Wrecking Christmas by Liza Jonathan 💕 Book Blitz & Gift Card Giveaway 💕 (Paranormal Holiday Romance)

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In a town that magically grants Christmas wishes, love was the one gift they didn’t see coming.

The perfect Christmas. After the tragic loss of her mother, it’s all psychologist Kathryn Winslow wants for herself, her young son, and her grieving father. She never expects their drive to a luxury resort to end with her car dangling off the side of a mountaintop cliff. And she certainly doesn’t expect her family to be rescued by a sexy, rugged puzzle of a man like Hunter Holliday.

As owner of a collision repair and hot rod shop in the West Virginia hills, Hunter hauls motorists out of snow banks every day. But after years of sleepwalking through his life as a widower, saving a brave, beautiful woman like Kathryn wakes him up, in every possible way.

But before they can make it out of a freak snowstorm, they’re stranded in Christmas Pass, a funny little sugar-frosted mountain town that can’t be found on any map. Now somehow, they’re trapped in an enchanted village that grants Christmas wishes, and tangled in a red-hot attraction they can’t resist. Yet, even in a place that’s populating itself around their craziest whims and deepest desires, they can’t run from the crippling regrets in their past—or the shocking new revelations to come. But the love they need so badly is there for the taking…if only they have the courage to wish…

Q. What inspired you to write a holiday romance like Wrecking Christmas?

A. “It all started when I was going through my RSS feed one day, and I came across a piece on the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books Blog called The Painful Fantasy of Holiday Romances. Written by Amanda, one of the bloggers there, it was a very heartfelt missive about how people with difficult family lives read holiday romances differently. For them, stories where no one has any real problems and everything can be worked out by winning the cookie bake off can be hard to take. ‘Some of us,’ she said, ‘will never have a good Christmas.’

I found I couldn’t leave the ideas she brought up alone. What would happen, I wondered, if I wrote a book for someone like her? So that was how I came up with Hunter Holliday and Kathryn Winslow. They are two people with very tragic pasts, for whom Christmas has been ruined, permanently. They have deep regrets and things they can’t forgive themselves for. And they both get thrown together, completely by chance, in a magical mountain town that grants all their Christmas wishes. Yet, even here, in this perfect place, their baggage has hitched a ride with them. And against this improbable, Hallmark- movie-on-steroids backdrop, they have to work through all their problems and come out whole on the other side, together.

This book is steamy—not sweet—with a hard won happily ever after. I hope it inspires others the way it inspired me.”

Q. Tell us about the real locations you used in this book.

A.. “I was very fortunate to get permission from the Greenbrier Resort to use them as a setting in this book. The Greenbrier, if you’re not familiar with it, is one of the finest resorts in the nation, built in the 1700s in grand Georgian style in the cradle of the Greenbrier Valley. It has hundreds of rooms and is truly breathtaking. For Kathryn, it serves as a kind of El Dorado or Graceland. If she can just get her family there, they just might have the perfect Christmas after all, she thinks. But nothing goes according to plan.

I’ve also placed this Christmas series in Lewisburg, West Virginia, which is a small town neighboring The Greenbrier which is every bit as vibrant as I describe it. There’s people who have been there for generations, and wealthy

retirees who have moved there and bought rolling hilltop estates so they can be nearby to the resort. The Holliday family farm is exactly like dozens of farms in the area, situated on the prettiest rolling landscape you’ve ever seen. It’s the kind of jewel people don’t realize they can find in West Virginia, and I wanted to tell that story, too.”

Q. Any other tidbits we should know?

A. “I make mention in the book that Hunter Holliday is a winner of the Golden Horseshoe when he was in school. People who grew up in the state will laugh with recognition at that. Every kid in eighth grade has to take West Virginia history, and the Golden Horseshoe test I part of that. l. I studied and studied for weeks, but I didn’t crack the code at the state level, though. So, I’ll never be a “knight” of the “golden horseshoe.” Alas. That ship has sailed.”

So we’re going to see more Christmas stories coming out of Lewisburg?

A.. “Absolutely! I have the sequel to it already written and in development. It’s the story of Hopper Vance, who works at Holliday Hot Rods with Hunter, and Cookie, who’s Kathryn’s receptionist at her practice. Turns out, Hopper and Cookie are long lost loves separated by tragedy. And this will be a magically fueled second chance romance you won’t soon forget. It’s all about the persistence of the heart, and the journey to forgiveness. I can’t wait to introduce readers to it next year! After that, I’ve got another one sketched out from the Holliday garage. But after that, who knows? I’m sure readers will inform me what they want to see next. And I’m all ears.”

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Links to find Liza:

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His heartbeat raced now, the sound of each thump pounding in his ears. He watched in mute fascination as a fat drop of water beaded from her hair, snaked over the graceful curve of her collarbone, and wound its way down her breast.

And then Kathryn turned those eyes on him again—eyes that saw everything and cracked light into corners he’d been avoiding for so long. She was breathing fast too, trembling for him.

