Guest blogger -- Christie Ridgway

New Year…New Beginnings

It’s a toss-up as to which month makes me more optimistic…September or January. There’s that whole new-school-year thing going for September, a feeling I still can’t get away from even though I’m out of school. But I have two kids and my husband is a teacher, so we live life to the rhythms of that world.

However…January! It’s the official beginning. Even if your New Year’s Eve was a dud, the first day of January is the clean slate, the swathe of shining snow, the fresh air that blows away the cobwebs and the last of the dribbled pine needles from your dried-up Christmas tree.

I have energy in January. Plans! A couple of girlfriends and I walk early in the mornings and while we missed a few due to weather and colds over the holidays, we met up enough to renew our weight loss and exercise goals. I’m also excited about getting back to my desk and working on my next project(s). Way too easy to get distracted by cookie-baking or gift-wrapping over the holidays.

The heroine in my most recent book, Then He Kissed Me (it came out yesterday!), is eager to have a new start in the new year too. She owns a limousine service in the Napa Valley wine country, and on New Year’s Eve is contracted to take a couple of clients on a winery crawl…her ex-boyfriend and his new fiancée. Argh! But Stephania (Stevie) certainly can’t let on that she’s affected in any way…the guy did not even dent her heart, she swears, and so will do her duty and then be done with the couple forever!

Except then she learns that she has to play wedding planner for her ex and his princess bride (yes, she’s also a princess) as they’re marrying at her family’s winery. And the wedding party includes the bride’s very, very, very attractive older brother, who isn’t the least bit worried about starting something new—starting something up—with Stevie. Oh, this year looks like it’s going to be as much trouble as the last one…

I hope you’ll put Then He Kissed Me on your 2011 To Read list. It’s the second in my Three Kisses trilogy and I love the dynamic between my tomboy Stevie and sophisticated guy who will steal her heart.

Do you have a new plan for the new year? Share! I’ll send a free book to a lucky commenter!

P.S. If you've ever visited the Writing Playground website, you may be familiar with our Hall of Feet. To rekindle interest in our cute shoe fetish, we've asked our guest bloggers to send in photos of their cute shoes. Here are Christie's! I love the floral design and how they dress up a pair of jeans.

Guest Blogger - Christie Ridgway

Wine. Weddings. Romance. It only takes those three words to describe my new trilogy. Of course I came up with a premise using a few more of them: One failing winery, two feuding families, three unforgettable pairings. And the first book of the three, CRUSH ON YOU, is out this month.

Alessandra Baci is the youngest of three sisters and is known affectionately around her town as the "Nun of Napa," after a wedding-that-didn't-happen five years before. She's concocted a new revenue stream for the 100-year-old family winery...offering it as a wedding venue. But with the first event scheduled for the end of the month, she's desperate to get the construction finished on the historic cottage where the nuptials will be held. When her contractor runs out on her, she's forced to turn to the man-next-door, Penn Bennett, who is the star of Hollywood's hottest home renovation TV show. Though they rub each other the wrong way--mostly because they want to rub each other the right way too much--Penn agrees if she'll be the second in a two-person crew. Oh, that creates opportunities to get to know each other and to get close...close enough for these too wary people to fall in love.

This is romance without guns or fangs or a historical backdrop. But there are family legends, a missing treasure, and most of all, the unfolding story of two engaging people falling in love. I've had a blast doing research (drinking wine! Watching movies like Bottle Shock! Spending a long weekend with my husband exploring Napa!) but imagining the winery weddings has been the most fun of all. I've been asking everyone their fantasy wedding--mine is barefoot on the beach in a flowing dress.

Yours? A lucky commenter will win a duo of Christie Ridgway books.

You can learn more about Christie at her website and also follow her at Riding with the Top Down where she blogs with nine other fabulous authors.