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Christmas is Coming... -- Book Spotlight with Giveaway

Marisa Masterson • Dec 02, 2022

Today I welcome guest author Marisa Masterson back as she shares about her latest release. She is also generously offering for two lucky readers to each win a copy of her book, Dial C for Christmas.


How much more Christmas-like can you get than to be in a German American town that keeps the holiday alive all year long?


Calliope Schmidt loves her hometown of Frankenmuth, Michigan. She is even content with her job as a classroom aide. That is, until the lead teacher collapses. The new principal offers Calliope a chance to be the real teacher—the role she’d already been playing for the students. The handsome, intimidating man thinks she can do it. He’ll even mentor her. Voices from the past say that he’s wrong. She’ll fail. She always fails.


Whose voice will she allow to sway her?


A sweet Christmas romance with a guaranteed Christmas miracle and a happily ever after. Allow holiday joy and tender romance to lift your heart. Buy today at Amazon.com.

 

 

The song Silent Night is particularly important in the town of Frankenmuth. Perhaps because the town was founded by a Lutheran minister who organized a group of German immigrants to move with him to a new country. The goal was to spread their religious convictions in new areas of the United States by settling as a group.


But why does that Christmas song play a role in the town years later? A man named Bronner built a Christmas store. Outside of it, he placed a replica of the Silent Night Chapel in Obendorf, Austria, home of the song. In fact, I describe this as a part of my story. What better place for a first kiss than under the falling snow as that carol plays softly in the background?


Allowing him to take her arm, she hid her annoyance and gripped the area below his elbow. She still wore her flats and not boots. Almost immediately, her feet hit ice and threw her off balance.


Calliope flew downward expecting her backside to hit snow. Instead, Reese pulled her up and against his body. Her gaze flew to his, eyes wide.


Reese’s face blocked out the spotlights. His mouth lowered to hers, at first reassuring and tender. Then he deepened the pressure of their kiss. Calliope’s mind reeled. It was like he wanted to brand her as his.


Don’t let the kiss fool you. This is a sweet romance, clean and wholesome. I wrote it as a way to celebrate new love and the joy of the holiday season. At the same time, I include descriptions of places around the town so my readers are able to “visit” Frankenmuth for themselves.

 

You Are on the Air features a radio call in segment in each novel. In this installment of the series, my hero calls in, unsure how to reach past the heroine’s insecurities. Here’s a sneak peek:


Hours later, darkness and cold pushed in on Reese as he sat in his car. He’d left the radio tuned to the station that Calliope selected that night they visited Bronner’s. As he’d driven away from her home, the mellow radio voice of his girlfriend’s aunt filled the car. He’d remembered her telling him that that voice belonged to her aunt. The same aunt who did a call-in show for people with problems…


"Fine, Reese. Tell me about the problem.”


“She’s hiding part of herself from me. Actually from everyone. How do I make her feel comfortable enough to live as her real self?”


“Do you love her, Reese?” Hope edged the words.


Did Trina connect him with her niece? Did it really matter? Maybe it would be better if she did. He risked Calliope’s wrath and answered truthfully. “I do. It’s a whirlwind courtship, but she’s the woman I’ve been waiting for.”


There was a short pause. Dead air, something radio persons tried to avoid. “How do you know you love her if she’s not showing you her real self?”


“She’s sweet and so good with people. You can really see that she loves them. The woman radiates God’s love.” He sighed. “I know. Hokey right, like a cliché. It’s true for her, something that she couldn’t and wouldn’t fake.”


Katrina’s mellow voice grew hard, almost tinny. “Reese, it sounds like you’re looking at the right things. You need to find a way to show your girlfriend absolute loyalty. She has to know that you love her and will stay with her, no matter what she wears or how she fixes her hair.”


The voice dropped to a soft plea. “Show that who she is matters more to you than the rest of it.”

 

Giveaway:

What advice would you offer Reese? What could you add or is there a Bible verse you would direct him toward? (Two commenters will each win an e-book copy of Dial C for Christmas.)  Leave a comment along with your cleverly disguised email address like this: donna AT livebytheword DOT com and we will randomly draw from all comments. Comments without an email address will not be included in the drawing.

 

About Marisa:

Marisa Masterson and her husband of thirty-four years reside in Saginaw, Michigan. They have two grown children and a precious three-year-old granddaughter, Hunny Junebug. She is a retired high school English teacher and oversaw a high school writing center in partnership with the local university. In addition, she is a National Writing Project fellow and a regular contributor to both the Sweet Americana Sweethearts and Sweethearts of the West blogs.

 

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