Dear Reader,
How are you doing? How is your December going for you? Can you believe it has gone by so fast?
I can’t, especially with Christmas this coming weekend and the new year approaching. I was going to send this out last week, but life got away from me. I thought I had plenty of time last week Thursday to write it. I even had it scheduled in my planner. I had to go to Wisconsin for a few hours and planned to return in the early afternoon.
Oh, how, naïve of me. You know the saying about the best-laid plans going astray? I ended up staying in Wisconsin for longer than I anticipated. (It was for a good reason. My mentor was retiring, and this was my last chance to see him before he was done working) Then when I got home, Hubby was on the phone with a client whose horse was sick.
The client had done everything she was supposed to do to manage the poor horse before calling the vet. Just like when kids are sick with a cold or flu, the doctor’s office wants you to try Tylenol and other at-home remedies. But this poor horse needed to be seen. So, Hubby packed up my work vehicle with antibiotics and fluids. Little Bock didn’t want to be left at home and I got her ready to go. As a family, we drove out to the farm where the horse was.
The poor horse was running a high fever and didn’t feel good. He didn’t want to eat, his muscles hurt so he didn’t want to move, and his gum color wasn’t the nice pink it was supposed to be. With his symptoms, there were only a few options of things that could be bothering him at this time of year. His owner wanted to treat him as aggressively as possible. So, I placed an intravenous catheter and filled a bag of fluids with antibiotics to give to him. Thankfully, Hubby is tall and can hold the bag of fluids above the horse. Little Bock hung out with me while we chit-chatted with the horse’s owner during treatment. We didn’t get home until late that night and I didn’t have time to write to you.
We repeated the treatment throughout the weekend and at the beginning of this week. I am happy to say that the horse fully recovered and was running around in his field when I last saw him. I love to see the patients feeling better and living their best life.
Do you celebrate Christmas? Do you have any big plans?
With a little one, Christmas time is fun to celebrate. We put up our 4-foot fake tree after Thanksgiving. It sits on an end table, just high enough that Little Bock can only reach the lower branches. She has Snoopy ornaments that she rearranges on the branches every day. I’m happy to report that it only toppled over once and only three ornaments broke.
We hung our stockings out with one for Tank, too. I grew up in southeastern Wisconsin which is heavy in German culture and history. When my paternal grandmother was a child during WWII, she had German POWs placed on the farm to help because her family still spoke German. It’s not uncommon for churches to have German Christmas Eve church services or partial services. My family celebrated St. Nick coming on Dec. 6th and we continued the tradition. He came to give Little Bock chocolate and a small box of crayons. She was so excited to find her stocking with little chocolates. I know traditionally they use shoes, but her feet are so tiny she’d only get one piece of chocolate.
Besides that, our local zoo had a night event with lights strung around the animal enclosures. It was neat to see them at night versus when we go during the day.
The other thing I like to do during the Christmas season is read Christmas novels. I just finished Miss Humbug by Stephanie J. Scott.
It is set in a small town in Northern Illinois where Christmas is a big deal. Marlowe is called home from California by her grandmother for some important family business. She is a humbug about Christmas for some decent reasons. Of course, Grandma wants the whole family to participate in the town’s festivities to win the family homestead. There is an attractive neighbor boy, protective older brothers, some goofy fun and games, and of course a happy ending. It was really cute and gave me all the warm fuzzy holiday vibes, even if I was annoyed with her brothers at some points. If you like Hallmark movies, you will like this story.
The other two on my TBR for the next week are Love, Lies, and Mistletoe by D.E. Malone. Book description below!
One stolen kiss. A little Christmas magic. And the snowy inn where love stands a chance.
Interior designer Layla Dean can’t believe her good fortune at snagging the holiday decorating gig at Blueberry Point Lodge. And even though her fledgling business has a growing list of happy clients, her personal life isn’t filled with the same Christmas magic. She needs a man in her life like she does coal in her stocking. But tell that to Brant Johnsson.
