I’ve been working on a secret project… (Long post ahead!)

Each year, I like to release a holiday romance—it’s become a Christmas tradition for me. But, *this* year, I thought…let’s mix it up a bit. I was chatting with my buddy Katie Reus, and we decided it would be super fun to invite other romantic suspense authors to participate in a holiday romance anthology with us. The rules were simple: All of the stories would be set in the same small town (North Pole, Montana), and each author would contribute a NEW, short story for the collection.

And we wanted to make this anthology FREE for readers. FREE—as in, our Christmas gift to you.

That’s how MISTLETOE AND MAYHEM was born.

MISTLETOE AND MAYHEM will be officially releasing on November 10, 2026. The entire collection contains over 100,000 words—and, again, our goal is to give this anthology to readers as a free gift.

Right now, you can pre-order MISTLETOE AND MAYHEM for free at Nook, Google Play, and the Amazon US store. Please note—for my international readers—the international Amazon stores are NOT showing the free price at this time. I am working to try and get the international Amazon stores to price match for me. However, my international readers can currently pre-order the anthology for free at Google Play.

Also, when the book is released, it will be available at Kobo Books and Apple Books (and both US and international readers will be able to download the book for free at these retailers). Apple Books and Kobo do not allow pre-orders on free books, so that is why you do not have a pre-order option at those retailers. But rest assured, when the title goes live on November 10th, it will be free at Apple Books and Kobo.

MISTLETOE AND MAYHEM will contain five stories:

CHRISTMAS RECRUIT by Janie Crouch

FALLING FOR A HITMAN by Katie Reus

WHEN THE SNOW FALLS by Isabel Jolie

FEELING FROSTY by Ivy Beck

WHEN HE SLEIGHS by Cynthia Eden

My contribution to the anthology, WHEN HE SLEIGHS, is actually going to be a “Protector and Defender Christmas Romance” novella…and here’s the blurb for you…

𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞…

US Marshal Flynn Krane has one item on his holiday to-do list—protect Kate Sawyer. Two years ago, he gave gorgeous Kate a new identity, a new home, and he walked away—even as it broke his heart. He fell hard for Kate but staying with her wasn’t a possibility.

𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤.

Kate’s criminal ex has found her—and sent a hitman to take her out. But Flynn is not going to let that happen. He’ll guard Kate, they’ll set a trap for the contract killer, and, if he’s lucky, Kate will give Flynn a second chance to win her heart. Because this time, nothing will make him walk away.

I am super excited for this anthology! You guys all know how Christmas obsessed I can be.

Thank you all so very, very much for the support and encouragement that you have given to me over the years. I hope that you enjoy the holiday gift!!

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 16th, 2026 at 1:07 pm and is filed under Romance, Latest News. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS feed. You can skip to the end and leave a comment. Pinging is currently not allowed.