Book Title: MAKE THE SEASON BRIGHT
Character Name: Charlotte Donovan
How would you describe your family or your childhood?
First of all, family is a stretch. I was raised by a single mother who would rather write about murder than interact with me. You might’ve heard of her—she probably wrote your favorite thriller novel. She’s good at them, no doubt. No so good at her own progeny, as it turns out. I had the Fairbrooks though. They lived next door, and they were the kind of family lonely kids like me dreamed about. Loving. Warm. Funny. Actually asked questions about their kid’s day. Anyway, they were my family. Them and their daughter Brighton. Always have been.
What was your greatest talent?
I play violin. Very well. I think that’s all I need to say on the matter.
Significant other?
Good lord, how much time do you have? I’ve only ever loved one person—Brighton Fairbrook. She was family, my best friend, my first love, my fiancée. She was never my wife though. Yes, I can see you wincing. Because how does a fiancée not end up a wife? Well, when one of them leaves the other at the altar, that’s how. Now, just my luck, she and I seemed to have befriended sisters and have ended up at the same house for Christmas. This should be great fun.
Biggest challenge in relationships?
I’ve been told I can be a bit…guarded. Let’s use that word. I like that word, because in my opinion, guarded is a good thing to be when it comes to love. After all, you could think everything was fine, that you were loved and cherished, walking down the aisle to your future, and then boom. Suddenly, you’re alone with your would-be mother-in-law, sipping tea and wondering what the hell happened to your life. So, yes, guarded is a good thing when it comes to love.
Where do you live?
New York City, the best city in the world, and the only place where I feel I can be myself.
Do you have any enemies?
Does my mother count? I shouldn’t say that, should I? It’s not really an enmity so much as a completely lack of…well, anything. But that’s her loss, isn’t it? Maybe.
How do you feel about the place where you are now? Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place?
My violin. I’ve had it for years—it’s fifty years old and I named it after Rosalind from Shakespeare’s As You Like It. I think she’s my favorite character—a person who is willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants. She adaptable, quick on her feet, and that’s what I’ve had to be. I hope, to some success.
Do you have children, pets, both, or neither?
I don’t have kids. I don’t have a pet. Dealing with my own boatload of emotional baggage is quite enough, thanks. Though - that’s not to say I haven’t thought about a family. A real one.
What do you do for a living?
I’m a violinist. One of the best, might I say.
Greatest disappointment?
I think we’ve covered this—remember the whole left-at-the-altar issue? Some say I’m a little abrasive when I talk about it, but wouldn’t you be? Plus, I rarely talk about it, at all, so I’m not sure where this impression of abrasiveness is coming from.
Greatest source of joy?
My music. I love getting lost inside a piece—either one I’ve written or just arranged. I love playing with my quartet too, love hearing the way each note we play folds together, swirls, to create something that couldn’t exist if I was playing on my own. I love playing with anyone, really, particularly a dark-haired guitarist with a voice like—nope, no, I don’t talk about this, remember?
What do you do to entertain yourself or have fun?
I don’t understand the question.
What is your greatest personal failing, in your view?
I’m far too trusting. Clearly. But I’ve fixed that in recent years.
What keeps you awake at night?
If someone leaves you at the altar, and instead of your bride, the love of your life, you see her mother walking toward you with a sad expression on her face, trust me—replaying that moment over and over again in your head is what will keep you up at night.
What is the most pressing problem you have at the moment?
I’m stuck in a house with my ex fiancée, and she seems very intent of making things right. But she can’t make things right. She can never make things right.
Is there something that you need or want that you don’t have? For yourself or for someone important to you?
I have everything I could possibly need…never mind that my ex is just sitting over there on the couch looking gorgeous and sorry and it’s making remember all the amazing times we had and how, yes, maybe I didn’t see her the way she needed me to in the end…but none of that matters. I’m fine.
Why don’t you have it? What is in the way?
Well, this house I’m stuck in for Christmas for one. For another, I really want to forgive her. But I don’t know how.
Two exes find themselves stuck at the same house for Christmas in this holiday romance by Ashley Herring Blake, USA Today bestselling author of Iris Kelly Doesn't Date.
It's been five years since Charlotte Donovan was ditched at the altar by her ex-fiancée, and she’s doing more than okay. Sure, her single mother never checks in, but she has her strings ensemble, the Rosalind Quartet, and her life in New York is a dream come true. As the holidays draw near, her ensemble mate Sloane persuades Charlotte and the rest of the quartet to spend Christmas with her family in Colorado—it is much cozier and quieter than Manhattan, and it would guarantee more practice time for the quartet’s upcoming tour. But when Charlotte arrives, she discovers that Sloane’s sister Adele also brought a friend home—and that friend is none other than her ex, Brighton.
All Brighton Fairbrook wanted was to have the holliest, jolliest Christmas—and try to forget that her band kicked her out. But instead, she’s stuck pretending like she and her ex are strangers—which proves to be difficult when Sloane and Adele’s mom signs them all up for a series of Christmas dating events. Charlotte and Brighton are soon entrenched in horseback riding and cookie decorating, but Charlotte still won’t talk to her. Brighton can hardly blame her after what she did.
After a few days, however, things start to slip through. Memories. Music. The way they used to play together—Brighton on guitar, Charlotte on her violin—and it all feels painfully familiar. But it’s all in the past and nothing can melt the ice in their hearts...right?
Romance Comedy [Berkley, On Sale: October 1, 2024, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593550595 / eISBN: 9780593637630]
Ashley Herring Blake is a reader, writer, and mom to two boisterous boys. She holds a Master’s degree in teaching and loves coffee, arranging her books by color, and cold weather. She is the author of the young adult novels Suffer Love, How to Make a Wish, and Girl Made of Stars (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), the middle grade novels Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World, The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James, and Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea (Little, Brown), and the adult romance novels Delilah Green Doesn't Care and Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail (Berkley). Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World was a Stonewall Honor Book, as well as a Kirkus, School Library Journal, NYPL, and NPR Best Book of 2018. Her YA novel Girl Made of Stars was a Lambda Literary Award finalist.
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