‘Ah, what the heck …’ I pull the lever until the nutcracker’s jaws touch the walnut shell. ‘I wish to finally find Prince Charming. A prince like you, Mr Nutcracker. A strong, dependable, handsome man who will be loyal and charming and kind. Is that too much to ask?’
The breeze whispers through the lane again and the walnut splits. I take it out of the nutcracker’s smiling mouth, throw the shell into the nutshell garden, and pop the kernel into my mouth. ‘Goodnight.’
A cloud passes over the moon above and for just a moment, it looks like he winks at me.
I shake my head at myself as I walk away. Apparently break-ups cause hallucinations now too. It reminds me that I’m alone again, and I decide to take the long way round and pop into the 24-hour supermarket on the way home. Never mind magical nutcrackers and walnut wishes, there’s only one thing that’ll make me feel better in this situation – Ben & Jerry’s. Several tubs. And one of those gigantic tubs of chocolates they bring out for Christmas.
In 65,903 calories’ time, yet another cheating man will be nothing but a distant memory. It won’t matter that I’m alone again because it’s Christmas and Nutcracker Lane opens in the morning, and it’s my first year here. It’s going to be the best Christmas ever.
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Acknowledgements
Firstly and always most importantly, Mum, this line never changes because I’m always eternally grateful for your constant patience, support, encouragement, and for always believing in me. Thank you for always being there for me – I don’t know what I’d do without you. Love you lots!
I also want to give a big shout-out to some Facebook groups that have supported me tirelessly this year and are an absolute pleasure to be part of. If you’re looking for book-loving groups filled with readers who will be good for your soul (but terrible for your to-read list!) then I highly recommend joining The Friendly Book Community, Heidi Swain and Friends, Chick Lit and Prosecco, and The Socially Distanced Book Club. Thank you so much to all members and admins of these wonderful groups who put in so much effort to make little communities that are a joy to belong to!
The biggest thank you to an amazing author and one of my very best friends, Marie Landry. I look forward to talking to you every day. You never fail to make me laugh and feel loved, and you are always the highlight of my day! I love you more than I hate a certain moustache!
An extra special thank you to Bev for always writing lovely letters, always taking the time to ask about my writing, and for always being so encouraging and supportive and kind!
Thank you, Charlotte McFall, for always being a tireless cheerleader and one of the best friends I’ve ever had.
Thank you, Jayne Lloyd, for being a wonderful friend through good times and bad, and for the emails that always make me smile!
Bill, Toby, Cathie – thank you for always being supportive!
All the lovely authors, bloggers, and readers I know online. You’ve all been so supportive since the very first book, and I want to mention you all by name, but I know I’ll forget someone and I don’t want to leave anyone out, so to everyone I chat to on Twitter or Facebook – thank you.
Thank you to all the team at HQ and especially my fabulous editor, Belinda Toor, for always knowing exactly what each book needs!
And finally, a massive thank you to you for reading!
Dear reader,
Thank you so much for reading The Post Box at the North Pole! I hope you enjoyed a festive escape to snowy Norway and enjoyed getting wrapped up in Sash and Tav’s story, as well as all the Santa letters!
Seeing the Northern Lights is a lifelong dream of mine, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to live vicariously through Sasha while writing this, and had so much fun doing all the research into Norwegian traditions, reindeer, life in that part of the world, and of course, delving into Santa’s mail bag! I want to go and visit Santa this Christmas now, even though I’m much too old for it!
If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a rating or review on Amazon. It only has to be a line or two, and it makes such a difference to helping other readers decide to pick up the book, and it would mean so much to me to know what you think! Did it make you smile, laugh, or cry? Would you write to Santa even as an adult? What would you write in your Christmas wishing jar? What do you hope Julenissen will leave under your tree this year?
Thank you again for reading. If you want to get in touch, you can find me on Twitter – usually when I should be writing – @be_the_spark. I would love to hear from you!
Hope to see you again soon in a future book!
Lots of love,
Jaimie
Dear Reader,
We hope you enjoyed reading this book. If you did, we’d be so appreciative if you left a review. It really helps us and the author to bring more books like this to you.
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The Post Box at the North Pole: The perfect cosy and uplifting Christmas romance to curl up with in 2021! Page 32
