Christmas Together: Bestselling authors E.E. Burke & Amanda McIntyre Team Up

The holidays bring people together and inspire romance. What better time for two bestselling authors to team up to bring you both!

This month, Amanda McIntyre and I have joined together to offer you a great price on our Christmas romances. For less than the cost of a cup of coffee, you can curl up by a crackling fire with Amanda's heart-warming story of an Irish immigrant and his son's first Christmas in America, and my #1 bestselling Christmas collection featuring a mail-order bride and a matchmaking experiment gone awry.

We're also offering readers the chance to win some great prizes in our special Christmas Romance Raffle. Our way of saying, "Thank you."

THE PROMISE by Amanda McIntyre

On sale for 99 cents

Brady McCormick made a promise to his young wife the day she died—to follow through with their plans to take their son to America and begin a new life in the land of opportunity. Now in New York, living in charity with a distant uncle, barely scraping by, Brady is unsure he will be able to uphold that promise, much less that he will ever be able to quell this loneliness eating him inside.

Saran Reichardt knows that she is unlike most women—headstrong, tenacious, she is dedicated to teaching, believing she has no need of a man to care for her, until an accidental encounter with a stormy-eyed Irish immigrant and his young son changes her perception of what need really is.

MEET AMANDA

Amanda McIntyre's passion is telling character-driven stories with a penchant for placing ordinary people placed in extraordinary situations. A member of RWA and bestselling author, her work is published internationally in print, E-book, and audio. She writes sizzling contemporary and erotic historical romance and believes no matter what, love will find a way.

E.E.: I've heard you were inspired by a poem and a painting. Can you tell us about that? 

Amanda: I’ve always had a passion for taking ordinary characters and placing them in extraordinary circumstances. Whether in my historical or my contemporary romance books, I love watching my characters become the heroes and heroines of their own stories. In THE PROMISE, I stretched back to my own roots of a Scottish-Irish heritage—Black Irish, my mother called it—and thought of what hope and dreams those living outside America might have had. What would it have been like to sail thousands of miles to a strange land, to come into that bay and see Lady Liberty and read the words at her feet written in 1883 by a native New Yorker, Emma Lazarus. 

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

- Emma Lazarus

Inspired too, by the painting called The Christmas Ship, the story of a young Irish immigrant who’d made a promise to his dying wife to bring their son to America and start a new life began to take shape. 

Set at Christmas in New York, it follows the struggles of Brady and his son as they adjust to the new land, and the unconventional woman the two meet by fate on the day of their arrival. Here is a sneak peek of that moment—

Excerpt from THE PROMISE~

The port authorities on Ellis Island detained them for hours, first holding them on the ship, then in boarded stalls, shuffled like cattle through registration. Next, they were taken to a special area where their hair and teeth were checked for lice or other abnormalities. Through it all, Brady believed his beloved Mary had watched over them. Much to Brady’s delight, authorities allowed them to retain the name of McCormick, as it was easy to spell. Yet many were forced to alter their names for ease of registration. He kept a firm grasp on Danny’s hand as they rounded the corner of the great brick building. A bitter wind assaulted him and nearly snatched his hat from his head. He had no idea what day it was, or what time, except that it was night. Small frozen pellets grazed his cheeks, falling from the inky black sky. Tears stung Brady’s eyes. "Aye, your ma would have loved this, Daniel. She’d have looked on it as a great adventure." He clamped his arm around his son’s neck and drew him to his side. "This is what she wanted most for you, Daniel."

"Is this what you wanted too, Da?"

His son’s bright blue eyes, the color of his mother’s, looked up at him in child-like wonder. How could he tell him that what he wished for most wasn’t possible? "It was a dream we shared, Daniel, and I shall to my last breath make it come true for you—for us.” 

Daniel stared at his father as though pondering his answer. He smiled, the way a child does when they know their parent is struggling inside.

"Where is Uncle Stephen?" Daniel asked, with ease changing the subject.

Brady regarded his son’s strength with pride. He swallowed back a lump in his throat and searched above the crowd for a man with a large sign. “He said he would meet us at the corner.” Brady scanned the sea of humanity huddled together, pressing forward against the bitter wind. Did they all have family waiting for them?

"Say here, chap. Can you retrieve our bags and take them to our carriage? It’s right over there."

Brady heard the man and pulled Daniel closer as he searched for Uncle Stephen. 

