I recently sat down to have a Cup of Coffee with the Shaughnessy siblings. This is one chat I’ve been looking forward to!

Rae: First things first – I’m having my usual Latte with Coconut Milk

What’s in your mug?

Aidan: Straight black coffee. I don’t understand these fancy coffee drinks.

Hugh: (laughing) You can still class it up a little bit. I’ve got an espresso macchiato

Quinn: Sounds like a girly coffee to me. I’m with Aidan – black coffee. Because that’s what men drink.

Riley: Sorry, I’m afraid I have to disagree, Quinn. I’ve got a holiday spice flat white. (Holds it up as a toast). To the holidays!

Owen: I’m not much of a coffee drinker. But I’ve got vanilla Frappuccino. (Shrugs) Sort of like a coffee, sort of like a milkshake.

Darcy: (Grinning and shaking her head) I love this time of year. I’ve got my peppermint mocha Frappuccino. So yummy!

Rae: Thank you for meeting up with me, especially with the holidays three weeks away.  Are you all ready?

Quinn: There are enough wrapped presents in front of the tree for about a hundred people so I’ll have to say yes.

Darcy: That’s because Anna took care of it all for you. You better appreciate her!

Quinn: (eyes rolling) Don’t start. I already know how lucky I am.

Darcy: Damn right you are…

Aidan: Zoe took care of everything for us, too. Thank God. Christmas combines her two favorite things – Christmas and shopping. Our house looks like a damn department store display window!

Hugh: Aubrey bought out the entire toy department of Target. I know it. So I’ll have to say that we’re ready.

Darcy: And whatever Aubrey missed, Dad and I bought!

Hugh: Oh God…

Rae: Do you have any favorite cookie recipes?

(All five brothers look at Darcy)

Darcy: (Grinning) What? So I like to bake. You all benefit from it!

Quinn: We know. That’s why we all looked at you. None of us have cookie recipes.

Darcy: Ah…gotcha. I think my favorite to make are the red velvet white chocolate chip cookies. It’s a really easy recipe…

Aidan: Um yeah…for you…

Darcy: Any-way…it’s 1/2 cup softened salted butter, 1 cup packed light brown sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla, 1 egg, 2 teaspoons red gel or liquid food color (use 2 1/2 teaspoons if needed), 1 3/4 cups Bisquick mix, 1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa, 1 cup white vanilla baking chips (add 1/2 cup more if desired). Easy-peasy.

Rae: Do you put up a real tree or a fake tree?

All answered: Real!

Rae: Will everyone be together for the holidays this year?

Hugh: We will. We’re lucky that most of us are still living in the area or can take the time to come home. Dad’s thrilled.

Darcy: He really is. It’s chaos and loud and just crazy but for some reason, he loves it.

Riley: This will be the first Christmas in a couple of years that I’m able to be here so I’m looking forward to it.

Rae: Tell us Aidan, are you still building homes in North Carolina?

Aidan: I am. The business is still growing and we’re expanding a bit but I’ll always stay in this area. This is home to me.

Rae: Hugh, how’s the resort business? What city are you taking over next?

Hugh: The resorts are doing very well. The campaign that Aubrey did for us really gave us more publicity than I thought possible and reservations have been on the rise at all locations ever since. Currently we’re building in North Carolina and I just recently looked at some property up in Alaska.

Rae: Quinn, I’m dying to know – what car do you have in your shop right now? How’s the restorations going?

Quinn: (Grinning) I have a sweet black 77 Trans Am that I’m working on. It looks like the one from Smokey and the Bandit. I’m almost done with it and it drives like a dream!

Rae: Great to see you Riley. I hope that all is well in the music world. I promise this time we won’t talk about work. So tell me, if you could have one thing for Christmas, what would it be?

Riley: (Smiling) I appreciate that. It’s nice to sort of step away from it all for a little while and just hang out with the family. Christmas is my favorite holiday and I’m psyched to be home for it this year. So…one thing? Hmm…This year, I’d say that I’d love a week away – at one of my brother’s resorts – where I can just do nothing all day and just relax. (Looks over at Hugh) Hint, hint!

Rae: What is your favorite part of the holiday?

Riley: Talking about things we did growing up. Sharing memories of those Christmas’s from when we were kids.

Quinn: Definitely. Dad has some old home movies and we bring them out every once in a while and watch them.

Hugh: The Christmas movies. I love sitting around with everyone and watching It’s a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34^th Street.

Aidan: Frosty the Snowman. It is not Christmas unless we watch Frosty the Snowman.

Owen: Christmas breakfast. Our mom used to make these huge Belgian waffles every Christmas morning. Dad makes them now but it’s something that no matter where else I have them, they’re never as good as they are on Christmas morning.

Darcy: Presents! How is it that none of you think that getting presents is the best part of the holiday??

Rae: Okay, maybe one work question: I heard rumor that Riley let a reporter hang out with the family, how did that go? Did she stay with you?

Darcy: It was awesome! He finally let us talk to a reporter and we all got to share stories about what it was like growing up with him and how it feels to have a famous brother.

Quinn: Oh yeah…it was like a dream come true.

Aidan: Dude, could you be any more sarcastic?

Quinn: (Shrugging) Probably.

Riley: (Clears his voice) I did bring a reporter home – her name is Savannah Daly and…lets just say that she’s more to me than a reporter.

Quinn: (Makes kissing noises)

Riley: Grow up! (Sighs loudly) Anyway, we stayed with my dad for a bit and then we stayed at Aidan and Zoe’s because Dad was working on his house.

Rae: Owen, what’s new in the world of stars?

Owen: Oh…um…I don’t know if you can say that anything is particularly new with the stars. After all, Most stars are between 1 billion and 10 billion years old. Some stars may even be close to 13.8 billion years old—the observed age of the universe. The oldest star yet discovered, HD 140283, nicknamed Methuselah star, is an estimated…

Darcy: Oh my God! Enough!! We get it!

Rae: Thank you all for hanging out with me. As always please send my regards to your Dad. Happy holidays and next time Hugh – we should meet up at one of your resorts.

Hugh: Pick one and we’ll be there!

***** GIVEAWAY *****

Samantha Chase has generously donated ONE  ecopy of This is Our Song AND THREE swag packs for the Blitz giveaway.

Answer the following question in the comments below for a chance to win.  What is your choice of a vacation – something with thrills or rest and relaxation?

FOUR winners will be randomly selected.

Be sure to follow Books I Love A Latte on the blog, FB and Twitter so you don’t miss the posting of the winners!

Contest ends on 12/8/16 at 11:59PM Three winners will be randomly selected and posted on the blog after 3 PM 12/9/16.

The lucky winners must comment within 24 hours on the blog post to claim their prize or a new winner will be randomly selected.

** All entries from Day 2 and Day 3 will be eligible. **

Author Info:

New York Times and USA Today Bestseller/contemporary romance writer Samantha Chase released her debut novel, Jordan’s Return, in November 2011. Although she waited until she was in her 40’s to publish for the first time, writing has been a lifelong passion. Her motivation to take that step was her students: teaching creative writing to elementary age students all the way up through high school and encouraging those students to follow their writing dreams gave Samantha the confidence to take that step as well.

When she’s not working on a new story, she spends her time reading contemporary romances, playing way too many games of Scrabble or Solitaire on Facebook and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina.

For more information, please visit Samantha’s website – www.chasing-romance.com

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