By Bonnie Edwards
Bonnie Edwards, Author
How did
CHRISTMAS TO THE MAX come about?
I’d
completed my trilogy called Love at Christmas, set in Canada. Three stories of
love between Canadian heroines and their American heroes. The first book in
that series is NOT-SO-BLUE CHRISTMAS. But, alas, during the writing of these
fun, warm stories, a perfectly good ex-husband, who loved his daughters, was
left behind without a love of his own.
And
anyone who writes or reads romance knows we can’t have that, can we?
Meanwhile,
for another series (Return to Welcome) I’d created a small town called Welcome,
WA where I’d written three full length novels starting with FINDING MERCY.
I tapped
my chin wondering what to do, what to do…and decided Max Whyte had no choice
but to move there!
CHRISTMAS TO THE MAX combines characters from both series and a brand new heroine with
spunk and twin three-year-old boys. Laughs, love, and second chances abound in
Christmas to the Max.
We see
characters from both series and even have a mean character get her comeuppance.
I couldn’t resist!
Rest
assured, no one has to read any of the other books to enjoy CHRISTMAS TO THE MAX…it is definitely a standalone.
Amazon Buy
Links: ChristmasToTheMax
A
stand-alone Return to Welcome Novel: CHRISTMAS TO THE MAX brings two charming
and romantic series together! Max Whyte (LOVE AT CHRISTMAS) moves to Welcome,
WA. (Return to Welcome)
Max Whyte
moves to Welcome WA to live closer to his daughters after their mother remarries.
He wants to fix up an old home, settle into his new position at an IT firm, and
try not to think about turning forty alone.
Burned by
a single mother in the past, he vows not to get tangled with another woman with
children. When he saves the life of a small boy, he finds himself tangled in
more ways than he could imagine.
When the
boy’s mother turns out to be the perfect person to do his renovations, Max has
trouble keeping his personal feelings out of their employer/employee
relationship.
Kaylin Simpson
has returned to Welcome to give her boys the kind of home she wanted as a
child. She needs a fresh, stable start and wants to run her own business. Her three-year-old
twins keep her hopping, but after she finishes the renovations for Max, she
hopes to have her life well in hand.
Max is
drawn to Kaylin and her adorable twin boys. Her wit and feisty spirit pull at
his heartstrings until he realizes being a stepfather is never what he wanted.
Christmas
in Welcome can be a time to heal and move forward and Max and Kaylin must set
aside their old hurts to allow love to blossom.
Kaylin Simpson loved
her twins. She truly, really, did. But some days she could scream until her
throat collapsed and they wouldn’t hear a thing. She’d thought two
two-year-olds were hard. Having three-year-olds was a brand-new level of hell.
They talked back, got stubborn, and were more curious. And taller, stronger,
capable of climbing onto chairs and getting into cupboards.
And they were faster.
It was being faster
that would kill her one day. Or them. Whatever. Someone would be dead.
Right now, Brody was
telling a little girl to go down the slide when she clearly didn’t want to. The
poor child looked scared and Brody yelling in her ear wasn’t helping.
“Brody, please let the
little girl take a breath so she’s not so scared. And DON’T PUSH!” But he did,
and Kaylin dashed for the end of the slide to catch the wailing child.
Too late, she realized
she’d taken her other eye off Taylor. She scooped up the girl before she landed
on the ground, and then spun her head to scan for her other boy.
There. By the swings.
“Taylor! Stop right THERE!” But he didn’t.
No, not her Taylor. He
turned his head, glanced at her with a devilish grin and dashed for the road. Chase.
He wanted to play chase.
In traffic.
Kaylin set the girl on
her feet and ran after Taylor who’d already stepped onto the road. A car took
the curve on Cross Street too quickly and Kaylin screamed her boy’s name.
Screamed it again. And again…
A man, tall,
dark-haired, and with broad shoulders got there just before Taylor ran headlong
into the car’s path. Kaylin’s heart stalled and her eyes stung.
