Thursday, November 5, 2015

Super Quick November Updates and Excerpt for SWEET CINDERELLA


I'm in the midst of cranking out my Christmas novella. (See picture above...that's me at the moment).

Here are some super quickie updates...


1. I had an amazing visit with Lexxi Callahan and Laura K. Curtis...

Lexxi brought me gifts from the "Southern World"...hee hee!


Laura and I introduced Lexxi to lobster roll...


...A Maine lighthouse!


 New England Fall Foliage!

(I took these photos around my house...enjoy!)








...and a girl's night out with Jen Porter!

Selfie!



2. A TASTE OF HEAVEN is still available for 2.99!

Here's a great review at ALL ABOUT ROMANCE
"Sparks fly on and off camera in this delightful romance."







3. SWEET CINDERELLA (Klaus Brothers #4) is coming soon...here's an excerpt!

THE KLAUS BROTHERS boxed set: at Amazon (books 1-3)



EXCERPT (unedited):


--> -->
Ice. Cold.
            Gregor Alric Klaus, fourth son of Nicholas and Alena Klaus, Director of Finance for Klaus Enterprises, knew what his colleagues whispered behind his back.
            Cold, calculating, ruthless.
Unemotional, detached, relentless.
There was a reason he was a formidable opponent in the boardroom, and it wasn’t because he was a nice guy.
            Gregor Klaus never lost the game. He played to win, every time.
            Because of his financial expertise, Klaus Enterprises had established itself as a powerhouse in the industry. The company that produced hand-crafted toys was unparalleled in quality and distribution. The company that brought so many children happiness owed its success to the most cold-hearted brother in the Klaus family.
            Even as a child, Gregor displayed an uncanny talent with numbers. While his brothers baked gingerbread and carved toys, he poured over the books with their elfin accountant. Assessing each season, calculating ways to cut overhead, predicting trends. His father didn’t know quite what to do with him, so he set him up as Director of Finance and moved him to New York.
            It was a perfect fit.
            Gregor thrived in the urban environment. He loved the architecture, the cutting edge technology, the competition within the industry. He lived in a sparse apartment, adorned with a minimalist décor. He dressed in the height of fashion and enjoyed his gadgets. Even his dates—when he found time to squeeze in a social life—were elegant, tasteful. Cold. His brothers enjoyed an old-fashioned lifestyle in the North Pole, but Gregor had assimilated into the affluent world of Manhattan, a world away from Pfeffernusse cookies and elfin magik.
He lived for two things…his job and his family. Family loyalty was everything. He knew how much his parents and brothers depended on him. He was a rock in a sea of chaos. And how could Glasdorf—their town in the North Pole—be anything but chaotic? They lived within a magical ice wall, hidden from the rest of the Sudenwelt, with hundreds of elves. His brother Oskar did his best to control the unruly bunch, but it was a daily challenge. Between unpredictable magik spells and an unlimited supply of eggnog, the elves in Glasdorf were quite a handful to manage.
            All of their lives were mired in turmoil at the moment. Nicholas and Lucy had just welcomed their first baby into the family. Sven was secretly planning to open a furniture studio—and only Gregor knew the truth. Oskar and Kiana had adopted an elfin Bändiger and were building the North Pole’s first library. And his parents—Santa and Alena—had a full schedule packed with triathlons and philanthropic projects. Tonight was one such event, which his brother Wolfgang had been organizing for months. The New York Childrens Literacy gala promised to be a huge success, thanks to Gregor’s financial support and Wolf’s attention to detail.
            Gregor wove through the crowds on Fifth Avenue, dodging shoppers and Salvation Army buckets. Bitter winds tugged at his coat and reddened his cheeks. He stopped and glanced at a window display. A fat Santa smiled at him and waved, its robotic arm twitching with Christmas cheer.
            Mocking him.
            It stood to reason that the Klaus family had some natural holiday generosity in their DNA. His father was filled with compassion, his mother was sympathetic to children all over the world, his brothers poured their hearts and souls into the toys and sweet treats and acts of philanthropy and care-taking of the elves.
            Emotional, kind, and thoughtful. Those were traits appropriate for the Klaus family. Those were traits nestled firmly in the genetic code of his parents and siblings. In some ironic twist of fate, those characteristics had skipped right over him. Nothing about Gregor Klaus was warm or cuddly.
            He was the polar opposite of Santa Claus in every way.
            He’d promised to meet his family at the affair. He needed this walk first, striding along the icy Manhattan sidewalks. He did this every day. The bracing wind reminded him he was still alive, not a robot but a man. He kept hoping that immersing himself in a sea of humanity would help him to find his own humanity.
            He kept hoping.
            His family hadn’t noticed that anything was wrong. They were distracted by life’s adventures, and none of them knew what Gregor hid behind his impeccable clothes, well-trimmed goatee, and self-confident expression. That now, in addition to ice cold, he felt numb. He peered into the frosted holiday windows on Fifth Avenue, and felt absolutely…nothing.
            Yes, it certainly was ironic.
            Santa’s son was a cold, hard bastard, with nary an ounce of Christmas cheer anywhere to be found. 

                                                                               ❊

 Happy November!
Penny