12 Days of Christmas Reads – The Fourth Day: 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' by Susan May Warren

Welcome to the fourth day of my 12 Days of Christmas Reads giveaways! I hope you’ve been enjoying my guests so far. If you’ve missed any so far, don’t worry! There are links to previous posts at the bottom of this post (and there’s still time to enter the giveaways!) But for now, it’s time to meet author Susan May Warren!

Book covers in this post are affiliate links with Amazon. Click here for full disclosure.

~ Christmas with Susan May Warren ~

Favourite Christmas food – Oh, I’m a total wreck for decorated sugar Christmas cookies!  When I was little, my mom used to hide them in the freezer, in an effort to save them. As a result, I love them cold! (Did she seriously think I didn’t know where they were???)

Lol! Children are always smarter than we give them credit for!

Favourite Christmas memory – Funnily enough, one of my favorite memories is the Great Bun Throw. I had lost my mind one Christmas day when I was having trouble putting dinner on the table.  I burned a batch of dinner rolls (we call buns) and in fury, I took them outside and threw them, one by one, screaming, into the woods.  My son Pete came out and, after a moment of silence, picked up a bun and threw it.  The rest of the family soon joined it and it became a family tradition. The annual Bun Toss.

Love it! 😆

Favourite Christmas Day activity – Actually, it’s the EVE tradition I love the most. It started when I was a child. We always did a puzzle before Christmas, in time for Santa to put in the last piece. We still do an epic puzzle every year, as a family, while listening to my husband’s crazy Christmas playlist.

What a great idea!

My ideal Christmas Day weather – Blustery, cold, with snow falling!

What’s one of your family’s Christmas traditions? – On Christmas Eve, after church, we have Clam Chowder soup, then we open our “Christmas Eve gift”  (which, surprisingly is always pajamas!)  Then we change into our jammies and finish the puzzle while drinking egg nog.

Very cozy!

Strangest/most boring/worst present you’ve ever received –  I got a funny jacket once from my mother. It was a bed jacket, and was warm and fuzzy but only came to my waist. In the end, I liked it for keeping me warm on nights when I watched TV in bed. (yes, we do that)

No judging here 🙂

Most memorable/best present you’ve ever received – One year, my children got together and gave me a Mother-Child pendant and chain. It meant so much to me that my kids did this for me, I burst into tears. They still love talking about the Christmas they made mom cry.

But the MOST MEMORABLE was last year when my son, Pete, who is in the Navy, showed up on Christmas Eve as a surprise. I was so shocked—I thought he was still deployed! Talk about tears!

Yep. That would definitely start the water works!

If I was sitting on Santa’s knee right now, I’d ask him for . . . Hmm.  Nothing.  And I’d tell him to get his grubby hands off me.  No, I’m kidding, but I was never that mom who took her kids to see Santa. It felt weird for some strange old man to be taking a picture with my kids.  So…no Santa’s knee for me.

Same here, actually. Moving right along . . . 😉

If I was one of Santa’s elves, I would probably get the job of . . . Handing out hot cocoa to the workers.

Haha. Now we know who the most popular elf would be!

Christmas isn’t Christmas without . . . Christmas Eve service, Christmas cookies and Clam Chowder soup.

There’s something about a Christmas Eve service, isn’t there? 

This year, I’ll be celebrating Christmas with . . .  My family. Pete has leave, and the entire family is getting together at our home in Minneapolis.

This Christmas, I’m most looking forward to . . . Being with my family. (And now I’m getting nostalgic and weepy!)

#Sorrynotsorry 😊

Send a brief Christmas message to all your readers:   To my dear reader friends, thank you for your sweet words of encouragement, for reading my books and for passing them along.  I love what I do, and I work hard to write a story that will entertain, encourage and enrich.  It is a blessing to write for you! Have a rich and blessed Christmas Season! ~ Susie May

~ About the Author ~

Growing up in Minneapolis and attending the U of MN, I learned to love city life, although I’m a woodsy girl at heart. Or maybe I’m an adventurer — having lived and traveled all over the world, including Siberia Russia as a missionary for eight years. Probably that’s why my characters can’t sit still, and seem to get into one scrape after another — they’re too much like me! I love God, my family, my country, my church, and feel privileged every day to be able to write stories.

Here’s my “Official” Bio.

With over 1 million books sold, critically acclaimed novelist Susan May Warren is the Christy, RITA and Carol award-winning author of over forty-five novels with Tyndale, Barbour, Steeple Hill, and Summerside Press. Known for her compelling plots and unforgettable characters, Susan has written contemporary and historical romances, romantic-suspense, thrillers, rom-com and Christmas novellas.

With books translated into eight languages, many of her novels have been ECPA and CBA bestsellers, were chosen as Top Picks by Romantic Times, and have won the RWA’s Inspirational Reader’s Choice contest and the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year award. She’s a three time RITA finalist and an eight time Christy Finalist.

Of her books, Publisher’s Weekly has written, “Warren lays bare her characters’ human frailties, including fear, grief, and resentment, as openly as she details their virtues of love, devotion, and resiliency. She has crafted an engaging tale of romance, rivalry, and the power of forgiveness.” And Library Journal adds, “Warren’s characters are well-developed and she knows how to create a first rate contemporary romance…”

Susan is also a nationally acclaimed writing coach, teaching at conferences around the nation and winner of the 2009 American Christian Fiction Writers Mentor of the Year award. She loves to help people launch their writing careers and is the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com and www.LearnHowtoWriteaNovel.com, a writing website that helps authors get published and stay published. She’s also the author of the popular writing method, The Story Equation.

Connect with Susan:  Website  //  Facebook  //  Twitter

~ About the Book ~

Five near-strangers. One snowstorm. A Christmas that none of them will ever forget. 

Dottie Morgan has no desire to share her home or her heart over the Christmas holidays. After all, her Christmas spirit froze over when Dottie lost her son in World War II. Alone and bitter, she’d like nothing more than to hide and let the Christmas season pass her by.

After serving as a mechanic the Army’s motor pool, Violet Hart returned home to a community that didn’t quite know what to do with her. She’s not a soldier, but she’s not the girl-next-door, either. She’s resigned herself to being the spinster of Frost, Minnesota.

Former soldier Jake Ramsey is on a mission—return the letters written by Violet to his best friend, lost in battle. But Jake has been in love with Violet for years—about as long as he’s been keeping a secret that just might break her heart.

And then there’s Gordon Lindholm, the farmer from across the field who harbors his own grief—and love—for the woman he can’t forget.

When a blizzard of the decade traps Dottie in her home, along with Violet, Jake, Gordon and a wandering child in need of rescue, the strangers must band together to survive. And in doing so, they just might discover the magic of Christmas and a miracle that will heal all their hearts.

A classic tale born from the Ukrainian fairytale, The Mitten, rediscover the miracle of the Christmas spirit.

Amazon US  //  Amazon AU  //  Goodreads

~ Giveaway ~

Susie May is offering one lucky reader an eBook copy of Baby, It’s Cold Outside.

To enter, comment on this post (even if it’s just to say ‘Thanks for the giveaway’!) and then click here to go to the giveaway.

* This giveaway is run through Rafflecopter. See full Terms and Conditions here.

Thanks to Susie May for joining me today and generously providing the giveaway copy. Don’t forget to join me again tomorrow, when my special guest will be Lucette Nel!

Missed a previous 12 Days of Christmas Reads post? You can visit them via the links below:
4th December – Debra E. Marvin
5th December – Melissa Tagg
6th December – Erica Vetsch