Author: Sarina Langer
Book in the Collection: The Promise of Snow
Tell us about your characters in this story: So, Eloise had it bad for Hal when they went to school together. Teenagers aren’t the most romantic creatures on earth, so nothing came of it, then she moved away… You know how it goes. But then Eloise runs into Hal by accident (or magical divine intervention? You decide), they get talking, and he invites her to stay at his family’s home just up to Christmas so she can use their private library–for research, you understand. She realises that she still has it pretty bad, so, yes, she’s awkward around him. Little does she know that Hal had it just as bad for her, and spending all this time together–at one of the most magical times of the year–reminds both of them of their feelings for each other.
What made you decide to join this set? I’ve been wanting to write a Christmas story for years, so when this one came along, I couldn’t say no! That it’s a sweet romance just makes it all the more warming and perfect for the season.
If you had to use emojis only for your tagline, what would that look like?
📚☕🕯🛋❄💫😊
(*ahem* that’s hot chocolate, not coffee)
What can readers expect from this collection? All the cosy vibes - a private library, hot chocolate, a fireplace - and a touch of magic. It wouldn’t be my story otherwise. But is it real magic or coincidence? I’ll leave that up to you and your preference.
Excerpt:
I follow Hal into the living room and curl up in the armchair next to his sofa. It’s my favourite room besides the library—all warm woods, dark red fabrics, and a few more bookshelves. A large fireplace adorns one wall, and I have visions of us huddling before a crackling fire wrapped in a blanket. Maybe in each other’s arms. Just to warm up, of course.
Please, Aphrodite. It’s Christmas.
I sneer at myself and take a deep drink of my hot chocolate.
With the heavy snow clouds, it’s surprisingly dark in the room, so Hal turns on the lights. Warm accents hug the surfaces.
‘I’m sorry,’ I say after a minute. ‘I hope I’m not ruining your Christmas.’ I know he said he didn’t want to spend it with family anyway, but what if he was joking? This can’t be how he imagined it. Even if it was, I can’t help feeling like I’m intruding. I was supposed to be here for a few weeks, then go home. A part of me feels like I’m overstaying my welcome.
He raises his mug to toast me with his hot chocolate. ‘Not at all.’ Under his breath, he mutters, ‘Quite the contrary.’
My heart skips. What did he mean by that? Or did I imagine it?
‘I didn’t quite catch that.’
‘I said I couldn’t possibly ask you to drive home in this weather. It would be terribly irresponsible.’
Author Bio: Sarina Langer is a dark fantasy author of both epic and urban paranormal novels.
She’s as obsessed with books and stationery now as she was as a child, when she drowned her box of colour pencils in water so they wouldn’t die and scribbled her first stories on corridor walls.
(‘A first sign of things to come’, according to her mother. ‘Normal toddler behaviour’, according to Sarina.)
In her free time she usually reads one audiobook, one ebook, and one paperback (one for every occasion), plays video games, and obsesses over mythology.
She has a weakness for books on writing and pretty words. (Specificity, anyone? Or perhaps nebulous?)
Sarina lives with her partner and daughter (read: their cat) in the south of England.
Links: https://sarinalanger.com/
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