The Most
Wonderful Time of the Year
Release Date:
11/05/13
Summary from
Goodreads:
Christmas is
the most wonderful time of the year, right? At least that’s what
twenty-year-old Ginny Bailey’s grandmother always told her, and Ginny believed
it until Grama died. She even put on a brave face the following two
Christmases, carrying on Grama’s traditions and decorating her house and café
with Grama’s favorite decorations.
But Ginny can’t pretend any longer. When she finds out she’s going to be alone
for the holidays this year, her Christmas spirit goes out the window, along
with her luck. Everything that can go wrong does, and Ginny just wants to spend
the holidays hiding under the covers...until Dean Riley comes back into her
life. With their shared past, old feelings begin to resurface almost
immediately, and Ginny thinks Dean might just be the Christmas miracle she’s
been waiting for to help her remember why Christmas really is the most
wonderful time of the year.
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What people are saying about The Most Wonderful
Time of the Year:
“While The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is
a quick read, it is an adorable one. This story shows the value of friends and
family and the importance they have in our lives, no matter what time of the
year it is…If you're looking for a well-written, heartwarming story for those
cold days, pick this up.”
“Marie Landry delivered the perfect little holiday
novella with The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. It has a small-town
coffee shop, memories of Christmas with Grandma, snowballs, hot cocoa and a
yummy man from our heroine’s past. Mini review: romantic, sweet and filled with
holiday spirit.”
“The Most Wonderful Time of Year was quick
and sweet, just how I like my holiday reads.”
Excerpt
When
the concert finally ended and people began to file from the hall, Dean put his
arm around my waist and led me out the door into the cold night.
“Was
that the lamest thing ever to do on a first date?” he asked.
I
laughed. “No, it was fun. And you have quite the voice, Mr. Riley. When they
did the sing-along, I thought you might just sort of lip synch along, but you
were belting it out. I’m impressed.”
Dean
chuckled, covering his face in embarrassment. “There’s something about a group
of people all singing together,” he said. “You should see me at concerts. Or
karaoke.”
“Well,
maybe that’s what we should do for our next date…” I bit my lip, hoping I’d
sounded casual.
“Maybe,”
he said slowly. “Although I think I’d like to go somewhere I can actually look
at you and talk to you.” He glanced over at me, his gaze unwavering. “You
know?”
I
nodded. He was still looking at me, and the intensity of his gaze made me go
warm all over, despite the chill in the air. I was about to reply when I
slipped on a patch of ice and skidded forward, letting out a little shriek.
I
braced myself to hit the cold, hard sidewalk, but Dean managed to catch me
before I reached the ground. He was laughing as he helped me straighten up, his
arms wrapped loosely around my waist.
“Well,
that was embarrassing.” I buried my face in the shoulder of Dean’s coat.
I could feel the laughter vibrating through him, and I started to laugh too,
shaking my head. “I feel like I should make some cheesy crack about how I’m
falling for you.”
Dean’s
laughter stopped abruptly, and I whipped my head up to look at him.
“Oh
god,” I groaned. “I should just…stop talking. Forever. Then I wouldn’t
embarrass myself anymore. You know, unless I fall on my ass in the snow or trip
over my own feet or spill coffee on you like I’ve already almost done twice
now.”
Dean’s
lips quirked slightly as he placed a finger over my lips to stop my rambling. “Are
you falling for me?”
“It’s
too soon,” I said. “I can’t be. I mean, you don’t just fall for someone this
fast, right? We knew each other when we were kids, but that was a long time
ago. And even though I was in love with you then, I don’t even know you now. So
I can’t be falling for you. Right?”
“You
were in love with me when we were kids?”
Crap,
had I actually said that? I had been right: I did need to stop talking forever.
Maybe I could become a nun and take a vow of silence. Or since I wasn’t
Catholic, maybe just the vow of silence part. “Y-yeah, I think so,” I said
finally.
“Huh.”
Dean released me and took a couple steps away, then came back and repeated the
process. He was pacing in a tiny, tight circle, and after a few turns I put my
hand on his arm to stop him before we both got dizzy.
“What
are you thinking?” I asked, although I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to hear his
answer.
“I
was thinking…” he said slowly, meeting my gaze again. “I was thinking how mad I
am at myself for not coming back sooner. I was thinking of all the time we
wasted when we could have been together. I should have come back that summer,
and the next, and then moved here when my granddad was still alive.”
I
was so shocked I didn’t know what to say. I could feel my eyebrows up around my
hairline somewhere, and my lips were parted in surprise.
“I
mean, I knew I had feelings for you when I was sixteen, and I knew you had a
crush on me, but I thought that was it. Two years age difference when you’re
that young seems like a big deal, you know? And then the next year when we were
older and we talked until I went to college, my feelings for you grew, but I
didn’t see how it could work since I was there and you were here. But now…now
there’s nothing stopping us. Not distance or a miniscule age difference, or
anything. Unless…”
“Unless
what?” I asked breathlessly.
“Unless
you think this is just some…I don’t know, some leftover childhood feelings or
something.” He shrugged. “That we’re both remembering how it was back then and
imagining that there’s something between us now.”
Was
he right?
My mind whirled like the snow around us, and I closed my eyes, trying to gather
my thoughts.
No. This pull, this
attraction, the way I felt whenever he looked at me or touched me or smiled at
me, wasn’t imagined. It wasn’t some remnant of feelings from six years ago. I
had been a child then, but I wasn’t now. “I have a pretty good imagination, but
I don’t think it’s that good,” I told him.
He
let out a little laugh. “Me either.” Gripping my shoulders, he pulled me closer
so our bodies were pressed together. “I think I know how we can know for sure,
though,” he said, his eyes sparkling in the dim light.
“Like
an experiment?” I asked, trying to hold back my laughter.
“Something
like that.” With a smile flitting across his face, he lowered his mouth to
mine.
For
six years, I’d imagined what it would be like to be kissed by Dean Riley. Even
when I’d told myself to forget about him and had moved on after we stopped
talking, he still slipped into my dreams and fantasies from time to time. But
every dream, every fantasy, couldn’t compare to the reality of Dean’s warm lips
on mine, his hands gripping my shoulders, his tongue touching and then
entwining with mine.
And
I definitely wasn’t imagining the warmth that blossomed inside me and spread in
tingling waves to every part of my body.
“I’d
consider that experiment a success.” Dean spoke softly, but I could hear an
underlying huskiness that sent a delicious shiver zinging through me.
Laughing
breathlessly, I threw my arms around his neck and closed my eyes as I hugged
him. “Are we really going to do this? See if what we felt all those years ago
could turn into something real?”
“I’m
willing to try if you are,” Dean said, his breath tickling my ear. “And I think
we’ve already made a pretty good start.”
About the
Author
Marie Landry
is the author of BLUE SKY DAYS (contemporary YA—January 2012), THE GAME CHANGER
(women's fiction—November 2012), WAITING FOR THE STORM (contemporary YA—April
2013), and THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR (a new adult holiday
novella-November 2013). Marie has always been a daydreamer; since early
childhood, she's had a passion for words and a desire to create imaginary
worlds, so it only seemed natural for her to become a writer. She resides in
Ontario, Canada, and most days you can find her writing, reading, blogging
about writing and reading, listening to U2, wandering around with a camera in
her hand, watching copious amounts of TV on DVD, or having grand adventures
with her nephews and niece.
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