Myths & Magic
Скачать книги из серии Myths & MagicThe Girl From Christmas
Eros, the God of Love, has a problem. To his surprise – and gratitude – his friend, Dominic Clausson has managed to bring together three couples into loving, lasting marriages. Now it's his time to pay up and what Dominic has asked in return is for him to give his special attention to Dominic’s cousin, Niccolo Clausson. Not a big deal, that’s what the God of Love does all the time – that is until he discovers that Niccolo is in love with a woman in a painting that was created over 250 years ago. To make things even more difficult, Dominic and Niccolo are both nephews and potential successors to Santa Claus and part of the supernatural community. This is not a match that can be taken lightly; he shudders to imagine the damage that could occur if the next Santa has the wrong Mrs. Claus. He’s got to get this right. Unfortunately, making matches for supernaturals is extra complicated because Destiny has a way of stepping in, trying to take control and interfering with the best laid plans…Niccolo Clausson is content with his life as a volunteer curator at the museum for artist Pietro Longhi in Venice, Italy. He spends his days surrounded by images of his beloved Louisa, who was a frequent model in the paintings and then he is free during the holiday season to do his true work as a Santa Claus wherever he is assigned to go. Then, late one night he spots in the distance, a living tableau of his favorite painting featuring Louisa. As he watches in surprise and envy, two women enact a bit of mischief and are quickly captured and spanked by their victim. Niccolo hurries to get closer to see the one who resembles Louisa, but the trio is gone before he can reach them.Lisa cannot believe how badly she has messed up a serendipitous meeting with a handsome, slightly loopy Italian man, who waves a real sword and shouts “Geronimo!” when coming to her rescue during an attempted mugging late on her last night in Venice. She has never felt such a strong connection to a man before. He is brave and kind and funny, so why did she just walk away from him?
His Little Pixie
Polly’s life is in a mess. Her parents were recently murdered and her brother walked in on the scene just in time to be able to identify the fleeing assassins. Authorities promptly shut down all communication between the siblings and U.S. Marshals placed him in the Witness Protection Program. Since Polly was away at college in a different state at the time, no one knows whether she is in danger or not. Her brother was able to arrange for her to go off the grid by living in the attic of the building housing the fledging software company he and his best friend have founded to create computer games. She spends her days doing what she can to help her brother’s company and volunteering at a nearby orphanage. She spends her evenings beta testing the prototype game everyone is hoping will be the next big thing and make them all rich. She knows her online testing partner only by his gaming persona, Arthuric, who plays the hero to her Elfgurl, the thief. Initially, they had agreed not to share their real life information for privacy purposes, but as they spend their evenings together adventuring online, she regrets not knowing more about the man she is becoming very attracted to. Nicholas has a keen interest in toys, especially keeping informed on all the new ones that are likely to appear on children’s Christmas request lists. With his engineering and computer training and his affinity for the Christmas magic that runs in his family, he has taken over the responsibility for overseeing all production at the North Pole. It keeps him very busy, but doesn’t feel like work because he loves what he does. As part of his desire to keep abreast of new developments, he has volunteered to help a fledgling company by beta testing their new adventure computer game. It’s a fun way to spend his evenings and he is enjoying being part of creating a worthwhile product for teenagers. Plus it doesn’t hurt that his gaming partner is a cute little elf with the most deliciously pointed ears… Living and working at the North Pole means that Nicholas hasn’t had much of an opportunity to meet single women, not that he was particularly adept socially when he was attending school and getting his degrees. It’s always hard to make a meaningful connection with a woman when you can’t tell her where you really live and that your father is Santa Claus. The anonymity agreement for the beta testing was a perfect solution to his problem in the beginning, but now he wants to know more about Pix, the woman who is his partner, especially since his family magic is telling him that she is scared that she is in danger. He wants to be more than the hero in the game; he wants to be her hero in real life. But how can he do that when it took him months just to learn her name?
Nick's Naughty Elf
Marcie had worked in gift-wrap in Nickson's Department Store for years, and Christmas was her favorite holiday. For the past several seasons, she had been Mr. Nickson's elf assistant when he played Santa and it was the highlight of her year. But this year Mr. Nickson has been sidelined with health issues and Dominic Clausson, a temporary CEO, has stepped in. He is not only running the store, but is also the new Santa. Things go well at the beginning, but then Marcie has problems with the Christmas photo printing process and lets loose with some very blue language. She is so vocal that Santa has to interrupt the child on his lap to go into the little gingerbread house and deal with Marcie's naughtiness the old fashioned way.Nick doesn't understand what is going on. He's made a career of stepping into special situations and being Santa. He's a virtuoso at playing the magic of the Santa suits and is the acknowledged leader for his generation. But something has gone seriously wrong and before he knows it, he's dealt with the swearing elf assistant in earshot of the line of waiting children and their parents, many with electronic devices ready to record. By the end of the night, local news teams have dubbed him the Spanking Santa and the story goes viral. He tests the magic suit to the limits during the subsequent press conference and it works just fine. The Santa suit is paired with the elf dress and both are supposed to suppress all naughty actions when worn. So why did they allow the naughty behavior that got them into this situation? Plus, Nick is astonished to feel a strong attraction to his Elf Marcie, even while both of them are wearing the magic suits, something that should be impossible. There is no choice, Nick and Marcie must continue as Santa and his elf for the rest of the season, but will they be able to function without additional scandal? Is it true, as Nick's cousin tells him, that his goose is cooked? And why can't Marcie seem to keep shoes on her feet?