Oct 30, 2016

Sunday Smooch with Kandy Shepherd

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!


Today we have a smooch from Kandy Shepherd but first 


... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is... LynLill Williams!



Can you please contact Melanie Milburne at

melaniemilburne (at) gmail (dot) com 

to receive your copy of Unwrapping His Convenient Fiancée

And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Greek Tycoon's Mistletoe Proposal



A proposal of convenience! 

When billionaire Lukas Christophedes finds maid Ashleigh gatecrashing his mansion, he strikes a bargain: if Ashleigh acts as Lukas's girlfriend to help him close a deal, she can stay until the New Year! 

For newly single Ashleigh, agreeing to keep hearts off the table sounds easy…until the line between what's real and what's for show starts to blur! And as Christmas approaches, all Ashleigh is wishing for is a different, much more heartfelt, proposal…


Scene set-up
When Aussie runaway bride and temporary maid Ashleigh Murphy has an accommodation crisis in London at Christmas time, she decides to squat in the Chelsea townhouse of Greek billionaire Lukas Christophedes. Lukas is furious when he discovers her. Reluctantly she agrees to be his pretend girlfriend to help him close a deal, after a  Pretty Woman type makeover. But the deal doesn't close easily. Ashleigh is thrown more into Lukas's company than she bargained for - and the more time she spends with them the more attracted she is to him. Lukas is beguiled by lovely Ashleigh but he has his reasons for holding back from the enchanting intruder. Trouble is, all that fake flirting and pretend kissing means the sensual tension between them is building. Finally they face each other after a dinner party where they've been pretending to be a loving couple...

Smooch 
It was as if all Ashleigh’s fantasies had come to life. As soon as she and Lukas reached the pavement outside Tina’s apartment, he turned her to him, looked deep into her face. She thrilled to the intensity of his eyes, the way they narrowed as he searched her face, the sensual half curve of his mouth. Then, without a word, he pulled her close to him.


Finally, the truth—no words required. His quickened breathing told her all she needed to know. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. Her gasp of impatience, of want, no doubt sent the same message to him.

Then his mouth was on hers, hard, warm, exciting, demanding a response. She parted her lips, welcomed him, kissed him back. It felt as if she’d waited all her life for this. For him.

It hadn’t started sweet and gentle and went straight to deep and demanding—an urgent meeting of mouths and tongues, of bodies straining hard against each other. His overcoat was open. She splayed her hands on his hard chest and pushed him to the wall behind him. At last. This. Lukas. Her heart thudded loud and fast. He slid his hands inside her coat, to pull her close—as close as she could be to his body through layers of winter clothes. Her nipples tightened as desire pulsed through her in a wave that demanded more. He held her so close to his body she felt his response, hard and insistent, which further inflamed her. She wanted him.

‘Lukas,’ she moaned. ‘Why did we wait so long for this?’

He stilled. She knew immediately she’d said the wrong thing. ‘We didn’t,’ he said, his voice hoarse and strained. ‘I’ve only known you a week.’

‘That’s long enough,’ she said, her voice raspy with desire.

For what?’

‘For this,’ she said, lifting her face to his, hungry for his mouth to possess hers again.





Greek Tycoon's Mistletoe Proposal is my November release from Harlequin Romance (Cherish in the UK, Forever Romance in Australia and New Zealand).

Greek Tycoon's Mistletoe Proposal is the second in the Maids Under the Mistletoe mini series from Harlequin Romance . Four friends who have fallen on difficult times work for Maids in Chelsea, an upmarket employment agency, and find love. Each book about the Christmas Cinderellas stands alone but are linked. There's also a fifth story, written by me, Claiming His Christmas Bride which is the free, online read at harlequin.com right now! Clio Caldwell, the owner of the agency, meets up again with former fiancée, sizzling Spaniard Enrique di Costa. Will the chance meeting lead them up the aisle as a Christmas bride? 

I love writing Christmas stories and these two were particularly fun as they were set in London in winter - a different experience for folk from Down Under who have a summer  Christmas.

Do you have a Christmas tradition that you maintain no matter where you are, summer or winter, during the festive season?
Leave your comment for a chance to win a signed copy of Greek Tycoon's Mistletoe Proposal (all regions).

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a smooch from Yvonne Lindsay will be posted!


Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver

32 comments:

  1. We have to wait until the "appointed hour" for all of us to come downstairs together to open the presents Christmas morning. When I was a kid, that time was 8 am. When my kids became teenagers, that time got changed to 9 am (although they wanted 10 am). Now that we are all adults, we've kept it at 9 am (because who doesn't want that little bit of extra sleep?).

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    1. What a lovely custom Laney, and at the civilised hour of 9am. When my daughter was little she'd be up at the crack of dawn and we'd let her open one present and give us some more time in bed. But after that, we all had to be together for present opening.

