What is it about winter time that turns me in to a hopeless romantic?

It certainly isn’t the temperature. I detest it. When the first cold snap hits in mid-October I swear I won’t be warm again until May. Then I spend the rest of the season bundled up in layers of clothing and wear my electric blanket as a cape, moving from room to room with the little electrical cord dragging behind me.

Then there’s the cold and flu season. An entire season dedicated to coughing, sneezing and the dreaded snot-snuck. I’m woozy just thinking about it. Phlegm noises make me irritable and I tend to shout irrational things like, “Blow your nose or I will come use the baby snot-sucky-thingy on you, I don’t care if you are 46 years old.”

Yet here I am, ready to launch another romantic winter tale, Next Left.

Maybe it’s the snow, the way it glistens under a full moon or the way I still get enchanted by Christmas lights that twinkle on trees and hang from roof tops. I saw a fancy set the other night that looked like blue dripping icicles. LED wonders never cease to amaze me. Some are so dazzling I can’t help but stand and stare. . . till the neighbor comes out and politely asks me to get out of his yard because I’m freaking out the children.

I also blame Hollywood for putting romantic winter notions in my head. Movies like It’s A Wonderful Life, Love Actually, The Holiday and New Year’s Eve stir my inner Jane Austen, who actually looks more like Tina Fey.

In Next Left, available this weekend for $1.99 at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, Amanda Scott is a broken-hearted New Yorker who travels back to Kansas to attend the New Year’s Eve wedding of a long lost childhood friend. Over the course of the weekend she has to play nice with Stepford bridesmaids, suspects the rental car GPS might be trying to kill her and makes a pit stop for coffee she’ll never forget.*

*Pssst. Scroll to the bottom of this post to see how you can win an e-copy of Next Left and a $10.00 Starbucks Gift Card.

In celebration of winter time and snuggling down with a good story, my publisher, Buzz Books is sponsoring the Sleigh Read Tour 2012! For a limited time you have the opportunity to buy one of our books or stories, then get one free for yourself or to give as a gift. We’ll do all the work for you. Complete details can be found HERE.

My novelette, Next Left, as well as my first story, No Place Like Home (Sleigh Ride Anthology) are both included on the tour.

DELICIOUS CONTEST!

To win an e-copy of Next Left and a $10.00 Starbucks gift card, leave a comment and tell me about the movies or songs of the season that make you feel like holding hands with your sweetie or kiss perfect strangers.

One lucky book-lovin commenter wins!