Yay! Christmas Week has arrived! Christmas Day is fastly approaching *woo hoo* and there’s lots to look forward to here on Book Chick City. So sit back with a glass of mulled wine and a delicious mince pie and enjoy!
To celebrate Christmas Week I have the pleasure of welcoming Mills & Boon author Sarah Morgan to Book Chick City. Sarah is the author of ‘Angels in the Snow‘ which I reviewed this morning and she’s here today to give her top tips for keeping your romance healthy over the festive season.
Make sure you enter the fab giveaway at the end of this post too!
So, without further ado, please give a warm welcome to Sarah…
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
ROMANCE RULES THIS CHRISTMAS!
Christmas can be a perfect time for romance or a real passion killer. So how do you make sure your holidays are full of love and festive fun and that your relationship doesn’t get thrown aside with the decorations once Christmas is over?
Here are my tips for keeping the sparkle in your romance…..
Share the jobs
You find yourself trapped in the kitchen with only an oversized dead bird for company while your man is entertaining everyone in the living room.
Don’t put your head in the oven and turn heat to full.
Do write a list of tasks to be done on individual pieces of paper. Fold the paper and put in a large bowl (preferably festive red so that your guests will think this is a fun Christmas game laid on specifically for their entertainment). Walk into the living room with a smile on your face and pass round the bowl. Everyone takes a piece of paper. The first one to finish the task can go back to their drink. Tiredness and stress are the two big killers of romance at Christmas. Share out the work with a smile.
Make time to be alone together
You’ve had no time together and now you’re sandwiched on the sofa between Great Aunt Maud and a distant cousin who keeps looking down the front of your dress.
Don’t say ‘we’re never spending Christmas with your family again.’
Do send him a cheeky text suggesting an early night. Assuming Aunt Maud has decent heating, ditch the thermals in favour of something more enticing, sneak a bottle of wine up to the bedroom and wedge something behind the door to deter late night visitors.
Appreciate each other
Your man hands you your present with an expectant smile but when you open it, it’s a new food processor. If you asked for a food processor, fine (did you? Honestly? Wow) if not then this is likely to be a big fat disappointment, especially if your present to him was something he wanted badly, not something he needed badly.
Don’t be tempted to put any part of him in the food processor to test it. Nor should you tell him to pack it in a suitcase along with the rest of his things.
Do say thank you and suggest you use it to make a romantic dinner together. The chances are he thought he’d chosen a great present (it’s the thought that counts), in which case you have some serious work to do before next Christmas. Most women don’t enjoy being given a kitchen appliance as a gift (if you’re different, great) but men do not seem to realize this instinctively so it’s your job to educate him. In a positive way. For the good of womankind.
Prepare, prepare, prepare
You realize that in the rush and chaos you forgot to buy his mother a present.
Don’t grab something random from under the tree and hope it’s appropriate (it won’t be and your relationship will never recover from the day you gave his mother a spud gun).
Do take one of the ‘spare’ presents you wrapped for embarrassing emergencies such as this (you did, didn’t you? Chocolates? A scented candle?) and tell her that this year you wanted to do something really special for her so you’re taking her out for lunch in the New Year.
It’s not about the money -
Money is tight and you can’t afford to go out or buy presents.
Don’t run up a huge bill on your credit card. There’s a long list of things you can enjoy doing as a couple that will bring you closer together but being in debt is not one of them.
Do find low cost ways to have fun. Enjoy a frosty winter walk (hold hands and don’t forget that kissing burns calories and warms you up) go to a carol service and sing loudly, or volunteer – do something you would never normally do. Instead of buying costly gifts you’ll still be paying for in July, give each other ‘wishes’ (‘I wish you’d cook dinner once a week’,), or a massage by candlelight. Love is about giving – and it doesn’t have to be a diamond.
Keep things in perspective
Finally, if all your romantic hopes crumble and Christmas is more fiasco than festive….
Don’t spend Boxing Day researching divorce lawyers on the internet
Do accept that Christmas is sometimes stressful and that’s just part of life. Try and laugh about the things that went wrong, make notes for next year and make some time for yourself. If you’re in desperate need of romance then reach for the uplifting Mills and Boon you had the sense to hide under the tree for moments just like this……..
Merry Christmas!
Sarah
GIVEAWAY!
I have FIVE (5) copies of ‘Angels in the Snow‘ to give away. All you have to do to enter is the following:
1. Read Book Chick City’s giveaway policy
2. Fill out this form
3. One entry per person
This giveaway is international and ends Dec 31st!
Good Luck!
4 Comments
It sounds so sweet
Would be lovely to read next xmas
Reply
Christmas reads are like candy, they're sweet and make you feel good
Thank you for the giveaway!
Reply
LOL! great list Sarah,
I always keep a Christmas romance around during the holidays for de-stressing book breaks too!
Reply
Thanks for some quality points there. I am kind of new to online , so I printed this off to put in my file, any better way to go about keeping track of it then printing?
Reply