Gasping for breath,
she nearly collided with the big man who cradled her son in his arms, his large
palm covering Taylor’s head in a protective move. Taylor didn’t seem to understand
what had happened until he looked up into the stranger’s face.
And screamed blue
murder an inch from the man’s nose.
Tires screeched as the
driver slammed on the brakes. A woman opened the passenger side window. “Oh, my
Lord! Did I hit him?” Her eyes were terror-filled, and her voice trembled.
The man shook his head
and seemed to hold tighter to Taylor as he bent toward the opened car window.
“No,” he said. “But you took that curve pretty fast.” He didn’t yell it, the
way Kaylin wanted to, but he got his point across.
The woman looked
shaken and chastened. She eased the car to the curb and rested her head on the
steering wheel. She’d been as badly shaken as Kaylin and the stranger.
A sudden screech from
behind her had Kaylin spinning to see where it had come from. “Brody! Don’t you
dare!”
She snatched Taylor
from the stranger’s arms and lumbered under his weight back toward the swings
where Brody was attempting to climb onto the big kids’ swing. He’d been
complaining for weeks about the baby swings and she wasn’t sure how much longer
he’d agree to use them.
She was still shaking
over the miss with the car and wanted, more than anything, to get these boys
out of this park and home where she could contain them.
If only she had the
energy. She let Taylor slide to the ground and clasped his hand firmly as she
walked the rest of the way toward the swing set. “We’re going home,” she
announced in her most commanding tone, “as soon as I thank that man for saving
Taylor’s life.”
Brody, for once,
looked contrite. “I saw, Momma. He’s over dere.” And her boy pointed to a
picnic bench that faced the river.
The man sat atop the
table alone. His silhouette against the light showed broad shoulders that
tapered to a trim waist. She already knew he could move like lightning when he
needed to. His hair was trim on the sides but had some length on top. Odd that
he’d be alone in a park on a lovely morning. Most people were jogging along the
riverside trail or in the playpark like she’d been.
As she walked toward
him, he pulled out his phone and started thumbing the screen as he scanned it.
She hadn’t seen him here before, and she recognized a lot of the regular park
users.
She used to know a lot
of people in Welcome when she was a kid. And he wasn’t one of them, either.
Correction. Her aunt and uncle
had known a lot of people here. She’d only been a summer visitor, so she’d been
limited to knowing some of the neighborhood children. Still, Welcome was where
her most carefree memories rested. Even though her aunt and uncle had retired
to Arizona, it was Welcome that had called to her when she’d needed to make a
change in her life.
Returning to Welcome
last month hadn’t been as easy as she’d expected. Her business hadn’t taken off
the way she’d hoped, and daycare was more expensive than she’d planned for. She
certainly could not take her kids to work. Construction sites were not safe for
curious children.
Some of the people she
remembered in Welcome gossiped and held grudges, but for the most part, people
here were okay. Like this man who’d jumped into action for a total stranger.
Gratitude made her heart lighter than it had been in weeks.
She had her boys safe
and sound. That was what mattered.
“Hello,” she said as
she pulled alongside the picnic bench. Both boys for once, were silent, as the
man raised his gaze to assess her.
“Yes?” He made a face
as if she’d interrupted something important.
“I wanted to thank you
for what you did. I’m still shaking and I’m sure I never would’ve got there in
time.” She’d been two steps away, but still, they were the longest two strides
ever.
His gaze raked the
twins and his eyebrows rose. “You’ve got your hands full, but next time keep a
closer watch on them. I won’t always be around for back-up.”
Typical non-parent,
always certain children could be corralled or held back or kept safe every
second of every day and that they listened. Hah!
Kaylin backed up a
step. “Sure, I’ll keep a tighter grip. Maybe tether them to a stake in the
ground. Keep them in the basement in cages, maybe. You’ve given me a lot to
think about in regard to keeping my children safe.” She raised her right
eyebrow and glared at the know-it-all. “Thanks for that, too.”
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