'Santa Wore Leathers' by Vonnie Davis

I'm so pleased to welcome Vonnie Davis. She's just released a Christmas story in true Vonnie fashion.

Welcome to Coffee Talk, Vonnie. The blog is all yours. 

Sandra, thanks for having me as a guest today. I know how busy you’ve been with family obligations.  Many adults of a “certain age” are taking care of both teenaged children and their senior parents. These adults are being torn in two directions with the pressures pulling at them from both sides. Yet, for all the hard times, there are good times, too. Tender times.  Sweet times.

When Calvin and I met, his ninety-year- old mother was living with him. He was firmly devoted to caring for her. As she and I became acquainted, we learned we had similar childhoods, having both grown up on farms. This gave us a common ground for many conversations, taking care of farm animals and gardening. She would often wake up grumpy and I would have her laughing before she was dressed.

Every morning she would watch the Jerry Springer Show while I’d make her bed and straighten her room. When pandemonium would erupt, Oleatha would shake her head and say, “They have the damndest people on this show.” But she’d hold the remote in an ironclad grip so you couldn’t change the channel.

Laughter. We shared a lot of laughter. It’s a cross-generational activity. That’s why I created Mrs. Minelli as a secondary character in my Christmas novella, Santa Wore Leathers. She is a spunky senior citizen who will say most anything—and in many ways, she is my alter-ego. And, of course, Einstein a thong-stealing dog adds a great deal of humor, too.

EXCERPT:

Wolf strode to Becca’s townhouse, rang the doorbell and waited.

Finally, her door opened, and he was greeted with a scowl.

“What?” She tugged the lapels of her short white silky robe together.

“I…ah…” His gaze snagged on all those ample curves showcased by the slinky material. I…ah…”

“You said that already.” She fisted a hand on her hip.

Einstein cannonballed around Becca with something red clamped in his jaws. He streaked across the grass, his strong muscles propelling him as he circled both of their yards.

“Get back in here!” Becca pointed into her house.

Einstein loped across the grass and shrubbery, ignoring his owner’s command.

Maybe if he acted the hero and returned the pet to its owner, he’d gain a few brownie points. “Stay here. I’ll get him.” Wolf took off after the dog. Seeing he was being chased only made Einstein run faster. Wolf followed him twice around the yard in front of Becca’s house. The dog leapt over a flowerbed and stopped, his head lowered, shaking his prize, his hind end elevated, wiggling in excitement.

“Give me that.” Wolf stepped to the right around the flowerbed. The dog trotted to the left. In a quick move, he sprinted to the left and the dog dashed to the right. “Think you’re smart, don’t you?” He could have sworn the dog smiled. Wolf leapt across the blooms, hoping to grab the smartass canine. Once he’d grabbed the collar, they rolled, and Einstein yelped. Wolf grimaced as he, too, rolled across a low-growing cactus and into the trunk of a palm tree. “Dammit.”

The dog whined and dropped the fabric to lick and bite at the prickly thorns in his groin.

“Easy now, Einstein.” Wolf cooed as he slipped his Swiss army knife from the front pocket of his jeans.

“What’s wrong? What’s going on? What are you doing with that knife?” Becca tugged on the hem of her short robe and glanced up and down the street as if she thought to run out into the yard.

“Stay where you are. He’ll be fine. He’s got some thorns in his hide.” Wolf removed the tweezers stored in a slot of the knife and began extracting the offending needles. “We can’t have an awesome fella like you in pain now, can we?” He worked as quickly as he could. “One more, big guy, and then you’ll be fine.” The dog licked him several times. “Yeah, I like you too. Let’s keep what I’m about to do just between us, shall we?” He ran his fingers over the affected groin area, keeping his attentions on the dog’s reactions. “Looks like we got them all.”

“What in blue blazes are you doing to that dog? Are you performing some kind of ‘beasty-wildy’ on him?” Mrs. Minelli, his neighbor, punctured the air with her cane, her white eyebrows arched in question.

He fought the urge to laugh. “No, Mrs. Minelli. I was taking out thorns.”

She cocked her head to the side, her cataract-clouded eyes wide. “In his penis?”

BLURB:

There’s only one thing on Becca Sinclair’s Christmas list this holiday season – her very own column in the local paper. And if she can build a huge blog following, her wish just might come true.

Enter Dan “Wolf” Wolford aka the man-whore next door and the new star of Becca’s popular, post-divorce blog about men. A Navy SEAL turned commander of the Florida Marine Rescue Unit, Wolf’s the very definition of the word alpha – and with an endless rotation of women on his doorstep, this hunk on a Harley has Becca and her female followers all hot and bothered!

All Becca wants for Christmas is her newspaper column, right? But when she finds herself the target of Wolf’s irresistible attentions, her snarky comebacks become less and less convincing and, suddenly, she’s not so sure anymore…

BUY LINKS:

AMAZON ~ http://bit.ly/SantaLeathers

BARNES & NOBLE ~  http://bit.ly/1846Aau

Vonnie Davis likens herself to a French croissant—warm, crusty, wrinkled and flaky—best served with strong coffee. Having read romance since the late sixties, she’s seen a lot of changes in the genre she loves. All of her stories are infused with humor, family connections and lots of sizzle. She lives in southern Virginia with her author husband she met online. Ah, now there’s a romantic story.

Please visit her at her blog: http://www.vintagevonnie.blogspot.com

Or follow her on Facebook: Vonnie Davis.

She tweets under VonnieWrites, if you care to follow her in the twitterverse.