It's Not Christmas Without You

By HelenKay Dimon

I've always been an avid reader.  I was trying to think back the other day and remember if I liked holiday-themed books before I started writing.  Can't remember.  But now?  Love them.  I've been lucky enough to write three holiday novellas over the last few years.  The most recent one just came out, It's Not Christmas Without You in the Holiday Kisses anthology from Carina Press.

When the editor asked me to join in this anthology, my answer was easy – yes. I even knew what I wanted to write.  It's Not Christmas Without You is a "second chances" romance about an on-again, off-again couple who grew up together and seemingly grew apart.  He's a country boy at heart.  She wants to try the big city.  He believes everything is fine as is.  She wants their relationship to change. At heart, the hero is charmingly clueless and the heroine is frustrated by the hero's cluelessness.  I even knew where I wanted to set the book, back and forth between West Virginia and Washington, D.C.

All the parts fell together and the plot seemed clear.  Then I started thinking about why I was so excited to write this story.  Yeah, I love to write.  That wasn't it. This was something bigger, something about holiday romances that made me smile.  I turned it over in my mind, analyzing and contemplating.  Finally, I figured out that the books work for me, the theme makes me happy, because the books are filled with so much hope.  I already view hope as the point of romance novels.  Some folks say romance and love, but I truly think romance novels are about hope.  They’re about wading through all the tough stuff in life and finding that special someone.  The bad guys get caught.  People forgive wrongs.  The barn gets built.  Whatever the task, it gets resolved in a way that turns out to be the right way.  Combine that with the holiday spirit and all the good parts of the season (minus family fights at the dinner table and burnt turkey) and you get books about hope in the most hopeful season of all.

So, will my hero and heroine figure out their problems?  Yes.  It's a romance after all.  Will the holiday season play a role in the book?  Definitely.  Will holiday romance continue to bring hope and smiles?  If we're lucky, then yes. And those of us who write them and read them (and I do both) will know that there's nothing better than a romance to end the year.

Happy holidays!

HelenKay Dimon Bio

HelenKay Dimon, award winning author of romance and romantic suspense, was a divorce lawyer specializing in unhappy endings. One day, during a particularly difficult string of cases, a co-worker handed her a romance novel with the promise of a much-needed escape and a happy ending. She’s been reading -- and writing -- romance ever since.  Click Here to see a list of her many books available on Amazon.com.