Lisa Plumley

Hey there! I hope your February is plugging along nicely. I’m psyched today, because I just got a sneak peek at the back-cover copy for my upcoming book, Home For The Holidays. It really does a great job of describing the story, and it reminded me all over again how much I love the characters. Check it out:

When Rachel loses her Hollywood dream job, a trip home for Christmas seems like a good idea. But she never expects to find a hunk from her past waiting under the mistletoe…

Red-hot stylist-to-the-stars Rachel Porter has it all. Well, sort of. Her luxury beach house is actually a loaner from her #1 client. And her cute Tesla Roadster? Well, that’s just another job perk…hers to keep, right? But when Rachel catches her #1 client in bed with her boyfriend, she exacts her revenge by tricking her turncoat “frenemy” into committing fashion suicide on the red carpet—and promptly finds herself out of a job. And her house. Her car. Her life. With nowhere to turn, Rachel does the unthinkable: she goes home to Kismet, Michigan.

For Reno Wright, picking up his neighbor’s daughter from the airport for a holiday visit sounds like no big deal. But from the moment he spies Rachel in the airport, Reno knows he’s in over his head. The girl Reno remembers from high school looks nothing like the glammed-out man-killer who walks off the plane. But for all her attitude, Rachel is really just a small-town girl with a heart too big for Hollywood. The temperature may be freezing, but the heat between Rachel and Reno is burning hot.

Reno is falling hard fast…but will his holiday romance survive once the calendar turns?

So that’s it! Fun right? I can’t wait for you to meet Reno and Rachel! Their story will be hitting the shelves just in time for Halloween. Hooray!

Okay, I know. Halloween is not Christmas. And this is definitely a Christmas book. But what can I say? October is when publishers send out their holiday releases. I stock up when Christmas books arrive in stores (so I don’t miss any), then stash them all to read in December. What’s your strategy?

Don’t look now…but Christmas creep is here. You buy Halloween candy at Target, and fully decorated Christmas trees flash (and play music) at you from a few aisles over. You try to find a can of pumpkin at the grocery store and almost trip over the display of red-and-green Oreos instead. You head out for a walk around the neighborhood, hoping to spot some colorful autumn leaves…and your neighbor is already in the front yard stringing Christmas lights. Arrgh! What’s a girl to do?

In my case, resist! It’s a longstanding tradition with me that the holidays do NOT officially kick off until AFTER my birthday in early December. (Those of you with December birthdays will totally understand this!) So until then, there are no Christmas lights on my eaves, no peppermint mochas in my mornings, and no Christmas music on my MP3 player. The day after my birthday, all bets are off — it’s an all out, no-holds-barred, ho-ho-ho Christmasapalooza. Because I LOVE Christmas. But until then? Please, retailers and others…chill out with the Christmas creep!

My exception to this rule is holiday books, CDs, and DVDs. Since those are usually only available for a limited time (sometimes just until they sell out for the season), I scoop up all the items I want the minute I see them. Otherwise, I might miss something awesome! Of course, I stash them all away and don’t read/listen to/watch any of them until the official kickoff to Christmas hits (aka, on the day after my birthday). But with this genius plan, I don’t miss a thing. And I’m completely stockpiled for when I’m ready to embrace the holiday spirit.

If you enact a similar Christmas embargo (or even if you don’t), please consider breaking it (just this once!) to pick up a copy of the Santa Baby anthology, featuring holiday stories by Lisa Jackson, Elaine Coffman, Kylie Adams, and Lisa Plumley (me). These are four seriously great stories, and they’re guaranteed* to put you in the Christmas spirit!

You can visit a bookseller or retailer near you or order a copy at 30% off directly from Kensingtonbooks.com. Please try it today!

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to tell you: this anthology was originally released in 2002 (this is a reissue, courtesy of my publisher, and I’m SO psyched about it). So you might have already read Santa Baby (if you’re not sure, try out chapter one of my story, “Merry, Merry Mischief.”). If so, I hope you enjoyed it! If not, now is your chance! Don’t miss it!

*not an actual guarantee (are you kidding me?)

Till later,
Lisa