Friday 12 October 2018

#Giveaway — The Laird’s Christmas Kiss by Anna Campbell #historicalromance #Regency #mustread @AnnaCampbelloz




Inspiration Behind The Laird’s Christmas Kiss
 By Anna Campbell
It’s so great to be back on Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots today. Thanks to Mary Anne for inviting me here to talk about some of the inspiration behind my Christmas novella, The Laird’s Christmas Kiss, book 2 of my Lairds Most Likely series, which launched last July with The Laird’s Willful Lass.
The setting for this new story is once again Achnasheen Castle on the west coast of Scotland, with its spectacular views across to the Isle of Skye. Fergus and Marina, the hero and heroine of The Laird’s Willful Lass, are hosting their first Christmas house party for friends and family. The guests include Fergus’s roguish cousin, Brody Girvan, Laird of Invermackie, and Hamish’s bluestocking sister, Elspeth Douglas, who has been madly in love with Brody since she was fifteen, although she’s well aware that he doesn’t know she’s alive.


This romantic story incorporates fairytale elements from Cinderella and the Ugly Duckling. The first book in the series bristled with sexual tension and the push and pull between the lead characters. The next full-length story, The Laird’s Lost Lady, out early in 2019, is a dark and dramatic tale about a runaway bride.
So I wanted this Christmas novella to act like a sorbet between two substantial courses, something light and sweet to suit the season of goodwill and add a touch of comedy to proceedings. Readers can revisit characters who appeared in the first book. It’s a chance to check in with Fergus and his artist bride, and also find out a bit more about Diarmid Mactavish and Hamish Douglas, the heroes of future entries in the series.
While this is the eighth Christmas story I’ve written (clearly I enjoy doing them!), I’ve never before set a seasonal novella in Scotland. This is a little strange, as Scottish heroes feature in The Winter Wife, His Christmas Cinderella, Her Christmas Earl, and A Pirate for Christmas.
One of the problems I ran into with this current story is that mistletoe is rare north of the border. As you can imagine, kissing under the mistletoe makes for a lot of fun in a Yuletide historical romance, and it’s something readers look forward to finding when they pick up a seasonal love story. And while mistletoe features in Norse mythology, and the west coast of Scotland has a long Viking history, most of the references I found said that the modern folklore about mistletoe originates from the other side of the border. Which makes sense, given mistletoe is a parasitic plant common in the Midlands and further south.


What was a resourceful historical romance writer to do? Manage without her mistletoe? Never!
Luckily, in Marina Mackinnon née Lucchetti, I had a half-English hostess for the high jinks at Achnasheen. While she was brought up in Florence, her late mother was English, so I thought it highly likely that mistletoe featured in family Christmas celebrations in Italy. (It’s suddenly occurred to me that this series, while set in Scotland, is actually quite international!) Cue Marina’s father arriving with his new bride Julia and bringing as his gift a crate full of mistletoe imported from the land of the Sassenachs.
Bravo! My Christmas novella was saved! So if you enjoy a serving of mistletoe kisses with your Christmas cheer, I hope you’ll pick up The Laird’s Christmas Kiss either as a pre-order now, or after it’s released on 27th October! It’s only 99p/99 cents on Kindle!

Amazon UK • Amazon US •

Amazon AU • Kobo • iTunes




Christmas in Australia coincides with our summer holidays – although that doesn’t stop most of us from doing the whole European massive roast dinner thing with plum pudding to follow, or from sending out Christmas cards festooned in snow and holly and robins. Seems odd, I know! But it’s also a great time of year to settle down and watch Christmas movies (usually from the other side of the world and usually featuring snow!).
Do you have a favourite Christmas film? I’ve got quite a few, mostly old-school (I love classic cinema). They include Christmas in Connecticut, An Affair to Remember, and The Shop Around the Corner. Not a Scots hero in any of them!
There’s a Kindle download of my new novella, The Laird’s Christmas Kiss, up for grabs today to someone who comments. No geographical restrictions. Good luck!





Giveaway

*Giveaway is now closed.

