Wow. 6 days and counting ’til Christmas? Really? Jeez, last time I checked it was the first LOL.Time flies when you’re having fun editing a novel!

-climbs into Santa’s lap- Okay, big guy. I reallllly want a Wii… I miss playing Metroid Prime…and uh, well. There’s a new Zelda game out? And you know I love Zelda. So…  -puppydogeyes-

Anyway! I want to help spread the Christmas cheer! Just in time for Christmas, anyone who wants to give my YA holiday novella, Christmas Angel, a try, can read it for FREE on Wattpad. It’s also available in multiple formats at Smashwords and for the Kindle on Amazon for .99 cents (and I’m working on getting it up at BN, but PubIt is giving me some trouble. SO. Soon I hope!) for those who want to purchase a copy of their own. And if you loved it, I’d love if you’d review it

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Ever since his girlfriend died in a car accident on Christmas Eve, 19-year-old Cheshire Morgan has been…well…a Grinch. With a dislike for Christmas and his rent two months late, his only option is to take a job playing Santa for a bunch of whiny kids. Then he meets Savannah. She tells him that his girlfriend’s spirit can’t move on to Heaven until Cheshire stops clinging to the past. He doesn’t believe her, but she’s annoyingly persistent. She makes him a deal–spend the holidays with her, let her try and teach him how to love Christmas again. If she fails, he’ll never have to deal with her again. But can the spunky girl crack the ice around Cheshire’s heart in time for Christmas?

And an excerpt from the novella, one of my favorite parts Enjoy! 

She passed his apartment, making him turn around in his seat. “Where are we going?”

“My place. Don’t think you get off the hook with a little shopping! There’s a reason I bought you this coat.”

“Then take it back, please,” he groaned.

Her place was a little ranch just outside of town with tan siding and gold shutters. There were several big, square bushes out front. The gravel crunched under the Toyota’s tires as they pulled in. “Home sweet home,” Savannah smiled, then got out and patted the hood of her rust bucket. “Today, you get Lesson One: How to Decorate a House for the Holidays.”

Alright. Decorating he could handle. He used to be pretty good at it. He and Rae had had a crap-ton of lights and decorations and they were always the brightest and busiest houses on the block.

“Be right back,” sing-songed the girl as she darted inside, leaving Chesh in the garage surrounded by boxes filled to the brim with decorations. Damn. Her dad must’ve been loaded. He scooted the box over to the patchy couch sitting on the left and sat down. He began to pull out and untangle yards of blue icicle lights, his fingers working the knots loose. He didn’t even realize Savannah had come back out until he heard a crackle of static, then a pop version of “Santa Clause is Coming to Town”. The music filled the garage and Savannah plopped down next to him on the couch.

“Do we have to listen to this?” Cheshire asked. “I’m not a big fan.”

“You’re a big Scrooge,” Savannah said, pulling the lights from his grasp and plugging them into the wall behind them. She began to replace the bulbs that were burnt out, humming along to the radio and Cheshire knew he had to suck it up and deal. Together, with just the music playing between them and Savvy’s off-key singing that burned Cheshire’s ears, they got several strands of lights tested.

Savannah hopped to her feet, carrying a bundle, and headed outside. Chesh spotted a ladder in the corner of the garage and hauled it out after her. He held the ladder for her as she climbed up and used little plastic hooks to hang the lights on the house. “How’s it look?”

“Good so far. Keep going.”

They lapsed back into silence. He watched her carefully as she hooked the hooks on the gutter, one by one, and if he let his eyes lose focus just a little, he could pretend that she was Rae. Then Savannah turned towards him, breaking the illusion, and he frowned and softly murmured, “Rae loved hanging lights.”

“She always used to come over and help me with my place after Dad died. I was kinda lost the first Christmas after she…passed.”

So was I, he wanted to say. So much so that he hadn’t bothered to decorate anything since.

“Just think,” she continued, “Next year, you’ll decorate your place and remember this wonderful time we’re spending together!”

He meant to snort at her—really he did—but it came out as a laugh instead. She looked startled by this, nearly falling off the ladder, which made him laugh harder. God, he was going off the deep end… “Get down,” he managed to wheeze out and she hopped to the ground, giggling at him.

“This is good, Chesh,” she said brightly. “You’re healing through laughter!”

After he regained his composure, they finished lighting the house and then did the bushes. Savannah hung a wreath on the front door and they sprayed “snow” on the garage door in a snowflake pattern (though Cheshire thought they looked more like retarded stars). Snow began to fall about halfway through and Savannah danced around in it like a crazy person, dark hair trailing behind her. He merely watched her as she flopped down on the ground and began to make a snow angel, waving her arms and legs for him to join her, but he shook his head and settled for observing instead. She really was pretty—a different kind of pretty than Rae’d been; more delicate, fine-boned and angelic, even though she herself was a demon-child from Hell with what she was putting him through. He thought back to Wal-Mart, to the lingerie, and groaned. And this was just the beginning. He had to endure an entire month with this girl.

“Wake up, Chesh,” Savannah said, suddenly next to him, her face bright pink and her hair covered in snowflakes. He blinked, pulled out of his thoughts, and she tugged on his arm. “Let’s make hot cocoa. I have the best Swiss Mocha recipe and you’re just lucky enough to help me make it!” She bounded off like a hyperactive Golden retriever and he groaned.

Doomed.

—

Happy reading, and happy holidays