A Christmas Smile by @KathyOtten is a Christmas and Holiday Book Festival Pick #romance
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  • N. N. Light
    • Dec 20, 2019
    • 4 min read

A Christmas Smile by @KathyOtten is a Christmas and Holiday Book Festival Pick #romance



Title: A Christmas Smile

Author: Kathy Otten

Genre: Historical Romance


Book Blurb:

Tom Montgomery returned to Virginia after years in a Yankee prison camp, to discover the wife who said she'd love him forever had mistakenly learned he'd been killed, and married another man. Seven years later Tom returns to his family home in Texas to find Elizabeth living at his grandfather's ranch. Can a Christmas miracle heal the pain of betrayal and bring their two hearts together again?


Excerpt:

Later that night Beth tiptoed down the hall to knock lightly on Mr. Smith’s door. She wanted to thank him for getting Mr. Wessel to drop his charges. When she got back to her room earlier, she’d wanted to take the boys over to the hotel for something to eat, as it was past the time Mrs. Moffat served supper, but they told her Mr. Smith had already bought them a meal. It was then they mentioned their new friend hadn’t eaten.


He’d told the boys he wasn’t hungry, but Joshua thought Mr. Smith’s leg was hurting too much. Jason explained how he’d tripped over it this morning, and Mr. Smith had been limping badly since.


Which was why, Beth found herself standing outside his door, waiting for him to answer her knock, hoping Mrs. Moffat didn’t catch her and not caring if she did. She heard the squeak of the bed springs and his mumbled oath, just before the door opened.


She had obviously wakened him, and though she felt a twinge of guilt for doing so, she craved any excuse to see him again. His brown hair was damp from a recent bath, although he hadn’t taken the time to shave. Nor had he bothered to put on his shirt or eye patch.


The room behind him was dark, but enough light shone from the hall lamps she was able to see how the jagged scar twisted its way from his forehead, down through where his eye had been, into the thick whiskers along his jaw. He bore other, smaller scars too, across his left pectoral muscle, under his arm, another across the lower left side of his rib cage, and one which started just above his hip then disappeared beneath the waistband of his pants. She knew she was staring, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.

"Seen enough?" He snapped bitterly. "Come on in. I’ll take off my pants, and you can see the rest of my scars."


Buy Link:




Share a holiday family tradition:


We always put the presents to and from family under the tree as they were wrapped. Santa of course left his own once everyone was in bed. On Christmas Eve the kids would stay up until I got home from work. We would sit in the living room with only the tree lights on and have eggnog and a couple of Christmas cookies. After reading the Christmas story and The Night Before Christmas, everyone would open one present—the smallest one they could find. Then we would put out milk and cookies for Santa and head off to bed. Christmas goes so fast it was nice to spread it out over a couple of days. The kids are all grown and live away from home, but those years of just our family sitting in the dark with only the tree lights on, somehow made it feel more like Christmas than Christmas morning.


Why is your featured book perfect to get readers in the holiday mood:


This is a novella, perfect for the busy holiday season. The story centers around an old-fashioned Christmas in a cabin, with kids and a Christmas tree, and presents, wrapped together with some angst and of course romance. All tied up in a big happily-ever-after.


Giveaway:

Enter to win a $50 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card

Enter to win a $50 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card

Enter to win a $25 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card

Enter to win a $15 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card

Enter to win a $10 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card


Open internationally.


Runs December 1 – 31.


Drawing will be held on January 3, 2020.


Author Biography:

Kathy lives in the rolling farmland of Western New York. Her novels and short stories are filled with wounded heroes and feisty heroines. Her Civil War novel, A Place in Your Heart was a Northwest Houston RWA Lone Star winner, and her historical western Lost Hearts, a Utah/Salt Lake RWA Hearts of the West finalist. An active member of Pennwriters, Inc., Kathy leads a local critique group. Kathy teaches fiction writing at a local adult education center and presents workshops on-line as well as at conferences and author events. She is available for manuscript evaluations and editing. Her current projects include a World War I short story and a western historical romance and a second young adult novel. When she’s not writing, Kathy can be found walking her new German shepherd puppy through the woods and fields near her home, or curling up with her cat and a good book.


You may contact Kathy through her web site https://www.kathyottenauthor.com or at kathy@kathyotten.com


Social Media Links:

www.facebook.com/kathyottenauthor


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