Do you have a favourite Christmas film? I’ve got quite a few, mostly old-school (I love classic cinema). They include Christmas in Connecticut, An Affair to Remember, and The Shop Around the Corner. Not a Scots hero in any of them!
There’s a Kindle download of my new novella, The Laird’s Christmas Kiss, up for grabs today to someone who comments. No geographical restrictions. Good luck!
Giveaway Rules
• Leave your answer in the comments at the bottom of this post.
• Giveaway ends at 11:59pm BST on October 31st.
You must be 18 or older to enter.

• Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY.

•Only one entry per household.

• All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
•Winners will be announced in the comments.


• Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

The Laird’s Christmas Kiss:
A Lairds Most Likely Christmas Novella

Down with love!

Ever since she was fifteen, shy wallflower Elspeth Douglas has pined in vain for the attentions of dashing Brody Girvan, Laird of Invermackie. But the rakish Highlander doesn’t even know she’s alive. Now she’s twenty, she realizes that she’ll never be happy until she stops loving her brother’s handsome friend. When family and friends gather at Achnasheen Castle for Christmas, she intends to show the world that’s she’s all grown up, and grown out of silly crushes on gorgeous Scotsmen. So take that, my gallant laddie!

Girls just want to have fun…

Except it turns out that Brody isn’t singing from the same Christmas carol sheet. Elspeth decides she’s not interested in him anymore, just as he decides he’s very interested indeed. In fact, now he looks more closely, his friend Hamish’s sister is pretty and funny and forthright – and just the lassie to share his Highland estate. Convincing his little wren of his romantic intentions is difficult enough, even before she undergoes a makeover and becomes the belle of Achnasheen. For once in his life, dissolute Brody is burdened with honorable intentions, while the lady he pursues is set on flirtation with no strings attached.

Deck the halls with mistletoe!
With interfering friends and a crate of imported mistletoe thrown into the mix, the stage is set for a house party rife with secrets, clandestine kisses, misunderstandings, heartache, scandal, and love triumphant.





Anna Campbell
Australian Anna Campbell has written 10 multi award-winning historical romances for Grand Central Publishing and Avon HarperCollins, and 20 bestselling independently published novellas. She’s also written 2 full-length independently published novels, Lord Garson’s Bride, the last instalment in her bestselling Dashing Widows series, and The Laird’s Willful Lass, the first book in The Lairds Most Likely. Look out for her novella, The Laird’s Christmas Kiss, in late October, the second story in this new Scottish-set series.


Anna loves to hear from readers, you can find her: WebsiteFacebookTwitter.

38 comments:

  1. I love the idea of this book, so I have pre-ordered from amazon! Can't wait to read it!

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  2. Thanks, Jackie! So glad you like the sound of it.

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  3. One of my favorite Christmas films is "The Christmas Tree" with Andrew McCarthy.

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    1. Karen, I haven't seen that one! I'll have to check it out.

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  4. Oh I have to say Christmas vacation with Chevy Chase I love the the scene where they're going down the hill with the garbage can lids. I can't wait to read this it looks like a fun read thanks for this opportunity.

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    1. Teresa, lovely to see you here! Oh, I haven't seen that one either. I clearly need to see some more recent Christmas movies! As you can probably gather from my list, I'm a big classic movie fan.

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  5. I have two favorites and quite a few runner-ups but #1 has to be the original, THE BISHOPS WIFE with Loretta Young and David Niven. #2 Would be "Christmas Vacation", cause there is a laugh-a-minute in that one. Others I love are LOVE ACTUALLY, A CHRISTMS STORY, HOME ALONE, and I could go on and on.

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    1. Oh, I love the Bishop's Wife. I nearly put it on my list today. Love Cary Grant in that. He makes a lovely angel called Dudley! I love Love Actually too. I clearly need to see Christmas Vacation! Someone else mentioned that one.

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  6. I've got this preordered, Anna! Can't wait! As for favorite Christmas film, still gotta go with A Charlie Brown Christmas :)

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    1. Fedora, lovely to see you too. Oh, I haven't seen a Charlie Brown Christmas. When I was young, I loved an animated one with Fred Astaire in it that was about Santa as a young man. Just looked it up - Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Must hunt it down. Haven't seen it in years.

