Book Blurb
Wild child Chloe Thompson can't believe how much
things have changed. She still can't get enough of her sexy husband Sawyer, but
he seems to prefer working to impending fatherhood. So tonight, a very pregnant
Chloe is escaping her troubles at the town Christmas party.
Sheriff Sawyer Thompson hopes surprising Chloe at the party will give him a chance to set things right. But as the snow begins to fall and the wind rages, he wonders whether he can make it back in time. While mother nature conspires to keep Sawyer and Chloe apart, an unexpected arrival will require them to kiss and make up . . . and ring in the happiest holiday Lucky Harbor has ever seen.
Sheriff Sawyer Thompson hopes surprising Chloe at the party will give him a chance to set things right. But as the snow begins to fall and the wind rages, he wonders whether he can make it back in time. While mother nature conspires to keep Sawyer and Chloe apart, an unexpected arrival will require them to kiss and make up . . . and ring in the happiest holiday Lucky Harbor has ever seen.
Review:
Merry Christmas Baby is an achingly sweet Christmas
novella featuring Sawyer and Chloe from Head Over Heels. Merry Christmas Baby
had a lot to live up to. First, the Lucky Harbour series has come to an end and
I’ve been dying for some more small-town goodness. And second, Chloe and Sawyer
are one of my favourite Lucky Harbour couples; I’ve read their book a hundred
times and can never get enough of them. And let me just tell you, this is one
of the most beautiful, life affirming Christmas novellas I’ve ever met.
Merry Christmas Baby has a very different tone to
Head Over Heels. It’s got some serious depth, a lot of poignant moments and a
whole lot of angst. It broke my heart, but in lovely sweet ways, and I had to
reach for the tissues a couple of times. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not
overly sappy or depressing…it’s just achingly beautiful and emotional in a very
rich way. While Merry Christmas Baby does have a very emotional tone to it,
Jill Shalvis still manages to fit some signature hilarious moments in, as well
as one very, very steamy scene.
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll smile and at the
end of it, you’ll let out a delightful sigh while you fall deeper in love with
the badass Sawyer who manages to be super sweet, and the incredible Chloe who
manages to be both incredibly loving and stubbornly frustrating.
Excerpt
“It’s only a
week,” he said, and Chloe jumped.
He was at her
side again, all lethal stealth. He set her fast-acting asthma inhaler on the
nightstand for easy reach and then her cell phone, which he’d no doubt charged
for her since she’d forgotten. His bag hung from his shoulder, and he watched
her from those fathomless eyes. If she looked closely she could see the gold
flecks in them. Sometimes, when he laughed, those flecks danced.
But they were
still now.
As still as
the man watching her.
“I know,” she
murmured. “Just a week. You’ll be back for the town Christmas party. You
promised to take me.”
His jaw went
a little tight. Parties weren’t exactly Mr. Social’s thing. “We talked about
this,” he said.
“Yes, and you
agreed to take me.”
He shook his
head. “I said it wasn’t a great idea, you exerting the energy to dress up and
go to a crowded event.”
“I’m not a
piece of china,” she said.
“No one would
ever mistake you for one,” he responded, and she was pretty sure it wasn’t a
compliment.
“But,” he
went on in that voice of steel, “you’re eight months pregnant and suffer
debilitating asthma. Give yourself a damn break.”
“I’ve had
one,” she said. “Maddie and Tara won’t even let me work at my own spa. I need
to get out, Sawyer. I need to see people.” Before her life changed forever…
“I’m going.”
“I’ll be
back,” was all he said.
“And the
party?”
“We’ll see.”
Not exactly a
promise, but then again he was careful never to promise anything he couldn’t
deliver. His word, when he gave it, was good as gold.
He lifted her
chin and looked into her eyes for a long beat. “Dr. Tyler is only a call away,”
he said. “Your sisters are close by. Jax and Ford are in your speed dials and
are on standby for anything.”
Chloe’s
obstetrician was wonderful, and so were her sisters Maddie and Tara and their husbands—Sawyer’s
BFFs Jax and Ford. But if there was an emergency, it wasn’t any of them that
Chloe wanted.
It was the
tall testosterone and attitude-ridden man standing in front of her, already
long gone given the look on his face.
“I want you
to take care,” he said.
“You heard
what Dr. Tyler said the last time we were in her office for false labor.” She
patted her belly. “The Bean’s in for the long haul.”
“I meant
you,” Sawyer said. “Take care of you.”
Coming from
him, the words were tantamount to a shouted vow of love, and they moved her as
only Sawyer could. “Always,” she promised, softening. “And what about you?”
“I haven’t
had any labor pains, false or otherwise,” he deadpanned.
That got a
laugh out of her.
He smiled but
it faded quickly. “You know you can text or email me, and that I’ll call when I
can,” he said. “And if anything happens—anything at all, Chloe—I can be back
here in two hours.”
“Anything?”
she asked playfully, trying to lighten the mood, using a voice that once upon a
time would’ve made him kick off his shoes and strip and crawl back into bed
with her, the hell with obligation and responsibility.
“I’ll be
here.” He met her gaze, his own serious. “Always.”
An alarm on
his watch beeped. He turned it off without taking his eyes from her.
She blew out
a breath. “You’ve gotta go.”
He touched
her face. “Chloe—”
She closed
her eyes and turned her jaw into his touch. “I know,” she said. “And it’s okay.
It’s all going to be okay.”
She just
hoped that was true.
Social Links and Purchasing
Information
Merry Christmas Baby releases Tuesday 2nd of
December (it's available now in Australia) and will available at all manner of online book retailers.
Purchasing information can be found on Jill Shalvis' Website.
Jill Shalvis has a prominant presence on social
media, so there's plenty of places to find out more information, catch excerpts
from past and upcoming books and catch up on any news. The links for all of her
contacts and websites are below:
