Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the most excellent blog series where I share snippets from works-in-progress, up-coming releases and published novels. Except for days like today, when I show off teasers from good writing buddies.

I’m thrilled to welcome romantic suspense author DB Tait to Teaser Tuesday again. I loved the first two books in her Dark Mountain series – Cold Deception and Desperate Deception – and was very excited to discover she’d be adding a Christmas novella in the series. Festive Deception hit virtual shelves last week and I can tell you this is a cracking story, chockers with fascinating characters, a gorgeous setting and red-herrings galore. You’ll have a ball with this one, I promise.

Here’s DB to tell you a bit more about it and share a snippet. And make sure you stay to the end because there just might be a giveaway!

Hi there Cathryn! I love Teaser Tuesday. It’s great to read all the snippets of some tantalising work from lots of talented authors.

My Christmas novella, Festive Deception is a bit of teaser too. It continues on the story of Julia and Dylan from Cold Deception and Desperate Deception, but has a bit more of a light-hearted feel as befits a Christmas story.

One of the challenges of writing a series is developing the main characters. In Festive Deception, Julia and Dylan are at a good place in their relationship, getting to know each other in more depth and revealing more about their vulnerabilities. Doubts and insecurities remain, especially for Julia who struggles with the realities of intimacy. But murder and mayhem are about to intrude into their lives again, distracting them for the time being about decisions regarding the future. That’s for the next book!

Dylan was her lover and her friend. If she was a little frightened about how important he had become in her life, she would deal with it and not run. Sometimes she wanted to run, not wanting the responsibility of love, but this morning was not one of those days. She had other things on her mind.

“I can hear you thinking. Did you know you were such a loud thinker?” Dylan murmured, his eyes still closed.

“I have a lot on my mind. In particular how to ravish you and still make my nine o’clock appointment.”

He opened his eyes, his wonderful grey eyes, raised his arms above his head and stretched like a sinuous cat. He gazed at her with a smile, letting their bedclothes fall away from his naked body. “Ravish away.”

She laughed as she straddled him, then laughed some more as he tickled her under her ribs. “That’s not fair!”

“You know the saying, all’s fair, etc,” he said, rolling her under him. He kissed her, she kissed him some more and after some very satisfactory mutual ravishment, he glanced at the bedside clock.

“No, no, no,” he said and leapt out of bed. “You are a wicked temptress. I’m going to be late and it’s all your fault.”

She saw the time and fell into her own panic. “Damn it. I’m going to be late too. It’s your fault for not being strong enough to resist seduction. I thought cops are supposed to be tough and controlled.”

He laughed and grabbed her for a last kiss. “Yeah, but we’re not stupid.”

Later, over hasty tea and toast, while compiling their various notes and folders for the day, Dylan sighed and looked at her with resignation. “I’m going to be late tonight. There’s an operation on out at Hartley that might be a bit complicated. I’ll call you.”

“No worries. I’ll make something that can be easily heated up.”

The lines around his eyes crinkled as he watched her. “How domestic we’ve become.”

“Does that worry you?” she asked, warily.

He shook his head. “I love it. Do you?”

“Yes. But …”

“You think it’s too good to be true and will end badly.”

He hit the nail on the head, which after six months, happened more often than she thought possible. Maybe that’s what love is.

“Do you still want to run?”

She took in a deep breath. “Not as often, but sometimes, yeah.”

He nodded. “Well, I have the whole weekend off and Monday as well. I thought we could get the spare room sorted out and set it up as your space. I know you do all your design work over at Eleanor and Dee’s place but it can’t be good not having your own space here.”

She stared into his eyes and fell for him all over again. Running would tear her apart. “That would be great.”

“I’m going to get a Christmas tree too.”

“Really?”

“Sure. I don’t have any Christmas decorations, so I thought I’d leave that for you to organize.”

Delight flooded through her. Her own Christmas tree with her own decorations. Putting up the tree had been a ritual in her mother’s house. Now she could make her own ritual.

“I get a staff discount,” she said. “I’ll can buy some of the glass ornaments.”

He grunted and collected all his work stuff. Satchel, phone, keys. “Hey. Good luck with Vincent Perrin. He’d be mad not to take you on.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “You could be a little biased.”

She scrambled to collect her own bits and pieces and followed him out the front door.  The day was already hot and still and smelled of eucalyptus. Her tiny hatch, old but serviceable, was parked in front of his public sector sedan. She threw her own satchel in the back seat of the car where the cushion Perrin had like so much sat and turned to Dylan.

They stood staring at each other.

“I love you, you know,” she said. “I don’t think I’m very good and letting you know.”

He smiled widely at her and folded her into his arms. “You’re better than you think you are, you time-wasting temptress.” He kissed her and held her face in his hands. “I love you too.”

Warmth and the dawning of belief that maybe they would make it, settled inside her.

“See you tonight.”

He nodded, climbed into his car and drove off.

She looked at her watch. Time to grow up and enter the real world.

See? Didn’t I tell you it was a fab read? And there is a whole novella more of that to sink your eyeballs into so why not satisfy your need for a great read by purchasing Festive Deception right now from Amazon, Kobo, iBooks and Nook.

Now, as sometimes happens on Teaser Tuesday, we have a…

GIVEAWAY!

Have you ever experienced Christmas out of your usual hemisphere? What was it like for you? Was it bizarre to be expiring with heat exhaustion on Christmas Day? Or magical to have a White Christmas and see snow for the first time?

For those who haven’t had the chance to spend Christmas elsewhere, what’s been your oddest or most fun Christmas or New Year experience?

Share your tale and you’ll go into the draw to win an ebook copy of Festive Deception.

I was fortunate enough to have three Christmases in Europe and it was amaaaazing! I didn’t miss the Australian heat at all. I was too busy stuffing my face with seriously delicious and naughty food and slurping mulled wine!

Please note: Giveaway closes midnight Friday 4th November 2016, AEST. Open internationally. Prize is an ebook copy – either mobi (for Kindle) or epub file – of Festive Deception.

Don’t have an e-reader? Not a problem. You can download reading apps for free to your smartphone, tablet or computer and read Festive Deception on there. Too easy!