Thank you all for coming to my DECK THE HALLS party!  All of the giveaways are now closed.  I will go back through all the comments (and make sure none were caught in moderation or accidentally marked as spam by the system).  I’ll start announcing winners (and sending direct emails to those winners) tonight.

But, just because the party is over, that doesn’t mean that you can’t still win other things.

Here are a few other events that are going on now:

Over at the Brava Blog, I’m giving away a $10 Amazon.com gift card.

At Book Lovin’ Mamas, you can enter to win a digital copy of ANGEL IN CHAINS and $15 gift card.

And at the Under The Covers Book Blog, three Fallen books are being given away.

Thank you, again, for helping me to celebrate. And please stay tuned for the list of winners!!!

Update: The winner of the SHUTTERFLY gift card is…elaing8 ! Caridad also offered up the prize of her novella, NOCTURNAL WHISPERS–the winner of that novella is Raonaid.  Congrats!!

I can’t believe it–our last party post!!! Where did the day (and night) go?! Please remember, though, that all giveaways will stay open until noon (Central time) tomorrow. So if you haven’t entered all of the giveaways yet, there’s still time!!

And, since this is the last post, well, the perfect party person is wrapping things up for us–my friend (and amazingly talented author) Caridad Pineiro. Caridad, thank you so much for coming by! It’s always a pleasure when you visit!

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There are so many special things about the upcoming Christmas holidays and I want to thank Cynthia for having me here to share them with you!  So in no particular order, here goes:

The one movie I always try to watch is HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS.  I love the ending where the Grinch realizes what is the true gift of the holiday season.

My favorite dessert, other than my sister’s wonderful flan, is fruit cake.  I’m the only one in my family that likes it, so I always have to buy myself a little loaf to enjoy.

The song that always makes me cry is “I’ll be home for Christmas.”  I guess I cry because I know there are many people, like our military and their families, that can’t be home and I’m very thankful for them and the sacrifices they make for us.

I love walking in the woods with my hubby and daughter to pick out a tree and chop it down.

My favorite food is roast pork on Christmas Eve.  This is a family tradition since we’re of Cuban descent, but I also make my hubby’s favorite – stuffed squid – since he’s of Italian descent.

I love spending time with my family and friends on Christmas Eve!  It’s great to get together, share what’s happening in our lives, and enjoy the wonderful spirit of the holidays.

I do like getting gifts on Christmas Eve and when Santa comes on Christmas Day, but I also love giving  to others.  I try to do that in a variety of ways and this year this hits especially close to home in light of all the damage that Hurricane Sandy has done to my beloved Jersey Shore.

To help others, I’m going to donate my share of the proceeds from sales of my newest release, THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE, from now until March 1, 2013 to the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund.  THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE is available for download at Amazon via this link: http://amzn.to/UFCKRO or buy it at B&N with this link: http://bit.ly/WxipEv.

Thank you, Cynthia for having me with you today.  I want to wish you and everyone else a very happy holiday season and share this picture of me and my little sister with you!  The tree reminds me of a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, another holiday favorite of mine.

Caridad, I love that picture!! And thank you for sharing your favorite holiday things with us…And now it’s time for readers to share. What are “a few of your favorite things” about the holidays?  Since Caridad shared a photo, she inspired this post’s prize–a $25 gift certificate to Shutterfly.com. With the gift certificate, you can print holiday greeting cards–or even print up the photos that capture your new holiday memories. 

Thank you all so much for coming to my party. I hope you enjoyed the posts! Happy Holidays!    –Cynthia

Update: The Godiva Chocolate is going to…Joyce! Congrats!!

Ready for another great holiday recipe?  This time, author Janet Breakfield is here to offer up a dish for readers–and one lucky commenter will win

So…are you in the mood for something sweet? (Heck, when am I not in the mood for that?) On to Janet’s post!!

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Here’s a little something sweet for your holiday season!