Brant is known as the Twin Cities’ Master of Lights and Luminaria for good reason. His company oversees most of the downtown’s outdoor displays every season. But when a professional snag sends him reeling, he’s ready to quit the business. Until he runs into Layla again. Forgetting their awkward mistletoe kiss last year just isn’t possible, but she doesn’t share the pleasant memory. Now that they’re decking the halls together for the newly opened inn’s first Christmas, Brant hopes for a replay of their first encounter. And something more.
When a misdirected text message pairs them together for a fundraising event, Brant and Layla find they have more in common than just a flare for holiday decorating and one mistaken kiss. If Layla can overcome her sour first impression, Brant might get his very merry second chance.
And Christmas in Silver Birch Valley by Lorri Moulton. Book discription below!
A small town has held on to their traditions and celebrates Christmas as if it were 100 years ago…which reporter Jake Logan finds surprisingly charming, but wonders if it’s too good to be true.
Jake has traveled the world but never really felt at home, until he spends time in a town that has its own unique way of celebrating the holidays. The longer he stays, the more he comes to like the town, the people, and one charming B&B owner in particular.
Lorna Sullivan has never met anyone like Jake, but she knows tourists don’t stay once the holidays are over. The more time she spends with Jake, the easier it is to wonder if this could be different…but there are secrets in every small town and this one could destroy their chance at happiness.
Have you read any of those three? They are available at most retailers and at your library, too! Do you have a favorite Christmas book? I’d love to hear about it!
Reader Poll
What do you want to read next?
Starting in January, I will be sending out a chapter every week for one of my other published works. Which one do you want to read? Book Blurbs are below if you want to read them first.
Blurb for Second Chance with my Bull Rider:
What do you do when the past is your future?
Eleven years ago Delilah Allen was in love, but he left her heartbroken and alone. To survive the pain, she threw all of her passion into becoming one of the top nurses in San Antonio.
The Happy Hearts Therapeutic Riding Center needs a new owner or it will have to close. Now, burnt out from her job and looking for a change, Delilah steps up to help the children and the horses. It is her dream come true until everything falls apart. Suddenly she finds herself with a herd of horses, no job, and no money.
Kade Kisment has been on the road for the past eleven years trying to run from the mistakes he made in Sunnydale, TX. He has scratched out a living on the bull riding circuit and is now one of the top riders.
Just a few months before the Bull Riding Championships, he is laid up with severe injuries and only his brother, Kaleb, has a place for him to stay. But Kade's injuries and the family ranch are too much for Kaleb to handle by himself.
Kaleb runs into Delilah at the grocery store and offers her a job as an in-home nurse, taking care of her ex-boyfriend, Kade. Can she control her heart long enough to earn enough money to save the riding center and her new future? Or will the past be too much to overcome?
Blurb for My Unexpected Hero:
One ranch. Two life changing choices. Fourteen days to decide.
Lindsay Wilson walked out of the lawyer's office, stunned and shell shocked. Her uncle's will left everything to her, except the one thing she wanted most…the ranch. Now, she has fourteen days to find a husband or the ranch will be sold to the highest bidder.
Disillusionment fills Kurt Kisment's life as a high-powered defense lawyer in Dallas as his work with criminals turns heads south of the border. He takes the next two weeks to travel home to small town Sunnydale, TX. Hoping to escape his current life, he finds himself back in the saddle at the Kisment Ranch.
Kurt runs into Lindsay in town. He can't believe that the ugly duckling from high school is now a swan. Only Lindsay doesn't want anything to do with him as she concentrates on finding a husband. Kurt decides to change her mind, but it might be too late for them. Things take a turn for the worse when Lindsay's and Kurt's pasts collide into a race for survival.
Will they make it out alive and with their hearts intact?
Writing update
My Cowboy of Convenience is up for sale! If you haven’t picked up your copy, please do so! You can also request it and all my other books at your local library. If you have read it and enjoyed it, please leave a review.
I started the next book in my Cowboys of Sunnydale series. That’s right. It will be about Cassandra and the horse trainer from My Cowboy of Convenience. I am about 5,000 words into the story. The characters are just now becoming alive to me. I don’t plot my stories. I do character profiles before starting, but the characters end up differently than where I started. I can’t wait to share more as the story develops.
That’s all that I have for today. I wish you and your family a happy holiday season and I’ll talk to you in January!
Hugs,
Allie