Author Spotlight: Elsa Winckler Is Here with Christmas Joy!

I love hearing about how other author’s minds work as they’re writing and how sometimes we are surprised by what happens in our own books. The characters take over and we’re left with, “Really? That’s where you’re going?” It happened to my friend, Elsa Winckler as she wrote her newest holiday romance, which released on November 11, and she’s here to tell us all about it.

Elsa has been reading love stories for as long as she can remember and when she ‘met’ the classic authors like Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, Henry James, the Brontë sisters, etc. during her Honors studies, she was hooked for life.

Although her three gown-up children rarely acknowledge the fact they have a romance-writing mom, her husband fortunately, is very proud of her, reads every word and is happy to make sure she gets the kissing scenes just right.

She likes the heroines in her stories to be beautiful, feisty, independent and headstrong.  And the heroes must be strong but possess a generous amount of sensitivity. They are of course, also gorgeous.  Her stories typically incorporate the family background of the characters to better understand where they come from and who they are when we meet them in the story. To keep on all her new releases, you can find her at all these social media platforms:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | Threads | BookBub |Pinterest | Goodreads

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A big thank you to Nan Reinhardt who is always willing to share stories from other authors and thanks to everyone who stops by to join the fun – I appreciate the support!

One of my favorite romance tropes is a fake engagement – I mean, all the delicious possibilities! I have to confess though, when writing The Rancher’s Christmas Bride, having a fake engagement wasn’t part of my original idea. It just happened as you can see below:

(Willow is complaining about her mother who is always nudging her to get married)

“You’d think she’d be happy and content that her three sons are married, but no, she keeps pestering me to get a husband. She makes me so mad.”

“You don’t wanna get married?” he asked as he took out his wallet.

Willow touched his hand. “I’ll pay and no, I don’t want to get married. I’m simply not bride material.”

Shaking his head, he caught her hand in his. “I’m paying.”

“Don’t be silly, I …”

Ignoring her, he paid the bill and picked up two of the trays with hot chocolate. “Can you manage the other one?”

“Of course I can manage it,” she just about snarled.

He had a hard time not smiling. “Good. After you. Why?” he asked as they made their way through the crowd.

“Why what?” she asked as they left the shop.

Outside people were mingling around, laughing and talking.

“Why don’t you want to get married?” he asked, the last four words ringing out in an unexpected lull in the conversation outside the chocolate shop.

Willow’s mother inhaled sharply. “Willow?” she shrieked so loudly everyone around them turned their way. “I don’t believe my ears! Has Hunter just asked you to marry him?”

Next thing I know, Willow and Hunter are engaged and the story took on a whole new direction, one I hadn’t foreseen or planned. I’ve learned the hard way though, not to ignore what the characters want.

If you like cowboy stories, alpha heroes, small town romances and don’t mind a wee bit of magic, I hope you’ll enjoy this one!

GIVEAWAY! For a chance to win an e-book copy of Reckless with the Cowboy, Book 2 in The Westons of Montana series, tell me what your favorite romance trope is.

The Rancher’s Christmas Bride

Willow Weston, a well-known artist, is working on an upcoming exhibition in Seattle when her brother Hayden puts Hunter Grant in charge of managing The Weston Ranch.

She’s seen the big cowboy with the killer smile around town but so far has managed to ignore the instant tug at her heart when he’s around. But now he’s living on their ranch and is constantly getting in her way, even intruding when she’s swimming naked in her favorite private hot spring.

Like her grandmother, Willow is fey as her mother calls it. She knows when something is wrong and she experiences the feelings of those she loves. She’s made peace with the fact that she’ll never have a family or even consider marriage, but when she and Hunter ended up being fake-engaged, things get complicated. Apart from the fact that she doesn’t want the responsibility of one more person’s feelings to consider, Hunter has made it clear he’s only on the Weston Ranch temporarily. There’s a family ranch waiting for him in Colorado.

There’s no way they can be together forever, is there?

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