A Christmas Fling: A Magical Tale of Romance and Adventure by Beth Barany
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Romance
Release Date: December 10, 2013
Buy Links:
Amazon
Book Description:
She’s a Santa’s Elf. He’s a Human. What if falling in love put the life you cherished in jeopardy?
Dahlia, a Santa’s Elf, has 21 days left before Christmas to create the best toy in the world without using magic or revealing her true identity.
Stuck on how to complete the prototype, and working as a temp in San Francisco’s financial district with no time for love, will her innocent Christmas fling get her unstuck, or will she turn her back on her beloved career for her heart?
Liam, an up-and-coming financial analyst, swore off women after getting dumped by the love of his life. He just found out his ex is going to the company Christmas party with his rival Michael Hendricks. Up for promotion against Hendricks, Liam has to win the favor of his boss. His best bet is to invite the vivacious secretary Dahlia to the party. Will Dahlia be a welcome distraction, or will she turn his life upside down?
Love of Christmas and What
Inspired A Christmas Fling: A
Magical Tale of Romance and Adventure
Thanks Corina for having me on your blog to give a shout out about my new sweet paranormal romance novella, A Christmas Fling, and for having me write about my love of Christmas and what inspired this story.
When I was a child, I love how we celebrated Christmas. My parents created wonderful stockings for us four kids. We’d get up early on Christmas morning and hurry to our stockings. The gifts were off limits until our parents woke up. Us four kids would sit on the rug and open our stockings – usually long boy socks. We’d all get some of the same things: tangerines, almonds and pecans in their shells, candy canes, and chocolate kisses.
Then there’d be little gifts specific to each child. I often got colored pens or pencils. I loved to color. One younger brother would get toy cars; the other young brother got blocks, I think. My young sister would get a doll or doll clothes. After enjoying the chocolates, nuts and tangerines, and the gifts, we’d play card games for hours until my parents woke up.
It felt like hours, but hours of lots of fun. When my parents would get up, Dad would make us French toast, and we’d open gifts one at a time and squeal with delight at the perfectly chosen gift, or groan at another batch of socks, good naturedly of course.
The rest of the day would be spent lazily playing with our toys and playing games, invented and board games. Dad would roast chestnuts in our fireplace, filling the house with the roasted smell. I loved also the smell of the pine tree and how the Christmas lights made the living room look like we lived in a magical land. Mom served us some hearty soup, like pea soup, that warmed us from the inside out. I felt loved, cherished, and in the lap of luxury.
O Christmas day, I loved hanging out with my parents and siblings, lazing around in my pajamas all day long, and just having that feeling of togetherness.
When it came time to dream up a Christmas story, I remembered my childhood memories and wanted to write a story that would feel fun and cozy. And I was also inspired by the Christmas parties we went to as kids, produced by about sixty adults, including my parents, all in the same hippie community in Northern California. As I remember it, the theme was always a Victorian Christmas.
We all dressed up in period costume, and the parents would take on different roles, like elves, carolers, cooks, guardians, and of course, Santa. When I sat on Santa’s lap each year, I knew he was one of the “Uncles” in the community – somewhat like Santa in my story. As I got older, I could figure out who he was. “Santa” read from his big book about how we’d been naughty and nice in the previous year, and he really knew us. Of course, our parents had dished all the details ahead of time. But when I was young, it felt magical and special.
Those annual Christmas Parties took place outdoors, in cold air, and were so much fun for us kids. I remember running around playing games and getting warmed up with hot soup and cider. As I got older, the party was a great place to flirt and let romance blossom in my heart.
I wanted my Santa’s Elf, Dahlia, to come from such a warm and vivacious environment as those parties I grew up with.
On another note, Dahlia’s drive to make a beautiful toy was inspired by my grandfather, Bernie Stoffer. He made toys for fun and gave us his beautiful wooden toys when we were little. When I was born he presented my parents a wooden elephant. We’ve long since lost the original elephant, but he made another one not too long before he passed away, and painted it in bright sunshiny colors.
Lastly, I was inspired to write a Christmas romance story because I really enjoy reading them and watching the Christmas-themed made-for-TV movies. I wanted to create my own.
Thanks, Corina, for the opportunity to share my love of Christmas and some of the inspirations for A Christmas Fling to your readership, and for helping me share more about my book.
Author Bio:
Based in Oakland, California, Beth Barany writes magical tales of romance and adventure to transport readers to new worlds where anything is possible.
In her off hours, Beth enjoys capoeira, travelling, and watching movies with her husband, bestselling author Ezra Barany, and playing with their two cats, Kitty and Leo.
Thanks for having me on your blog, Carina!
ReplyDeleteAny time Beth! :)
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