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  2. Woohoo I loved this story it really is beautiful and Lukas is a swoon worthy hero and Ashleigh is just the heroine he needs :)

    We have to all be together open the presents and my children and their children come over to our place early Christmas morning to open presents of what fun and it is noisy :)

    Have Fun
    Helen

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    1. So glad you enjoyed the story, Helen. It must be such fun on Christmas morning with your children and grandchildren. Young kids really make the day, don't they!

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  3. I have been waiting for this book to be released ---we meet for lunch then open the presents --Lyn W

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    1. Lunch first and presents afterwards - that sounds like a good idea Lyn! So hope you enjoy the book when you get a chance to read it.

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  4. Lovely Smooch, Kandy!

    Regardless of where we spend Christmas Day, Mr Douglas and I always settle down in the evening (usually just the two of us) to enjoy a glass of bubbles and a piece of fruitcake. It's my favourite part of the day. :-)

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    1. What a civilised way to spend Christmas evening, Michelle! An excellent custom to continue.

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  5. We have to have some sort of Christmas tree no matter where we are. Tree has been quite a liberal term at times. I can remember a driftwood tree we scrapped together one year. This was a year we had Christmas at the coast. We made milk bottle top decorations. That's going back decades now.

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    1. I love the idea of your driftwood Christmas tree, Mary. How creative!

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  6. Great smooch, Kandy.

    We always have champagne and Christmas presents first up in the morning by the Christmas tree. Nice to start the day with bubbles and fun.

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    1. That sounds like a wonderful way to o start Christmas Day, Jen!

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  7. I love the smooch! Looks like a great read to me. Our Christmas starts at 6 pm on December 24th (the German way of celebrating Christmas, hubby had a German mother and he brought this tradition with him) we have a lovely dinner (probably duck or goose) with wine. As it's only the two of us, it's a quiet time of love and celebration.

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    1. Thank you for the kind words about the smooch, Riet. Your Christmas Eve dinner sounds like a lovely way to kick off the celebrations. For several years we had a party on Christmas Eve and everyone loved it.

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    2. And I even haven't mentioned what we do New Year's Eve...wiggles eyebrows, wicked grin

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  8. Kandy, I so want to read this book! It looks just the sort of story for this time of year.

    We always wait till everyone's up to open the pressies. Though when the children were young that gave them time for lots of excited whispers as they poked about under the tree.

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    1. The book is very Christmas-y Annie! I suspect in your house no-one was allowed to sleep in on Christmas morning if presents were there to be opened...

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  9. Hi Kandy,
    Gorgeous smooch!
    Our tradition is there is always roast turkey and Christmas pudding and we don't open presents until everyone is present. And even though our boys are adults we still leave port and a mince pie on the mantle piece for Santa! 😊

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    1. Your Christmas sounds traditional and lovely, Melanie. And I'm sure Santa is as appreciative of the port and mince pie!

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  10. Hi Kandy - Wonderful smooch . We open our presents on Christmas morning after we open our stockings.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the smooch, Tammy! Your Christmas morning sounds lovely.

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  11. Every Christmas is the same. Me up waiting for everyone else to get up, then join my family for lunch... Then we have Boxing day with hubby's family... much easier ;) and two days of family fun. Got this book coming from the UK as a single book since we have the double books and getting all four maids series. sounds so good. :D Jan.xx

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    1. Your Christmas sounds full on and lots of fun, Jan! Thank you for ordering the book, I hope you enjoy it and the other stories in the series

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  12. Hello Kandy , I love the novels over Christmas.
    The Christmas tradition of my family is to spend on Christmas day together, parents, siblings, grandchildren, to open presents, eat, and play together, big and small at the bingo. Here to me, Christmas is in winter, so we hope that in this period there is also a bit 'of snow, although I do not like.

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    1. What a marvellous family gathering for Christmas Franca, it sounds so warm-hearted and happy!

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  13. we open one gift christmas eve pjs..lol.... and except for the year I had my strokes we always spend christmas at my moms...always.. only missed it once in coming up on 50 years

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    1. Diana, opening a gift on Christmas Eve sounds like a great idea. So glad you've been able to keep up the tradition of Christmas at your mom's for all those years.

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  14. Great smooch, Kandy! Very passionate. So much chemistry with these two :)

    Christmas traditions have been disrupted ever since Justin and I moved to Canada. Since we have no family here a lot of what we used to do doesn't happen now, but we're starting to make our own traditions here.

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    1. Thanks Stefanie, this story might be "sweet" but it's very sensual! I love these characters they were such fun to write.
      Starting to make your own traditions is a great idea - so different to be in Canada in the cold than the Aussie heat!

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  15. One present Christmas Eve! Wait until everyone is up to open gifts. Donamaekutska7@gmail.com

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    1. A present on Christmas Eve is a great idea isn't it Donamae. When I was a kid we went to midnight mass and were allowed to open a present after that - then the rest had to wait until morning and everyone was up.

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