Today I am so pleased to welcome the fabulous Heidi Cullinan back to Joyfully Jay. Heidi has come to talk to us about her latest release, Winter Wonderland. She has also brought along an exclusive excerpt and some awesome giveaways. Please join me in giving Heidi a big welcome!
Excerpt
The library was busy, which at first surprised Kyle, but what else was there to do in a snowstorm in a small town? Most people were checking out movies, but plenty of families with children were in the play area, drifting there from what looked like a story time finishing up. Kyle loitered amidst Gabriel Higgins’s throng of adoring fans, waiting for the crush to subside, but when the librarian saw Kyle, he smiled, waved and extricated himself.
“Thanks for stopping by. Let’s go to my office.”
The din of the main library area dulled as the door closed them into the small space. Kyle sat in the chair with its back to the door as Gabriel indicated. “Mom said you wanted some help with snow sculptures for the fundraiser?”
Gabriel waved this idea away as he sat. “Oh, if it happens to snow and you feel you have the time, yes, certainly. As I said to Corrina over and over, the library doesn’t need a fundraiser, but I agree the event gives a shine to the town and possibly a boost to the economy. I’d love to have your help with design, if you’re willing to give it. Arthur and Paul can build anything our library board and city council dream up, but they won’t be much for making it pretty. I heard you were something of an artist in high school, so I was hoping you’d be willing to reprise that role.” His lips quirked. “And if we do get snow, we already know you have talent in the snow-sculpture department. Though perhaps we’ll keep them G-rated in deference to the younger attendees.”
Kyle grimaced. “He told you.”
“He did.” Gabriel leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. “But why are you looking like that? Surely you’re not giving up.”
Gabriel was on his side? “Easy for you to say. You didn’t see his face when he caught me.”
“Oh, he’s not horrified of you. But he—and Arthur, oddly enough—is obsessed with this idea that you’re too young. Which amuses me because I’m only a little older than you. You should have seen Arthur’s face when I suggested if large age difference was such a big deal, perhaps you and I should date instead, since we were closer.”
“I’m so sick of everyone thinking I’m some infant. I can’t believe Paul thinks so too. I shouldn’t be surprised, but it doesn’t stop me from being disappointed.”
“So it’s not simply a lark? You have feelings for him?”
Kyle squirmed in his seat, but Gabriel showed no sign of letting him worm out of this inquisition. “What if I did? You have some other objection, if it’s not my age?”
“I have no objections whatsoever—unless this is simply a game to you. Paul is looking for a partner. A serious partner.” Gabriel sighed. “And though I know it’s not the truth, I always feel as if I took his fallback plan away from him. So let’s put it this way. If you were laying Grindr bait and planting penises on his front porch because you were bored and snaring Logan’s last bachelor seemed like a good time, then please consider this excitement concluded. If there’s something more to it than that…” his smile practically glinted, “…then I’d be happy to help you plot round two of your campaign.”
Kyle’s eyes went wide. “You’d help me? Seriously? Why?”
“Because I’ve seen you with your sister. I know you’ll say, but she’s my twin, of course I’ll take care of her, but it’s not every twenty-five-year-old man who would devote so much time and attention to a young woman with Down syndrome. In public you give off an air of flirtation, devilishness—which doesn’t help your age issue, I will say—but underneath you’re kindhearted and loyal. When you interact with Linda Kay, you’re another person entirely. An amazing one. Of course I want that for Paul. But first I want to know why. Partly because I’m curious, but also because your answer will help me figure out how to help you.”
Kyle stared at the edge of the librarian’s desk as he finished his confession. “Well, obviously I don’t know we’d get on. But I’ve always felt like we could. It started out…okay, this doesn’t help the age thing either, but when I was in middle school, I’d see him…and he was so perfect. He smiled at me one day, helped me when I’d fallen on my ass on some ice, and my type was set. I always wanted big blond guys with slightly curly hair. I chased Paul clones all the way through community college when I lived in Duluth. Then I came back and settled in, and…”
Kyle glanced up at Gabriel. “You aren’t the only one who noticed Paul wanted a real relationship. I knew Arthur was wrong for him, so I bided my time. I kept trying to catch the eye of Marcus or Arthur, thinking it might make him jealous or at least see me, but that was a bust. When he and Arthur broke up and Arthur got hung up on you…well, I thought, it’s now or never. But I still couldn’t ever get him to so much as notice me. So I tried seducing him online. A few times we sexted, but that was about it. I never had the courage to tell him who I was. Then one day on the way home from work it had snowed, and I had this crazy urge to put a penis on his porch. I don’t know why or what I thought it would do, but it got me more traction than anything else, so I kept it up. I thought maybe I’d lure him in slowly, then do a big reveal—but he caught me. And recoiled.”
