I’m not buying it. Anyone who has lived with a cat for even a short period of time knows there is a whole lot more going on behind those beautiful green (or gold) eyes. Cats love deeply and well. Their families are everything to them. They don’t always show it, but that’s because life has shown them just how fleeting things like happiness and security can be.
I grew up in Queens (New York City) in a two-family house that sometimes resembled a cat shelter. Both my mother and Aunt Betty (our landlady) believed in feeding the feral cats who wandered the streets and on frigid winter nights, they had been known to keep the front door open to the vestibule so they could take shelter.
I can’t count how many times I rushed downstairs to head for school, opened the inner door, and found myself wearing four or five cats on my cat! Yes, it made me a little wary (more than a little!) but I loved my mom and Aunt Betty for caring enough to open their hearts and home to the strays.
Yes, quite a few of the strays and their litters came to stay and I carried that “rescue” mentality with me when I married and moved away. Over the years, my husband and I have rescued more cats and kittens than I can count. Let’s face it: finding a home for an adorable fluffball of a kitten is easy. Finding a home for a senior citizen was something else again. But oh the satisfaction when a wise old feline has a place to call home.
And that’s how The Year the Cat Saved Christmas came about. Anyone who has ever known (or been owned by) a Maine coon cat can attest to the fact that they are the star of the show. They’re big, fluffy, strong, wise, and unflappable. And they love deeply. The Maine coons of my acquaintance were devoted to their families, even if they didn’t always show it and if anything happened to break up that family—well, there wasn’t much a Maine coon wouldn’t do to make things right again.
Christmas used to be the happiest time of the year in the big house on the hill. But this year when the clock strikes midnight on Christmas Day, it will all be over. Can Sebastian, a wily Maine Coon cat, find a way to bring his people back home or will this holiday be their last?
I’ll bet you know the answer to that question, but if you want to see how Sebastian makes it happen, I hope you’ll pick up a copy of The Year the Cat Saved Christmas and find out.
Happy Holidays!
Sam, an elderly calico, who found a home with my parents and brought her own brand of magic into their lives.
Mochas, Mysteries and More Review: This incredibly sweet novella introduces readers to Sebastian, an aging Maine Coon cat who must take matters into his own paws in order to save his crumbling family. Moving back and forth from Sebastian's voice to that of his humans, we're able to get a glimpse inside everyone's thoughts as the story unfolds. I love this line from a section of the story where Sebastian is discussing how a cat must cope with being dressed up at Christmas: The first person who tried to make him wear snow boots or a bow around his neck would find himself picking kitty litter out of his teeth for a year.
While a happy ending is guaranteed (this is a Christmas romance, after all), it does feature a surprise that will melt the hearts of even the Christmas cynics out there. I guarantee it.
The Year the Cat Saved Christmas
Barbara Bretton
Barbara Bretton
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: Free Spirit Press
ISBN: 9781940665009
ASIN: B00FEXP44K
Number of pages: 80
Word Count: 22,000
Amazon Smashwords BN iTunes Kobo Book Description:
Christmas used to be the happiest time of the year in the big house on the hill. But this year when the clock strikes midnight on Christmas Day, it will all be over. Can Sebastian, a wily Maine Coon cat, find a way to bring his people back home or will this holiday be their last?
Previously published as "Home for the Holidays" in Penguin Berkley's anthology "The Christmas Cat."
Barbara Bretton is the USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of more than 40 books. She currently has over ten million copies in print around the world. Her works have been translated into twelve languages in over twenty countries.
Barbara has been featured in articles in The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Romantic Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Herald News, Home News, Somerset Gazette,among others, and has been interviewed by Independent Network News Television, appeared on the Susan Stamberg Show on NPR, and been featured in an interview with Charles Osgood of WCBS, among others.
Her awards include both Reviewer's Choice and Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times; Gold and Silver certificates from Affaire de Coeur; the RWA Region 1 Golden Leaf; and several sales awards from Bookrak. Ms. Bretton was included in a recent edition of Contemporary Authors.
Barbara loves to spend as much time as possible in Maine with her husband, walking the rocky beaches and dreaming up plots for upcoming books.
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