What’s on the Roof Top? #holiday #duet

Today seemed like a good day to revisit my lone Christmas story. The idea for it was born from a visit with Genie Davis. We were wondering why we’d never written anything together, even though we’d been friends for a long time. Somehow, out of that discussion, the idea for Open With Care was born. 

So inside the book, you’ll find two novellas:

Unexpected guests come bearing gifts. This interstellar Christmas will be one for the ages…

Gini won’t let her bickering family or the incoming blizzard dampen her holiday spirits. But nothing could prepare her for the uninvited houseguests. She’s not sure if she’s ready to exchange gifts with the man who broke her heart or the little green aliens on the roof. 

But the intergalactic visitors have a gift for Gini… a taste of the youth and love she left behind…

Jane MacKenzie has never opened a Christmas gift that transformed her world. At least, not until she accidentally opens a box to find a man who was lost in a blizzard over 100 years ago. Jane isn’t sure how to handle the strange visitor and his otherworldly agreement…

But the Christmastime encounter may just open her heart to a love that can stand the test of time. 

Open With Care contains two sci-fi romances inspired by the spirit of gift giving. If you like simmering chemistry, snowy Wyoming settings, and family drama, then you’ll love Genie Davis and Pauline Baird Jones’ festive story set. 

Buy Open With Care today to discover why love isn’t alien on Christmas!

Read an excerpt from “Up on the House Top,” my story in the duet:

They needed help, but who were they gonna call, assuming they could find the phone and it worked? Alien busters? How did they explain this? Who would believe them? Isaac had taken their transition to peer okay, but what kind of authority would any of them have over Daphne? Assuming she could be convinced they were who they said they were. Gini didn’t believe it. At least she wasn’t willingly believing it. Why should Daphne believe them? “We should call their—we should call Bif.” 

He wouldn’t believe them, but he’d have to come. Might already be on the way, she thought with scant hope. Like Dex, she found herself wondering if their emergency might be related in some way to this alien contact—which was pretty much the only emergency at NASA she could imagine. Not that she believed yet. She could still wake up wondering what she ate last night to bring this on. Couldn’t she?

“And how do we do that? I hit no bars on my cell about five miles from here.” Dex suddenly looked more his physical age as the enormity of their problem began to dawn on him. 

There was no land line up here. “Mom has some kind of phone phone service through the dish.” Gini wasn’t sure how it all worked. She looked at Desi, who was still “writing” patterns on the wooden floor, her thin arms outstretched. As far as she could tell, her mom’s brain hadn’t gotten younger, just her body. “For emergencies. It’s got to be here somewhere. Pleasance wouldn’t bring her up here with no way to get help, particularly this time of year. I think we have to sweep the snow off the dish though.” She glanced toward the window. Piled up snow had collected on the ledges, blocking about half the view. The remaining glass was fogged over. She crossed over and rubbed a circle into fog and peered out. Huge white drifts filled what was usually a meadow or clearing in the summer. Snow weighed down the branches of the pine trees that raggedly surrounded the clearing, giving it a picture postcard perfection—

She gasped and jumped back. 

“What?” Dex hurried to her side, glanced out, then wrenched open the door to the back porch. 

In the deep snow from last night’s storm, they clearly saw the pattern of really, really small footprints going across the rear porch, down the steps and then around the side of the house. As if on cue, they heard the click of something walking across the rooftop. 

Gini looked up, like she could see through the ceiling, then looked at Dex. “Reindeer paws?”  

So I hope you enjoyed the excerpt! I had a lot of fun writing this Christmas story. If you want to check it out, just click here.

Perilously yours,

Pauline

P.S. Open With Care also has accumulated some fun reviews:

“Genie Davis’ Riding for Christmas takes a story of aliens and time travel and romance and throws it all in a blender and makes a truly engrossing storyline. Jane and Sam draw you to them no matter the timeline, you just want it to work for them.” Amazon Reviewer

“Up on the Housetop rocks, rolls, and rules Christmas for SciFi fans. Gini is a geek SciFi writer and even goes to conventions, how did she get stuck in a PA job in Dallas. Gini’s mom Desi is one crazy character, add in the uber handsome ex Dex, and her recently married sister’s step kids and aliens and all hilarity breaks loose. I could not put this story down. 5 bright shiny stars!” Amazon Reviewer

“These two stories have a Christmas, alien encounter, fun love story – what’s not to love? They are each unique from each other, but really fun! It’s snowing here and this is a perfect book to read by the fire during the Christmas season! I think anyone from teens up would enjoy these two stories!” Amazon Reviewer

“The first, Riding For Christmas, was sweet and it gave you those “awwwww” moments. It will make you root for Sam and Jane. I have to say that for no other reason except that it made me laugh, I enjoyed Up On the House Top more. It seriously cracked me up. I can’t give you details as there would be spoilers but it was the funniest take on a Christmas story that I’ve read in a long time.” Amazon Reviewer

“In fact, the story is downright quirky—but entirely magical in a family Christmas sort of way. Because of all it’s outlandishness and complicated twists, the plot would be a real challenge to sum up in a brief narrative…so I won’t even try. Suffice it to say that Jones pulls off her enchanting story with a total flair that left me smiling, and yes, once again, in the Christmas spirit.” Amazon reviewer about “Up on the House Top” in Open With Care

“True to my expectations, the novella left me feeling terrific. All I wanted to do was to curl up in the living room with only the sparkling Christmas tree lights turned on and my daydreams for company.” Amazon Reviewer about “Riding for Christmas” in Open with Care

“I picked up All I Got For Christmas because I am a fan of Pauline Baird Jones. I love her off-beat sense of humor, whether she is writing Sci Fi or Steampunk or Suspense. So I knew I would like at least half of this book. Ms. Davis is a new-to-me author. I am delighted that the two authors decided to collaborate on this project.” Amazon Reviewer

“Christmas stories with aliens. What a cool idea. Fun to read. Two wonderful stories by two excellent authors. Check this one out.” Amazon Reviewer

“Up on the House Top is as magical as its counterpart in the anthology. With the magic comes a healthy does of family togetherness, quirkiness, and Christmas spirit. Just another Pauline Baird Jones book that left me smiling!” Amazon Reviewer