I love this book—more, I think, than any book I’ve ever written. And since it’s Christmastime again, I’m hoping more readers will discover it. It’s available in both paper and electronic formats.
First a word of apology to anyone who read CHRISTMAS MOON last year and was confused by the date on the epilogue (the story starts in 2010, but the epilogue is dated 2009). This was a mistake on my part and has been fixed in this year’s version. The epilogue is now dated 2011. Here’s a summary of the story:
Anything can happen under a Christmas Moon…
Pregnant, unwed and down on her luck, history teacher Emma Carlyle is facing the worst Christmas of her life. Needing some research for her master’s thesis on legendary Wyoming lawman J.D. McNulty, she makes a Christmas Eve drive to South Pass City, where J.D. was buried. Heading home, she loses her way in a storm. After her car vanishes, she ends up in 1871, half-frozen, on the doorstep of a remote mountain cabin. When J.D. himself opens the door with a pistol in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other…well, let’s just say that sparks start flying. These two lost souls are clearly meant for each other. But there’s one problem. Emma has studied everything about J.D.–and she knows he has only a few weeks to live.
Just for fun, here’s a short excerpt. This one tells what happens when J.D. opens his door and sees Emma for the first time.
The woman on J.D.’s porch looked as if she’d just staggered out of a nightmare. She was wild-eyed and tarnally spooked, gripping a stick of kindling as if she wanted to bash in his face. The fact that she was dressed like some kind of Chinaman, in sagging black trousers and an enormous, puffy green silk coat, only added to J.D.’s befuddlement. What lunatic asylum had this female escaped from?
“Easy, now, lady.” J.D. kept the Colt leveled at her collar bone, but mostly for show. “Put that stick down, and I’ll take my itchy finger off this trigger.”
Slowly and shakily she lowered her arm. He could see now that she was half-dead from cold and exhaustion. Her lips were the color of laundry bluing and her hair was plastered around her face in frozen strings. She was swaying on her feet like a drunkard.
J.D. cursed under his breath. He’d been looking forward to a peaceful night with his books, the old tomcat and a bottle of the finest rotgut whiskey in Glory Gulch. Maybe if he drank enough of the stuff, he might even forget it was Christmas Eve.
Now his plans were blown to hell. He wouldn’t have minded female company of the soft and willing variety. But this woman didn’t strike him as the sporting kind, and it appeared he was stuck with her. The devil himself wouldn’t close the door and leave her outside to freeze.
Muttering words unfit for a lady’s ears, he eased off the hammer and laid the Colt on the bookshelf. “Well don’t just stand there. Come on inside. And don’t expect any apologies for my state of undress. I wasn’t expecting company.”
The kindling stick clattered to the porch as she dragged herself across the threshold. She was tall for a woman, with a body that appeared too stout for her heart-shaped face. But maybe that was because of the coat. Her eyes, when she looked up at him, were the warm, translucent brown of sarsaparilla on a sunny day. They were staring at him as if she’d just seen Abraham Lincoln’s ghost.
Her chilled lips worked in an effort to speak. “Where…am I?”
J.D. bolted the door behind her. “Glory Gulch, Wyoming. The upper edge of it, at least. Main part of town’s further down the canyon.”
“Glory Gulch?” Her eyes widened. “People are living here?”
“A few score, maybe, most of us down on our luck. Not like the old days before the gold played out.” J.D. bit down hard on his cheroot as a new thought struck him. “Any other folks out there with you? Any of your family lost in the storm?” He didn’t relish searching in a blizzard but if there were other travelers with the woman, he’d rather find them alive tonight than dead tomorrow.
Distrust flickered across her face, and he realized she’d misread him. “Oh, there’ll be plenty of people looking for me by morning—police on snowmobiles, maybe even a helicopter or two. As long as they find me safe, there’ll be no trouble for you.”
J.D. shook his head. The woman was touched for sure. “You’re talking gibberish, lady. Sit down and have a whiskey. Maybe it’ll bring you around.”
He turned toward the hearth, where he’d set the jug next to the cat’s favorite warming spot. She stopped him with a touch on his arm. Her fingers were like icicles through his sleeve.
“Tell me one thing.” She was staring up at him, her wild, scared doe’s eyes searching his face. “Who are you? What’s your name?”
“McNulty, for whatever it’s worth to you. J.D. McNulty.”
Her eyes widened for an instant. Then the pupils rolled back in her head and she swayed to one side. J.D. lunged, catching her as she went down in a dead faint.
You’ll find a longer excerpt on my website, www.elizabethlaneauthor.com. Here’s a link to the Kindle version.
What’s your favorite Christmas Story, romantic or otherwise? I’ll be giving away a paperback edition of CHRISTMAS MOON to one reader who posts today. Good luck!
