Holiday Madness by Jenn McKinlay

JENN McKINLAY: When I saw the release date for my new romantic comedy THE CHRISTMAS KEEPER,  I winced. Okay, I also cursed -- just a little. As a lover of all things Halloween - my favorite holiday - it physically pained me to have a Christmas book out on OCTOBER 29th. It felt like my publisher was saying, "Yes, we want you to promote your  Christmas book, while gnawing a turkey leg, dressed in your Halloween costume." Ugh.

It's holiday madness, I say!

"McKinlay (The Good Ones 2019) once again serves up her signature literary cocktail of sassy humor and sexy romance expertly spiked with a surfeit of small town charm and holiday cheer." --Booklist (starred review)

But today is Nov 5th and the book has been out for a week. Let's hope it did well. I did promote it online and such, but I just couldn't make myself post about it here before Halloween. It's like wearing white shoes after Labor Day - no, no, no. Yes, I know that's old school but I'm from Connecticut and my people are rather inflexible about these things. Plus, white shoes scuff easily and they make your feet look big, just sayin'.  

So, happy book birthday - plus one week - to me! The Christmas Keeper is my first book set at holiday time and I pillaged my personal life and took all of the  things I enjoy about the holidays, including movies, baked goods, ice skating, and ugly Christmas sweaters and poured them into the book. Yes, my fam enjoys the odd competitive ugly Christmas sweater competition. It's great fun, plus there's a cash prize.

Spolier: The nephew and his gal with the exploding
reindeer won (she made their sweaters!).

Another subplot in The Christmas Keeper taken from my own life is orphaned elephant adoption. Where did that come from you ask?

Well, a few birthdays ago, Hub asked me what I wanted. I said an elephant, because of course I did. Hub and I live a fairly modest life and we've reached an age where we don't need  things as much as we want to make a difference in the world. Thus, Hub and the Hooligans went forth and adopted three elephants for me from the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust -- Esampu, Shukuru, and Maktao. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a gift so much as I get to watch them growing up online -- Maktao is a total scamp!

Naturally, when it came time to write The Christmas Keeper, I knew I was going to incorporate ugly Christmas sweaters and orphaned elephant rescue as plot points, significant ones, but how? Well, if I tell you, it will give it away! You'll just have to read it to find out!

As you can see, real life impacts my fiction in many ways, big and small. What about you, Reds? How much of your plot lines come from real life? And, Readers, what story lines have influenced your lives in significant ways? 

True love and holiday cheer combine for an unforgettable romance in this second Happily Ever After novel featuring a North Carolina bookstore from the New York Times bestselling author of The Good Ones.

All he wants for Christmas…
The second Joaquin Solis saw Savannah Wilson, he knew she was destined to be his wife. Unfortunately, Savannah’s sights are set on a happily-ever-after of another kind: skewering the boss who got her fired. Until then, she won’t act on the scorching sexual chemistry that is brewing between them, leaving Joaquin scrambling to find a way to capture her heart. 

When the opportunity arises to use his ranch to boost Savannah's publicity career, Joaquin doesn’t hesitate to invite her into his world at Shadow Pines and woo her with all of his Christmas loving mojo. It’s a gamble since the holidays aren’t really Savannah's thing and helping her might also mean losing her as she plans to shake the dust off of their quaint town in North Carolina and head back to New York City the first chance she gets. 

But Joaquin believes in the magic of Christmas and he knows with a little help from his friends at the Happily Ever After Bookstore, he can convince the woman of his dreams that he’s a keeper…