A southern tradition around this time of year is “White Pecan Fudge”

Recipe:

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

1/3 cup light corn syrup

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla or rum extract

1/4 cup candied cherries

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Combine sugar, sour cream, corn syrup, butter and salt in saucepan; bring to boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil, without stirring, to 236 degrees on candy thermometer, or until a little mixture dropped in cold water forms a ball. Remove from heat and let stand about 15 minutes; don not stir. Add flavoring and beat until mixture starts to lose its gloss, 8 or 9 minutes. Quickly stir in cherries and pecans; then pour into greased 8 x 8 inch utility dish. Cool; cut into squares. Makes about 1 1/2 pounds of candy.

Enjoy!

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Oh, Janet, I will!!! And since you offered a sweet recipe, I will go with a sweet theme–for this giveaway, one commenter will win a box of Godiva chocolate (that counts as sweet, right?) To enter the giveaway, tell Janet your favorite decadent treat…or you can leave her a question, too. All comments work!

And now, for a peek at Janet’s latest work…

Bayou Guardian was released on Halloween Day 2012 and is the third book in the Bayou Series following Bayou Legend and then Sacred Bayou. It and all my books are available at amazon.com, smashwords.com, booksamillion.com.

Or visit my webiste at janetbreakfield.com.

About the story:

Wildlife photographer Olyvia Rayne has just learned of her Father’s death and must return to Pier Part, Louisiana to take care of his affairs. She hasn’t seen her father in over eleven years, having left the bayou with her Mother to live in Baton Rouge when she was fifteen. Now at twenty six, she hasn’t seen her high school friend Gunner Robichaux since she left. And he’s certainly changed. He’s now a tall, hot, mouth watering morsel. And he’s interested in her. Really interested to the point of obsession. But Oly is afraid to trust anyone. Especially a man she’s so attracted to. But Gunner has loved her all his life and will do anything to make her his.

Update: Thank you for sharing your holiday wishes with me. I read through all of the comments–okay, I’ll confess I did that twice–because you made me cry.  There are just so many incredibly good people out in the world, and I was reminded of that fact as I read the comments. I know some of you are going through some very serious issues right now, and my prayers and good thoughts are going out to you.  Whether you made a big wish or a small one, I want that wish to come true.   I hope the holidays are good to you all–and that you all get exactly what you wished for.

I used the random generator to pick my winner (that’s how I’m picking all of the prizes unless the guest author has already picked), and the winner of the $50 Amazon.com gift card is Valerie M. Congratulations, Valerie!

This post is short and sweet–and it’s simply for wishes. What do you wish for this holiday season? Big or small, just share it. We should all take the time to make a wish, so please, make yours.

For the prize on this post? One random commenter will be selected to receive a $50 Amazon.com gift card—to help make her/his wish come true.

And I do hope that *all* of your holiday wishes come true. I hope the coming season brings magic to you!

I suspect they wish not to be eaten...what are you wishing for?

Update:  Now you’ve got me humming…thanks for sharing your holiday tunes! The winner of the $25 Victoria’s Secret gift card is…Cindi C! Congrats!

We’ve talked movies, shared some great recipes, even gone down under for the holiday…but what about the songs? You know, those holiday tunes that just get stuck in your head?  We’ve already got a radio station down here playing 24/7 holiday music. Even when I sleep, I feel like I hear that music.  Going on and on…

There are some holiday songs that I love. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? Classic!

And Jingle Bells?  Of course! Love it! Even though my six-year-old requests that we always sing this version:

Jingle bells, Batman smells

Robin laid an egg

The batmobile lost its wheel

And the Joker got away. Hey!

There are some songs—and I confess this with shame—that I always mess up when I sing. I can’t remember the exact lyrics, so I kind of mutter my way through the song. Yeah, I’m thinking 12 Days of Christmas. By day 4, I’m lost.

What about you? What songs do you love? What songs do you—ahem—mumble along to b/c you’re like me and you just can’t remember the words?

The prize up for grabs this time is a $25 Victoria’s Secret gift card.  Good luck!