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Title: Silent
Night
Author: Kristen
Strassel
Age: New Adult
Genre:
Paranormal Romance
Release
Date: November 2014
Synopsis
This Christmas isn’t about celebration for eighteen-year-old Kyndra, it’s about survival. Grieving the loss of her grandmother and struggling with the indifference of her family, Kyndra now splits her time between her dead-end mall job, her junkie ex-boyfriend’s bed, and the streets. Longing to be close to her grandmother one more time, she wanders into Christmas Eve mass and prays she’ll find the place she belongs. Home.Aidan isn’t ready to let go of the past either, even though he’s had nearly three hundred years to do it. He chronicles the search for the reincarnation of his beloved wife as the vampire romance author Allison Duprois. Aidan knows the wife he mourns is out there, but fears writing their story is as close as he will get to her.
At Christmas Eve mass, he finally finds her. Alone, with no place to go.
Aidan brings Kyndra into his home, and gives her the safety, comfort and love she longs for. Though he gives her second chances she never thought she’d have, Kyndra still can’t get over Aidan’s mysterious past. Not to mention that he claims that he’s a vampire. Life alone on the streets is dangerous enough without handing her trust and love to the wrong person. Can Aidan break through the walls around Kyndra’s hardened heart to convince her that she belongs with him, forever?
*This is a companion novel to the Night Moves Series.*
Excerpt
Multicolored shadows fell on the snow at the intersection. They didn't look like streetlights. Curious, I picked up my pace and headed toward the soft blue and orange glow. All my muscles relaxed when I realized what I was looking at. Stained glass.
Families began to file into the large church for Midnight Mass. A tall, proud stone building welcomed all without judgement. Even me. Memere had gone to church religiously. That had been one of our jokes. But once I was old enough to have a say, she couldn't talk me into going with her anymore.
I headed in, curious to see if there really was a God. Maybe Memere was right all along. This was how we'd spend Christmas Eve together this year.
I smiled to no one as I sunk into a pew in the back row and shrugged out of my layers of outerwear. Thankfully, my all black work uniform looked dressy enough to fit in. I picked up the hymn book and flipped through, finding peace in the familiar songs. For the first time in six months, I felt like I wasn’t alone.
"I was hoping I'd see you here." A man who I didn't know sat next to me. He‘d brought the cold in with him. His smile was warm and genuine, the kind reserved for people you knew. I smiled back at him, puzzled. Something about him was familiar, but I didn't know what.
"I don't think I know you. Do I?" I stumbled over my words. He didn't look like someone who would be friends with me. Maybe he was a teacher, or a doctor? "I'm kind of embarrassed if I do."
The man looked as surprised as I did. And a little disappointed. "I'm sorry. Maybe I thought you were someone else? I'm Aidan." He held out his hand to me, and I excepted his firm, sure handshake.
"I'm Kyndra." I searched his face, his person, trying to place him. Dark hair flopped down on his forehead, almost obscuring his equally dark eyes. He had high cheekbones, the beginnings of five o’clock shadow and full lips. Stop looking at his lips, Kyndra. You're in a church, I reminded myself. Lust was probably covered in the Ten Commandments and off limits in this building. I forced my eyes down. He wore a gray suit for the occasion, his light blue tie looked icy against his tawny skin. I always liked it when people dressed up for special days. Had I planned to come here and could even get to my dressy clothes, I would have worn something special. Too many people here hadn’t been bothered with anything better than jeans and sweatshirts. I brought my eyes back up to his. He‘d watched me look him over, and from the crinkles in the corners of his eyes, I could tell he was amused.
"I know," he said quietly. He didn't break his gaze. I should have been creeped out, but honestly, I think I would have been disappointed if he‘d said or done anything else.
I didn't know how to react, so I looked down to the hymn book in my lap, scrambling to find the page with tonight's mass program on it. What the hell was going on in this church?
"Have you been here for Midnight Mass before? It's a beautiful service," Aidan continued, either oblivious to or feeding off of my awkwardness.
"No. I used to go to church with my grandmother, but it's been a while." I stole a quick glance up at him again. Had I waited on him at work? That wouldn't make this any less weird. I worked at a lingerie store. Either he was shopping for someone else, or for himself. That happened more than you’d expect. And with the people you least expected. Either way, I shouldn't get involved. He looked at least fifteen years older than me and more than a couple of tax brackets richer.
But he probably had a nice, warm house to go to after the service. Maybe a condo in a triple decker. Or a high rise apartment. Single family houses were few and far between in Boston. If he had one, he had a family. I fought disappointment at that thought.
