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Holiday Gifts – Books!

“All I want for Christmas are my two front teeth…,” “I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus…,” and Christmas carols run through my head at this time of year, but really this is a time of numerous holidays beyond just the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Holidays can only mean one thing… GIFTS! And what’s better than books?

NOTHING!

I’ll start with a holiday anthology, and the first one, Holiday Ever After, was brought to us by the Los Angeles Romance Author chapter of RWA®. This anthology is a collection of fifteen holiday themed stories and features USA Today bestselling authors Pamela Dumond and Nora Flite. I enjoyed these stories very much and there is something here for every reader from historical fun to a re-visiting of the idea, “no room at the inn.”

What I love about a good anthology is that each story is short. It’s the holidays after all and I don’t have long, uninterrupted time to read. I can however read a novella or novelette and get my romance fix plus a little break from the stress and tension of all the family…, oh wait, I love family time.

Another anthology that came out this season, Home for the Holidays , and this one has ten steamy tales to warm up the coldest polar vortex. Maggie Marr’s Candy Cane Lane is one of these stories plus you get nine other fabulous stories by fabulous authors. Delicious with a nice glass of wine or a warm cup of cocoa.

If you’ve got some extra reading time, or just want to put something more on the e-reader because holidays equal gifts and gift cards, then what about the fabulous Judy Duarte, a Romance Writer of America® Honor Roll and USA Today Bestselling author? Judy’s A Christmas on Nutcracker Court came out in November and is a perfect addition to any library.

Robin Bielman, another USA Today Bestselling author, has a new holiday story out. Once Upon a Royal Christmas is the story of Rowan Palotay and Prince Theodore Chenery. Yes, Prince Theo is going to have to pick between his heart and his royal duty, and what a delicious way to avoid wrapping those stocking gifts picked out with care. Does anyone really need to waste tissue paper?

Maybe you just aren’t in the mood for a holiday story? I get it. This is the time of year that I start watching Die Hard and Lethal Weapon movies. They happen at Christmas and in my book that makes them holiday movies. Don’t get me wrong, I like romantic holiday movies, but the closer I get to the actual day, the less I want to watch Love Actually — again.

So, back to gifts for yourself as well as others. Dee J. Adams has a new release in her High Stakes series, Out of the Blue. This one is a fast-paced romantic suspense and chock full of hot, hot scenes that will get your mind off of all sorts of things but especially the in-laws’ complaints about the lack of a Christmas goose.

Ah, one of my favorite authors, Beth Yarnall, she is someone I come back to over and over and over. She’s got the Pleasure at Home box set available for pre-order. It features Rush, Mi and Lucas’ story; Lush, Lucy and Cal’s story, and Hush, Elisa and Ian’s story. Box sets are the perfect gift especially when they contain three such wonderful stories by an author with a fresh voice. If you can’t wait, then buy all three books now!

Finally, how about another USA Today Bestselling Author? The TREX series by Allie K Adams is filled with delicious men and the women who love them. The first book in the series, First Response, features TREX Special Agent Charge Spencer Allen and CEO Kathryn Doyle. Two people who shouldn’t be together, but ought to be together for all time. The best thing about this series is that Allie is already ten books in which means so much fun for 2017!

Books. They are what’s on my holiday gift lists. They always are. What’s on your list and who would you recommend to me?


Maria Powers grew up in Southern California. She graduated with a degree in English and promptly entered the Business world. By day she works in Affordable Housing wrangling contracts and agreements with several government agencies, and by night she writes kick ass heroines and tough heroes with sensitive hearts ready to be tamed by the girl next door or beaten into submission by the witch on the corner, whatever works. Maria’s current work in progress is a Paranormal Romance series set in the San Gabriel Valley. The first book in the series, Coyote Walks, was a finalist in the Golden Heart® contest in 2015. She also writes under a nom de plume in erotica. Her first novella in this genre was self-published in July 2015. She’s currently working on a series of novellas that will be erotic romance.

Maria is the blog master for the California Dreamin’ Writers Conference. You can meet most of the authors mentioned today at the California Readin’ event in March. For more information on it, please click here.