Australian Anna Campbell has written ten multi award-winning historical romances for Grand Central Publishing and Avon HarperCollins and her work is published in 18 languages. This Christmas, Anna has written two seasonal novellas, “Mistletoe and the Major” from the multi-author anthology Under the Kissing Bough, and the stand-alone, A Match Made in Mistletoe, out 30th November. Her website is www.annacampbell.com
Caught in a Snowstorm on Christmas Eve (theme thanks to Dani Gorman!)
I love enemies into lovers stories, so I thought I’d use this year’s vignette to place two people who have every reason to mistrust one another in a situation they can’t get out of. Where does it go from here? Hmm, I’ve got a feeling Mr. Farren might end up being a bit of a hero, and Sarah might just find that her late husband’s foe isn’t necessarily hers!
Shipton-on-the-Moor, Yorkshire, Christmas Eve, 1817
Sarah, Lady Otway, struggled out of her carriage and fought her way through the driving snow to the ramshackle inn, and felt only gratitude that she’d found shelter. Crossing the Yorkshire moors on a night like this, one took one’s life in one’s hands.
Once she pushed her way into the taproom, she realized that she wasn’t the only one who had seen the isolated building and rushed toward it, seeking warmth and food and a bed for the night. Half the county had apparently had the same idea. Panting, she pushed back the snowy hood of her heavy red cloak and stared with dismay at the crowded room. It was blessedly warm, but it was packed to the gunwales with men of all degree, and not a single woman to be seen.
“Next time I get a bee in my bonnet about going home for Christmas, remind me I’m much better off in London, Yeats,” she muttered to her burly coachman who had followed her inside, carrying her valise.
“As if you ever listen to me, your ladyship,” he responded drily.
“You’re desperately trying not to say ‘I told you so.’”
The man who had put her on her first pony when she was four years old regarded her with a stolid expression that almost hid the twinkle in his deep-set eyes. “I’ll go and settle the horses, my lady.”
As Yeats left to brave the elements, the landlord squeezed through the heaving mass of humanity. “My lady, welcome. Welcome. An evil night, an evil night. My humble establishment is honored to have the quality with us. Honored indeed. My name is Brown, and I’m at your service.”
Knowing it was unlikely, she asked, “Is there a bedroom I can use, Mr Brown?”
He was shaking his head before she’d even finished her question. “I only have one room upstairs and it’s not watertight. You’d catch your death up there, my lady.”
“A private parlor?”
He frowned. “Aye.”
Relief flooded her. A night making do in this rough company didn’t appeal at all. “May I engage it, then?”
Another shake of his grizzled head. “My lady, I’m sorry, but a gentleman has taken it and he’s paid double for exclusive rights to its use.”
What a disagreeable fellow this gentleman must be, to be unwilling to share in an emergency. “Any separate accommodations at all?”
The plump, balding man wrung his hands. “Every inch of space has been taken, including the quarters my wife and I use. There’s even folk sleeping in the stables, not that I’d suggest that to your ladyship.”
She straightened her spine and lifted her chin. “Then I must brave the gentleman in the private parlor.”
“Your ladyship, I’d advise against it. He was most insistent that…”
Sarah didn’t hear the rest. The man’s glance behind him indicated the direction she needed to take to beard the unsociable lion in his den. A den she hoped that chivalry might prompt him to share—or even abandon to a lady in need.
At the end of a short corridor, cold away from the taproom fire, she discovered a closed door. She knocked sharply and after hearing a deep-voiced command to enter, she pushed her way into a small, shabby chamber.
“Brown, did you bring the hot posset?” a man asked from the shadowy corner near the fire where he bent over a rustic cot.
“It’s not Brown, sir,” Sarah said, appreciating the quiet that descended. The roar of masculine voices in the taproom had been deafening.
At the sound of her voice, the stranger straightened and turned to face her.
Except he wasn’t a stranger, but someone she recognized. To her regret.
“Mr. Farren,” she said flatly.
The heavy-featured face with its commanding nose and sensual, cynical lips didn’t relax into a smile. Of course it didn’t. Mr. James Farren and Sir Gerald Otway, her late husband, had been sworn enemies from childhood, and the feud had only grown more bitter over the years.
