Book Extract: I’m Glad I Found You This Christmas by CP Ward

I’m glad I found you this Christmas – an uplifting sweet romance set against the magical backdrop of Christmas.

Maggie Coates is frustrated. Her longterm boyfriend, Dirk, recently moved to London to take a job she fears puts him out of her league. Despite the assurances of her best friend Renee, Maggie is convinced Dirk is slowly drifting away. All Maggie wants is to get married and settle down, but maybe Dirk has other ideas.

Convinced by Renee to make one last throw of the dice, Maggie books a romantic holiday for two in the quaint Scottish village of Hollydell. But will Dirk show up?

And if he doesn’t, what if there is a perfect man waiting for her among the Christmas magic of Hollydell’s snow-laden streets? What if Henry, the humble reindeer farmer with the kind smile, turns out to be the man of Maggie’s dreams?

I’m glad I found you this Christmas is a glowing sweet romance which will leave you feeling warm inside and buzzing with Christmas spirit.

I am very pleased to welcome the blog tour for the first Christmas novel by CP Ward. He has shared an extract from I’m Glad I Found You This Christmas today. Enjoy. 

***** start of extract*****

In this excerpt, Maggie has just arrived in Hollydell.

The tall pines, some hung with strings of Christmas lights, were a polite distance back from the road to allay any fears of wolves or bears, just in case she wasn’t still in Scotland after all, but during her little doze the train had somehow flown all the way to Switzerland or Canada and deposited her somewhere with lots of extra dangers to worry about. The road curved through the trees, refusing to let her see too far ahead, but while there were no signs of cars, someone had at least cleared a line through the snow on the pavement to allow the wheels of her little bag to move freely. She was glad now that she had brought her new boots and jacket, because among the trees the temperature was a couple of degrees cooler than out in the open.

She was starting to wonder if the curving road wasn’t some sort of elaborate joke, winding back to the train station where Andrew would be waiting to take her back to Inverness with a mocking grin on his face, when it suddenly opened out, revealing the village up ahead.

Maggie let out a little gasp. Her first instinct was to call Renee, but the thought of intruding on this quaint little place with something as modern as a phone felt wrong. She dropped her hands by her sides, and stared in wonder.

Christmas card perfect, Hollydell spread out before her in a glittering field of Christmas lights. The village hall was a Tudor-style two-storey building just in front of her, then off to the right was a wide square with a Christmas tree standing in its centre, at least three times the height of the one outside the station. A cluster of wooden market stalls stood along one edge of the square, closed up for the night. There was a little post office, and a cluster of restaurants with lights in their windows and the shadows of people inside pressing against the frosted glass. And set back from the village square along roads that wound back into the trees were rows of quaint cottages, their pixie-house pointed roofs laden with snow. Christmas lights lined windows and guttering and garden walls. Snowmen stood on pavements, and sleds stood leaned up against fences. Over the top of everything came the faint tinkle of traditional Christmas music.

‘Maggie Coates?’ came a woman’s voice.

Maggie turned. A woman wearing a woollen check coat was standing outside the village hall’s door, beckoning to her.

‘Welcome, welcome,’ she said, as Maggie walked over. ‘Please come inside. I just made some hot chocolate.’

***** end of extract*****

About CP Ward: 

CP Ward is a writer from the UK who currently lives and works in Japan. This is his first Christmas book.

Visit his Website – www.amillionmilesfromanywhere.net

I’m Glad I Found You This Christmas is available to buy now.

Click to view on Amazon US 

Click to view on Amazon UK 

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.