Carousel Horse Christmas: The Ornamental Match Maker, #1

By Danni Roan

In the busy world of Party Planning, Audrey Alberton has no time for love, she's not even sure she has time for Christmas as her calendar continues to fill through the Holiday season. Can one simple gift from an unknown giver change everything?

Holden Bays has too much to do to be slowed down by an accident but when his truck and trailer are damaged moving through the city one chance encounter could turn his world upside down.
Christmas Miracles come in small packages in this delightful sweet short western bundle of Christmas Cheer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Danni Roan
• Release date: Nov 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393910114

Danni Roan

About the Author Danni Roan, a native of western Pennsylvania, spent her childhood roaming the lush green mountains on horseback. She has always loved westerns and specifically western romance and is thrilled to be part of this exciting genre. She has lived and worked overseas with her husband and tries to incorporate the unique quality of the people she has met throughout the years into her books. Although Danni is a relatively new author on the scene she has been a story teller for her entire life, even causing her mother to remark that as a child “If she told a story, she had to tell the whole story.” Danni is truly excited about this new adventure in writing and hopes that you will enjoy reading her stories as much as she enjoys writing them.

Book preview

In the busy world of Party Planning, Audrey Alberton has no time for love, she’s not even sure she has time for Christmas as her calendar continues to fill through the Holiday season. Can one simple gift from an unknown giver change everything?

Holden Bays has too much to do to be slowed down by an accident but when his truck and trailer are damaged moving through the city one chance encounter could turn his world upside down.

Christmas Miracles come in small packages in this delightful sweet short western bundle of Christmas Cheer.

Chapter 1

AUDREY ALBERTON LIFTED the delicate hand carved horse from the ornate box and examined it carefully. The elegant ornament was beautifully crafted and almost lifelike in appearance.

Placing the item in her hand, she studied it further. The modeled horse was made of rich golden wood and had been polished and painted until it glimmered in the afternoon sun pouring through her apartment window.

Gently setting the ornament on the table she turned back to the box it had arrived in. It looked like any other Christmas present but the return address simply read Mrs. Claus, North Pole.

Audrey placed an elbow on the table settling her chin in her hand and shaking her light brown hair away from her face.

Now who sent you? she asked looking at the horse. It was much larger than any ornament she’d seen before, nearly four inches tall and again as long but it was so expertly wrought that it seemed almost ethereal. 

Maybe Aunt Linda sent you, Audrey continued, her brown eyes examining every angle of the horse. Aunt Linda wasn’t the most eccentric member of Audrey’s family, but she could see how the woman would think it a good laugh to address a package to her niece that way.

Audrey reached out with her other hand running her fingers gently over the horse, the subtle glow of the wood, and the soft purples and greens of its painted saddle and tapestry blanket seemed to bring the object to life.

The classic carousel miniature was a soft silver dun color with dark mane and tale heavily streaked with cream colored strands that seemed to flow as if in a breeze.

I wish I knew who to thank, the young woman said. You’re too beautiful for someone not to know how much I love you already, she added with a smile.

A soft buzzing in the back pocket of her jeans made Audrey stand up and retrieve her phone.

Hello?

You ready, her friend Lisa asked. Christmas shopping doesn’t wait you know.

Audrey repressed a groan. She hated shopping, and if Lisa didn’t drag her out each year to select various items for her Aunts, she’d send them all gift cards and be done.

I just need to grab my coat, Audrey replied. Are you down stairs?

No, but I’m only a block away. See you in a mo, she finished clicking off her phone.

Audrey laughed, that was Lisa, impatient, full of excitement for the Christmas holidays, and always ready to shop.

Leaving her little horsey on the table, she headed to the front hall grabbed her coat, hat and mittens and stepped out into the frosty air of a Colorado winter.

Beep-beep.  Lisa pulled up in her little red car not bothering to take a parking spot, but instead expecting Audrey to hurry around and jump in.

I knew you’d be Johnny on the spot, Lisa said as Audrey pulled the door shut and dashed back into traffic. You’re never late for anything.

Probably because I’m a party planner, and you can’t be late for anything in that job.

Too true, her friend smiled, fluffing her dark bouncy curls. So where do you want to go first?

Home, Audrey droned.

Oh stop that, you know you’ll have a great time, Lisa said flapping at her with a well manicured hand. Besides, you’re with me, and I’ll do all the heavy lifting.

Audrey laughed, You mean you’ll pick out the gifts I should buy. Are you sure you shouldn’t be a personal shopper instead of a personal secretary?

What? Here in Colorado? No thanks.

You really are good at it though, Audrey insisted. You have a knack for knowing what people like or will appreciate, and you find the best bargains.

Lisa smiled, You’re just saying that because you hate to shop.

Well there is that, Audrey agreed with a chuckle.

So have you purchased anything for your aunts yet?

Audrey shook her head. She knew she should have dealt with this chore already, but this time of year was crazy. She’d barely had a minute between events and several of the ones closer to Christmas overlapped.

Fortunately, she was only the organizational whiz and not the people who supplied everything for her parties. On top of that she had a terrific crew.

Often she never even met her clients in person instead using her trusty phone, massive planner, and fantastic assistant to see that everything went off without a hitch.

What’s on the schedule this week? Lisa said zooming between two pickup trucks and making a hard right turn toward the Mall.

I have five Christmas parties, two birthdays and three weddings, Audrey said. She hated wedding planning but would take it on if one of her other friends in the business asked her to pick up the slack. At this time of year there was always slack. People craving a crisp Christmas Wedding.

Why do you always make that face when you do a wedding? Lisa said pulling into a parking space with a screech of brakes and turning to her friend. You’d think a wedding at this time of year would be the best, she smiled brightly, and so romantic.

Audrey shrugged getting out of the car and skirting the piles of snow that had collected between the cars.

Honestly Audrey, I don’t know how we are even friends, Lisa  continued locking the car with a beep. You don’t like shopping, you have no romantic notions, and you almost never go anywhere.

Audrey wrapped an arm around her significantly shorter friend as they trotted toward the mall entrance, But you love me anyway.

I really do, Lisa said with a giggle, yanking the door open to the giddy strains of Jiggle Bells as she entered what she considered her own private domain.

Chapter 2

ARE YOU SURE I NEED all of this? Audrey said carefully balancing her brightly wrapped boxes on the way back to the car. The sun was nearly to the horizon now, and she was ready for a nice hot cup of cocoa and a book."

Yes, you do. You know your aunts love everything we get for them. Besides after all they’ve done for you over the years, they deserve it.

Audrey arranged the boxes in the trunk of Lisa’s car and sighed. I’ve been lucky, she agreed walking around the car and slipping inside.

At fifteen Audrey had gone to live with her four maiden aunts who still lived and worked the family farm after her parents had been presumed dead when their two stroke engine airplane had disappeared ten years earlier.

Have you gotten anything from the L’s yet, or are you planning on going home for a few days?

Audrey chuckled at Lisa’s use of the letter

Reviews for Carousel Horse Christmas

[carolyn · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Pros: This is a clean, gentle book.
Cons: The writing just isn’t good. It is FULL of glaring typos and punctuation problems. There is even a stray sentence stuck randomly in the middle of another sentence. Even aside from the editing errors, the writing appears to be that of an amateur and not professional writer.