“Not from you. From the idea of you.”
Kyle huffed. “How is that better?”
“Because you can still show him who you are. The real you, not the kid he imagines you still are—or the mincing fop you present.”
Kyle drew up short. “I’m not a fop.”
“I know. Stop acting all affected in front of him, so he can see it too.”
Kyle blinked. “I don’t act affected.”
Gabriel flipped a limp wrist and adopted a lisp. “Darling, every time I see you in public, you act like Carson Kressley.” When Kyle frowned in confusion, Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Look it up on YouTube.”
Kyle knew Queer Eye, vaguely. Carson must be the blond one who was a walking gay stereotype. “I’m not that bad. I just…play it up a bit because the act makes things easier. People expect it. It’s like a wall.”
“Yes. Tear it down for Paul.”
The very thought made Kyle’s stomach lurch. He wrapped his arms over it, slouching. “And be what? Don’t you dare say yourself.”
“Well, what is it you want him to be interested in?”
Kyle hunched more. “I was basically me when he caught me making the penis. He’s not interested, whatever I am.”
A silence expanded between them. Gabriel tapped his finger on his desk as he pondered something. “I’ll admit I don’t have an idea of how to help, exactly. Or rather, I have one idea. But I warn you. There’s no putting this gun back on the rack. And when I say gun, I mean siege weapon.”
Kyle raised his eyebrows. “Siege weapon?”
Gabriel’s eyebrows waggled. “How well do you know Arthur’s mother?”
Blurb
Finding Mr. Right can be a snow lot of fun.
Paul Jansen was the only one of his friends who wanted a relationship. Naturally, he’s the last single man standing. No gay man within a fifty-mile radius wants more than casual sex. No one, that is, except too-young, too-twinky Kyle Parks, who sends him suggestive texts and leaves X-rated snow sculptures on his front porch.
Kyle is tired of being the town’s resident Peter Pan. He’s twenty-five, not ten, and despite his effeminate appearance, he’s nothing but the boss in bed. He’s loved Paul since forever, and this Christmas, since they’re both working on the Winter Wonderland festival, he might finally get his chance for a holiday romance.
But Paul comes with baggage. His ultra-conservative family wants him paired up with a woman, not a man with Logan’s rainbow connection. When their anti-LGBT crusade spills beyond managing Paul’s love life and threatens the holiday festival, Kyle and Paul must fight for everyone’s happily ever after, including their own.
Warning: Contains erotic snow art, toppy twinks, and super-sweet holiday moments. Best savored with a mug of hot chocolate with a dash of spice
Bio
Heidi Cullinan has always enjoyed a good love story, provided it has a happy ending. Proud to be from the first Midwestern state with full marriage equality, Heidi writes positive-outcome romances for LGBT characters struggling against insurmountable odds because she believes there’s no such thing as too much happy ever after. Find out more about Heidi at heidicullinan.com.
Giveaway
Heidi has brought a copy of Winter Wonderland to give away to one lucky Joyfully Jay reader. Just leave a comment at the end of the post to enter. The contest ends on Thursday, November 5th at 11:59 pm EST.
There is an additional month-long giveaway Heidi is running for all the stops on her tour. Enter by following the Rafflecopter link below.
Rafflecopter giveaway
- By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
- Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
- If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
- Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
- Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
- All book prizes are in electronic format unless otherwise specified.
- By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
- Readers may only enter once for each contest. Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
- Void where prohibited by law.
Sounds great. I love this holiday series. 🙂
I love this series. It’s what got me into m/m romances.
I love Christmas. My favourite memories are about dinners together, singing carols and toasting with cider. And of course, getting up one very special morning and finding a lot of presents under the tree (in my country, that happens on the Twelfth Night).
Thank you for the giveaway. I’m looking forward to reading Winter Wonderland 🙂
Congrats on the upcoming release of Winter Wonderland 🙂 I love the Christmas season and i love Christmas reading, nothing better than to be cuddled up on the sofa and reading 😉 Thanks for the excerpt and the giveaway chance.