“My, my, Lady Otway, if I’m not mistaken,” he drawled. Good Lord, he was a giant. Tall enough for his untidy dark curls to brush the beams on the ceiling.
The hostile glint in the deep-set dark eyes set her heart racing with trepidation. Despite being a woman well able to stand up for herself, she faltered back a step. “I…I came to see if you’d do the courteous thing and relinquish this parlor to a lady in need.”
His mouth curled in a mocking smile. “But now you see it was a wild goose chase?”
“I apologize for disturbing you, sir,” she said stiffly.
A hand the size of a dinner plate extended to her before she could walk away. “Wait.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You have no right to command me, sir.”
“I need your help.”
Shock kept her from leaving. “Help? From an Otway?”
She waited for another taunting smile, but instead he regarded with a searching expression that made him look much less daunting. “My daughter, she’s ill.”
She glanced past him to the cot and realized it contained a child burrowed beneath the covers. “I’m sure your wife can…”
“My wife died a year ago, my lady,” he said sharply, and the flash of grief in his dark eyes made Sarah forgive his sharpness. “Now I find myself at sea with how to ease Meg’s fever. Can we not call a truce in our battles for the sake of Christian charity?”
Sarah frowned at this mountain of a man, and this time she saw past his size and vigor to the reality of a loving father worried about his child’s wellbeing. Perhaps he wasn’t quite as forbidding as she’d first thought when she’d burst in upon him. He’d had good reason to keep this parlor to himself, and she stopped cursing his selfishness.
She removed her gloves and untied her cloak. “Let me see.”
A mistletoe wish…All her life, Serena Talbot has been in love with the handsome boy next door, Sir Paul Garside. She always eagerly looks forward to Paul’s visit to her family over the Festive Season, even if he usually brings along his dark, sardonic friend Lord Hallam. This year, Serena is determined that Paul’s kiss under the mistletoe will lead to a proposal. Even if she has to enlist every ounce of Christmas magic she can get her hands on to make that happen.But the mistletoe gets it wrong!When Serena slips a sprig of mistletoe from the village kissing bough under her pillow, it’s not Paul who turns up in her dreams as the man she’s going to marry, but brooding, intense, annoying Giles Farraday, Marquess of Hallam. Still more annoying, once everyone arrives for the annual Christmas house party, she can’t stop watching Giles, and thinking about Giles. And kissing Giles, whether there’s mistletoe about or not. Now Paul wants to marry her, and Giles wants to seduce her–and Serena has a bone to pick with the old wives who came up with all this superstitious nonsense in the first place.A Christmas of confusion lies ahead! Will mistletoe magic lead the way to a happy ending?
Up For Grabs:
- 3 Kindle copies of A Match Made in Mistletoe
To Enter:
- Please leave a comment along with your email address.
**Don't forget to enter the grand prize giveaway!
Special thanks to Anna Campbell for sponsoring this giveaway.
62 comments :
Love this short story but hate that it is so short! 😔
Great premise. Thanks!
Interesting story but now I need to know how it ends! ;)
forgot : suegaluska@yahoo.com
Wait! You can't stop there!!
I want more of Sarah & James! Love this story! Merry Christmas, Anna!
I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the story 😊
Merry Christmas
Lori
lorih824@yahoo.com
I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the story 😊
Merry Christmas
Lori
lorih824@yahoo.com
Ha, Glenda, I'll have to write the rest now! So glad you enjoyed the vignette.
So glad you enjoyed it, Caitlin. Thank you.
Ha, Sue, that makes two of us. I've already used one of the vignettes I did for Dani as the start of Her Christmas Earl. This one's crying out for a story of its own too!
Aww, Anna, please tell me there will be more to this story. :-)
castings at mindspring dot com
Would like to read more.
strive4bst(AT) yahoo(Dot) com
was interesting
bn100candg at hotmail dot com
Ha, Linda, I'm trying to tease you all!
Merry Christmas, Sharlene! Thanks for saying you enjoyed the vignette.
