It’s day 8 of my 12 Days of Christmas Stories giveaway!

Today’s giveaway is Summer Devon and Bonnie Dee’s Simon and the Christmas Spirit. First the blurby-blurb:

The holiday spirit has forsaken Simon Harris. A recent reminder of the man who used, then left him, sends lonely Simon on a glum visit to his club to while away a few hours. A breath of fresh air in the form of Christopher Andrews is about to enter his stale life.

Performer of many talents and faces, Christopher gained entrée into the club to win money at cards. Unfortunately, he’s losing. But the evening needn’t be a complete disappointment as he strikes up a friendship with a gentleman which ends in a bedroom.

Simon and Christopher enjoy a few hours of pleasure together, never expecting to see each other again, but Simon’s newfound resolution to change might just transform both their holidays.

A short story, which includes a brief excerpt. Simon and Christopher’s future will appear in our next short: Will and the Valentine Saint.

I’m a sucker for historical Christmas stories. I  don’t know what it is – maybe it’s the sense of continuity, the nostalgia, maybe something about the purity of the festive spirit, untrammelled by the sheer commercial glitter of Christmas these days. I love the pictures historical Christmas stories conjure up: candlelight and oranges and Christmas pudding, the wassail bowl and simple decorations of greenery. The Christmas goose! ALL that. I have a very ancient paperback collection of Mary Balogh regency Christmas shorts that I dig out every year to feed this obsession because there’s NEVER ENOUGH historical holiday stories. Consequently, I was beyond delighted to learn that Summer Devon and Bonnie Dee were bringing one out this year.

In this late Victorian setting we get two deeply contrasting MCs, the lonely, staid, conventional Simon who lives in isolated splendour and poor, generous-spirited, joyful Christopher, an actor who lives hand-to-mouth with a motley collection of family, adopted family, friends and lost souls seeking sanctuary. All in all, a perfect set up for Christmas themed messages around love, family, and what’s important in life.

Christopher is a lovely character – fearlessly joyful in a way that you don’t see often. He wears his heart on his sleeve and disarms Simon with his easy honesty. I really enjoyed the parts where poor, lonely Simon is trying to work Christopher out – he’s so afraid and stuck in his ways, he doesn’t dare take Christopher at face value at first, but when he finally takes that step, and decides to trust him, it’s sweet and heart-warming and I was grinning with happiness.

And guess what? You can WIN this story! All you need to do to enter the giveaway is  leave a comment about your favourite actor in a Christmas movie or play. The winner will be decided on 10th December 2015 at 8pm GMT.

If, however, you can’t bear to wait to read it, you can buy it now, perhaps here at Amazon.com or here at ARe.

Happy reading, and remember, there will be a giveaway every day until 12th December. 🙂

About Summer and Bonnie

Summer Devon and Bonnie Dee have co-written over a dozen books. Their historical novels usually feature cross class romances which give the protagonists even greater hurtles to overcome than being gay men in dangerous times. Summer is the racy alter ego of author, Kate Rothwell, who writes gaslight historicals. Bonnie is interested in flawed, often damaged, people who find happiness together. These writers met by chance online, and have actually even met in person once.

THE WINNER OF THE GIVEAWAY IS CECILLE – CONGRATULATIONS!