Oh yes, enjoyed the others so looking forward to this one too! Love it when the holiday books come out
I love this series. I have been waiting for this story to come out. Thanks for the excerpt and giveaway chance!
My favorite holiday memory is getting to spend Thanksgiving weekend with all my aunts and uncles and cousins when I was little. There was sledding and cookies being made and decorated. So much fun and excitement leading up to Christmas.
Sitting in a warm room when it’s cold outside. Oh, and Black Friday shopping. I actually don’t mind it. 🙂 Thanks so much for the excerpt. I love this series.
First I want to say I’ve loved the two first books in this series and I am so happy Paul will get his own happy ever after (or at least I hope he will 😉 .
As for favorite holiday memory; I don’t think I actually have a favorite. Most holidays are memorable to me as long as get to spend them with my family (my children and husband, my parents, my brother and his family, there’s not that many of us). Christmases hold a lot of special moments, because of all the anticipation and I love all the preparations, decorating, bringing in the tree, making gingerbread cookies and Christmas sweets – it’s almost if not better than the holiday itself. Now, I can’t wait for this years preparations to start.
I liked the time I told my little nieces about Steve Martin in THE JERK while I wore my new Sharks jersey. I saw my brother peek in and get a little misty…
One of my favorite holiday memories is giving my sister-in-law a new (used) copy of the 1920’s era cookbook that she inherited from her grandmother. Her copy was all but falling apart. I don’t think I’ve ever given such a successful gift!
Thanks for providing the excerpt, Ms Cullinan, and the opportunity to win. I recently read and enjoyed both Dance with Me and Carry the Ocean and look forward to reading more of your books.
I’m not a fan of holidays. I find them incredibly stressful, unfortunately. I am a fan of having a few days off work, though.
Love this series!
I love this series! And I can’t believe the year is coming to an end. O_o I’d love to read this one too.
Ohhh, and I cannot wait for If Only in My Dreams. <3
Hi Heidi Congratulations on your upcoming release it sounds fab. My favourite holiday memory was of a Christmas when I was about five the family travelled to my Aunt and Uncle house they four children and I was the youngest we had such a funny time. I got so excited on Christmas day I couldn’t open my presents it was a wonderful place and time.
This looks so cute!!!! Just in time for the holidays!
I love this series! Looking forward to this newest book, although sad it will be the last.
One of my favorite holiday memories was when my kids were toddlers, they would open one gift at Christmas and start playing with it. We would have to encourage them to even realized there were more.
I’ve already got this one sitting on my bookshelf waiting for the publication date! Love Heidi, love this series. CanNOT wait to read. Thanks for the giveaway.
My favorite holiday memories are the great meals with my family and both sets of grandparents around the table. Such fun year after year.
Looking forward to reading books 2 & 3 in this series. I have great memories of spending Thanksgiving & Christmas with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins & my immediate family. Now my grandparents are gone, my parents snowbird, my kid is off to college; so I usually spend my holiday weekends with my brother & sil. Not quite the same, but it’s still family.
I’ve always had great memories of “cookie day” with my family. Early in December a day is set aside for making all the Christmas cookies and goodies, and much fun (and sugar) is had be all. It’s crazy but awesome!
Last year I was feeling crazy homesick. I hadn’t seen any of my family in over a year and I’d recently lost my job. My Christmas present was a round trip ticket. I flew out Christmas morning(I’d managed to find seasonal work at a Santa booth ) crazy early. My stepdad picked me up at the airport. that evening everyone came over and I was in heaven. I’m the I’d duck in a weird family, even though I baffle them they love me. It was the best feeling in the world. My mom’s best friend from college is like another aunt to me and that weekend she drove two hours round trip,husband with early onset Alzheimer’s in tow, just to see me for a couple hours. My family went out of their way to make sure I got to see my friends too. It would take a lot to top that holiday.
I absolutely adore this series and can’t wait to read Winter Wonderland…I loved the excerpt but it was WAY to short.
I don’t have a specific holiday memory that stands out. Any time spent with family is good. 🙂
When I was a little girl, my sister and I got matching tvs and vhs players for Christmas. It was one of the best Christmas’ ever.
I would LOVE to win this! I’ve gushed all over Heidi on Twitter about how much I love this series. LOL Seriously, the end is soooo bittersweet! Two years ago I read the first book at Christmastime, and last year I read the first book and second book at Christmastime. This year I will be reading all three, and it will continue to be a holiday tradition for me to read this series.
