Ex Libris

Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to a new Entangled author, Linda Morris, who is celebrating the release of her New Year's Eve romance,  (a story that I loved as you can see in my review!). I have to say I share Linda's opinion refarding this holiday, New Year's Eve is definitely the holiday I dislike the most. I just hate the mandatory cheer and that everyone has to party and feel happy that day. Can't I just decide when I feel like partying and having fun? So that's why I usually have a party on Dec 29-30, to rebel against the obligation ;-) Now I'll let Linda tell you about her relationship with this holiday and for a chance to win  a copy of , just leave a comment and tell us your thoughts about New Year's Eve. 

As a reader and a writer, I'm always on the lookout for something a bit different. I've been reading romances for years, so when something seems fresh or different, sign me up! So when Entangled put out submission calls for several different themes and holidays, the New Year's Eve one really caught my eye. I couldn't recall having ever read a New Year's Eve-set romance, which is saying something considering the vast number of (possibly misspent) hours I've spent reading romance. That intrigued me right away.

I'm also a lover of jazz standards, and one of my favorites is, "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" There are many versions out there, but the definitive one is probably by Ella Fitzgerald. Here it is if you haven't heard this classic:


The song plays a role in a pivotal scene in . I loved the imagery of this swoony romantic ballad playing in the background while the hero and heroine are having a big "morning after" fight, after she discovered that he's been, ahem, slightly less than totally honest with her. To keep in the holiday mood when I was writing this story (in June!), I listened to the ballad constantly. I felt vindicated when my editor later told me she listened to it again and again while editing it.

But my biggest motivation for writing a New Year's Eve story is that I've always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this holiday. Just as a birthday marks the passage of another year, so does New Year's Eve. Sometimes that's a good thing; other times, not so much. If life in general isn't going too well on New Year's Eve, we all like to believe that we'll get a fresh start with the new calendar. Sometimes that happens, but not always. And we all know that sometimes our most sincere New Year's resolutions don't survive the month of January! The optimistic yearning that things will be better in the new year makes this holiday romantic.

Lots of single women complain about feeling lonely on Valentine's Day, but for me, when I was single, no holiday was worse to spend alone than New Year's Eve. People are having fun, blowing noisemakers, throwing confetti, and toasting the new year with their special someone, and you're left to wish you had someone to kiss at the stroke of midnight. That's the situation Kayla finds herself in. Her boyfriend dumped her for another woman only a few months ago, and on New Year's Eve, as she drags herself to a dreaded work-related party, she discovers he's married his new girlfriend. It makes her feel so alone. You can kind of ignore Valentine's Day if you're unlucky in love, but there's really no way to ignore the year's end and all of the celebration that goes with it. Luckily for Kayla, her discovery of her ex's marriage kicks off a chain of events that leads her to her own hero.

As for me, New Year's Eve is now a date night for us. My husband and I send our son on a sleepover and we get to ring in the new year just the two of us, which is wonderful. Lucky for me, I no longer have to worry about not having someone to kiss at midnight!

Linda Morris is a multipublished writer of contemporary and historical romance. She writes stories with heart and heat. Her latest book, By Hook or By Crook, will be coming in spring of 2013 from the Wild Rose Press.

When she’s not writing, working, or mommying, she’s doing yoga, reading, working in her flower garden, or baking delicious things she probably shouldn’t eat. She believes that there are two kinds of people: pie people and cake people, and she is definitely one of the former. Her years of Cubs fandom prove she has a soft spot for a lost cause. A beat-up old copy of Kathleen Woodiwiss’s Ashes in the Wind that her mom bought for her at a garage sale years ago was her gateway drug into the world of romance novels. Her all-time favorite romance writers include Laura Kinsale, Patricia Gaffney, Elizabeth Delancey, and Marjorie Ferrell. Current favorites include Julie Anne Long, Erin McCarthy, and Shannon McKenna.

her website -  - Goodreads

GIVEAWAY RULES:

Entangled Publishing has generously offered an ebook copy of  to a lucky commenter!

To be entered just leave a comment for Linda or tell us: Do you like/hate New Year's Eve? If so, what is it you like/dislike the most about it?