The Rules for November by @elle_rush #footballrules #Christmas #recipe #freebook

My dad had one football rule when I was growing up. It had nothing to do with watching the game uninterrupted. Nothing about cheering for Saskatchewan (I'm from Manitoba - it was a thing even back in the olden days). It was only one rule:

No Christmas decorations could go up before the Grey Cup. (That's the equivalent of the Super Bowl, for those of you outside of Canada.)

Snow in Manitoba starts after Hallowe'en which, using little kid logic, meant that Santa was coming soon! I didn't realize the Grey Cup is always played on the last weekend of November. Which meant I had to wait a whole 'nother month!

But now I have my own house, so I get to make the rules.

Sadly, this habit is ingrained, so the tree doesn't go up till the first weekend in December. However, it's November now and other stuff is sneaking into various rooms. There's a candy cane coffee mug in the cupboard, Christmas music on my computer, and holiday-themed books everywhere. (We won't even mention what my DVR looks like. Let's just say I should buy stock in Lifetime, W, and Hallmark channels.)

To prime the Christmas pump, I have a free gift for you to help get you in the mood. I am one of several romance authors who are participating in 12 Dates for Christmas to get your holiday season off to a good start. We have put together a free cookbook (download it here) with over a dozen family favourite recipes for the holidays. Each of the recipes was inspired by a Christmas romance, and the recipe book has sneak peeks at all of these books in case you need something to read while you are waiting by the oven for a batch of cookies to come out of the oven.

And because you can't have too much Christmas, we also put together a Facebook group where we are posting recipe, crafts, holiday disasters, and all sorts of fun stuff. (Be warned, I've got some horrible Christmas jokes coming up. I can't help myself.) Please join us for all things Christmas.

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Since Christmas is my favourite holiday, I decided I needed to write a romance series about it. So I did. Welcome to North Pole Unlimited! I'm launching the series this year with two novellas. Some of you may remember Decker and Joy from last year's Crazy Cat Lady anthology. It's been revamped, and now it's available for only $0.99! (Book 2 is coming out next month.)

Jaded P.I. Decker Harkness must track down a missing prototype if he wants a shot at a corporate security contract. Sweet cat-lady Joy McCall has her own investigation running after someone breaks into her animal shelter. When they cross paths during a triple kitten-napping, they’ll have to work together to close their cases. Will everyone make it home to celebrate a merry Christmas together?

Only Santa knows.

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