Good Lord—could it be she wants me as much as I want her?

As if she heard his thoughts, Kathryn pressed the pad of her finger to the dimple in his chin. “The answer to your question, Hunter, is yes.”

Yes.

His whole body responded to the word. All his need, fucking years of it, came raging up inside him, a wild, desperate craving that demanded its due. “Ryn,” he whispered.

Her mouth was so close to his—her lips flame-red, parted like an invitation, a full-on dare.

Hunter bent his head to hers, and he took it.

Sometimes a second chance is the greatest gift of all…

Hopper Vance has spent these last few years since he’s gotten out of jail trying to live a better life. And that includes not dwelling on the mistakes that led him to prison, and cost him Lila, the love of his life.

Lila Cook may seem settled, but her heart is always running—from her rough childhood, and an abusive ex-husband, for starters. But mostly, she’s running from a heartache called Hopper, the man who pushed her love away twenty years ago, and never contacted her again.

But when separate Christmas Eve errands turn them both down the same mysterious mountain road, they get more than they bargained for. Because Stuckey’s Christmas Outpost is no Christmas store—it’s a portal back to their-own Christmases Past. And its magical hillbilly proprietors won’t let them stop reliving them until they find their way back to the scorching, soul-deep love that defined their lives.

But are desire and forgiveness gifts they can accept? All they have to do, is wish…

Write what you know. Isn’t that what they always say?

Though I currently live in the flat, flat lands of Indiana, I’ve spent most of my life in West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. As I have found out, you can take the girl out of Appalachia, but you can’t take the Appalachia out of the girl.

So now, I write sexy, angsty paranormal romances dedicated to the locations, legends and lore from the thirteen Appalachian states. I find the enchantment of home inspires me to tell tales.

When I’m not haunting the house at all hours writing, I have another life as a PR/marketing writer, wife to my long-time husband, and a mother to my two sons, who are rapidly fleeing the nest. Come sit with me for a spell. I've got some stories to tell you...

Q. What kind of books do you write?

A. “My books are paranormal romances, but with a magical, Appalachian twist. Not every book is set in the mountains, mind you. But they celebrate the love, lore and locations that can be found in the thirteen Appalachian states, which is basically New York to Georgia. All my books are big, emotional and sexy—fun reads and a great escape. A little ‘everyday magic’ we all can experience.”

Q. You’re a debut author. Why did you decide to start writing romances?

A. “It could be the insanity that comes with middle age. But I had a bit of an epiphany lately when I put my DNA into Ancestry.com. I found out, to my utter shock, that both sides of my background were about as “old West Virginia” as you can get, coming to America as indentured servants in the mid 1600s. Turned out I was directly related to the founder of my hometown, Fairmont, WV. And honestly, that revelation really spun my head around.

It occurred to me that there are too few people telling the good stories coming out of the mountain states. And I want to be that storyteller—the person that’s romancing Appalachia. My books tell fantastical love stories, but the beauty of the place and the people? That’s all true. ”

Q. What stories can we expect to see coming from you in the future?

A. “In fourth quarter 2019, I have two books releasing. One is a Christmas romance, Wrecking Christmas, which is set alternately in Lewisburg, West Virginia, the famous Greenbrier Resort, and Christmas Pass, an enchanted town that appears in a freak snowstorm in the mountains nearby. It’s one part Brigadoon and one part Christmas Fantasy Island—a story where a hero and heroine with crippling losses in their past find themselves in a magic town that grants all their Christmas wishes, including a chance at true love. It’s funny and sad and emotional and very, very sexy. At its root, its all about the redemption that comes in forgiving yourself, and opening yourself up to love again.

The other book, Haunted by You, is the prequel to a series I’m setting in Louisville, Kentucky. It centers around a fictitious Victorian distillery in the historic NuLu district that’s been renovated to luxury lofts, penthouses, and a funky little coffee shop. This prequel is about the building being renovated, and a love story between the savvy, tattooed heroine who’s come to handle the development, and a hot, bespectacled accountant who’s come into her coffee shop. When the loft she sells him turns out haunted, they set out to solve the mystery of their ghost. And in the meantime, find a love that changes the course of both their lives.

Haunted by You will introduce you to characters that will be found in my Charmed Trilogy that’s coming out next spring. Each book in the series will be a love story involving people who wear a magical talisman that can make you rich and famous. I’ve even thrown in a conspiracy theory about the mysterious death of Edgar Allan Poe in there. It’s crazy, hot, paranormal fun. Check out excerpts and sneak peeks at lizajonathan.com”

Q. Where can readers go to follow your work?

“My website, lizajonathan.com, has a sign up for my newsletter, which will include news about all my new releases as well as great deals, giveaways, and bonus material. And you there will be even more fun going on my Facebook Group, Liza Jonathan’s Mage Page. You can find me on Instagram, too, celebrating all that is cool and interesting about Appalachian folklore and culture.”