Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Astraea Press Authors' Holiday Story Release Party Blog Hop November 25-27, 2011

I'm excited to announce the release of
The Parting Gift,
a holiday novella and my first book,
co-written with Rachel Van Dyken
available at Astraea Press, Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and Bookstrand.

At the tender age of eleven, Blaine Graham lost his mother. Grief over the loss drove a wedge between him and his father, and soon proved too difficult for him to deal with. At the age of sixteen, he falsified his papers and made the trip across the border into Canada with his best friend to join the Royal Canadian Air Force and enter the war in Europe as a pilot. Ten years later Captain Graham finds himself flying commercial jets in Boston – his estranged father and his past life all but forgotten, until the day he receives a telegram from his dying father asking him to come home.

The persistent Mara Crawford, a live-in nurse, has experienced her fair share of loss as well. Her attachment to Blaine’s father drives her desire to bring reconciliation between the two men before time runs out for her patient. But her best laid plans didn’t include falling in love again.

*****

Rachel and I had a great time writing this together. My favorite part of the book is the scene in which Mrs. Smith the housekeeper comes in with the groceries and interrupts Blaine and Mara "having a moment". Her reaction cracks me up! There are a lot of funny scenes in this book, but don't be surprised if you also shed a tear or two.

The Parting Gift is set in 1950. The first color television came out in 1950, as did some very memorable movies. The top grossing movie in the year 1950 was Disney's Cinderella which made over $141 million. Amazing, considering the #2 movie only made $5.5 million -- King Solomon's Mines.

What's your favorite Christmas movie? Please leave a comment and your email address for a chance to win a free copy of The Parting Gift.

I hope you enjoy The Parting Gift this Christmas season! To find out how Rachel feels about it hop on over to Delicious Romance by Rachel

7 comments:

  1. Very nice, Laura! Let's hope we get lots of company this weekend!

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  2. Congratulations on your new book! It sounds like a cute story. I'm so excited to be the first GFC follower. Woohoo!

    My favorite Christmas movies are Love Actually, Shop around the Corner and, of course, Christmas Vacation.

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  3. Best wishes with your debut novel. I love the sound of it. The cover is very atmospheric.

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  4. I like the George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol. Your book sounds great.

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  5. My favorite Christmas movie, hands down, is "It's a Wonderful Life." I watch it every year and always see something new.
    I love the time period of your book. Congratulations on its release!

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  6. My favorite Christmas movie is White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. I always cry at the end.

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