"Excuse me, young man, but I’m speaking to you."

Brady felt a tap on his shoulder and glanced back. “I’m sorry, I’m not a porter—

His weary gaze landed on the face of an angel who studied him with blue-violet eyes, the same color as her refined wool cape. For a moment, Brady lost his ability to think, much less to speak. He blinked, realizing he had been staring at her. His eyes darted to the elderly gentleman standing beside her.

"Father, it is clear that this gentleman and his son are not peddlers looking for work," she said, holding Brady spellbound with those eyes.

"My apologies." The older man tipped his derby and turned his attention to finding a dock porter.

"Have you just arrived in America?"

His angel regarded him with a pleasant smile.

Brady nodded automatically.

"Do you speak English?"

Her voice held the clarity of one accustomed to fine linens and expensive china.

A tug on his arm broke him from his odd trance. "My son and I have just arrived from Ireland—yes." As an afterthought, he tore the boy’s cap off his head and his own in one quick sweep, suddenly self-conscience about his thick brogue. The angel turned her attention to Daniel, her deep blue cape swirling as she leaned down to address him.

"And do you celebrate Christmas where you come from?"

On sale for 99 cents
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AN AMERICAN MAIL-ORDER BRIDE CHRISTMAS COLLECTION by E.E. Burke

Victoria, Bride of Kansas (#1 Amazon Bestseller)

A lonely society miss travels a thousand miles to marry a suitor whose passionate letters won her heart. But the man she meets at the train station seems more like Scrooge.

Santa’s Mail-Order Bride

A well-intentioned matchmaker has plans for a scheming Santa that go awry with unexpected consequences. 

The Christmas Wish

In this short story, a young orphan who has never known love gets his Christmas wish.

E.E. BURKE

Weave together passionate romance and rich historical detail, add a dash of suspense, and you have books by bestselling author E.E. Burke. Her chosen settings are the American West, and her latest series, The Bride Train, features a cast of unusual characters thrown together through a misguided bride lottery. Over the years, she’s been a disc jockey, a journalist and an advertising executive, before finally getting around to living the dream--writing stories readers can get lost in.

Here's a brief excerpt from Santa's Mail-Order Bride

She tasted of peppermint and tea, a delicious combination, somehow sweet and seductive at the same time. Holding her tight, Sum sampled the flavor on her lips, which softened and parted beneath his. He longed to linger, to feast…but not here in front of a giggling dressmaker. He’d only intended a brief kiss, just enough to let her know what it could be like between them, as well as to make it clear to the rest of the world that he’d laid claim to her.

Regretfully, he lifted his mouth.

She blinked, looking dazed, and with a shocked gasp, stepped backwards, her cheeks flaming. “H-have you lost your mind?”

       Perhaps. Coming to a decision as important as marriage within a few days was madly spontaneous, even for him. He hoped he wouldn’t regret it, but at the moment he couldn’t dredge up one ounce of caution. 

       “Can’t Santa kiss his wife under the mistletoe?”

Amanda: What inspired you to write these stories, specifically?

E.E.: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. My all-time favorite Christmas story. My books follow totally different plots (no ghosts), but the themes are similar. Themes that define the true meaning of Christmas: family ties, hope, faith, a spirit of compassion and generosity, and above all, love…the kind of love that shines through the darkness of our circumstances, even the darkness in our hearts.

Victoria, Bride of Kansas was part of an unprecedented project with 45 other authors, the American Mail-Order Brides series. For Victoria's story, my inspiration came from photos of real mail-order brides and an advertisement written by a shopkeeper.

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Santa’s Mail-Order Bride is the sequel to Victoria. I couldn’t let her meddling sister-in-law remain a spinster. Who better to pair her with than her brother's fiercest competitor?

The two books are set in the 1890s in Fort Scott, Kansas, and feature characters from my first novel, Her Bodyguard (set 20 years earlier). 

I had so much fun learning about the history of this historical Western town and included some of the hardy pioneers who settled here. I hope through these books you’ll come to love Fort Scott as much as I do.

From both of us to you and yours, we wish you Merry Christmas and promise to bring you new romances in the coming year.

What do you wish for this Christmas? Any promises for the New Year?

Use the raffle widget below to enter our drawing for your chance to win a special Christmas Romance Raffle. 

- A Kindle Fire (U.S. residents only)
- Virtual Stocking (free eBooks from both authors)

a Rafflecopter giveaway