Unwrapping The Best Man – Rachael Stewart

Did someone say it’s nearly Christmas? There are only 31 days to go!!!! We are almost in full countdown mode…

 

I caught up with Rachael during the release of “The Bad Sister” so with her new book “Unwrapping The Bestman” hitting the shelves and Christmas just around the corner I knew we were due for another catch up.

Are you a lover or hater of Christmas Rachael?

Love, love, LOVER! Christmas was such a happy and special time when I was a child. The whole of December, the picture windows / chocolate advent calendar countdown, the decorating of the tree, the baking, the excitement at school…it was such a thrill that I only have to hear mention of Christmas now or catch the scent of mulled spice or the start of a Christmas tune / movie / TV programme and I am giddy.

Unless it’s January, in which case I definitely suffer the January blues!!

Though having said that I have been known to use festive room fragrance through the year because it gives me an instant buzz 🙂

What are your likes and dislikes about Christmas?

I think ultimately what I love is the fact that it’s the time I remember best for being surrounded by family and friends, and the happiness that comes with all that shared love and laughter. As soon as I was old enough, I would shop for presents, the idea of giving as special, if not more special, than receiving. It’s a time when work is parked and forgotten, and the focus is wholly on whomever you choose to spend that special day with (and the many celebratory days that lead up to it, we often have more than one Christmas Day in our house!). There is also something so very special about the festive spirit that consumes one and all!

I also love baking and experimenting with new festive recipes, which let’s face it, aren’t always the greatest success but it’s in the doing that I get the most enjoyment.

What do I hate? That’s a tough one. If I’m brutally honest it’s the drinking that goes too far, the bar brawls etc etc. Never nice and it’s particularly evident around the festive period. Maybe not this year though, if Covid-19 gets its way! Possibly the only upside to this blasted virus!

Do you have any Christmas traditions, if so what are they are they carried on from your childhood or have you created your own?

Writing a letter to Santa is a must. As is laying out their Santa sacks Christmas Eve, writing a thank you letter to Santa and leaving out the obligatory whisky, mince pie and carrot. I love, love, love this tradition and so long as our kids live under our roof, they’ll be doing it! 🙂

We also have to drink mulled wine and eat roasted chestnuts while watching our fave Christmas movies like Die Hard (it’s a Christmas movie, I won’t debate it! My husband even has framed pictures that we have to display throughout December which are festive cartoon sketches of Die Hard 🙂 Very fun!), Home Alone and recent additions include Elf and Christmas Chronicles. My husband also likes to sneak Bad Santa in there, but it’s okay, as I then make him watch The Holiday with me 🙂

Do you think we’ll have a white Christmas this year?

Well it’s 2020 – anything could happen, right?!

What is your earliest Christmas memory?

Laying out my Santa’s sack at the end of my bed, putting a carrot out for Rudolph, a mince pie and whisky for Santa, and writing my thank you letter. Also, waking up so very early and squeezing my sack to see if HE had been and if he had, breaking into my parents’ bedroom at some ungodly hour (like 3am!) and begging to open presents 🙂

My parents would be exhausted but they would indulge us every time, they got as much joy out of it as we did. In fact, I think that’s the main reason I love it so much – it was the day on which my parents would forget whatever stress they were under and smile and adore and indulge us for the whole time – everyone was happy. And I love my parents so very much for giving me the best Christmases ever growing up. I only hope my kids can say the same when they are my age!

What was the best present you received as a child?

My hi-fi. If I remember right, it was second hand and it was the bestest present ever. As was the My Little Pony Castle. Also, second hand but I didn’t care. Preloved/Newloved – worked for me! Also, my Raleigh racer bike, LOVED that bike!! Ooo, that was more than one!! See, I’m getting giddy again already!! Sorry, Claire!!

What was the one present you always wanted but never got?

Mr Frosty! I begged and begged and never got one. We, of course, bought one for our kids as soon as they were the right age, and guess what, it’s hardly been used. So maybe my parents knew what they were doing. I always wanted an actual pony too, but I’ll let them off that one 😉

What is your favourite Christmas carol and Pop Song?

I absolutely adore The Pogues “Fairytale of New York”, but I LOVE all Christmas music, and I’ll let you into a little secret, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” does feature in Unwrapping The Best Man…

If you were asked to guest DJ on a national radio station on Christmas day what would you play?

I would play every Christmas tune known to man – how unpopular an answer is that?! But seriously from the 1^st December it’s ALL I listen too…yes, I’m that festively annoying! Another trait I share with Caitlin!

What would you buy the main characters in Unwrapping the Best Man for Christmas?

Unwrapping the Best Man stars festive-loving Caitlin and very-much-the-Grinch Jackson…so what would I buy them…Hmm…

I’d buy Jackson some really good earphones (you know the ones that mute the outside world!) because boy can Caitlin talk— Joke! Though she can, seriously, but he loves that about her.

I think I’d actually buy them a skiing holiday so that they can go from slope to slope having fun together by day and enjoying the glorious mountain views covered in snow. And then cosy up in front of a warm fire on an evening in a gorgeous wooden lodge and get all lovey-dovey and indulge in some super-sexy time…Or maybe that’s what I want to buy for my hubby and me…sorry, getting giddy again, Claire!! 🙂  Maybe I’m more like Caitlin than I ever realised…

 

 

Unwrapping The Best Man

On the first night of Christmas, her sexy crush finally gave to her—an unbelievably hot night! Now she’s ready for nights two, three and four… Unwrap the steamy sequel to Getting Dirty by Rachael Stewart.

I’ve lusted after brawny, gorgeously rough Jackson Black for six lust-fueled, unrequited years. But Jackson has rules, and the big one is “no getting involved with clients” of his elite London sex club. Including me. But our best friends are getting married, and for one deliciously hot night, the maid of honor and best man agree…what happens in the Scottish Highlands, stays in the Scottish Highlands.

It was everything I wanted and more…until the complete jerk disappears during the night.

Now it’s Christmas, and I have a plan to prove to Jackson Black just how much I don’t care, that he doesn’t turn me on like a Christmas tree. Only Operation: Naughty Elf is backfiring big-time. That aching need for his touch is stronger than ever. It’s painfully clear that I want more than just a fling from the untouchable Jackson Black.

I have one chance to unwrap the best man. But is this sexy, guarded grinch about to steal my heart…or break it?

 

 

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Rachael Stewart adores conjuring up stories for the readers of Harlequin Mills & Boon and Deep Desires Press, with tales varying from the heartwarmingly romantic to the wildly erotic.

She’s been writing since she could put pen to paper as the stacks of scrawled on A4 sheets in her loft will attest to, and the lovingly bound short stories that her father would run off at work and proudly share out with his colleagues. Thinking it was a pipe dream to be published one day, she pursued a sensible career in business but she was really play-acting, achieving the appropriate degree and spending many years in the corporate world where she never truly belonged. Always happiest when she was sat at her laptop in the quiet hours tapping out a story or two. And so here she is, a published author, her full-time pleasure, a dream come true.

A Welsh lass at heart, she now lives in Yorkshire with her husband and three children, and if she’s not glued to her laptop, she’s wrapped up in them or enjoying the great outdoors seeking out inspiration.

@Rach_B52       Rachael Stewart Author

 

 

Rachael Stewart

 

www.rachaelstewartauthor.com/

 

Want to find out more about Rachael’s books, check out her Amazon author page.