggie Award of Excellence winner, and winner of the 2013 EPIC eBook Award for her young adult novel White Witch.

She enjoys road trips, traveling by train, and exploring America’s National Parks. And though it sounds like a line from a personals ad, she also enjoys walks on the beach – especially since she moved to Florida after growing up in Kentucky and spending 20 years living in Nashville after college. She’s a big geek girl, known to cosplay on occasion, channeling characters from Kahlan Amnell (Legend of the Seeker) to The Doctor (Doctor Who) to a Shadowhunter (The Mortal Instruments series). She loves a good costume/historical drama or sci-fi epic, and if you can combine the two that’s even better. That explains why two of her favorite shows of all time are Firefly and Timeless.. Website |