Please welcome Melissa Cutler back to Sweet Spot Book Blog! She's here to talk about her latest holiday cowboy romance, The Mistletoe Effect! There's a giveaway at the bottom. Be sure to read Melissa's question and comment to enter. Good luck!
Cowboys for Christmas
By Melissa Cutler
If you’re one of the people that walks into a
store in August and groans at the sight of Christmas displays, then I feel your
pain. Doesn’t it seem like Christmas comes earlier and earlier each year, at
least in the retail world? On the one hand, it’s only October and I’m still
busy throwing together my kids’ Halloween costumes (my 11-year-old wants to be
a devil and my 9-year-old is set on being a ninja this year). But let me fill
you in on a little secret: I might have groaned at those store displays in
August, but come the start of autumn, I’m more than ready for cold winter
nights, hot cocoa, and Christmas songs.
Okay, you should probably be warned that I’m only
imagining the cold winter nights because I live in San Diego, where the only
way you can tell the difference between January and August is by whether you
have to close the bedroom window at night due to the chill in the air. But the
holiday season feels different.
Christmas is about so much more than the weather. It’s a time to be with
friends and family, a time of blessings counted and presents wrapped, and a
time to pause and enjoy the many beautiful wonders of our world and our lives.
With all that in mind, I created a winter wonderland, Texas style, for THE
MISTLETOE EFFECT, my latest Christmas-themed cowboy romance, available starting
today.
True, THE MISTLETOE EFFECT is a “marriage of
convenience” story so sexy that it melts your e-reader, but it’s also a story
about family and true love and finding the courage to go after your dreams. I
guarantee that you’ll finish reading this fast-paced, short novel with a warm,
fuzzy feeling in your heart and a smile on your lips.
So what’s this book about? THE MISTLETOE EFFECT
tells the story of Carina Briscoe, a workaholic hotel heiress who’s roped into
pretend marriage with the stable manager of her family’s Texas resort after the
resort’s international claim to fame—the titular Mistletoe Effect—is threatened
by the possibility of a jinx. The only way that stable manager James Decker
will agree to the hoax is if Carina agrees to live with him as husband and wife
until Christmas. Lucky for her, this isn’t a hardship because she’s had a crush
on James Decker forever. The sparks between them start flying in chapter one
and they don’t let up until the book is over.
And, to whet your appetite for The Mistletoe
Effect, here’s a scene from the fake newlyweds’ wedding reception for you to
enjoy…
His breath stuttered
out of him, fanning over her neck and shoulder. His swaying faltered. Then he
stopped pretending to dance altogether and searched her face with hungry eyes.
When those eyes settled on her lips, she rose up, angling her head, her eyes
closing, ready for that kiss he’d almost given her earlier, before they’d been
interrupted.
His hands stroked her
back and hips. His lips teased her cheek and nose. “You are a beautiful woman,”
he said quietly. Beautiful wasn’t a word she often heard directed at
her. Hearing it from James Decker’s lips sent a full-body tingle rippling
through her. “And sexy. So damn sexy.”
He brushed a hand along
her temple, cradling the side of her head in a way that told her that kiss
she’d been longing for was on its way. “But it doesn’t matter how beautiful or
sexy you are,” he said in a husky voice, his lips so close to hers she could
sense their movement. “I’m still going to smash cake on your face during the
cake-cutting ceremony.”
So much for that kiss.
The closing notes of the dance sounded as her eyes flew open. She gave him a
push along with her most chastising glare. “You would not.”
He chuckled. “I’ve
always wanted to, but I figure that when I get married for real, my wife won’t
allow me that honor. This is my one and only chance.”
It was sound logic.
Juvenile, but sound.
With each wedding
Carina had planned, the dreaded possibility of cake smashing hung around her
neck like a yoke because, besides an unlimited host bar, that was the number
one predictor of a reception devolving into chaos and destruction. Because who
did that kind of thing, truly? Who was the kind of person to smash a messy
dessert into the face of their beloved on the most important day of their
lives? A troublemaker, that’s who.
