Title: SANTA BABY (A Dickens Holiday Romance Prequel – Dorrit’s Diner)
Author: PEGGY JAEGER
Genre: Sweet Holiday Romance Novella
Book Blurb:
It’s Christmas Eve morning in the tiny New England town of Dickens.
Santa’s arrival is imminent, and a hint of snow is in the air.
Amy Dorrit is just about to open her popular diner for the breakfast rush when she discovers an abandoned baby on her back doorstep.
Amy knows she should call the authorities and turn the infant over to them, but she just can’t. Thoughts of her own abandonment as a baby flood through her and she wants to keep the little one out of the hands of the authorities until the mother – hopefully –returns.
But will the mom come back? And if she doesn’t, what is Amy prepared to do about the baby who has, already, claimed her heart?
Excerpt:
“What in the name of all that’s holy are you holding, Amy Dorrit?”
Willie Jackson stood at her office door, a lit cigarette dangling from a corner of his mouth, his leather jacket hanging open and his eyes as big and round as his county-famous blueberry pancakes.
“What does it look like?” Amy dug around in the carrier searching for a bottle, pacifier, something, to soothe the baby’s cries. “Lose the cigarette. It’s a baby and I’m pretty sure it’s hungry.”
He lifted those shocked eyes to Amy’s face. “Girl, you been keeping secrets from ol’ Willie?”
“Oh for Pete’s sake. Are you nuts, William Jefferson Jackson? It’s not my baby. I found it at the back door when I came downstairs.”
“Whose is it?”
“No idea.”
“What is it?” Holding the small bundle like a football in one arm, she shoved the piece of paper she’d found at him. “Same answer. I haven’t looked yet. Here, read this. I found it tucked inside the blanket.” Once he had it, Amy placed her pinky finger over the baby’s lips. It immediately rooted, then latched on to suck.
“I knew it. It’s starving.”
“ ‘I’m sorry,” he read aloud, ‘but I can’t take care of her—’ well, we know it’s a girl –‘I have no job and no way to hold on to one with a baby. Please forgive me for leaving her like this, but I saw how kind you were yesterday and I know you’ll take care of her like I can’t.’” Willie scratched his head. “Well, shit. We got us a real abandoned baby, here, Ames ol’ girl.”
“Don’t curse in front of her.” She shot him an annoyed glare, her left eyebrow inching up her forehead to her hairline.
“It ain’t like she can understand me. She’s a baby, fer Chri-” Her other eyebrow followed its twin. “Er, pity’s sake.”
“I need something to feed her with.” She glanced around her office. “Can you get me one of the cake decorating bottles? The ones with the plastic tip? I think that’ll work.”
“What’a’ya gonna feed her? Frosting? You ain’t got no mother’s milk and you can’t feed her coffee creamer.”
“Dam-I mean, drat. You’re right. I can give her a little water to hold her over until I can run out and get her some formula.”
“Shouldn’t you call the police? I mean, she’s been abandoned, ain’t she? You can’t just keep her.”
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/3R8lVG
Goodreads
Bookbub
What I love most about the holiday season:
I could be really shallow and say the presents, LOL, but I won’t (I’ll just think it!)
My favorite thing about the holiday season is the sense of happy, joyful, expectation that the entire season from Thanksgiving until New Year’s day brings with it. Expectation to see loved ones you may not have seen for a while; expectation of the fun you’ll have at parties, and get togethers; even the expectation on the faces of children waiting to see if Santa put them on the nice list or the naughty one. I can usually ride on an emotional high the entire 6 week period and that’s a major accomplishment for me!
Why is your featured book a must-read to get you in the holiday mood?
If you like sweet holiday romances, a small town, quirky cast of characters, and the abandoned baby trope, this novella is for you!
I’m going to quote one of the reviewers of the book here because I think she summed it up perfectly: “Get ready to have your heartstrings tugged every which way.”
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $75 Amazon (US) gift card.
Open internationally. You must have a valid Amazon US account to win.
Runs July 1 – 31
Drawing will be held on August 2.
Author Biography:
Peggy Jaeger writes contemporary romances and rom coms about strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can’t live without them.
Family and food play huge roles in Peggy’s stories because she believes there is nothing that holds a family structure together like sharing a meal…or two…or ten. Dotted with humor and characters that are as real as they are loving, Peggy brings all aspects of life into her stories: life, death, sibling rivalry, illness, and the desire for everyone to find their own happily ever after. Growing up the only child of divorced parents she longed for sisters, brothers and a family that vowed to stick together no matter what came their way. Through her books, she has created the families she wanted as that lonely child.
As a lifelong diarist, she caught the blogging bug early on, and you can visit her at peggyjaeger.com where she blogs daily about life, writing, and stuff that makes her go "What??!"
Social Media Links:
Website/Blog: http://peggyjaeger.com/
Twitter:https://twitter.com/peggy_jaeger
Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00T8E5LN0
Pinterest:https://www.pinterest.com/peggyjaeger/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peggyjaeger_author/