It’s the season for giving, and by giving, I mean hosting awesome giveaways with all sorts of great prizes and books! This time, we have Sarah Morgan‘s From Manhattan with Love series, plus a Kate Spade watch and earrings. Thanks to Harlequin for sponsoring!
The total prize pack retails for around $285.00 USD and includes:
– Champagne at midnight metro watch from Kate Spade
– Crystal square studs from Kate Spade
– 1 print copy of Sleepless In Manhattan by Sarah Morgan ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
– 1 print copy of Sunset in Central Park by Sarah Morgan ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
– 1 print copy of Miracle on 5th Ave by Sarah Morgan ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
Hopeless romantic Eva Jordan loves everything about Christmas. She might be spending the holidays alone this year, but when she’s given an opportunity to house-sit a spectacular penthouse on Fifth Avenue, she leaps at the chance. What better place to celebrate than in snow-kissed Manhattan? What she didn’t expect was to find the penthouse still occupied by its gorgeous—and mysterious—owner.
Bestselling crime writer Lucas Blade is having the nightmare before Christmas. With a deadline and the anniversary of his wife’s death looming, he’s isolated himself in his penthouse with only his grief for company. He wants no interruptions, no decorations and he certainly doesn’t appreciate being distracted by his beautiful, bubbly new housekeeper. But when the blizzard of the century leaves Eva snowbound in his apartment, Lucas starts to open up to the magic she brings…This Christmas, is Lucas finally ready to trust that happily-ever-afters do exist?
Standard disclaimers apply: I’m not being compensated for this giveaway except that I got to go shopping online which means I didn’t have to wear shoes or real pants. Void where prohibited. Open to US residents where permitted by applicable law. Must be over 18 and have sunglasses on hand to combat the shine on those earrings. A watch in the hand is worth three books in the bush. That’s how it goes, right? It’s totally okay to have champagne on hand for celebrating or commiserating. Comments will close Monday 28 November 2016 around noon EST and winner announced same day.
To enter, leave a comment with your favorite holiday tradition! It could be as big as a beach trip every 4th of July or simply baking a particular type of cookie for Christmas.
Best of luck to everyone!
UPDATE: Our winner is Stephanie! Congratulations, Stephanie and keep an eye on your inbox! Thanks to everyone who commented and I hope you have a great holiday season!
So many! My brothers and I and whatever assortment of other guests join in on Thanksgiving for a Monopoly marathon. We play a different Monopoly every year, we own so many now. It’s usually one big cheat-fest and it’s a hilarious time.
My favorite holiday tradition is my grandma carving the turkey! She is 91 now, has beaten cancer in the past few years and is still the matriarch of the turkey. She gets on a nice floral apron and carves it beautifully. One of us really should start apprenticing her!
Cookies! My family bakes lots and lots of Sugar cookies every Christmas. The season wouldn’t be the same without them.
Is wrapping presents a tradition? It’s one of my favorite things.
A true tradition, though new-ish, is breakfast casserole and coffee/tea on a blanket in front of the tree before my husband and I open presents.
Reading “The 24 Days Before Christmas” by Madeleine L’engle every December. When my daughter was little, we did some of the crafts and activities in the book.
It’s so hard to pick just one! I think it’s participating in the church Christmas concert.
Dried corn for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, and dried corn soup the next day for lunch with a turkey sandwich, after doing day after Thanksgiving or day after Christmas shopping/returns.
My parents always let us open one present on Christmas Eve. And it’s ALWAYS pajamas. When I was a kid, this was frustrating, but as an adult, I love it and look forward to some new jammies.
My favorite holiday tradition is getting a homemade ornament for the Christmas tree.
To be quite honest, I do nothing but relax! Life as an adult has finally taken its toll on me (I’m only 28 by the way). I really enjoy my quiet time at home reading and doing completely nothing.
But on the day of Christmas, I do attempt at cooking a non-traditional Christmas meal, mainly whatever we are craving for including french fries, burgers, pasta, you name it! I also go visit my boyfriend because you know, it’s Christmas. Lol
playing board games with my family on thanksgiving
Dinner at my dearest neighbors house on Christmas and playing Catch Phrase with all generations.
Looking at Christmas lights. When I was little, my parents would bundle me and my brother up and we’d all pile into the station wagon, drive down to 34th street in Hampden (Baltimore) and ooh and ahh at the insane light displays. There were hot chocolate venders on the street and it was so crowded the cars barely moved, but being in warm car with a hot chocolate, looking at all the light displays, was so magical. We did it for a while when I was in university, as well, and even though the car model had changed, my brother and I were older, and the crowds had gotten WAY worse, it was just as fun. Thinking about those memories gives me the warm and fuzzies!
Every year we make Great-Grandma Thomas’ Christmas cookies! Really old 1890’s recipe – takes 7 cups of flour! It takes so long to do we make it a week-end deal: Friday night, make dough, chill, Saturday rollout and use old family cookie cutters for the various shapes. Sunday – make several different colors of buttercream frosting and other sprinkles ‘n such, and decorate like crazy. Seriously, no other sugar cookie I’ve ever had compares to these wonderful treats.