I could cheerfully clobber you, Anna. How could you dangle that story under my nosr and then just stop?
Lori, thanks for saying you enjoyed it. Merry Christmas to you too. Hasn't this year flown?
Cheryl, I think there might just be more - I'm intrigued by what might happen next!
Hi Jess! These vignettes are always such fun and I've come up with ideas for longer stories thanks to Dani.
Thanks, BN!
Ha ha, Shelagh, tis the season to be teasing!
I love enemies to lovers stories. Sounds great.
mybeach52(at)yahoo(dot)com
I am not much of a short story reader--much prefer a more in depth story line. But from your replies, sounds as if this will become a longer tale in the future.
Ack! What happens next?!
ah, the possibilities :) happy holidays Anna :)
Happy holidays and thanks for offering this!
Thanks for the opportunity! I do love short stories!
gaby_sama (at) hotmail (dot) com
Love your books Anna. Now I want to finish that short! Happy Holidays
Sheryll1974(at) netscape(dot)net
I agree! :)
I do too, Michele. There's always so much at stake!
Thanks for swinging by, clynsg. This was just a random scene written especially for this blog. The brief was to write a short piece with a Christmassy theme.
Di, your guess is as good as mine!
Ha ha, I have a feeling these enemies are going to become quite fond of each other by the time they've finished!
Happy Holidays to you too, Linda. Glad you enjoyed the piece.
Good luck, Gaby! Actually I think there's a novella at the very least in this idea!
Thanks so much, Sheryl! I want to finish this short too - I think the sparks will fly!
Thank you for the short story. Have a nice Christmas.
penfield716 (At) yahoo (Dot) com
I want to know more. What happened between them? What happened to the daughter? Such a tease Anna
cdrocdoc@yahoo.com
Hi Kim! My pleasure. Happy Holidays!
Ha ha, Tina. I think I need to write the rest, don't you?
Beautiful gown on the cover. I loved the excerpt! I'd love to see how this turns out.
Thanks, Meredith! I think I just need to sit down and write this story.
I love the sound of it!
jmartin77books @ gmail.com
Thanks, Jen!
What a lovely snipit. Thank you Anna.
whistleinthewind74@hotmail.com
Thanks so much, Christina! So glad you enjoyed it. Happy Holidays!
Always great to see Anna Campbell represented in a Christmas Event! I especially loved the short story and am really, really looking forward to reading A Match Made in Mistletoe. Thanks for all the RFTC daily posts! jdh2690@gmail.com
I want to read more. Will there be a continuation?
iluvthebeach13(at)gmail(dot)com
Enter me please
It was fabulous to meet you at the HRR <3 I'm Glittergirl here but in real life I'm Lenna Hendershott. I'm so glad you took time to tour the Pacific Northwest and see our beautiful country :-)
glittergirl54 at ymail dot com
Hi Janice! Thank you! Lovely to see you here too! Hope you enjoy AMMIM. If you have any problems with downloading, please let me know on annacampbelloz@hotmail.com There was a glitch with the pre-orders, sadly!
Joanne, I think there might be some more story to come! I'm interested!
Good luck, Bonnie!
Lenna, I was just looking at some pics from the HRR last week and thinking what fun it was to meet you. Wasn't that the most fabulous convention? I loved coming to Spokane too!
Enemies to lovers is favorite trope! And the blurb for A Match Made in Mistletoe sounds so intriguing =D
annaoj (dot) mortes ( at) gmail (DOT) com
Thanks so much for saying you like the sound of AMMIM, Awesome! Yeah, I love enemies into lovers too. There's always so much at stake - and the sexual tension is delicious!
Ms Awesome (great name!), thanks for saying you like the sound of Mistletoe. Yeah, I'm a sucker for friends into lovers too. There's always so much at stake and such delicious sexual tension. Happy Christmas!
Love your books, thanks for the chance to win. Merry Christmas.
(mybeach52(at)yahoo(dot)com)
That's lovely to hear, Michele! Thank you!
Thank you to everyone who swung by! What a great response! I think I should give away 5 A Match Made in Mistletoe, don't you? I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and I wish you all the best for the New Year.
Post a Comment