Dear Reader,

I’ve always loved the basic premise of that old play and later movie Same Time, Next Year. Just the idea of two people agreeing to meet for an annual fling—well, it makes the author in me start asking questions and the reader in me want to know how that could ever realistically happen.

Unfortunately, in that old movie, the two people in question were married to other people. Their marriages constituted the “conflict” that kept them from ever making any real, lasting commitment to each other. For me, that simply did not fly and never would. Cheating is a total deal breaker for my romance-reading heart.

However. What if those two people were both single? What if there was something—or a series of somethings—in each of their life stories that made them unwilling to try again at love and commitment? What if their powerful attraction to each other had them mutually agreeing to be together at a level that both were ready for?

Count me in on that idea. And of course, being a romance writer, my mind and heart instantly moved on to how, in the end, they might come to discover that they are each other’s happily-ever-after.

In Same Time, Next Christmas, ex-soldier Matthias Bravo arrives at his rustic getaway cabin deep in the Oregon forest two days before Christmas during a doozy of a storm. Imagine his surprise when he finds farmer’s daughter Sabra Bond already inside seeking refuge from the torrential downpour...

I hope Matt and Sabra’s story warms your heart and reaffirms your belief in love and forever-after. Merry Christmas, everyone. May your New Year be filled with joy and good books.

Yours always,

Christine