Kyndra, you will not follow some strange man home on Christmas. No matter how much you think you know each other. No matter how good looking and put together he is. That's how you wind up in pieces in a cardboard box in some random lot. That’s how you became the lead off story on the nightly news.
"My grandmother brought me to church when we were kids, too. I miss that. I can't find services in French around here."
"You're from France?" Oh, this guy was just too much.
"No. Quebec," he said with a chuckle. Okay, that was better. There was nothing sexy about Quebec. "But I try to stay true to my nature."
"And what is that?" I was intrigued. He seemed sincere, but I was beginning to think he was just a compulsive, lying weirdo alone at church on Christmas Eve. "And where is your family tonight?"
"I like to take care of people," he said without any pretense. I wanted to roll my eyes so badly, but still, he seemed to mean it. And I could use some of that. Stop thinking like that, I yelled at myself silently. You're just going to get yourself in trouble.
Maybe that's what I want, my inner dialogue continued defiantly.
My family is scattered throughout the country," Aidan continued. "What about yours? You're not all alone on Christmas, are you?" The service was about to start and the pews began to fill. I had to slide in, so close our legs touched.
I panicked, not knowing how to answer the question. He'd know if I lied to him. He knew too much. And I didn't know why.
"It's not so bad." I didn't look at him, or the book. I stared blankly ahead, watching families file into their seats. The blur had to be unshed tears.
"No one should be alone on Christmas." Aidan squeezed my hand, but neither of us had a chance to say more before the service began.
Kristen’s Five Favorite Christmas Stories
- ⦁ A Christmas Story. I didn’t have to look far for inspiration for Kyndra’s holiday ritual. I pulled it straight from mine. I put this on at 8PM on Christmas Eve and watch it until people beg me to change the channel.
- ⦁ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The cartoon, of course. I don’t really think this needs any explanation. Besides awesome.
- ⦁ A Charlie Brown Christmas. Let’s face it: Chuck is right. Christmas isn’t about the things. Plus I have an inability to pick a decent tree, and even my fake trees get nicknamed Chuck.
- ⦁ Bad Santa. I didn’t think this list was going to be so reflective of my personality, but it really is. I worked at the mall for a long time. You can’t make it through a holiday season at the mall without having your view on Christmas…skewed in some way.
- ⦁ Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. There’s nothing wrong with being different, and you should be proud of what makes you shine.
A Soundtrack for Silent Night
I realized as I put this list together that it looks like I wrote the world’s most emo Christmas story. This book is very close to me, and a lot of this is my story. It was a book I had to write. I wrote it at Christmas time, when all the emotions were in my face, no matter how hard I tried to run from them. Silent Night is a book about finding out where you belong. And it’s not always where you expect.
As heavy as this all sounds, there are a lot of light moments, and a happily forever after.
- Hosier—Take Me To Church. This song didn’t exist when I wrote this book. Besides the pretty literal connection with the plot, the lyrics really connect with Kyndra and Aidan’s story as well
- The Rasmus— The Funeral Song (The Resurrection). I love The Rasmus, and I wish more people knew about them. They’re full of gothy goodness. This is a hauntingly beautiful song, and perfect for Silent Night. “I died in my dreams, reaching out for your hand, my fatal desire.”
- I’ll Be Home For Christmas. The song that can reduce me to tears at just the thought of it.
- O, Holy Night. The most beautiful Christmas song, ever. Not up for discussion.
- The Rasmus—Immortal. Because we should all be listing to more of The Rasmus.
- The Rasmus—Keep Your Heart Broken. See #5.
- Bon Jovi—It’s Hard Letting You Go. If you’re familiar with me, you know that none of my soundtracks can be considered complete without some Jovi goodness.
- Garbage--#1 Crush. Aidan’s been looking for the reincarnation of his wife, and believes in Kyndra, he’s found her. However, he’s not as creepy as this song.
- Marilyn Manson—Tainted Love. It just fits.
- Bon Jovi—Silent Night. Oh yeah, I did it. I like to name my books after song titles, hence The Night Songs Collection. But it’s absolutely, positively perfect. Someone left a review on another one of my books that started out with “What if what you always wanted is nothing like you imagined?” I think that sums up this song and this book perfectly. Plus, if you can get past the 1985-ness of this video, my God, were Jon and Richie beautiful.
Giveaway
About Kristen Strassel
Kristen shares a birthday with Steven Tyler and Diana Ross. She spends each day striving to be half as fabulous as they are. She’s worn many hats, none as flattering as her cowboy hat: banker, retail manager, fledgling web designer, world’s worst cocktail waitress, panty slinger, now makeup artist and author. She loves sunshine, live music, the middle of nowhere, and finding new things to put in her house.
