CHRISTMAS AT THE RANCH by Anita Hughes - Review & Giveaway

 

Last year we celebrated Christmas with Anita Hughes in her warm and fuzzy novel, A MAGICAL NEW YORK CHRISTMAS (StMartinsGriffin).

This holiday, we're off to Jackson Hole, Wyoming in her new novel, CHRISTMAS AT THE RANCH (StMartinsGriffin).

It’s days before Christmas and Samantha Morgan is in her Brooklyn apartment when her editor, Charlie, shows up. Her publisher Arthur Wentworth is throwing a Christmas party and wants Samantha to be the guest of honor. Samantha tries to come up with an excuse to miss it. She writes a series of books featuring a female James Bond-type heroine named Sloane Parker and Charlie is the only person who knows that Samantha is the opposite of Sloane, though the marketing team has built up an entire social media presence for her claiming that she is just as adventurous. In reality, Samantha rarely leaves her neighborhood and does her research online. She is afraid of almost everything and is only happy when she’s sitting in her apartment and writing.

Samantha reluctantly agrees to go. But instead of taking her to Arthur’s house in Connecticut, the driver goes to the airport. On the phone, Charlie admits that the party is at Arthur’s new ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. For a person who hates even walking around the block when it snows, this is her worst nightmare.

But when a handsome stranger sits next to her on the plane, things begin to look up. She feels comfortable enough to spill all her secrets to him, including all of her fears and the truth about her fake Instagram account. However, when she shows up at the house, it turns out that this man, Drew, is Arthur’s son. Now Samantha is worried that Drew will tell his father about her lies.

Over the course of Christmas week, Samantha grows closer to Drew. But when his fiancée, Beatrix (who recently gave him an ultimatum about settling down), shows up, things get more complicated. As Samantha’s fears of bison and giant icicles subside, and her feelings for Drew grow deeper, new fears develop…

Will she leave this Christmas adventure broken-hearted? Or will true love prevail?

Anita Hughes was born in Sydney, Australia and had a charmed childhood that included petting koala bears, riding the waves on Bondi Beach, and putting an occasional shrimp on the barbie. Her writing career began at the age of eight, when she won a national writing contest in THE AUSTRALIAN newspaper, and was named "One of Australia's Next Best Writers." (She still has the newspaper clipping.)

She received a B.A. in English Literature with a minor in Creative Writing from Bard College, and attended UC Berkeley's Masters in Creative Writing program.

Her debut novel MONARCH BEACH was released in June 2012, followed by MARKET STREET and LAKE COMO in 2013. FRENCH COAST and ROME IN LOVE were released in 2015.

ISLAND IN THE SEA: A MAJORCA LOVE STORY and SANTORINI SUNSETS and her first holiday novel, CHRISTMAS IN PARIS, were released in 2016.

WHITE SAND, BLUE SEA: A ST BARTS LOVE STORY, EMERALD COAST and CHRISTMAS IN LONDON were realeased in 2017. CALIFORNIA SUMMER and CHRISTMAS AT THE CHALET were released in 2018. CHRISTMAS IN VERMONT was released in October, 2019.  A MAGICAL NEW YORK CHRISTMAS was published last fall.

ROME IN LOVE is now a Hallmark movie! CHRISTMAS IN VERMONT is now a LIFETIME movie!

She lives in Dana Point, CA with her family, where she interrupts her writing to watch the glorious sunsets.