We continue our Sizzle in the Snow: A Soul Mate Christmas Collection debut today with Ryan Jo Summers and her story Tamed by Christmas.

 
Blurb

‘Tamed by Christmas’ part of the Sizzle in the Snow: A Soul Mate Christmas Collection Anthology

 Sometimes the roadblocks in our happiness are put there by our own unintentional deign. Such is the case for Paige Carson.

She and fiancé Shane Bailey lost their unborn daughter four years ago and Paige has not been able to move past the pain. Surrendering to the fact they don’t have much left in their relationship beyond lustful sex, she moves across the state and begins a new life.

However, they stay in touch, never quite making that final cut. Finally, deciding to stop living a dual life and to give their withering relationship one final chance, Paige returns to Shane and their hometown to spend some time with him over Christmas.

Can the magic of the holiday and Shane’s love for Paige be enough to make her want to stay in Bristol Beach after the New Year? Or will she return to her new home, forever running away?

Sometimes is hard to know if you should put out a fire that is still burning–or turn up the heat.

***

Excerpt–

 ‘Tamed by Christmas‘: from the Sizzle in the Snow SMP Anthology:

     Paige pulled back. “Shane, I have to share something first, to be totally honest with you.”

     “Uh oh.” He released her hand and leaned back, crossing one leg over the other, waiting. Again, his expression caused her heart to skip a couple beats. That baleful look he did so well.

     She fiddled with her coat hem, trying to find the right words.

     “Just try what comes to mind, Paige. It’s bound to be the most accurate.”

     She drew in a breath, laced with cold air. “Sometimes I feel like we’re only lying to each other.”

     His brows arched in twin peaks of surprise. “Excuse me?”

     “I mean that our relationship is based on those lies. Like all we can do right is make love and there’s nothing solid beyond that.”

     He shook his head. “I’m not following you.”

     She fiddled with the hem again until he stopped her, resting his hand over hers. She wondered how he could feel so warm when she was so cold inside.

     “Not actual verbal lies, I mean more to ourselves in thinking we even have a real relationship, beyond the sex.”

     “Ah, I got you now.” He nodded, withdrawing his hand, leaving her even colder. His baleful look deepened, causing a chill to slide up Paige’s spine.

“Sometimes I feel as though there’s this wall between us. It’s real big. And I try but can’t figure out how to get over that wall.”

     Her heart plummeted and she gave a mirthless laugh. “Lies and walls.” She held his gaze for a moment, licking her lips. “Are we really just kidding ourselves here, Shane?”

***

More books by Ryan Jo:

  

CHASING THE PAINTED SKIES BLURB: (Available November 11, 2015)

     Raven Koynes is a woman in hiding. Years ago she escaped to remote Gull Island Light Station, nestled far away in Lake Superior. She has carved out a life of peace and solitude for herself. Until famed nature photographer Sebastian Knight arrives–in the height of a nor’easter storm–to document the beauty of Gull Island. Unsavory treasure hunters also blow in with the storm, determined to find missing cargo from a sunken ship. And they are positive Raven knows where it’s stashed. A power outage from the storm traps everyone at her keeper’s cottage, fellow prisoners of the storm.

     Between her attraction to handsome Sebastian and the unwelcome advances and threats of the hunters, Raven is pushed to her limit. Help arrives in the form of a stray German Shepherd Dog, who takes an immediate protective interest in Raven. He becomes her constant shadow and listening ear as she sorts out her growing–and conflicting–feelings for Sebastian.

     Meanwhile, Sebastian came to the island looking for treasure as well, in the form of photographs. While he isn’t so sure about missing cargo, he only needs to look at Raven Koynes to know he’s found his own valuable treasure. One he hopes he can hang on to if she learns about his mysterious secret.

     Now that Madeline the resident ghost has found out, it’s probably just a matter of time until Raven does too. And with the storm and power outage, no one is going anywhere any time soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
 WHEN CLOUDS GATHER

      Darby Adams has a happy life operating a Bed & Breakfast Inn at quiet Driftwood Shores, raising her son and caring for a menagerie of stray pets. Until she finds a dead guest in one of her rooms–murdered. Suddenly her home and business is turned into a crime scene and she is the number one suspect. Caught in a whirlwind, she needs a strong friend.