And there was her
answer, because Decker was all kinds of trouble, always had been, even if he’d
been a gentleman tonight.
They were ushered to
the cake table by the DJ, who handed Carina the knife. Decker reached out as
though to set his hand over hers as she gripped the handle, but she figured
since she was presently armed and dangerous, a mild threat was in order.
She brandished the
blade at him. “Don’t you dare smash cake on me.”
Decker eyed the blade
and held up his hands as though in surrender. “How are you going to stop me?
With that dull knife?”
She gave it a swish.
“Maybe.”
“I think stabbing the
groom would be considered a Mistletoe Effect jinx, isn’t that right, Granny
June?”
Granny snapped a photo
of him with his arms raised. “You got that right, honey. Jinx prevention is
serious business.”
Decker placed a hand
over his heart in a show of sincerity. “Here that, Wife? I don’t want all your
sacrifices tonight to be for naught.”
Carina narrowed her
eyes at him. If she couldn’t get him to stand down, then it was time to fight
fire with fire…
Want more?
The Mistletoe Effect is now available at all major e-retailers:
Goodreads:
It’ll be a Christmas to remember when hotel heiress Carina Briscoe falls for cowboy James Decker, the bad boy stable manager of her family’s Texas resort, after they’re roped into pretending marriage. The marriage might be a sham but the sparks between them are anything but. Still, with a little help from the heroine’s interfering family, they might end up with the greatest Christmas gift of all: true love.
Four Stars
In
this story the Briscoe Ranch Resort is THE wedding destination for couples
planning a wedding. Why? It’s because of the Mistletoe Effect. This ranch
resort holds a history of couples marrying there in December and who are still
happy and going strong. The Briscoe family wholeheartedly believes in the
Mistletoe Effect; however, all that is threatened when one wedding turns into a
disaster. What’s a family to do to keep the Mistletoe Effect alive? Stage a
faux wedding, of course, and hope no one notices.
Carina
Briscoe and James Decker are the lucky two who are persuaded by her family to
get married. Is this actually a blessing in disguise? These two have been
admiring each other from afar for years. It took me a while to warm up to
Carina. Let’s just say she’s fiercely loyal to her family and work that she keeps
putting her true dreams on hold. Decker is just an overall dreamy cowboy
sporting a black Stetson! He really just wants Carina to be happy, but all this
“wedded bliss” comes with a time limit.
The
thing with marriage of convenience stories is that they have to be pretty
convincing to me. I actually thought the beginning of this story was a little
over the top. The Briscoe family is very hard set in keeping up a happy image
for the sake of the business. Yes, things go a little backward for Carina and
Decker, but their romance was fun and made me smile. They even got a little
kinky thanks to certain items in a certain basket of goodies! In the end I was
convinced. Perhaps the way Melissa Cutler wrote this story and combined it with
the spirit of Christmas is what made be believe. Plus, the comic relief from
Granny June just made me giggle all over the place!
~ Author-hosted Giveaway ~
Melissa Cutler: To me, there’s no better Christmas present than
an Amazon gift card. So, to celebrate THE MISTLETOE EFFECT’s release, I’ll be
giving away a $10 Amazon gift card to one commenter on this post. Giveaway ends Monday, October 13, 2014 11:59PM PST. To enter,
answer this question:
What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?
Good luck!
Melissa Cutler
knows she has the best job in the world writing sexy contemporary romances and
romantic suspense. She was struck at an early age by an unrelenting travel bug
and is probably planning her next vacation as you read this. When she's not
globetrotting, she's enjoying Southern California's flip-flop wearing weather and
wrangling two rambunctious kids. She loves hearing from readers at melissa@melissacutler.net, or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/MelissaCutlerBooks ) and Twitter (@m_cutler). Visit www.melissacutler.net to learn more about Melissa and her books
and don’t forget to sign up for her newsletter: http://bit.ly/16mkpCs