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  7. my fav xmas film is Mickeys Christmas Carol. Mickey mouse is great. I love the way the cartoons move.

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    1. Katharina, I haven't seen that one either! I clearly need to catch up on my Christmas watching! x

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    2. My children loved Mickey's Christmas Carol when they were little. In fact, they still do!

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  8. I watched Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer — The Island of Misfit Toys, with my baby brother. I found myself surprising enjoying it! LOL! Other than that, I love The Santa Clause.

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    1. Beatrice, I have very fond memories of the original animated Rudolf. I haven't seen the Santa Clause - I really should watch all these films people are recommending!

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  9. My favourite Christmas film is While You Were Sleeping!

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    1. Mary Anne, I'd forgotten that was a Christmas movie. Actually now you mention it, so is An Affair to Remember! And that's one of my faves too.

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    2. I for got about An Affair To Remember. I think I am going to make a list of these films, and then watch one every evening to the run up to Christmas!

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    3. Mary Anne, what a lovely idea. An Affair to Remember was my late mother's favourite film so it has lovely memories for me.

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  10. I think I might be a little too old for your books, Anna, I am almost ninety! I am also not too sure what a kindle is. But my favourite Christmas movie has to be White Christmas.

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    1. Ivy, that comment made me laugh! You're certainly not too old. I always tell people the story of my aged grandparents who were in a nursing home. The library used to select "suitable" reading for the oldies which generally involved a bit of hand holding. Then someone shook it up a bit and put some steamy books on the library trolley. Guess which ones went first! Oh, I love White Christmas. Great choice!

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    2. Well, I expect some of them had that viagra stuff. Not meaning your grandparents of course. I told my husband, I call him my toy-boy because he is 85, don't go down the doctors asking for that stuff. I have retired from my marital duties!

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    3. Oh, Ivy! You're so funny! Maybe with a good romance novel, you don't need viagra!!!

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    4. Don't you tell him that. He will be off down the library.

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    5. Laughing even harder now! And you know, the library's not a bad place to go...

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  11. Bells of St Mary's, Christmas Story, Home Alone, White Christmas , It's A Wonderful Life....a few of the house favorites here😉😊

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    1. Oh, I haven't seen the Bells of St Mary's in years, Cyndi. I remember Ingrid Bergman was just beautiful in it.

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  12. I'm a child at heart so I kinda' lean towards Christmas movies that were made with children (and families) specifically in mind as the target audience when they were made though I also watch movies that are made for the more "mature" audience. Some of my faves that I could enumerate off the top of my head are: The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Polar Express, Home Alone, The Santa Clause and Disney's A Christmas Carol.

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    1. Hi Lei! I was just talking to you over on Collette's page! I think Christmas movies are all the better for a few kids and family thrown into the mix. Great selection.

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  13. I love anything Christmas, favorite movie is always, Miracle on 34th Street, along with lots of Hallmark ones currently.

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  14. I love anything Christmas, my favorite movie always is Miracle on 34th Street, along with lots of Hallmark movies currently being shown.

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    1. Unknown is from me:lynnalexander49@gmail.com

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    2. Lynn, you were an international woman of mystery there for a while! Oh, I love Miracle on 34th Street. I think Edmund Gwenn makes a wonderful Santa and Maureen O'Hara is just lovely in it.

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  15. I enjoy many Christmas movies my fave is its a wonderful life. Cannot argue with a good movie

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    1. Theresa, I haven't seen that in years. Really must get it out again!

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  16. Giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all who took part. Anna has kindly offered to giveaway two kindle copies of The Laird’s Christmas Kiss. The winners are: Unknown and Beatrice Rivers. Congratulations!! To claim your price please email author@maryanneyarde.com

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    1. Congratulations to Lynn and to Beatrice. I've emailed you both privately with details of your prizes. Thanks again to Mary Anne for hosting me. I'm looking forward to my next visit!

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    2. Can't wait!! Always a pleasure to have you on the blog, Anna!

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See you on your next coffee break!
Take Care,
Mary Anne xxx