Saturday, September 28, 2013

Danica Winters - Book Spotlight and Review of 'Christmas Wishes'


Thank you, Danica Winters, for sending me a copy of Christmas Wishes for review.

SPOILERS!!! 

The heroine, Lee, is a strong yet emotionally damaged woman who lost her son due to an accident and her husband through the divorce that followed. Three years had passed since her life turned upside down. Without friends or family, she's all alone and is desperate for a reason to live again.

While visiting her son's tombstone, she meets the hero, Albert, as he visited the grave of his departed wife. Though they don't speak of it, she realizes that he is going through emotional trauma not much different than her own. Later that evening, she unexpectedly met up with him again and also met his adorable six-year old daughter, Penny.

Albert struggles to provide a cheerful, happy home for Penny. He had raised her all alone since she was around two and loves her unconditionally, yet the home isn't happy and neither is he. Albert feels empty and lost, but puts on a brave face for his inquisitive little princess.

Told solely from Lee's POV, we see and feel her regret over losing both her son and husband and her desire to find love and to start life all over again. Even though she will always love her son and cherish her memories of him, she desperately wants something or someone to pull her out of her miserable rut.

The answer comes in a man dressed in cowboy boots and as dusty black cowboy hat with a blonde princess in tow!!!

REVIEW!!!

I adored this delightful yet teary-eyed short story. Even with the tearjerker plot, the author weaves humor into mix. Like when Lee ruins Christmas dinner in the most outlandish way I've ever read. Wow! What was that woman thinking? I laughed out loud and couldn't stop smiling.

I totally got all teary with the pain Lee felt after losing her son. I'm not a mother but I couldn't imagine losing my baby. Since I'm married, I connected better with Albert because he lost his wife. My stomach churns whenever I think about losing my husband. I wish I could have learned more about Albert and his past (like his relationship with his wife and how she died).

The romance between Lee and Albert felt kinda rushed to me. I mean, they only knew each other for about 24 hours before they realized that the other person was the one they were waiting on to fulfill them and to move on with. I understand both characters were lonely and needed companionship/understanding but if they became friends first, with love coming later, the connection between them would have been stronger and more fulfilling in my opinion.

The motto of this story is to never give up on living. When life kicks you down, you gotta pick yourself back up. It's about trust and the kindness of strangers, about following your heart and putting yourself out there, despite potential rejection and more pain. It's about Christmas wishes and miracles!

Lee and Albert were great characters. I wanted to know more about them and see their new found love progress. I didn't want the book to end.

Thanks again, Danica, for this wonderful story.

4 Stars.

Christmas Wishes
Length: Short Story
Publisher: Books To Go Now
Purchase Links: TBD
Pages: 30
Tag Line:  Is she ready to start living again?
Blurb: Christmas is a time for family, love, life, dreams, and wishes—except for Lee Llewellyn, a mother who has recently lost her son to an accident and her husband to the resentment her son’s death caused. In a chance encounter, she is given the gift of company on Christmas, but is she ready to move forward and start living again? 



Author Bio: Danica Winters is a bestselling author who is known for writing award-winning books that grip readers with their ability to drive emotion through suspense and often a touch of magic. When she’s not working, she can be found in the wilds of Montana testing her patience while she tries to understand the allure of various crafts (quilting, pottery, and painting are not her thing).  She always believes the cup is neither half full nor half empty, but it better be filled with wine.




Social Media Links:
Paranormal Romance Fans for Life Blog: http://paranormalromancefanforlife.blogspot.com/


Available Books and Links: 

To be Released October 7, 2013:
Winter Swans
Series: The Nymph Series
Book 3
    Book 1: The Nymph’s Labyrinth
    Book 2: Montana Mustangs
Publisher: Crimson Romance
Pages: 300

Tag Line:  A curse that forbids her to love…A child that he must keep secret…An attack on the culture she holds dear…And a battle that could get them killed…

Blurb: A curse that forbids her to love…A child that he must keep secret…An attack on the culture she holds dear…And a battle that could get them killed…
Single dad and professional poker player, Chance Landon, hates the world after his ex-wife is found dead in a cheap apartment in rural Idaho.  On a lone-wolf crusade to find the killer, he instead learns that he is the father of a strange little girl who carries secrets that only a woman like his ex-wife can answer.  
When his ex-wife’s killer learns about his daughter’s abilities and decides to come after the young girl, Chance enlists the help of the beautiful and deadly swan-shifting nymph, Harper Cygnini, who helps to teach him the truth of his daughter’s condition.  Chance soon realizes that he alone can’t save his daughter from the sadistic killer and he finds himself in a battle between his head and his heart.  Will Chance gamble on a future that involves falling in love—which may well cost him his life—or is that one bet his is unwilling to take? 


Montana Mustangs
Publication Date: May 6th, 2013 
Series: The Nymph Series
Book 2
    Book 1: The Nymph’s Labyrinth
Publisher: Crimson Romance
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | ITunes
Pages: 300

Tag Line:  Can there be life without love or is death the only choice?  

Blurb:
A nymph: a woman with the ability to seduce at will, shift to protect, but cursed with the fate to have the man she falls in love with die a tragic death. As one of these ill-fated nymphs, Aura Montgarten has spent her lifetime drifting from one place to another hiding from love—until she meets Dane.
When a body washes up on the shore of a rural Montana lake, police officer Dane Burke is faced with the task of finding the killer—even if it means he will be forced to put his life and heart at risk by working with a drifter.  As the truth of Aura’s Mustang-shifting nymph ways are revealed, Dane learns exactly the amount of danger he and Aura are in, but can’t force himself to leave a case unsolved when the truth is just outside his grasp.  


When the killer decides he needs to take another victim—Dane—Aura must choose between their forbidden love and her immortal life.  Can there be life without love or is death her only choice?  



The Nymph’s Labyrinth
Publication Date: December 31, 2012
Series: The Nymph Series
Book1
Publisher: Crimson Romance
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes and Noble  | Kobo | All Romance
Pages: 300

Tag Line: Forbidden passions threaten to expose deadly secrets...


Blurb: A world shrouded in mystery and intrigue, the Sisterhood of Epione must not be exposed.  
A Shape-shifting nymph, Ariadne, is tasked with keeping the truth of her group’s existence and their ancient mysteries far out of reach of an American archeologist and his troublemaking son.  When forgotten and forbidden passions are awakened, Ariadne is forced to make a choice—fall in line and continue to be overrun and pushed down by the sisterhood, or follow her heart and put everyone’s lives in danger.
Can she have the man she loves or will the pressure and secrets of the past keep her from her heart’s desire?



Other Books by Danica Winters:
An Angel’s Justice

Coming Soon from Danica Winters (2013):
Christmas Wishes (Books To Go Now)
Winter Swans (Crimson Romance)
(2014)
Savannah Sacrifice (Crimson Romance)



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