Today, as part of the Winter’s Sweet Kiss blog tour, I asked the anthology authors this question:

What is the best Christmas present you’ve ever received?

Here’s what they had to say . . .

Michelle Ziegler:

If I have to pick a thing, it was my kindle, duh.  But my husband was my best Christmas gift really. We had our first date on Christmas; he goes out of his way to make sure each Christmas is better than the last. Oh and he always makes sure to have gifts I can open early so that I don’t open the real gift until Christmas.  I am no good with surprises.

Shaya Roy:

Well, I’m not Christian, and in my family, we don’t really have a tradition of exchanging Christmas  presents. Although we do celebrate Christmas 🙂 The best presents I’ve ever received otherwise are – wait for it – books. So predictable, right? But seriously, if you introduce me to a new author who becomes my next favorite, I’ll love you forever. *cough*andmayhintatmorepresents*cough*

Lily Carlyle:

When I was growing up, we had only two Christmas albums (yes, albums!), both from Woolworth’s. To this day, the opening of Perry Como’s version of “There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays” can make me feel like I’m six years old, with all the attendant anticipation and wonder. But my least favorite song on the album was Barbra Streisand’s “The Best Gift.” A slow ballad celebrating the birth of a child, its beauty was lost on me.

Thirty years later, I was pregnant with my second child, due on December 26. To everyone’s relief, she arrived early—on December 21. Anna, my little Winter Solstice Baby (as I started calling her when she told her preschool teacher that she was a Christmas baby and must, therefore, be Jesus) with her dark hair, dark eyes, and smooshed nose and left ear, was undoubtedly the most beautiful, best gift I’ve ever received.

Terri:

The Laura Ingles Wilder Little House on the Prairie gift set when I was 7. A gift from my grandmother, these books started my love affair with reading – and dreaming of time travel.

Annabelle:

In December 2003, I was six months pregnant with my first child. We’d just bought a house and were looking forward to our first Christmas in our own home. But in the first week of December, at 25 week pregnant, I went into labor. I had no idea I was in labor and went to the ER thinking I had a kidney stone. Alas, with contractions two minutes apart, they pumped me full of drugs and kept me overnight. I spent the rest of the month confined to my couch, on several medications, doing everything in my power to keep my little boy cooking in my belly. When Christmas day came, I unwrapped my gifts from my husband and my family, watched from the couch as my mother cooked us a Christmas dinner, and celebrated the fact that I had managed to stay out of the hospital. As anticlimactic as it seems, the best gift I ever received was my son NOT being born on Christmas day.

And now, a little bit about Winter’s Sweet Kiss:

Blurb: When Wayne Edwards moves to town, Lillian Douglas experiences stirrings she thought were long dead. Guilt ridden over betraying her deceased husband and the feelings Wayne inspires, Lillian reluctantly lets him in. Secrets of the past – an old promise emerges, but will it threaten their forever?

MELT By Shaya Roy

Blurb: Newlyweds in an arranged marriage, Naina and Dev go to the mountains of Shimla, India in search of snow. Unfortunately, they find fifteen inches more than they expected.
Being snowed in with her husband is not necessarily a bad thing. It gives Naina an excellent excuse to snuggle up to her deep, quiet man, but every time Dev spurns her, a little more of her heart drips away. Melting the ice around her husband’s heart before the snow outside does might take more pride than Naina’s ready to surrender.

ONE IN A MILLION SNOWFLAKES By Michelle Ziegler

Blurb: Angela is in love with someone she can never have–her best friend, Rebecca’s older brother.

Stranded in the bitter cold after a disastrous blind date with yet another company Christmas party looming, a standing offer from the boss’ nephew gets a little more appealing. Desperation. Not a good sign. Surely when Rebecca rescues her from the blinding snow, she can also convince Angela to just go to the party alone. She can always count on her best friend.

That is, as long as she never finds out about Angela’s secret crush.

AN UNEXPECTED WREATH By Annabelle Blume

Blurb: Stella’s got everything she needs in life: a great job, a beautiful house, and her independence. But on last minute trip to the local Christmas tree lot she finds something, or rather someone, she desperately wants – Grayson. An emergency trip to Target, an unexpected wreath, and a little Christmas magic make the season much brighter.

SANTA BEBE By Lily Carlyle

Blurb: Disillusioned by men and her belief that they see her only as an object, Bebe is determined to find a man with money. Her geeky, but unfailingly kind, next-door neighbor James tries to convince her of the possibility of real love, even as she reveals to him the troubled childhood that made her so cynical about relationships. When her mother dashes her hopes for a perfect Christmas, Bebe finds herself turning to James once again, and in the process, learning a lot about herself and the promise their relationship holds.

Goodreads

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*Now it’s your turn to tell me: What’s the best present you ever received?! In case I don’t blog again before next Wednesday, MERRY CHRISTMAS!