My favorite holiday memory is Christmas baking with my uncle. He helped my mother raise me after my dad walked out when I was 2, and he’s much more my father than anyone else. He was also the first gay man I ever knew, though I was not aware until several years ago. Anyway, we always overdo it at Christmas: multiple types of cookies, pies, German chocolate cake, Oklahoma chocolate cake (yellow cake with old-fashioned boiled fudge icing), spice cake, pumpkin chocolate-chip muffins, gingerbread…the house smells amazing for a solid month. My uncle has let me help since he had to pull a chair up to the counter for me to reach it, and it’s still something we do together every year. Christmastime would not be Christmastime for me without it!
My favorites all have the same thing in common, ie the hubs and food 😉 The hubs and I are HUGE fans of trying new to us foods and so we make it a point to do this when we go out. Most of our dates or get-aways revolve around holidays. *shrug* It is what works. I love any time I get to spend with just the hubs, away from all of the stress of every day life.
Mine is a Thanksgiving/Christmas combination. When I was younger, my mom always took my brother and I to my aunt’s house in Omaha for Thanksgiving weekend. While we were there, we’d also do our Christmas with family that lived in town there. Always made for a fun filled and busy weekend with family we didn’t live near 🙂
Hands down probably Chinese New Years. The family isn’t allowed to fight and all issues have to be forgiven for the time being. Not to mention the great holiday food that isn’t eaten usually other times of the year and the red envelopes =)
I love Christmas stories and I can’t wait to read this one.
I’ve been looking forward to reading this as I loved the previous two books. It sounds lovely.
I love sunny and crisp winter days, as long as I’ve got some cosy clothes to wear:-)
I love this series. I collect Christmas stories all year but I only read them in December. I can’t read them in another time. Must be the Christmas spirit. 🙂
Thanksgiving! It’s when all my husbands LARGE family gets together!
Love this series…..My favority holiday memory is the Christmas I became engaged!
This holiday treat sounds delightful! I have read the first in the series, and cannot wait to read more. My favorite holiday memories surround Halloween because that is when I got to spend time with my beloved grandparents. My grandpa would dress up in a scary costume, and would take me trick-or-treating all around the neighborhood. At my smallest, I would fall asleep in his arms, dreaming sweet candy coated dreams, as he carried me home.
Christmas mornings with family. I love giving gifts and making ppl happy
Would love to win this. Thanks for chance
Love this series! I’m looking forward to this book. I love the holidays. I don’t really have a favorite memory, but the best parts are the ones spent with family – cooking, baking, gathering around the table for big meals.
So many different memories to choose from. 2005 was my first experience with Mardi Gras. I had just gotten married in 04 and my husband is from the New Orleans area. We haven’t missed a year since. When I tell people my favorite holiday is Mardi Gras, they think the comercialized version is what I mean. What my husband introduced me to is nothing like what is publicized. We have get togethers with friends from all over the world, participate in city wide events, take our daughters to massive parades attended by thousands and sometimes millions of people, taste great food, revel with friends and loved ones, experience NOLA like many others but so few care to open their eyes to see. My favorite memory is Mardi Gras 2006, the year after Katrina. Almost half of the city was still without electricity, many people still missing, and a beautiful city hung precariously on the verge of collapsing. NOLA opened her doors wide to any and all and showed the world that she would drown no longer. Seeing the Indians dance, the parades roll, the city trying desperately to live again; it was an emotional experience that will always be in my heart.
Thank you for the giveaway chance, I love this series and I am looking forward to reading Paul’s finding love at last <3
My Christmas memories involve my grandparents coming to visit and staying with us for nearly a month, as we rarely got to see them as lived they so far away. My grandfather would be waiting for me to finish school and have an early present, normally something he had made or drawn for me and, when we got home, my grandmother would be there and we made cookies for everyone.
Congratulations on the next book! I know it will be fabulous, how could it not be? Hmm, favorite holiday memory… there is a picture of me from Christmas circa 1997 and I am standing with my new baby doll in her new stroller and I think I look so happy. And I remember this doll was one of those talking dolls that are super scary to anyone but children!
Congrats to Heidi on the new book! I love everything of her’s that I’ve read, and this one definitely sounds like a ton of fun.
And favorite holiday memory is probably waking up at around 3-4 am every Christmas morning and huddling together in bed reading to each other because neither of us could ever fall back asleep when we were young.
I don’t really have a favorite holiday memory.