Secret Santa Blog Hop Day 2

Welcome to the Spark, Spark, Spark stop in the Secret Santa Blog Hop. Glad you could come by and I hope you win loads of fabulous prizes. If you comment on my blog, click to follow my blog, and answer the question at the end of my blog, you’ll get three entries for the grand prize of a Kindle Fire HD loaded with books. Be sure to return to the Secret Santa Blog Hop master page when you’re done here to keep on hopping. You can find all the rules and how the hop works there, too. You can also click on the handsome man in the hat to return to Secret Santa Blog Hop master page and see the list of blogs in the hop.

And for stopping by and commenting, you’re entered in my personal contest to win a free ebook copy of An Improper Situation, in the format of your choice. At the end of the hop, I’ll read all the comments and choose a winner. Make sure you leave your email address so I can reach you if you win.

Let’s discuss Christmas, nineteenth-century style. On Day 1, we had a little fun with fashion. Day 2, let’s discuss the tree and other traditions.

The nineteenth century brought about many of the staples of Christmas that we enjoy today: the decorated Christmas tree by the 1850s (via Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who grew up in Germany where the tree was already a tradition), Christmas cards (though only for the wealthy, at first), Christmas crackers (more popular still in the UK than here in America, but you can purchase them easily nowadays), and, of course, Ebeneezer Scrooge (via Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

In Boston, MA, where Reed Malloy (from my romantic novel, An Improper Situation) and his family live, by the 1880s, Christmas celebrations were large family affairs that we know today, complete with a feast. Why? Because throughout the century, immigrants came to Massachusetts predominantly from Ireland, England, and Scotland, bringing with them their UK and European Christmas traditions. They came a long way from a 1659 Massachusetts anti-Christmas law of the Puritans to the nationwide celebration of the 1880s. I mean, would you expect any Christmas cheer from this guy?

So now we get to the question part of our blog event. Should it be a classic question, such as boxers or briefs, chocolate or wine, cat person or dog person, circumcised or not? Well, we’re all romance-minded people here, so let’s go for something romance-related, yes?

Here goes: If you had your choice for a romantic getaway with your significant other (real or imaginary), which would you prefer?
a) a tropical setting, with umbrella-clad drinks, hot sun, and a private beach with warm white sand suitable for outdoor love making and beautiful blue shark-free waters perfect for skinny-dipping
OR
b) a snowy mountain getaway, complete with secluded lodge with a crackling fire and a luxuriously soft rug in front of it, just begging for you to bare yourself, a stocked wine cellar, and a hot tub just a step outside the door (no bathing suit allowed).

So which is hotter, sexier, more romantic, in your opinion? Just answer “beach” or “snow”. I’ll tell you my answer on Day 3.

All right, make a comment, remembering to answer “beach” or “snow”, then click on the “Follow” button on the lower right of your screen to follow my blog and enter your email as indicated. Now, off you go, on to the next blog. Click the pink link to return to the Secret Santa Blog Hop master page where you’ll see all the rules and the list of blogs participating in the hop, or click on the handsome man in the hat.