A Viennese Christmas

By Lynn Crain

Theme: The heart knows the language of love.

Long Logline: Amanda Kranz comes to Vienna, Austria for a job, only to find herself alone at Christmas when she meets sexy historian Henry Jager, who convinces her true love is real and within her grasp.

Short Logline: Amanda Kranz, alone in Vienna, Austria at Christmas, meets sexy, historian Henry Jager, who convinces her true love is real and within her grasp.

Sign language interpreter, Amanda Kranz, wants to find her soul mate but fears her chance has past due to the death of her childhood sweetheart. Finding sexy historian Henry Jager during an outing in her new home of Vienna, Austria, may have been a stroke of luck. When his ex-fiancée shows up just as their relationship starts to sizzle, Amanda must decide if standing up for what she really wants will give her lifetime happiness. Or will she be destined to spend life alone?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lynn Crain
• Release date: Feb 5, 2013
• ISBN: 9781620520116

Lynn Crain

Award winning author Lynn Crain has done it all in her life. From nursing to geology, her life experiences have added to her detail rich stories. She loves writing full time as she weaves contemporary, fantasy, futuristic and paranormal tales, tame to erotic, for various publishers. Her home is in the desert southwest though her latest adventure has taken her to Vienna, Austria with her husband of many years as he works his dream job. You can find her hanging out at A Writer In Vienna Blog (www.awriterinvienna.blogspot.com) and various other places on the net (www.theloglineblog.blogspot.com; www.twitter.com/oddlynn3; www.lynncrain.blogspot.com ). Still, the thing she loves most of all is hearing from her readers at [e-mail].

Book preview

Sign language interpreter, Amanda Kranz, wants to find her soul mate but fears her chance has past due to the death of her childhood sweetheart. Finding sexy historian Henry Jager during an outing in her new home of Vienna, Austria, may have been a stroke of luck. When his ex-fiancée shows up just as their relationship starts to sizzle, Amanda must decide if standing up for what really she wants will give her lifetime happiness. Or will she be destined to spend life alone?

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2013 Lynn Crain

Published by Shooting Star Books at Smashwords

www.shootingstarbooks.com

Cover Art by Su Kopil, Earthly Charms

ISBN 978-1-62052-0116

ISBN10 1620520117

Discover other books by Lynn Crain

www.smashwords.com/profile/view/LynnCrain

www.smashwords.com/profile/view/oddlynn3

Visit Lynn’s at these places:

www.lynncrain.blogspot.com

www.awriterinvienna.blogspot.com

Follow her on twitter: @oddlynn3

All rights reserved.

This book is a work of fiction and therefore, a product of the author’s imagination, including but not limited to names, characters, places, and incidents. Any similarity is entirely coincidental. Unauthorized distribution of this work in any form, known or unknown, is illegal. Snippets for review purposes are allowed. All others must have written permission of the publisher. Copyright infringement, for money or not, is a crime. It’s investigated by the FBI, punishable with prison and a fine of up to $250,000 meant to recoup FBI costs and the author’s loss of revenue. Be forewarned, if you do steal from this author and this company finds you, we will turn you in without regret, no matter what the circumstance. Don’t be snarky to us, we won’t be snarky to you. Please only purchase authorized electronic editions and discourage electronic piracy in every way you can. Your support of this author’s rights is appreciated.

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Forward

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

About Lynn Crain

A Sneak Peek

To the city of Vienna ~ may you shine as brightly tomorrow as you do today.

My critique partners ~ You always know how to tweak what needs to be tweaked.

My family & friends ~ You all tweak me in other ways, yet I wouldn’t miss a moment of it.

Also, my editor, Cathy Strachan of Catdragon Editing and Design, my artist, Su Kopil of Earthly Charms, and my formatter, Jim Brown of Jim and Zetta Author and Publishing Services, all deserve a big thank you as this book would never have gotten off the ground without each and every one of you. All of you performed admirably considering the short time I gave you.

Contents

As some of you may know, I moved to Vienna, Austria in May of 2011. It’s hard to leave one’s lifetime home and it took me nearly a year to adjust to the new place. During that adjustment period, I decided one of the best ways to know my new home was to write books about them. This is the first book in the A Taste of Vienna series. In this one, a young woman, new to the area like I was, hasn’t made many friends and doesn’t even know much about her surroundings. To be honest, I had to dig deep about what I did know of the city and how to portray it in the best light despite my personal feelings. Vienna is beautiful during the holiday season and I hope I’ve conveyed some of that wonder to you.

All the places I talk about really do exist except Amanda’s apartment. Although there is what appears to be a wonderful place with green space in the spot I chose. Any errors in language, geography, or facts about the city are my own as I, too, am just learning about my wondrous new home.

The Christkindlemarkts and the Adventmarkts start during the second or third weekend in November depending upon the venue. All are beautiful and magnificent in their own way regardless of the type of goods sold. The one item I took poetic license with is the cups. While it is true that every markt has their own specialized cup, you can only turn them in at any grog or drink booth within that same markt. I made the cups returnable anywhere as that was what I originally thought happened. My husband set me straight on that aspect. At first, I was going to change it to reflect the true nature of the cups, and then I wondered why because it is one of the moments where my heroine starts to like the city.

For her, as well as for me , the Christmas season transformed how we both thought of Vienna. Therefore, I couldn’t take her ah ha moment away any more than I could take my own. This is the only fact about Vienna I tweaked to make my own.

I hope you enjoy my foray into the city of Vienna.

Lynn

November 2012

Contents

Tears scalded Amanda’s eyes as she gazed at the festive decorations surrounding the Rathaus. Christmas couldn’t have come at a worse time for her. She was totally alone and wondered why the holiday hit her so hard this year. It wasn’t like it was her first time alone during this happy season.

She had hoped the festivities would make a difference in her feelings. But no, things hadn’t changed for her, just