A Modern Midlife Christmas Carol
Christmas cheer was dead, to begin with.
The world rests on Eliza’s shoulders. The kids, her husband, work, her elderly mother and don’t forget her newest friend, perimenopause. It’s too much to carry, but she’s been doing it for years. It’s just what a good wife and mother does, isn’t it?
When another Christmas rolls around, Eliza is drained by all the expectations and logistics of the holiday season. She’s fast approaching her breaking point, only no one around her notices she’s on the edge.
After an incident at her in-law’s on Christmas Eve brings things to a boiling point, she finds herself with three unexpected visitors. The spirits of the past, present, and future take her on a journey through her life to shake her out of the rut she’s gotten into. Their messages leave her with new possibilities: reconnect with her past, reclaim her present, or forge a new future, and you, the reader, decide which option is best!
Purchase Links
https://books2read.com/u/3kw7gO
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DDHX2854
Alana Oxford is a Michigan author of romcoms, sweet romance, and humorous women's fiction.
She wants her stories to bring sunshine and smiles to her readers.
She enjoys improv comedy, moody music, everything book related, and has an ongoing love affair with the United Kingdom.
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Excerpt
This scene takes place on the long car ride to Eliza’s brother-in-law’s house. He is Edward, his young wife is Dymond, and their three-year-old son is Derby. Eliza is married to Jacob and traveling with their two teenage children, Bella and Bobby.
She tried to stretch her legs out as far as she could while inside a vehicle. She was tired and sore from being in the car for hours, heading toward people she didn’t want to be with, for a holiday that felt like a prison sentence.
“Who’s getting excited?” Jacob’s voice was annoyingly chipper.
Another tiny piece of Eliza’s spirit shriveled up and died, never to be revived. No. Excitement was certainly not on the menu for this holiday experience, but she had foreboding and dread in spades.
It seemed like she’d only just started to recover from the debacle that was Thanksgiving when Christmas staggered onto the scene like a bombastic visitor who didn’t know when to call it a night. The holiday season was a brutal and relentless beast.
“Five miles to go until our exit! We’ll be there before you know it!” Jacob was like Clark Griswold from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation getting stupidly excited about his light display.
Eliza side-eyed her husband from the passenger seat. She had no idea what was making him so giddy when all she could imagine was Derby running around destroying things for a week straight, while Edward bragged about money and vacations, and Dymond pouted at her phone to make every second Insta-worthy.
Bella and Bobby had their earbuds firmly in place since they’d entered the vehicle hours before. It was a wonder their eyes hadn’t permanently dried out and crumbled to dust from staring at their phones the whole way. They hadn’t heard a word their father said, nor would they care if they had. Family events weren’t the definition of excitement for most teenagers of any generation, and certainly not for these two.
The silence answering Jacob’s question stretched on, but Eliza couldn’t bear to respond. It wasn’t a secret to Jacob that Eliza was no fan of Dymond’s. Not that she’d been besties with Edward’s first wife either, but at least Michelle had spoken regular English, not the social media jargon gibberish Dymond used. Eliza didn’t understand half the things Dymond talked about, nor did she care. She had real life to deal with. Who had time to worry about curating a fake visual guide to their lives for strangers on an app?
Giveaway
Giveaway to Win an ebook of The Gingerbread Christmas Village by Kiley Dunbar (Open to UK & US Only)
Alana Oxford has kindly said that she would like to do an ebook giveaway for another author who writes charming and cozy Christmas books.
A Kindle copy of The Gingerbread Christmas Village by Kiley Dunbar, which is a lovely holiday romance featuring a protagonist in her early 60s.
*Terms and Conditions –UK & US entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email.
If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s RandomResources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information.
This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize.
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