P.S. This has nothing to do with any of the above, but the cover for my March release just showed up on Amazon and I wanted to share it with you. More about this one later.
Good morning, everyone. Here’s wishing all of you good luck in the drawing for CHRISTMAS MOON. I’m in deadline mode today but will drop by to read your comments and draw a winner before bedtime.
Wishing you a warm and happy holiday season,
Elizabeth
Good Morning Elizabeth, great excerpt! I have not read CHRISTMAS MOON yet but I really want to. It sounds like a wonderful story so I must look for it. I love a good Christmas story. Some of my favorites is A Highlander for Christmas by Sandy Blair, Five Golden Rings by Constance O’Banyon, these are older books but really good. Love the Christmas movie of The Holiday but haven’t caught it this year yet.
Have a wonderful holiday seasson!
Great post,,,love ,love Christmas Novels,,my fave,I read them all year long just to keep that special feeling,I dont have a fave Christmas story,at the time im reading one thats my fave at the time,,,Merry Christmas to you too,VIckie
Hello Elizabeth – I loved Christmas Moon and have it on my Kindle. Westerns are my favorite and to find a time travel western is just great. I loved Emma and J.D. and so enjoyed their story.
My favorite Christmas story will always be the story of the Three Wise Men as they follow the Star of Bethlehem to Jesus’s manger in the stable near Bethlehem.
I also like Curtiss Matlock’s Miracle On I -40 where a single, mother of two, who’s a waitress decides to head home to Ohio to see her parents after a long estrangement. A scrooge like truck driver gets drafted by a friend to take her back. In the end, they both discover the magic of Christmas, forgiveness and love.
I enjoyed two tickets to the christmas ball
ABreading4fun [at] gmail [dot] com
Hi Elizabeth,
This sounds like such a fun story, and I love South Pass! I got it on my Kindle and can’t wait to read it.
–Kirsten
Thanks, all, for checking in this morning.
Quilt Lady, I haven’t read the stories you mentioned or the movie. I’ll look for them.
Vickie, there’s something about Christmas novels, isn’t there–especially when you’re reading them in the hot summer.
🙂
Lori, I’m so glad you enjoyed CHRISTMAS MOON. I lived that story while I was writing it. Emma and JD became so real to me.
Laurie G. That sounds like my kind of story. The waitress and scrooge truck driver would make a delightful pair. Must check that one out.
Another Christmas story I haven’t read,Apple Blossom. It sounds like a classic.
Hope you enjoy CHRISTMAS MOON on your Kindle, Kirsten. South Pass was such a fascinating place. So many great historic characters were there.
This is a wonderful story Elizabeth. I think my fav Christmas books, are the ones where there are kids and wishing Santa would bring them a new mommy or daddy… They get me everytime..
Oh, I love those stories, too, Kathleen. They always get you right in the heart–even when you know the ending will be happy.
For Christmas Forever by Ruth Wind
Christmas stories are so much fun! I saved up about half a dozen or more Christmas books to read after Thanksgiving and have only made it through two. I have some serious reading to do once the hustle and buslte slows down a bit.
P.S. Love your new cover!
I love Ruth Wind (Barbara Samuels), anon. Haven’t read the one you mention but if it’s hers it’s got to be wnderful.
Hope you get time to do your Christmas reading over the holidays, Karen. Thanks for visiting.
Your book sounds really good-I like to read this kind. I don’t have a favorite Christmas story-I’ve read a lot ofthe anthologies where several authors have stories and enjoyed reading them.
I don’t really have a favorite Christmas story that I’ve read but I very much like the movie It’s A Wonderful Life which is usually shown at Christmastime.
I love Christmas stories… I know there are so many out there that I have not read and enjoyed yet… looking forward to adding more to my list! Happy Holidays! 😀
If anyone loves Christmas stories they need to get this one. Sometimes I laughed and other times got a lump in my throat. J.D. and Emma were made for each other. What a pair. And what a story!
I’m a sap for Christmas TV movies. This year I have a new favorite. It’s TRADING CHRISTMAS on the Hallmark channel. It’s adapted from a Debbie Macomber book. Very romantic and heartwarming.
Love the cover of upcoming release. I’m going to have to have it when it comes out. And since I bought myself an early Christmas present (a Kindle) I can download faster than I can blink.
Actually, I don’t think I’ve read one. I know – I don’t know how that happened lol. I guess it’s such a busy time I’ve never gone out and got a Christmas themed book at the right time. I enjoy watching Christmas Vacation though lol. And I did enjoy your excerpt very much.
I loved Christmas Moon. I thought the cover was beautiful and the story drew me right in. The period details really made it come to life and J.D. was a great hero!
Glad you explained about the epilogue. I thought I just didn’t understand the rules of time travel. 🙂
You’re in for the drawing, Joy, Jackie and Colleen. Hoping CHRISTMAS MOON becomes one of your favorite stories.
