Launch Day Blitz: Merry Christmas Baby by Jill Shalvis

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.

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: 

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