He Came Upon A Midnight Clear....oh and Happy Humpday too!

DAY THREE - HAPPY HUNKY DAYS!

Happiest of Holidays from the Guilty Indulgence Book Club. We are pleased to be with you every day and hope you will all join us for our annual Happy Hunky-days - Twelve fun filled days of Christmas where we treat you with gifts of joy and happiness (aka free books and very yummy eye candy!). Please join us daily and all registered commenters will get a chance to win some really great books from our Stash of Goodness as we know you have all tried so very hard to be good this year!!! (Seriously, you can even be quite naughty and still get free books and swag - just register and comment!)

My read for the week is one by a favorite author, Cat Johnson. Normally she has her readers twisted around her little cowboy lovin' finger, however, she has some really excellent contemporaries and military genre type tales as well. This particular holiday contemporary is one of those stories that nabs your heart and makes it it's own. I take the time every year to read this special Christmas tale because, quite frankly, it thaws my wayward cynical heart a little bit and reminds me not only of the beauty and promise of the holiday season but the hope that springs eternal when a person is willing to open their heart to the possibility of love. I found it as a free read I think one year on ARE (All Romance eBooks for those of you new to ebook formats - this is a majorly awesome site to do one stop shopping for ebooks produced by numerous smaller epub houses and some great deals can be found, along with some new authors!)

HE CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR, Cat Johnson, Phaze Books, 2006
A lonely writer, a snow storm and a sexy man with amnesia...all the makings for one hot Christmas Eve! Can Ginny find the inspiration she needs to get her career, and love life, out of the cold?

Sometimes the holidays just get to be too much - too much baggage, too much hype, too much happy around you. Ginny is a struggling writer who decides to bypass the "too much" and takes a position as a caretaker of a remote cabin in the hopes that the peace and quiet will inspire her muse. Her friends and family have exciting plans for gatherings and trips to NYC. Now, if only she could get past her writer's block, oh and the relationships block, and the life's goals block....generating lists meant to inspire, she drifts asleep only to awaken at a sound in the night. Heading out into the dark, snowy night, she finds a barely conscious man with total amnesia. Decisions, decisions - or maybe a sign. Ginny brings the man in and saves his life. Yes, it does involve rewarming the old fashioned way....with blankets and body heat. And what happens next is nothing short of a Christmas miracle!

Like It's A Wonderful Life, the glimpse of passion, of human connection seems to unlock the blocks that Ginny has. While her mystery man may have disappeared with the dawning of the light of Christmas morning, the inspiration he leaves her with changes her outlook - she writes, she reconnects with her family for the holiday, she rediscovers herself. But dreams aren't the same as reality....or are they? Leave it to Ginny to find out the truth!

Like a batch of warm Christmas cookies, this sweet holiday treat is worth it's small weight in gold. I give it five chocolate covered strawberries, by a warm fire with a mysterious stranger and wait for my own Christmas miracle!