Holiday Classics and Republishing Favorites

by Lori Perkins, Publisher

I've been creating books in epublishing for close to a decade now, and as an editor and publisher, I''ve published a lot of Christmas titles.  It always amazes me that the Christmas zeitgeist can be re-interpreted (and recycled, if you will) so consistently and enthusiastically every year.

Every once in a while, something stands out and a new Christmas classic is born.  We see this most often in the movies we watch every year.  When I was growing up it was just A Wonderful Life, White Christmas, and Miracle on 34th Street. Then A Christmas Story came along and that became a TBS annual classic.  The 90's brought us Home Alone and The Santa Clause, and the 2000's Elf.  My son and I are also partial to Die Hard on Christmas Eve and The Nightmare Before Christmas, but we know that they are not on everybody's must-see list. We rotate through the list every year but each time we re-watch one, it brings back all the old joy (we always say how well-written The Santa Clause and Elf are) and we find new things we missed or didn't appreciate the first or second time around.

Well that also happens with re-reading old Christmas tales I published a few years ago when I was the Editorial Director of Ravenous Romance, but they faded into the past.  This year, I was fortunate enough to be able to republish four of my RR titles, and it is such a joy to reacquaint myself with the characters and situations, and remember how charmed I was by their innovation.

I had been working with Trinity Blacio on her Running in Fear series (which we will be reprinting starting January 2017 - all nine books, plus the last one in the series), and she shocked me by sending in a rather long Christmas book I wasn't expecting.  I had NO idea what it was about, and it started with some bizarre reference to an old Christmas legend.  As I read and edited on, I chuckled at how Trinity managed to bring her love of supernatural hotties to the Christmas story - two single women were going on an Xmas vacation to an island owned by vampires.  And I laughed a little more when it turned out that the main character's boss just happened to be a vampire, with a hot twin brother, whose family owned vampire island.  But as I read further into the novel, Trinity blew me away with her creative interpretation of the Christmas mythos.  Let's just say this is the kitchen sink of Christmas stories with every supernatural twist you could imagine, plus kink.  You will never read anything quite like The Naughty Angel and Her Three Very Wise Men (https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thenaughtyangelandherthreeverywisemen-2192083-147.html), unless you count the sequel, Naughty Mommy and Santa's Helpers (https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-naughtymommyandsantashelpers-2193099-340.html)  and the all new, The Naughty Stepbrothers (https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thenaughtystepbrothers-2193166-340.html).

I had also been working with Ryan Field at Ravenous with his M/M retelling of straight classics.  He had paid homage to A Christmas Carol with A Christmas Carl (https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-achristmascarl-2192087-340.html.) Set in contemporary New York instead of London of the 1840's, Ryan introduces us to Carl Smite, a miserly antiques dealer in Greenwich Village who gets visits from Christmas ghosts, including Quentin Crisp!  It's both funny and heart-warming.  I am just so glad to give this book a second chance.

Also republished this year is Forever Bound with Tinsel  (https://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html) by Chloe Stowe.  Chloe has a very hot M/M series set during Don't Ask, Don't Tell featuring a military doctor and an Air Force pilot. This was a novella set in that universe that took place over the holidays. It had been part of a three novella collection, but I remembered it being charmingly steamy and wanted to bring it back, before we re-released Chloe's entire Bound series, which we will do this year.

In addition to the books I mentioned, I have to suggest that everyone read DL King's A Scarlet Christmas (https://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html), which is a Femme Domme retelling of A Christmas Carol.  Let's face it - everyone knows Scrooge needs a spanking - and DL King really gives him one, and more.  This is a unique treasure (and there's also some Hanukah erotica in Festival of Lights).

Christmas comes to Magic University (https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-magicuniversitythecompleteseriesamagicalnewadultromanceboxset-1950518-344.html), Cecilia Tan's breath-taking paranormal tale set in a college of supernatural learning, in Christmas Magic (https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-christmasmagic-2180675-143.html).  This amazing series is a box set.  Imagine Harry Potter goes to college and they all study sex magic.  A must-read!

I am also quite taken with Rachel Kenley's Her Stepbrother's Christmas Gift (https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-herstepbrotherschristmasgiftaonceuponastepbrothernovella-1951825-340.html), which is a charming retelling of The Nutcracker with the added naughty bonus of stepbrother intrigue.  It's part of Rachel's whole Once Upon a Stepbrother series, which is fabulously romantic.

And I love our new Scoring with Santa (https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-scoringwithsanta-2184328-149.html) by Theresa Roemer and Renee Rose. It's a Hallmark quality contemporary Christmas romance, but with the expected amount of Riverdale Avenue Books eroticism.  This Santa is hot!

All these titles are 50% Off on Allromance ebooks through the holidays, so please indulge yourself.