With
Christmas only three days away, Carol Claus agrees to her father’s request that
she leave the North Pole on a mission to help save Christmas. Joining single
father Ben Hanson and his children for the holidays seems an easy enough task
until Santa informs her that Ben is the man behind the disturbing new book
‘Beyond Bah Humbug: Why Lying to Your Children about Santa Claus is a Bad
Idea’.
Posing as
Miss Kane, the children’s new nanny, Carol pulls out all the stops to show Ben
how fun Christmas can be, all the while struggling to understand how one man
could hate the holidays so much. How could she, Santa’s only daughter, be so
attracted to a man who refuses to believe her father exists?
Guest Post
I love chick lit and I love Christmas
so, in my mind, the two belong together like chocolate and peanut butter (yes,
I’ll admit I have a chocolate peanut butter cup problem!). So the decision to
write a Christmas theme chick lit novella was mine but that’s as much as I can
take credit for, I’m afraid. I had nothing in mind – no premise, no characters,
not even a spark of an idea. Fortunately a good night’s sleep took care of that
and I woke up the next morning wondering what it would be like to be Santa’s
daughter. By the end of the day the characters had all shown up, complete with
names and a storyline. I really enjoyed writing Miss Kane’s Christmas, so much
so that I’ve just finished and released another novella titled Mrs. Saint Nick,
which is the story of Nick Claus, Santa’s son, and a North Pole new hire
efficiency expert named Holly Jamison. Marlene - Thank you for hosting Miss
Kane’s Christmas on your blog site. A very happy holiday to you and your blog
readers ~ Caroline
Excerpt
“Listen, kids, we need to get this
straight right now. There is no Santa Claus.”
Carol cringed. Ben’s voice was entirely
too loud and far too adamant. This wasn’t either the time or place. She shook
her head, desperately trying to signal him to be quiet but he ignored her.
“Santa Claus is a lie,” he went on.
“It’s nothing more than a story parents make up to control their children’s
behavior for one month out of every year. In fact-”
His next words were drowned out by the
sound of crying children. And angry parents. Voices were raised, nasty looks
were aplenty and Carol was sure that the woman behind them wanted to physically
harm Ben but instead she settled for hissing at him, “I hope there’s a coal
mine in your stocking, you Grinch.”
Carol’s heart sank. This was a
disaster. And it was at least half her fault. She should have known he wasn’t
ready for a visit yet.
“Elf coming through, excuse me, elf
coming through,” a voice called as families stepped to the side to make room
for one of Santa’s helpers. “Pardon me, please.”
As the voice grew nearer, Carol’s heart
leapt. It was Jolly.
“It seems there’s a situation here,”
Jolly said once she stood before them. The elf gave no indication she
recognized Carol. “Anything I can help with?”
Carol waved her hand in Ben’s
direction. “We have a non-believer here.”
It didn’t escape her notice that Ben
had the good grace to flush but he, wisely she thought, remained silent.
Jolly looked up at Ben and made a
tsking sound. “We can’t have that. I think you’d better come with me.”
“Where?” Ben asked.
“Wherever Santa wants you to go,” Carol
said.
“Now, that’s just enough, Carol.” Ben’s
voice grew louder. “You have to stop this Christmas nonsense. The children find
you enchanting. I see why, but this fixation on Santa is just going overboard.
It’s too much. It’s all going to end in misery for everyone.”
“If you don’t stop grousing then yes, I
agree, you’re going to make us all miserable,” Carol said. She turned her back
on him, focusing her attention on the shrinking line in front of them. She was
only four families away from seeing her father. That was enough to keep her
tears of frustration at bay. Ben Hanson was too much. She couldn’t take any
more of this. And she wasn’t too proud to beg her father to let her go back to
the North Pole with him. She couldn’t do any good here.
She steadfastly refused to turn around
despite the fact that Ben was now quarrelling with the woman in line behind
them. She felt Patrick slip his hand in hers and squeeze it gently. She
squeezed it back. Patrick tugged on her arm. She bent down.
“Do you want to leave, sweetie?” she
asked. Ben’s boorish behavior was so unfair to the children.
“No, I want to see Santa. But I need to
tell you something.”
“I’m listening, Patrick.”
“Daddy has trouble being happy. Please
don’t be mad at him.”
Carol stared down at the boy. His wide
eyes begged her to understand. She nodded. “I’ll try not to be mad with your
father, Patrick. I promise.” She blew out a long breath. This was a promise she
needed to keep. Her father was right. Patrick was right. Ben needed her help.
“We’ll all help your father learn to love Christmas.”
Buy the Book!
Author Bio:
Caroline Mickelson loves her family and loves to write. She also loves a good adventure, among her favorites thus far were attending graduate school in a Scottish castle, riding a camel around the Pyramids in Giza, and taking a best-in-a-lifetime road trip to Graceland. Caroline lives in the American southwest with her husband and their four children, affectionately known as The Miracles.
Caroline Mickelson loves her family and loves to write. She also loves a good adventure, among her favorites thus far were attending graduate school in a Scottish castle, riding a camel around the Pyramids in Giza, and taking a best-in-a-lifetime road trip to Graceland. Caroline lives in the American southwest with her husband and their four children, affectionately known as The Miracles.