    The surviving family wants to make sure Darby fully pays for her crime, so they hire new-in-town Private Investigator Sam Golden, to find the facts and have Darby put away for good. Sam begins his case in a dual role, acting as a friend for Darby. Between dodging disasters and riding out calamities, Darby begins to see a future with Sam and herself. As strange, scary, things happen around the B & B. Sam has to rethink his original opinions on Darby’s guilt or innocence.

    Then the fateful day comes Sam has to confess his dual role to Darby, pulling them apart, tearing out her heart and destroying any chance for their developing romance. But when a larger, more serious danger threatens them all, Darby knows she has to trust Sam’s instincts once more. However, she isn’t so sure she can trust him with her heart.

~~~~~~~~~

  
 SHIMMERS OF STARDUST 

     Civil War hero turned renegade, Logan Riley, is hanged by the law in 1869. His story should have ended there. Except Anthropologist Dr. McKenzie Lynne is hired by a team of physicists, protected by the military, to find a valuable missing link to their time travel theories. She finds Logan, in the back on a cave, buried in glittering gold dust and very much alive. Taking him to the base camp, she learns what they really want him for. Horrified, she reacts, bolting and talking their living treasure with her.

     Now pursued by the military and the obsessed physicists who will stop at nothing to get their quantum link back, Kenzie and Logan must fight to stay alive and stay hidden. Covering distances in the deserts and mountains of New Mexico and Arizona, each moment is a challenge to stay alive and one step ahead of the hunters. Staying free means a lifetime on the run, but getting captured means a terrible consequence for both of them.

     Meanwhile. Kenzie’s strong Christian faith works on Logan’s bad-boy heart, convicting him of his lawless past, better than the hangman’s noose had. With Kenzie’s help, he tries to allow the grace of God into his life while fighting to preserve both of theirs. Undeniable affections bloom between them as tense moments turn into longer periods of growing love. Can their newly formed love survive the coming showdown between the armed military closing in, determined physicists, Kenzie’s Christian morals and Logan’s nineteenth century cowboy code of outlaw justice? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
WHISPERS IN HER HEART

     Season Moriarty has just landed that once-in-a-lifetime job, head trainer at the prestigious and world famous Heritage Farms. She is charged with turning Ty Masters’ unruly colt, Sky Hunter, into a successful winner. She is positive she can do that if only she can get him off her back long enough to prove it.

     There is something spooky about his new head trainer. Ty is drawn to her, mystified as much as he admires her. However, the strange things she can do does not stop at taming willful horses.

     When a sinister threat rises against the racehorses, especially Sky Hunter, Season will stop at nothing to protect her charges. That includes using some Irish magic to solve the crimes and maybe a little Irish charm to soothe the temper of her handsome boss. 
Author Bio:

Ryan Jo Summers is a North Carolina author who specializes in writing romances with a twist. Love stories blended with inspirational, paranormal, suspense or time travel–or several at once. She also writes non-fiction for regional periodicals. Ryan’s dad is a songwriter and his aunt wrote poetry so she claims she came by her writing skill honestly. Apparently it’s in the genes.

Her hobbies include bird-watching, houseplants, poetry and yard work. She loves to gather with friends, hike in the forest with her dog, paint ceramics and canvas and work on wiggly word find puzzles. She lives in a 1920 cottage with a menagerie of pets. Living in the mountains, she dreams of the shore and frequently uses the water as scenes for her stories.

Where to buy Ryan Jo’s books:

http://www.amazon.com/Whispers-her-Heart-Ryan-Summers-ebook/dp/B00A7HW6EE

http://www.amazon.com/Shimmers-Stardust-Ryan-Jo-Summers-ebook/dp/B00ND818J8

http://www.amazon.com/When-Clouds-Gather-Ryan-Summers-ebook/dp/B00Q5MVTFM

Where to find Ryan Jo:

WEBSITE: www.ryanjosummers.com 

 BLOG: http:summersrye.wordpress.com 
 FB: www.facebook.com/pages/Ryan-Jo-Summers-author-page/312875648810797