Our favorite holiday is Halloween – our tradition is to meet at my Mom and Dad’s house, start dressing in our costumes, watch Garfield Halloween and The Great Pumpkin, and consume our annual feast of chili dogs, before heading out the door for trick or treats. My mom is a third grade teacher, so she likes to hand out candy and see old and current students all dressed up. After we haul the kids back to the house, everyone dumps out their candy in piles, and the trading begins. The parents excise the “candy tax”, and far too much sugar is consumed as we wind it down. What is there not to love about Halloween!
I made the mistake of using Julia Child’s mushroom soup recipe for Thanksgiving dinner (from scratch, butter galore) years ago. Everyone loved it so much if I don’t serve it on Thanksgiving, I have to on Christmas. (Arm twisting is involved.) Absolutely delicious and better the next day if there is any left. This is ironic since I don’t particularly like soup especially cream based soups and now it is what my sons and husband insist we have for the holidays. My advice–be careful what you laboriously prepare for the holidays cause you could wind up making it every year.
My favorite holiday tradition is the Thanksgiving meal with my family. However, it is not your typical American dinner, as my family is from Haiti. We end up eating rice with beans, turkey legs, fried plantain and pie for dessert.
my favorite tradition is something my family invented (as far as i know) called “candle time.” around christmas, you basically light candles, preferably a christmas carousel/pyramid, turn off the lights, and sing christmas carols together. we always did it when i was a kid and my brother and i would fight over who got to blow out the candles afterwards. now as an adult, i bought my own christmas pyramid and my husband humors me and sings along .<3 christmas magic.
We got married in Hawaii on Labor Day weekend, so every year we make sure to take a trip on that weekend to celebrate our anniversary. It’s now my favorite holiday.
My holiday tradition is my annual trip to NYC to Christmas shop. The sights and sounds and smells– the store windows, roasting chestnuts — sometimes going to The Nutcracker, sometimes the Met Museum. I taught my six year son how to hail cab one year.
My favorite tradition is all of the mandatory holiday food that is cooked for Thanksgiving – we always have super creamy mashed potatoes, duck, turkey roulades stuffed with sausage, ham, 2 types of stuffing, cranberry sauce, fried spinach and a myriad of Italian and Hungarian desserts!
Favorite tradition is inviting non-Americans to Thanksgiving. Overstuff people in an overstuffed home. Then we go out for a walk.
All the time we were growing up my mom would give my sister and me pajamas as a Christmas Eve present. (My dad’s family celebrates Noche Buena with lots of gift-giving, but whether we were with his family or not we could count on pajamas.) It was really so that we’d look cute and not shabby in our Christmas morning photographs, but the new matching PJs always made Christmas feel special, even when you were sleeping.
My favorite holiday tradition is making pork pie, a specialty handed down from my French-Canadian grandmothers. I can already taste it!
Hiking on Thanksgiving morning before we eat!
My favorite is watching my little kids open their presents on Christmas morning. I don’t even care if it’s 5:30 am (which it will be), they’re in their footie jammies and tousled hair, and so much excitement. I love it.
Anything food-related is my favorite! Christmas cookies, Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, Mid-autumn Festival mooncakes, my mom’s traditional cooking on Chinese New Year… the list goes on!
I love tromping through snow to cut down a Christmas Tree
Driving around to look at Christmas lights!
Watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade before we head to my Uncle’s to watch the Lions play.
My family decorates Christmas cookies on Christmas Eve. The more wine, the more silliness ensues.
Every year the tradition is spending time with family who we don’t normally see on a regular basis. We eat,laugh and play. It’s simple, but satisfying.
My mom used to bake cookies with us as kids on our days off for Christmas vacation, now she makes them with my kids while I’m at work. My oldest is 23 and he still wants a day to make cookies with his grandma 🙂
Decorating Christmas cookies!
For so many years my mother and I would set aside a weekend before Christmas…our annual baking fest! Tens of dozens of assorted cookies, quick breads and other goodies that were then distributed to neighbors, etc. Mom passed away a year ago, so I’m not sure the tradition will continue.
My family has many holiday traditions, but one of my favourites is with my mom. We own a clothing boutique together, and we always have to work until about 3 or 4 on Christmas Eve, so we always pop a bottle of bubbles in the afternoon to begin festivities before going home to the rest of the family. It always gets me in the holiday spirit 🙂
My favorite holiday tradition is time off of school.
We don’t have much in the way of family traditions, and the one I have can’t really be called a favorite. That would be the coming up one strand short EVERY year when I put up my tree tradition. EVERY year. Even when I’ve bought extra strands the year before. I bought four additional 1500 light strands last year on my annual 8am trek to Home Depot. Willing to bet real money I get to the last section and still come up short.
Our family does an anonymous gift-giving shindig, where everyone picks a gift and then there’s gift stealing and lots of laughter and delicious food. I personally also use the time to try out a bunch of new dessert recipes on my guinea pigs-oops, I mean family members 😉
My favorite holiday tradition is enjoying Mardi Gras parades in south Louisiana with as many family members as possible!