Make Up Test - by John Adcox (Paperback)

About the Book

Janie Mason just wants to get through the season. She's under enormous pressure at work, and the holidays bring up memories she'd rather leave unremembered. The only thing that's making things is that she's getting to work closely with Bill Sparks, the man she's crushing on. The last thing Janie needs is someone trying to prove to her that Christmas magic is real. But she's about to go to places she'd long ago stopped imagining.

Book Synopsis

"It's like . . . like a miracle. Like some kind of weird, freaky miracle."

Christmas is a time when anything can happen . . . even if you think the entire idea of a holiday miracle is laughable.

Janie Mason just wants to get through the season. She's under enormous pressure at work, her boss is brilliant but self-centered, and the holidays bring up a lot of memories she'd rather leave unremembered. The only thing that's making things tolerable for her right now is that she's getting to work more closely with Bill Sparks, the man she's crushing on, and Jeremy, someone who was just beginning to be a friend pre-lockdown and who has become the only person she can rely on now that everyone is back in the office. January really can't come soon enough.

The last thing Janie needs is someone trying to prove to her that Christmas magic is real. So, when a guy claiming to be an elf offers to fulfill a wish for her, Janie off-handedly tells him that she wishes the makeup she just purchased actually did what it claimed to do. When she gets home, strange things begin to happen with the makeup. Blush that turns her whole face scarlet? Clarifying lotion that makes things clearer? Vanishing cream that actually causes things to vanish?

And so begins an odyssey that promises to take Janie places she'd long ago stopped imagining. There's magic in the makeup. There's magic in her deepening connection with a certain co-worker. And maybe there's magic in a holiday she'd long ago abandoned. Janie Mason is getting her make-up test. And if she passes, her life will never be the same again.

About the Author

After a 30-year career in new media, where his titles have included VP, Digital Media, VP, Creative, Executive Producer, and even CEO, John Adcox is now concentrating on storytelling. In addition to his writing, he is the CEO of Gramarye Media, Inc., the "next generation" book publisher, game developer, and movie studio of the future. More of his books are coming soon.

Carol Bales studies, works, and teaches in a place where technology and creativity intersect. Educated in painting at the University of Tennessee and Human-Computer Interaction at Georgia Tech, she works as a Design Researcher for The Weather Company and teaches at Georgia State University.

The couple lives in Atlanta, Georgia. They are the creators of Raven Wakes the World: A Winter Tale, Christmas Past: A Ghostly Winter Tale, The Star in the East: A Winter Tale of Ancient Mystery and Incandescent. John is also the author of the novel Blackthorne Faire.