Spotlight & Giveaway: One Christmas Eve by Shannon Stacey

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Shannon Stacey to HJ!

Hi Shannon and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, One Christmas Eve!

 
Thanks so much for letting me talk about One Christmas Eve with your readers! I had so much fun writing Zoe and Preston’s story and I’m so excited to finally have their novella out in the world!
 

To start off, can you please tell us a little bit about this book?:

One Christmas Eve is the second novella in my Cedar Street series. The first, One Summer Weekend, is about Carly, who agrees to be her best friend’s plus-one to his boss’s Cape Cod wedding and there’s only one bed. Carly and Zoe, the heroine of One Christmas Eve, are cousins and own Cedar Street Books together, and when I finished writing the first novella, I knew Zoe would have to have her own happily ever after. When an uptight guy in a suit opens a business next to the bookstore and expresses his dislike of her sexy window display, Zoe’s having none of it. She divorced the last guy who got judgmental about her sexuality and she’s not going to take any crap from Preston Wheeler. But he’s not as uptight as she initially believes him to be and sparks fly.
 

Please share your favorite lines or quote(s) from this book:

A lot of my favorite lines and quotes either don’t work pulled out of context or might even be spoilers, but I loved Preston in their first scene together. I didn’t expect him to be funny.

She didn’t bother telling him she, Carly and Carly’s husband, Noah, had done both the painting and the cleaning. “Yeah, it’s in the register. I’ll grab it for you. What is it you do?”
“Estate planning.”
She looked up in surprise as the register drawer popped open. “For dead people?”
“It’s generally more effective to do the estate planning before the client is dead.”

What inspired this book?

One of the things about Zoe I learned while writing the first novella is that she maintains a section in Cedar Street Books called Recommended by Zoe, and the locals know the books on those shelves will not only be great reads, but super steamy, as well. And I wanted to write about a sexy woman who chose to leave a marriage rather than feel shamed by her desires and decides she’ll never put up with that again.

How did you ‘get to know’ your main characters? Did they ever surprise you?

Zoe was a secondary character in One Summer Weekend, so I already knew a bit about her. I knew she owns the bookstore with her cousin and that she’d been through a divorce. I also knew she likes recommended the really steamy romance novels to her customers. Preston was a mystery, since I don’t plot ahead or do character sheets, and his sense of humor totally surprised me. I went into the story thinking he’d be far more rigid and uptight than he turned out to be, but I decided not to force it because I loved the way his relationship with Zoe progressed.

What was your favorite scene to write?

My favorite scene to write was probably the annual holiday party thrown by one of the locals, whose name is Abe, where Noah—who’s not much of a drinker—is unprepared for the potency of Abe’s holiday punch.

“You look like you’re having a good time,’ she said.
He leaned closer so he could do the not-sober version of a whisper. “I think you look incredibly sexy tonight.”
“And I think you’re a lightweight.”
“Thank you. I work out every morning.”

What was the most difficult scene to write?

For me, the hardest scenes to write are always the opening scene and the breaking up scene. In the case of One Christmas Eve, though, it was definitely the breaking up. I loved Zoe and Preston together and tearing them up apart was painful.

“The first time we kissed, you said we were surrendering to the inevitable.”
“And then you said we’re incompatible because I’m abstract color to your pen and ink sketch,” she pointed out. She wasn’t the only one who’d backpedaled in this relationship.
“Maybe it’s time to surrender to the inevitable again,” he said, and she could see his meaning in the shattered look in his eyes.

Would you say this book showcases your writing style or is it a departure for you?

I think One Christmas Eve is fairly typical of my writing style. Light, funny and a little bit sexy seems to be my natural voice, and I’ve been writing Christmas novellas for years.

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

I always hope my readers just get to escape into a fun and sexy read for a while. Maybe have a few laughs, feel the holiday spirit, and feel a happy little sigh when they get to the happily ever after. As wonderful as they are, the holidays bring with them a lot of stress and a romance novella can not only offer a quick break, but maybe boost those festive feelings.

