Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, where I share snippets from new and past releases and works-in-progress, and occasionally twist the arms of author buddies into doing the same.

Have Christmas decorations popped up where you are? They’re certainly starting to colonise Newcastle. There are lights galore and the shops are a-glitter with tinsel, reindeer, snow and bearded Santas in heavy costumes. Poor things. Even in the air-con they must be sweating.

You know what else Christmas means?

Another gorgeous story from historical romance author Anna Campbell!

I so look forward to Anna’s Christmas tales. They’re heart-warming and lovely and her latest – The Laird’s Christmas Kiss which landed on my Kindle last week thanks to a nifty pre-order – sounds absolutely gorgeous. Just the thing to get into the Christmas spirit.

Here’s Anna to tell you more about The Laird’s Christmas Kiss. Make sure you read to the end because there could be a GIVEAWAY!

Hi Cathryn and all the Teaser Tuesday aficionados!

Thank you for having me back again as a guest. Today I’m going to talk about The Laird’s Christmas Kiss, which is book 2 in my The Lairds Most Likely series.

Did you have a teenage crush? Shy, bookish Elspeth Douglas, my heroine in The Laird’s Christmas Kiss, has been mad about dashing Brody Girvan, Laird of Invermackie, since she was 15. Now she’s 20 and smart enough to know that Brody is never going to notice her, so she makes a solemn vow that she’s not going to love him anymore.

The irony is that her decision makes her much more outspoken and inclined to step out of the shadows, and Brody, who is tired of being the life of the party, realizes that his friend Hamish’s sister is pretty and funny and sweet. Everything gets even more complicated when the rake develops honorable intentions and the innocent miss decides that a brief no-strings flirtation at a house party will be fun. There’s a makeover, plenty of Christmas cheer, interfering relatives, a scandal, and a crate of imported mistletoe to launch the high jinks in fine style. I hope you enjoy this Christmas comedy of crossed wires and sigh with satisfaction when Brody and Elspeth finally discover that they’re talking the same language – and it’s the language of love!

So here’s my teaser. The Douglas and Mackinnon families and their various connections have gathered at Fergus’s castle in the Western Highlands to celebrate Christmas. This scene takes place early in the story when Elspeth and Brody waltz together for the first time.

Achnasheen, Scottish Highlands, December 1818

Elspeth sent him a repressive glance. “Brody, don’t waste your time flirting with me. I’m frightfully dull.”

He laughed, and she saw Diarmid shoot them a disapproving look. Then she caught Marina’s eye. Marina didn’t look disapproving at all.

Brody’s sensual lips lifted in a sardonic curl. “I’m not wasting my time, you strange and enchanting lassie.”

For a moment, the room vanished, and all she saw was that dark, striking face with its brilliant green eyes and commanding blade of a nose. Then she remembered that she’d vowed to be sensible when it came to this man. “You’re trying to turn my head.”

He arched one black eyebrow. “Am I succeeding?”

“No,” she said, although even now, she wasn’t sure about that. “There must be better targets for all this charm.”

He was still smiling down at her as if he really was enchanted. “You think I’m charming?”

This onslaught of masculine interest was all too heady for her. And unfair. Not to mention a little cruel. Because while Elspeth might have banished her ludicrous adolescent tendre for him, she wasn’t immune to his appeal. And every minute proved that she’d aimed way above her touch when she’d set her sights on him.

Resentment sneaked out to color her response. “Does it matter what I think, when you’re so convinced yourself?”

He looked startled and for a moment, she caught a hint of what might be injured feelings. Then his eyes sharpened in a way that sent a chill of disquiet rushing down her spine. “There’s more to you than meets the eye, isn’t there, Elspeth?”

“I hope so,” she retorted.

You can read a longer excerpt and the blurb on my website.

Purchase your copy today of The Laird’s Christmas Kiss from these stores:

Amazon.com | Amazon.au | Amazon.uk

Kobo | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

GIVEAWAY!

So did you have a teenage crush? I had a million – mainly movie and TV stars and singers – although there was also a bit of a crush on my godmother’s grandson Geoff and the boy next door (neither of whom knew I was alive – so I know just how Elspeth feels in my new story!). There was Fonzie and David Bowie and Neil Diamond and Freddie Mercury and Anthony Andrews and Timothy Dalton and… But I won’t go on. I want YOU to go on. Tell me about your teenage crush!

I’ve got a Kindle download of The Laird’s Christmas Kiss: The Likely Lairds Book 2 for someone who comments. No geographical restrictions.

Good luck in the draw!

Thanks, Anna. You are so generous with your giveaways.

As for crushes…

Like us all, I had lots but the one that sticks in my mind is the one I had on Pakistani cricket captain Imran Khan. I thought him ridiculously handsome, and he was captain and don’t get me started on that accent. Swoon. I was sure he would hear my mental plea and gallop into Mount Gambier on a white Arab horse, sweep me out of my primary school and whisk me, his new princess, off to his desert kingdom for a happily-ever-after of dreamy eyes and LOTS of horses. Yes, yes, I know. I may have had my countries a tad confused and erroneously equated cricket captaincy with kingship, but it was the fantasy that counted. And daydreaming that one in class was a bucketload more fun than maths.

What about your first crush? Anna and I would love to hear. Share and you could win!

Please note: Giveaway closes midnight Friday 9^th November 2018, Australian Eastern Daylight Time. Open internationally. Prize is a Kindle copy of The Laird’s Christmas Kiss.

If you’d like to learn more about Anna and her books – and she has plenty available for your reading pleasure – please visit her website. You can also connect via Facebook and Twitter using @AnnaCampbelloz.