Steamy Holidays 9
Clifford Pemberton has a famous name, a forgotten musical dream, and absolutely no luck with women.
Then three gorgeous former high-school crushes walk into his radio station—and remember him.
Adeline is Southern elegance with a wicked streak. Harper is pure trouble wrapped in Christmas cheer. And River has a smile that makes Clifford forget his own name.
When the three Southern Charms tempt him into a cola-jingle competition, Clifford gets a second chance at music, romance, and the spotlight.
But with Christmas Eve kisses, naughty dreams, and a jealous radio host, things are about to get deliciously fizzy.
Before his usual doubt changed his mind, he threw on the first jacket he could find and hurried through the cold to McCall’s rooftop bar. The December wind nipped at his ears, but something inside him burned bright and steady.
Adeline was already at her kissing booth, framed by twinkling lights and the wide winter sky. Mostly guys had lined up for her. The Seven Hills Parade had turned her cheeks into practiced smilers. She had a catalog of pinup poses she selected from with each cheek-kiss. She waved away her latest booth visitor. When she looked up, a man reached her from the side—no hesitation in his step, no shy half-smile, no retreat.
Just Clifford, walking straight toward her.
Her breath caught.
READ MOREHe cupped her face, gentle but sure, and kissed her—full on the lips. Not rushed. Not reckless. Just right. Around them, the rooftop crowd erupted into cheers and whoops, Santa hats bobbing like exclamation points.
When he pulled back, he whispered, “Thank you.”
Adeline stood absolutely still, lips echoing the kiss, trying to reconcile the boy from her prom with the man in front of her. A dozen butterflies she thought she’d long outgrown snapped awake all at once.
Then—CRASH.
COLLAPSELily Chen on Goodreads wrote:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Those Southern Charms! J. Tiffany Noore invents a new cola ‘Southern Cola’ and three previous local parade queens to promote it: the Southern Charms Adeline, Harper, and River. This time the hero caught up in all of it is a radio operator hiding from his heavy family name: Pemberton, as in the inventor of that other cola. Then a jingle contest that pits him against the local disk jockey looking for his ticket to state level radio, a SantaCon parade, social media marketing, and a high school prom song. Noore gives us a small town Christmas carol story with heart and glitter.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Southern Cola starts at a small-town radio station in Rome, Georgia, where the launch of a new cola turns into a Christmas-Carol-ish story about shy radio operator Clifford Pemberton and the Southern Charms: Adeline’s “smooth Scarlett” elegance in red velvet, Harper’s “fizzy Daisy” energy in high-waisted denim, and River’s “character Cherokee” calm in winter ivory. Their impromptu rendition of Clifford’s old high-school prom song kicks off a jingle war with a veteran radio jock. J. Tiffany Noore creates another intimate world, this time with Southern hospitality and secret history. A delightful treat.