Title: Santa’s Wish Fulfilled: A Dickens Holiday Romance
Author: Jan Scarbrough
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Book Blurb:
Last Christmas, Santa made a wish…
Last Christmas Roz Henry lost her boyfriend and her job. With her beloved grandfather sick, she went home to the small New England town of Dickens. She’d found what she didn’t know she was looking for: a second chance with the boy she’d left behind all those years ago, Cooper Brown. A widower, Cooper had never forgotten his first love. Christmas brings rekindled romance and a proposal, just like a perfect Hallmark movie. But what happens after the happily-ever-after ending?
This Christmas, Santa’s wish is fulfilled…
A year has passed but Roz still hasn’t started planning the wedding, and Cooper’s starting to worry. Roz is, too. Is it just cold feet? Worry she’s not living up to her potential? Roz comes from a long line of selfless medical professionals, so what’s she doing working in a bookstore? She wants to be more than a housewife and mother, even though that life made her Grandma Tress happy. Her grandfather believed love never dies, but can it wither away from neglect? Roz loves Cooper, but she needs to be her own person first. Maybe a real happily-ever-after takes hard work, a lot of love, and some special Dickens Christmas magic.
Excerpt:
Chapter One
Rosalind Henry stood in front of the female director’s desk in HR. Her boss Frank stood with his back to her looking out the window of the twenty-story Chicago office building.
“You’ve heard about the corporate cutback?” the director asked.
“Yes, I’ve heard some rumors.” Roz’s voice was shaky. Surely, the layoffs wouldn’t affect her. She knew she was a valued member of the marketing team. She clutched her hands together in front of her, trying to still the tremors vibrating through her body.
“I suspected you had. As much as Management has tried to keep morale high through this economic crisis, there has been some negative information circulating. Because of the economy, we are forced to cut costs. Unfortunately, we have to reduce our workforce by ten percent.” The director glanced at Roz’s boss. “Marketing will be eliminating your position.”
“You mean Mr. Smith is firing me?” How could the company eliminate her? She had singlehandedly saved the Collins account. If anyone should go, it should be her boss. He had been the one who had put the account in jeopardy. Well, if this was payback for her making him look bad, then she would sure as heck let him know she knew what motivated his decision. “Does this have something to do with how he almost lost the Collins account?”
Frank Smith stiffened but didn’t turn to answer her question.
“No,” the HR director said. “This is simply a corporate matter. Each department must eliminate a number of positions based on department census and company need. Frank thought your position could be easily managed by the rest of the staff. You will, of course, be given severance pay and the company has contracted with a consulting firm to help you find a new job.”
“I see. When is my last day? I have several projects I’d like to finish up before I leave.” Roz had been in other jobs where she’d been given two weeks to a month before leaving.
“There is no need to spoil the upcoming holidays with work. Your other team members can finish up your projects. Today is your last day. As soon as you can box up your personal effects, my assistant will help you carry them to your car. You will, of course, be paid for the full day.”
The shock of the director’s statement roiled through Roz like an earthquake. Brown boxed. Fired. Terminated. Laid off. It all amounted to the same thing. She was out of a job. Crap! What was she to do now? It was the middle of December. No one hired this late in the year. Most companies in her field were already on holiday hiatus until after the New Year.
She fought back tears, straightened her shoulders, and marched from the room.
Three of her co-workers helped her pack the stuff from her desk while the HR assistant hovering in the background tried to make herself invisible. Roz couldn’t blame the woman for being uncomfortable. A few other employees had been canned also, but Roz was the only one from her department, and her coworkers were not being discreet how they felt about it.
As she sorted through the myriad of papers, pictures, and books littering her desk, she vowed to never again keep personal belongings at work.
After her friends lugged the boxes downstairs to the parking garage, she’d hugged them, and they’d gone back to work. Roz slid into the driver’s seat of her car and sat shell shocked behind the steering wheel. What else could go wrong?
Just then her phone pinged indicating an instant message had arrived. She picked up her phone and saw the message was from her boyfriend Justin. She breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, something positive in a truly horrible day. She tapped open the message.
“So sorry to spring this on you like this, Roz,” she read, “but we‘re through. You’re a great gal, but I’ve met someone I like better. We’re going to Paris for Christmas. Seemed like a better offer than visiting your lamo grandparents. Hope you have a great life! Bye.”
What! That jerk Justin was dumping her in an instant message. And today of all days! She leaned her head against the wheel and squeezed out a couple tears of self-pity. Well, screw him. There were better fish in the sea as Grandma Tress always said.
She suppressed the urge to send back a scathing reply and instead tossed her phone onto the passenger seat. What she needed now was a large glass of wine, a box of chocolates, and a few minutes to think. This wasn’t the end of the world, much as it felt like it. She’d mended a broken heart more than once before and found better jobs than she’d left. She could do it again. This might be the incentive she needed to finally take control of her life, to stop letting life make decisions for her.
Roz turned on the ignition, backed her car from the parking space, and headed home. Just like Scarlet O’Hara, she’d worry about today tomorrow. She’d made plans to visit her grandparents this Christmas in Dickens, the small New England town where they lived, and she’d not change them just because her life was in the toilet. Her grandfather was sick. Her own parents were out of the country. Reconnecting with her roots after so many years away might be what she needed to reevaluate the direction of her life going forward.
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Paperback
What I love most about the holiday season:
I love being with family and sharing time with them.
Why is your featured book a must-read to get you in the holiday mood?
My heroine and hero have a happily-ever-after on Christmas Eve, but the twist and turns to get them there is the must-read. This book is Number 12 in A Dickens Holiday Romance series, a series set in a quaint, fictitious New England town.
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $75 Amazon US or Canada gift card:
Open internationally. You must have a valid Amazon US or Amazon CA account to win.
Runs July 1 – 31, 2023.
Drawing will be held on August 1, 2023.
Author Biography:
The author of two popular Bluegrass romance series, Jan Scarbrough writes heartwarming contemporary stories about home and family, single moms, and children. Living in the horse country of Kentucky makes it easy for Jan to add small town, Southern charm to her books and the excitement of a Bluegrass horse race or a competitive horse show.
The Ghost Mountain Ranch series is a contemporary western series with a good blend of mystery and happily-ever-after romance. The Dawsons of Montana is another four-book contemporary western series.
Jan leaves her contemporary voice behind with two paranormal gothic romances, Timeless and Tangled Memories, a Romance Writers of America (RWA) Golden Heart finalist. Her historical romance, My Lord Raven, is a medieval story of honor and betrayal.
A member of Novelist, Inc., Jan self-publishes her books with her husband’s help.
Jan lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with one rescued dog, one rescued cat, and a husband she rescued twenty-three years ago.
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