Swap — If You Can't Handle the Heat — Sin Bin

Friday 2 December 2022

New Release & Guest Post by Adriana Kraft - A Reluctant Santa @AdrianaKraft #eroticromance #holidaystory #midlifeheroine

I'm delighted to welcome back the dynamic duo that is Adriana Kraft to the blog today, with a sneak peek to a new and exciting holiday story—A Reluctant Santa—a festive, erotic romance with a mature heroine! Take it away, Adriana...

Guest Post

Adriana Kraft A Reluctant Santa

I’m dreaming…of a white Christmas. Where did you grow up? In my childhood in northern Virginia, I can’t remember a single white Christmas. It wasn’t until I moved to Chicago in my early twenties that snow on Christmas became a reality—and then some.

I’ve always loved the first snow of the season. Some places I’ve lived, that came as early as Halloween – requiring inventive solutions to the kids’ costumes. Often by the time Christmas rolled around, the snow piles were grey and ugly, and more snow wasn’t welcome. Sometimes snow even interfered with the holidays. When my husband and I lived even farther north, in the upper reaches of Minnesota, we made a practice of not driving anywhere at night if temperatures were worse than twenty below zero. That prevented at least one Christmas Eve outing I can remember.

Fast forward to our move to the southwest, about ten years ago. The first few years, we lived and traveled in our motor home, and I still remember my reaction the first time we took an early December evening walk in the balmy temperatures among the palm trees and saw people putting up Christmas lights. Not a combination I’d ever thought about, and it took some getting used to. By now, of course, I’ve settled into it and we put up outdoor lights and a pair of lighted tiny reindeer (both with red noses) every December.

BUT when our publisher put out a call for warm fuzzy holiday stories and we had to decide on a setting, no way were we going to deal with warm weather. We set this story in one of our fave old haunts, the Lake Como area of St. Paul, MN, where there is definitely a LOT of winter. My own Minnesota memories have to do with chopping ice dams off the roof, but instead we sent our couple ice skating, and then on a trip even farther north, where there’s some great cross-country skiing, plus a Christmas Eve memory straight out of our past.

We hope our readers enjoy this short story as much as we did writing it. Our two fifty-year-old characters may seem a tad curmudgeonly at the start, but we warmed up to them, and for sure they went on to heat things up, big time. 

BOOK INFORMATION

Release Date: December 2, 2022

Publisher: Extasy Books

Word Count: 12,698

Genre: Erotic Romance, Mature Heroine, Holiday Story

Heat Level: 3 flames

BLURB 

Is it ever too late to find happiness?

They’re in their fifties. Grief-stricken (her) and battle scarred (him) from their previous loves, they don’t want to risk more heartbreak, ever. They’ll have to take it slow, talk it through, test the waters carefully. Can they make it happen at this speed, get it done in a short story, and reap the benefits of sizzling sex at their age? Why not?

BUY LINKS

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BLSB5DKS/ 

https://www.extasybooks.com/coming-soon/A-Reluctant-Santa

More retail outlets coming shortly

REVIEWS

Loved it

This was a fun book with a great storyline. Carol and Cliff had super hot chemistry that made this even better. They made for a steamy story. It's a definite must read.

A Christmas cracker

A short, sweet and sexy Xmas romance that will bring festive hope to all the over 50's – love and a fulfilling sex life are not just for the younger generation.

  

Set Up: Carol’s best friend, Sue, has invited them both for lunch…

“Damn!” Sue looked at Carol, then at Cliff. “Sorry, I have to run. There’s a crisis at work that apparently only I can solve. Enjoy your lunch. My treat.”

Carol shook her head as Sue scurried off, thrust a handful of bills at the cashier, and exited the restaurant.

Cliff’s soft chuckle redirected her attention. His short salt and pepper beard framed an inquisitive smile.

“I’m surprised Sue stayed as long as she did. You’ve known her much longer than I have. Is she always so obvious?”

“That’s Sue.” Carol absently brushed hair away from her eye. “What you see is what you get. A big heart, and too often more than a bit pushy. But the truest, dearest friend I’ve ever had.”

Cliff nodded. “That’s special. She left before the waiter came back to take our orders. Wonder how much she paid them! Do you want to stay? I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.” He gave her a sheepish smile. “Besides, sharing a meal that’s already been paid for with an attractive woman who seems as skeptical about this process as me might be an opportunity not to be missed.”

Carol’s breath caught—but she didn’t want to look that interested. She shrugged. “Why not? So you don’t do the so-called blind date adventure often?”

“Never. Until Sue twisted my arm so hard I thought it would break. By the way, I should add, I’m not disappointed I came. You do seem intriguing, and what is there to lose? We have a free meal to share, and who knows what we might discover.

“Sure. We can always walk away and say nice meeting you, have a good day.”


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adriana Kraft is the pen name for a married pair of retired professors writing erotic romance together. We like to think we’ve broken the mold for staid, fusty academics, and we hope lots of former profs are enjoying life as much as we are.

Having lived in many states across the Midwest, we now make our home in southern Arizona, where we enjoy hiking, golf, and travel, especially to the many Arizona Native American historical sites. 

Together we have published more than fifty romance novels and novellas to outstanding reviews. Whether readers open our romantic suspense or our erotic romance, they can expect characters they care about, hot sex scenes, and a compelling story.

We love hearing from readers at adrianakraft99@yahoo.com, and here is our website:

When It’s Time to Heat Things Up https://adrianakraft.com

Find us at:

Blog: https://www.adrianakraft.com/blog

Newsletter: free download of our erotic romance novella Cherry Tune-Up for signing up.

Twitter https://twitter.com/AdrianaKraft

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adriana.kraft.5

Facebook Fan Page https://www.facebook.com/AdrianaKraftAuthor

Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/author/adrianakraft

GoodReads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1578571.Adriana_Kraft

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kraftadriana/

BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/adriana-kraft

Extasy Books Page https://www.extasybooks.com/adriana-kraft

2 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for hosting me today, Kymmie. We had a fun time with this story, hope readers enjoy it1

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm so excited to have you here today, Adriana. Happy Release Day!
    I'm from Ontario, Canada so yeah, snow! Lol. We have had two significant snow falls already this year, yet the snow has already melted away. And unfortunately, we have had more than our fair share of green Christmases in the last few years. I find it disappointing too, to at least not have some snow on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Thank you so much for spending your release day here! Congratulations on the release of A Reluctant Santa. I can't wait to read it. All the best! Cheers!

    ReplyDelete