The Turkey Who Came to Dinner: Holiday Hijinks Romance, #1

By EmKay Connor

Ah, four days of peace and quiet. No frantic news directors yelling last minute changes while I try not to melt under the heat of studio lights. No jabs or jibes from the dimwitted, big-titted weathergirl who wants my job as lead anchor on our local news and talk show. No getting up at four a.m. to be ready for the cameras by six.

I have big plans for the four-day Thanksgiving weekend that include binge-watching Netflix, a simple turkey dinner for one, drinking wine, and naps. Lots of naps. But when my nerdy-smexy new neighbor shows up on my porch with a Turkey Day crisis, my holiday staycation takes a crazy turn.

I just have no idea how crazy…

The Turkey Who Came to Dinner is an over-the-top, holiday, instalove escape read. Grab a slice of pumpkin pie—with extra whipped cream—for a hilarious secret crush romance that serves up everyone's favorite Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions. Save room for seconds because this is just the start of romance and holiday hijinks for Bethany and Kent.

• Language: English
• Publisher: EmKay Connor
• Release date: Nov 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201805685

Book preview

1

Ah, four days of peace and quiet. No frantic news directors yelling last minute changes while I tried not to melt under the heat of studio lights. No jabs or jibes from the dimwitted, big-titted weathergirl who wanted my job as lead anchor on Good Morning, A-Town , our local news and talk show that covered Allentown and Lehigh Valley. No getting up at four a.m. to be ready for the cameras by six.

Well into my second cup of coffee, watching Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in all of its technicolor glory now that I’d dusted off the screen of the seventy-inch TV I rarely had a chance to use, I snuggled under the faux-fur blanket my mom had sent me last Christmas and sighed contentedly.

Most people dreaded spending the holidays alone, but not me. I had big plans for my long weekend that did not include eating dried-out turkey and a bunch of sides prepared from recipes on the back of cans and boxes while Aunt Mavis got drunk and Uncles Johnny and Buckwheat duked out their political differences. Nor did they include freezing my butt off in twenty-degree weather while I waited for Best Buy to open so I could snag a doorbuster deal on something else that would eventually become a dust collector.

I planned do to absolutely nothing for four days except binge-watch Netflix (was I really the last person in the universe to catch Game of Thrones fever?), consume my favorite foods regardless of calorie count, finish off at least two bottles of really expensive cabernet sauvignon, and sleep.

That last one might be tough. I’d been getting up for work in the middle of the night for so long that my circadian rhythms looked like a plate of buttered spaghetti noodles. Not a problem. If napping was an Olympic sport, I’d take gold, silver, and bronze.

My point was that I had four blissful days free from any sort of obligation, and I intended to savor every single moment. Mom and Husband Number Five were off on a Caribbean cruise, and my dad was hiking the Appalachian Trail for the third time with his husband, Troy. If I had to spend the holiday with family, I’d choose Dad and Troy every time. They were like, well, an old married couple. The only thing missing was rocking chairs on the front porch.

Mom was all drama, all the time. She lived in Palm Springs where she rotated through husbands like other women swap out their summer wardrobe for winterwear. She was forever hounding me to leave Pennsylvania and get a job at a real TV station.

No thanks. I’d only been in Allentown for two years, but I loved the city. Working for WALN paved the way to becoming a part of the community and I had no intentions of moving on. Maybe one day I’d even meet a Lehigh Valley guy, settle down, and start a family.

That was a big maybe. After growing up with Mom’s tantrums and Dad’s denial about his sexual orientation, I was a bit skittish about commitment. Building a career in broadcasting