So glad you caught my explanation, Judy. Most readers didn’t notice the mistake, but for those who did, it was confusing.
Entirely my fault. I wrote the story a couple of years before it was published, updated the beginning and forgot to update the epilogue.
Very happy you loved the story anyway.
I love Christmas stories, but don’t have a favorite.
Thanks for visiting, Estella. Good luck in the drawing.
Thanks for the kind words about CHRISTMAS MOON, Linda. I haven’t seen TRADING CHRISTMAS but if Debbie M. wrote the story it’ll be a winner. And of course you have that great bestselling Texas Christmas anthology A TEXAS CHRISTMAS to your credit.
Christmas Vacation is hilarious if it’s the movie I’m thinking of, Catslady. Maybe this’ll be the year you discover Christmas stories.
I read CHRISTMAS MOON last year and LOVED it. I did notice the date mixup, but I knew what you meant. What I appreciated the most about the book was how real it was (time travel doesn’t count). It was the little things, like the feel of holding and nursing your new baby. The soreness when you first start nursing. Just what the lack of modern conveniences means on a day to day basis. Just how much you need to put on to stay warm when there is no central heat or heated vehicles to travel in. The smell of smoke in the cabin. No glamour, just living each day respecting one another waiting for the inevitable to happen and having it break your heart. The courage to face your future and the strength to try and change it. I have been trying to reread it again this year, but haven’t made it yet.
I really liked the cover. This type is my favorite. I have several books I bought because the had snow bound cabins in the woods. The cover for THE LAWMAN’S VOW is sticking. I don’t think I even need a cover blurb to want it : )
This book landed firmly on my Keeper Shelf. I knew it belonged there before I was half way through. Right now it is my favorite Christmas story.
Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas Holiday and a great 2012.
A new book I just read this year, and not my usual fare, is MIRACLE UNDER THE MISTLETOE by Tracy Madison, a Harlequin Special Edition. It is a story of loss and dealing with loss. I haven’t cried my way through a book in a very long time. Unfortunately, I was in the doctor’s waiting room and office when I got to some of the tear jerker parts. Rather embarrassing, but I couldn’t stop reading. There are some very good lessons in the book about life and love and I’m glad I read it. Not the usual Christmas romance story, but good non the less.
Congrats on both gorgeous books Elizabeth! I can’t wait to start Christmas Moon now, and Lawman’s Vow in March. Thanks for everything, filly sister. oxoxox
Patricia, thanks so much for your wonderful comments about CHRISTMAS MOON. I remember that you won the book last year.
Miracle Under the Mistletoe sounds wonderful. Christmas is such an emotional time, sometimes we need a story about trials to teach us understanding.
Thanks for your sweet words, Tanya. Here’s wishing you comfort and joy this holiday season.
Hi Elizabeth, I haven’t been on line forever! Love a good Christmas story and I dearly love Time Travel. Have a great Holiday and best wishes on your newest baby.
Thanks, Mary J, and good luck in the drawing. Glad you came back on line to visit us and enter.
🙂
I have been wanting to read this for sometime now. Hopefully I can get my hands on it soon. I absolutely love your stories
This sounds like a sweet story. I think in some way all Christmas stories have touched my heart. One of my favorite is A Christmas Carol.
Thanks so much, Sherry. Hope you get to read CHRISTMAS MOON soon.
A Christmas Carol is a real classic, isn’t it Na S. It’s been told so many times in so many different ways. But the Charles Dickens original can’t be beat.
Love both your covers, Elizabeth!! Your HH hero is amazing. I hope I get an equally great cover in April!!
Thanks, Charlene. The HH covers have been gorgeous lately (after getting the wrong heroine on my last one I figured I was owed–really happy with this one).
Wishing you a perfect cover.
Nice post.
My favorite Christmas story is Rosamunde Pilcher’s Winter Solstice.
I love Christmas stories! As far as my favorite, I love the one I’m reading at the moment. Doesn’t matter the title, I just love Christmas stories.
I love Rosamunde Pilcher, Liz. But I haven’t read Winter Solstice. Love the title.
There’s something about Christmas stories, isn’t there, Connie? The season heightens every emotion.
Good luck to both of you in the drawing.
Great excerpt! I am hooked! I just read a really good anthology called A TEXAS CHRISTMAS by some ladies you might know. 😉
Every year I re-read The Quiet Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott. A great read! I love Christmas stories! This one sounds awesome!! 🙂
The Lawmans Vow cover dude is a hottie. whoot! lol!
Oh, yes, I know those TEXAS CHRISTMAS ladies, Cheryl. A couple of them hang out right here at Wildflower Junction.
🙂
And I’ve never reat The Quiet Little Woman, Stephanie. I’m intrigued. Will have to check that one out.
Good luck to both of you. Just wish I had more than one copy to give away.