It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (Reads) GIVEAWAY: His Hometown Yuletide Vow

today’s book: His Hometown Yuletide Vow

Happy Christmas Eve Eve! I am continuing our annual blog series spotlighting (over 60 this year) new and recently-released Christmas reads! Christmas is only TWO days away, so… snuggle in, grab your fave hot beverage and comfiest blanket, turn on some Christmas tunes and continue your bookish Christmas list! Oh… and did I mention there are GIVEAWAYS with EACH POST in this series??!! (Because authors are awesome!)

Today’s first featured book is a clean, second-chance romance, and author Carol Ross has an excerpt for us!

HIS HOMETOWN YULETIDE VOW by Carol Ross
SERIES: A Pacific Cove Romance #5
GENRE: Contemporary Romance (Clean & Wholesome)
PUBLISHER: Harlequin Heartwarming
RELEASE DATE: November 30, 2021
PAGES: 249

All he wants for Christmas

Is a second chance…

Derrick Bright’s baseball career may be over, but his brother’s is just starting—until a scandal threatens to end things. PR specialist Anne McGrath hasn’t spoken to Derrick since he left her eleven years ago. But she agrees to help for his brother’s sake. Escaping the press in Pacific Cove allows them to reconnect. Will she accept Derrick’s vow and make his Christmas dreams finally come true?

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“You know what?” Anne said, all fidgety and breathless. “I think we both need time to process all of this and—”

“I don’t,” Derrick stated firmly. “I don’t need time, Anne. All I need is for you to break up with Todd. Call him right now, or maybe it would be better to do it in person. Whatever works for you.” Grinning, he added, “I don’t, however, recommend an email.”

“What? Derrick, no! I’m… You cannot be serious.”

“I am completely serious. Our breakup was a misunderstanding. We should still be together.”

“So you think we can just pick up where we left off eleven years ago?”

“Yes. As soon as you end things with Todd, then absolutely we can explore what this is between us. Anne, I still have feelings for you. I always have. And I know you still feel something for me.”

“What if I’m in love?”

Derrick’s eyebrows drifted upward while a teasing glint flittered in his eyes. “That would be ideal, as far as I’m concerned. But you should take some time to be sure.”

Her stomach cartwheeled. “You know very well I meant with Todd!”

“You’re not,” he stated confidently.

“How in the world could you possibly know that?”

“Are you in love with Todd?”

“Well, it’s not…” She’d walked right into that trap, hadn’t she? “It’s complicated.”

Shaking his head, he let out a chuckle. “No, it’s not. You either are, or you aren’t. And you two don’t act like a couple in love.”

“How would you know?”

“Because I was in love with you! The entire night of the auction, I saw you and Todd together for a total of about seven minutes, which was the time it took for him to introduce you to me. Then he took off. You wandered away. You didn’t spend the evening together. And Todd was…” His sentence trailed off, but Anne didn’t care because she needed a moment.

“Todd was what?” she demanded, now feeling fidgety and a little irritable because what did Derrick know about her and Todd’s relationship?

“He just seemed awfully…” He paused, searching for a word. “I’ll go with busy. I didn’t see you hanging out together at all, not until the auction. And then, you didn’t even leave together.”

“Of course, he was busy! He was chairman of the auction committee. That’s how our relationship is,” she said, disliking her defensive tone. “He does his thing. I do mine.” Realizing how that sounded, she quickly added, “And we do plenty of stuff together. It works.”

“Sure, it does,” he agreed with a shrug. “If you’re not in love. Do you remember how when we were together, we couldn’t stand to be apart? Even when we were at a party or an event, we gravitated toward each other. Most of the time, we couldn’t wait until we could leave and be alone.”

All of this was true. Sometimes, she’d set a time limit for how long he needed to stay and not appear inconsiderate or unsocial. When they were at an official function, and she was acting as his publicist, she’d forbid him from staying by her side the whole time. She had this whole list of rules…

Anne’s heart knocked against her rib cage and then began beating a wild rhythm in her chest. Because the problem was Derrick always broke her rules.

Carol Ross lives with her husband and two dogs (a perfect border collie and a perfectly loveable miscreant of a dachshund) in a small town in Washington near both the ocean and the mountains. She loves the Northwest because, when the temperamental weather cooperates, she enjoys hiking, running, skiing, and spending time outdoors. And when it doesn’t…she dons a raincoat, or gets lost in a book. She enjoys reading in many genres but writes about what she loves the most-romance.

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Carol Ross is offering an ebook copy of His Hometown Yuletide Vow & a $10 Amazon gift card to one of my readers! (Void where prohibited by law or logistics.) This giveaway is subject to Reading Is My SuperPower’s giveaway policies which can be found here. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.

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What about you? What makes you want to read His Hometown Yuletide Vow by Carol Ross?