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

I’m currently writing the second book in my upcoming Blackberry Bay trilogy from Harlequin Special Edition while doing revisions on book one. The first in the series (which doesn’t quite have an official title yet) will release in July and I’m incredibly excited! Not only do I love writing small town romances, but I’ve wanted to write for Special Edition for many years, so it’s a bit of a dream come true!

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 1 eBook copy of ONE CHRISTMAS EVE by Shannon Stacey (open internationally)

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: In honor of Abe’s very potent holiday punch, tell me your favorite holiday drink! (Mine is actually hot cocoa spiked with nothing more potent than some mini marshmallows, I think, though I won’t turn down the occasional festively-colored vodka and cranberry.)

 
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Excerpt from One Christmas Eve:

Zoe was playing with fire. She knew it, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. She’d been watching him, too, and she knew he was probably starting to feel the effects of Abe’s holiday punch. There was a reason she sipped it slowly.
He walked across the room to her, phone still in his hand. The heat in his eyes burned through her, erasing her lingering guilt about getting his number out of her granddad, and she smiled up at him when he finally reached the quiet corner she’d managed to park herself in.
“You look like you’re having a good time,’ she said.
He leaned closer so he could do the not-sober version of a whisper. “I think you look incredibly sexy tonight.”
“And I think you’re a lightweight.”
“Thank you. I work out every morning.”
Oh, she’d definitely spent enough time checking out his body to be aware of that. “I meant with regard to alcohol. I don’t think you’re much of a drinker.”
“I’m not, but I wanted to be friendly. When you’re the new guy trying to make himself at home in a new community, you don’t want to refuse the local customs.”
“Local customs?” She laughed. “Drinking Abe’s holiday punch is less of a local custom and more a way for the guys to survive Christmas Charades.”
“Christmas Charades?” His mouth quirked up in one corner as he took a step closer. “Is there also Christmas Twister?”
The mental image of their arms and legs tangled together was in no way diminished by the thought of a cheap plastic mat with colored dots. “No Twister, sadly.”
“How about Spin the Bottle?” He was slowly moving toward her and she didn’t back up. “Truth or Dare? Or that other game…what’s its name? The one where I get to make out with you in a coat closet?”
If she didn’t think too much about what Abe might have stowed in his coat closet, Zoe might have been on board with that party game. But she didn’t want to encourage Preston in his obvious state of intoxication, so she didn’t tell him that. “Sounds like you know how to show a girl a fun time.”
“I want to have a fun time with you.”
Even though he was drunk, the words thrilled her. “Yeah, you’ve definitely had enough to drink, and I know you drove since I saw your car out the window. Since you don’t strike me as the kind of guy who’ll happily crash on Abe’s floor, how are you planning to get home?”
“I should grab an Uber.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “Good luck with that, city boy. Give me your keys and I’ll drive you home.”
“You said my car is boring,” he said, frowning, even as he dug his keys out of his pocket.
She grinned and snagged the fob out of his hand. “Not with me driving it.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

They couldn’t be more different. Or more perfect for each other.

New York Times bestselling author Shannon Stacey returns with a warm and cozy opposites-attract Christmas story.

Zoe Randall is busy living her life as she damn well pleases. She’s back in her favorite town, her divorce in her rearview mirror, and living out her childhood dream of running a bookstore with her cousin. She has no interest in the uptight nerd who opened his boring-ass business next to her shop…until he complains about one of her sexy window displays.

Then it’s game on.

Preston Wheeler knows he takes life a little too seriously. But when the saucy bookseller next door starts pushing his buttons, he can feel that changing. Beautiful, vivacious Zoe challenges him in all the best ways, and soon he’s pushing her buttons right back: teasing and flirting all the way through the holiday season.

As Preston loosens up and Zoe is treated to the man behind the suit (particularly his forearms), she realizes she’s more interested than she cares to admit. And Preston comes to see the beauty—the absolute delight—in adding Zoe’s bright splashes of color to his once very black-and-white existence.

This book is approximately 34,000 words

One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

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Meet the Author:

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her husband and two sons in New England, where her two favorite activities are writing stories of happily ever after and driving her RZR. You can contact Shannon through her website or visit her on Twitter, her Facebook page, or email her at [email protected].
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