Review, Guest Post & Giveaway: Miss Kane's Christmas by Caroline Mickelson

Miss Kane's Christmas

Miss Kane's Christmas
Caroline Mickelson

Genre: Holiday Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Bon Accord Press

Date of Publication: October 17, 2012

Number of pages: 154

Available at the following retailers:
Amazon     BN     Kobo

With Christmas only three days away, Carol Claus agrees to her father's request that she leave the North Pole on a mission to help save Christmas. Joining single father Ben Hanson and his children for the holidays seems an easy enough task until Santa informs her that Ben is the man behind the disturbing new book 'Beyond Bah Humbug: Why Lying to Your Children about Santa Claus is a Bad Idea'.

Posing as Miss Kane, the children's new nanny, Carol pulls out all the stops to show Ben how fun Christmas can be, all the while struggling to understand how one man could hate the holidays so much. How could she, Santa's only daughter, be so attracted to a man who refuses to believe her father exists?

Excerpt: 

Carol grabbed ahold of Tinsel’s shoulder and pulled him back into the kitchen by the scruff of his green felt collar. “Get in here,” she hissed. “Quick, before anyone sees you.”

“What?” Tinsel objected. “Why are you acting like this? We’re here to help you.”

“Well it won’t help me if you’re seen,” Carol shot back. She threw up her hands. “Look, Tinsel, please go back out to the garage and wait with Jolly until everyone has gone to bed.”

“Rapz is here with us too,” Tinsel said, his voice suddenly a stage whisper.

“What?” Carol sounded frantic and she knew it, but she couldn’t help it. The day had been long. She’d never lived in such a Christmas hostile environment. Acting casual about the holidays was proving to be exhausting. She closed her eyes for a second. Focus, Carol, she instructed herself. Breathe deeply. She was a seasoned professional who managed over twelve hundred elves, often under very hectic circumstances. She could handle this. “Rapz is a loose cannon. Why couldn’t he have just stayed in the wrapping department?”

“Nicholas said-”

“Nicholas?” Carol shook her head. So this was her brother’s doing, his idea of a joke. She should have known her father wouldn’t send a wrapper elf. Like all of Santa’s helpers, Rapz’s heart was in the right place. But he paid more attention to wearing just the right sun glasses and gold chains than he did to all the little details that were necessary to make Christmas magical. “Never mind what my brother said. I just need you three to stay out of sight until I can get everyone to sleep and the house is quiet.”

Tinsel winked, clearly finding the situation amusing. “Can do.”

“Miss Kane?” Ben’s voice called from the living room. “What’s going on in there?”

She cringed. Oh, holy holiday, had he heard Tinsel?

“I’ll be right there, Mr. Hanson,” she answered. She shooed Tinsel in the direction of the garage. “Just stay out of sight.” She turned back to the elf. “Go on. I’ll get them all upstairs and then I’ll come get you.”

As soon as Tinsel slipped into the garage, Carol headed toward the living room but she took only a few steps before she bumped straight into Ben Hanson.

“Owww.” Ben staggered backward and held up his good hand to keep Carol from coming any closer. “Who’s in the kitchen with you?”

“No one.” Carol reached out but he backed away.

“I heard voices.” Ben’s voice held an accusatory tone.

“Voices?” Carol shook her head. “The medicine must be playing tricks on you.” She tried to maneuver him back into the living room but he wouldn’t budge. “Do you want me to call the doctor?”

“No, I don’t want you to call the doctor.” He drew his brows together in an expression that was equal parts confusion and annoyance.

Ben’s frown, Carol decided, was rather attractive. She smiled. She couldn’t help herself.

“And just what is so funny?” Ben demanded.

“I always smile during the holidays,” Carol said. “Now, we really need to get you up to bed.” She gently turned him toward the staircase. “Let’s say goodnight to the children and then get you between the sheets.”

Guest Post: 

Christmas has always been about family and gifts to me. The family part has never changed for me – I love spending time with family. It’s the best part of the holiday hands down. Gifts are a close second but now that I’m older I’m not talking about the kind you wrap in pretty, shiny paper and top off with ribbons. It used to be about that when I was a child, oh, how I loved my new books all wrapped on Christmas morning! But now that I’m the mom to two pre-teens and two teenagers I see Christmas as the time I get to sit back and think back over the last year and be grateful for the gift of happy moments, the gift of family, of good health, of time to write and time to read. Any new friends I made that year are a gift and any time I spent with old friends is a gift too. Another year with my husband? A gift! So although I can’t unwrap these gifts, I love them every bit as much as the toys and books I received as a child.

Judith - Thank you for hosting Miss Kane’s Christmas on your blog site. A very happy holiday to you and your blog readers
~ Caroline

Review: 

There is something about the Christmas season that makes most people smile a little brighter, laugh a little longer and forgive a little faster. It is the one time all year that we go out of our way to live the 'goodwill towards men' lifestyle. Why? Maybe because for most of us, we retain memories and echoes of the feelings of magic and hope from our childhood Christmases. Dreams of Santa, the elves, North Pole and a sleigh pulled by magical reindeer, were encouraged and built upon year after year. Only a true Scrooge could deny the beauty of seeing the wonder in a child's eyes during the Christmas season. And that is exactly what we have in this book, a Scrooge.  He can't even seem to help himself, even though he is not actually deliberately trying to remove all the joy from his children's young lives.

The story opens on Santa giving his daughter Carol an assignment. She will be playing the part of a nanny for a young girl and boy who's father, Ben, doesn't believe in Christmas. She has just a matter of days to show him the true meaning of Christmas and restore his Christmas spirit.  Otherwise his book, Beyond Bah Humbug: Why Lying to Your Child about Santa is a Bad Idea could affect Christmas for an untold number of children around the world.

I will be honest, the romance portion of this book, just didn't do it for me. It didn't make sense to me how they managed to fall in love so quickly. But changing Ben's mind about Christmas was well played. I enjoyed watching him see his children change before his eyes and his realization of what he was doing to them was well written and touching. I adored the elves, especially Rapz, and wish I had gotten to see more of them and the kids were hoot. Overall, if you are looking for a feel good story, with a reminder of why the Christmas spirit is important, then this was a great read. I have it 3 stars on Goodreads.

Giveaway: 

2 $20 Amazon Gift Cards

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Tour Info: 
Don't forget to check out the other stops on the Book Tour:

November 18:
Chick Lit Plus – Review

November 19:
Chick Lit Goddess – Excerpt
Book Mama Blog – Guest Post & Excerpt

November 20:
Mrs. Mommy Booknerd’s Book Reviews – Review & Excerpt

November 22:
Everything Books and Authors – Excerpt

November 25:
Keep Calm and Blog On – Review

November 26:
Musings and Ramblings – Review, Guest Post & Excerpt

December 1:
The Book Bag – Review, Guest Post & Excerpt

December 4:
Storm Goddess Book Reviews – Review, Guest Post & Excerpt

December 6:
Jersey Girl Book Reviews – Review, Guest Post & Excerpt

December 9:
Samantha March – Q&A & Excerpt

Author Bio:

Caroline Mickelson loves her family and loves to write. She also loves a good adventure, among her favorites thus far were attending graduate school in a Scottish castle, riding a camel around the Pyramids in Giza, and taking a best-in-a-lifetime road trip to Graceland. Caroline lives in the American southwest with her husband and their four children, affectionately known as The Miracles.

To connect with the author online:

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