Hopefully not.

Still, the winter holidays are indeed upon us, and we at Lady Jane’s Salon are looking forward to celebrating in romantic literary style.

The December Salon tosses out the tinsel with three historical romance authors reading from m/our holiday releases. Getting the party started, first-time Salon guest Jacquie D’Alessandro and I will read from our Dickens’ inspired romance anthology, A Harlequin Christmas Carol. Jacquie’s delightful Shakespeare-inspired Today’s Longing will have you rolling in the aisles before the first eggnog is poured.

Salon Co-Founder, Hope Tarr signing at the December '09 Lady Jane's.

Next, I’ll read from my novella, Tomorrow’s Destiny, an even more paranormal re-telling of Dickens’ Christmas Yet To Come. Prickly, scotch swilling Covent Garden bookshop proprietress, Fiona MacPherson faces turning thirty and losing her beloved bookshop, both by the New Year. Unearthly pale and sun blind, Tobias Templeton doesn’t care a whit about the shop, but there’s one book in particular he’s convinced holds the cure for his “curse.” Can a nocturnal visit from Fiona’s “Angel of Christmas Future” turn the tide toward uniting Fiona with her One True Love, her soul’s mate, before it’s too late?

Returning to the Salon is our dear friend, Lauren Willig. Lauren will read from her latest release in the Pink Carnation series,The Mischief of the Mistletoe.

Best-selling author, Jacquie D'Alessandro.

The December Salon convenes on Monday, December 6th from 7-9PM at Madame X. Admission is $5 or one gently used romance novel. Net proceeds support an end-of-year donation to a NYC based women’s charity. Cash bar. Raffle. Author books will be available for sale on site.

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas…

Salon Co-Founder, Hope Tarr has written fifteen historical and contemporary romance novels for multiple publishers. Tomorrow’s Destiny in A Harlequin Christmas Carol is her first novella. Visit her at www.HopeTarr.com and enter her holiday contest.

Ah, Lady Jane’s Salon! What a wonderful night of reading and mingling in Greenwich Village! I had the good fortune to meet one of Lady Jane’s founders, Leanna Hieber, a few months ago at another book signing, so when she offered me a November spot to read, I was thrilled. I’ll admit, though, as the date grew closer I developed a terrible case of nerves (looking back, this seems silly – I mean, as a high school English teacher I talk in front of people all the time. Still, this felt different). However, I survived and even managed to enjoy myself, mostly about halfway through my reading when I realized I wasn’t going to pass out from nerves.

Madame X is a narrow little bar with a separate room upstairs decorated entirely in red, with cushy couches and ottomans everywhere. And yes, I decided to dress to match the décor J  About 10 of my own friends joined me, some who live in the city and some who came down from my hometown about 60 miles north. I’d say there were maybe 50 people attending in all. Four authors read, and the nice thing is that we all wrote in different genres of romance. I chose a passage from my latest sweet contemporary, One Night in Napa (though check out the cover for my very newest release, Summer’s Song - I love it!). Sarah MacLean followed with a hilarious scene between her Regency hero and heroine and had everyone laughing. After intermission (during which I enjoyed one of the bar’s signature cocktails – yum!), Terence Taylor read from his paranormal romance novel. It was wonderful to have a male romance author as part of our group, and the audience loved his New Orleans accent and literary nod to Zora Neale Hurston. Finally, the awesomely-garbed Stella Price read from one of the stories in her latest erotica collection.

Author Allie Boniface at the November '10 Lady Jane's.

All in all, it was a terrific night. We had a chance for mingling and picture-taking afterward, and, well, you can’t really go wrong spending an evening in NYC. If you arrive early (and you should!), take a walk around the neighborhood and have dinner or drinks in one of the many cozy restaurants in Greenwich Village.

So romance authors, if you have the chance to read at Lady Jane’s Salon, do so! It’s a wonderful experience. Hey, if you’re a romance fan at all and you find yourself in NYC on the first Monday of any month, I highly recommend stopping by Madame X at 94 West Houston Street between 7 and 9 pm. At the very least, you can’t beat the $5 cocktails!