Book Extract: My Greek Island Christmas by Effrosyni Moschoudi

It’s an absolute pleasure to be welcoming Effrosyni Moschoudi back to Novel Kicks as we shine a light on her latest book, My Greek Island Christmas. 

Two die-hard cynics when it comes to love meet on a small family farm on the alluring Greek island of Santorini, and the magic of Christmas goes to work.

Cathy Roussos, a Greek-American single mom, swore off love many years ago after a painful breakup. Her nine-year-old son, the energetic but rather shy Leo, is everything she lives for. When she takes a temp job as a housekeeper for the Christmas season at a small family farm on the island of Santorini, the last thing she expects is to fall in love with the standoffish son of the owner.

Alex Rallis, a veterinarian living in Athens, is a sworn bachelor. As Christmas draws near, he is offered an ideal job abroad. Before taking it, he has to sell the family farm in Santorini and find a new place for his elderly father. The last place Alex wants to be at Christmas is the farm that holds painful memories, but he can’t avoid it. His father will only agree to sell the farm and move out if Alex spends one last Christmas with him there. It seems the old man has a ploy in mind, and a string of adorable locals have their parts to play, too. Next thing you know, Christmas cheer is shared all around, old sad tales are retold in different ways, and romantic love swirls through the air deliciously, like the aromatic steam of hot chocolate.

Can these two wounded souls find happiness together? They say Christmas holds its own magic, and Santorini can be just as enchanting. Even in the midst of winter, its allure remains—enough to give anyone a chance to heal and open up their heart.

Effrosyni has kindly shared an extract from My Greek Island Christmas with us today. We hope you enjoy. 

*****beginning of extract*****

The roosters had done the trick at ten minutes past six, according to Cathy’s watch. It was impossible to get back to sleep once she was awake, even after burying her head under the pillow to shield her ears from the high-pitched noises.

Plus, with Leo giggling every time a new animal sound echoed in the distance, she felt now more awake than she’d ever expected to be at this early hour.

She slipped out of bed, gathered a change of clothes in her hands and announced to Leo she was going to have a shower.

To avoid fishing for her slippers at the bottom of her luggage she hurried down the landing on her tiptoes along a runner mat. As she slowly opened the door to the bathroom, she felt a tug from the inside.

Taken aback, she let go of the handle, and immediately heard an exclamation of pain from the inside.

Biting her lip, she stared aghast as Alex appeared from behind the door.

“Argh! Careful!” he said, throwing her a thundering look. He was rubbing his brow with one urgent hand.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to—”

He put up both hands, then gave an exasperated sigh. For a few moments, he just looked at her mutely, and she braced herself for another fit of rage, like the one he had exploded into the previous evening.

He was wearing jeans and a turtleneck top, the latter a dark blue that accentuated his honey-brown eyes. He was up bright and early, all dressed. Well, he is a vet. Surely, he’s used to going to work early. That’s commendable. Hey! What the heck am I doing, admiring him? His eyes, his dress sense, his starting the day early? Get a grip, girl! The man is a Neanderthal!

To her surprise, his expression melted somewhat as he tilted his head to the side and half-smiled. “I don’t know why we keep meeting in these awkward ways… but it sucks.”

She blinked hard, then said, “Um… I agree.”

“I am sorry about yesterday. I acted like an ass. In my defense, I didn’t want to come here. For my own reasons. But that’s my own problem, and nothing to do with you.”

“Right…”

He smirked and leaned a little forward to say, “But, in my defense, you did call me a moron!”

She met his gaze and saw the humor lingering in his expression. Relieved, she said, “And you left us stranded at the airport. We could have all come here together in your taxi.” She gave a lopsided smile and added, “We froze our butts on that bench at the roadside.”

“Ouch. I am sorry. I did say I acted like an ass. Forgive me?”

She gave a firm nod. “Sure. We all have our bad days.”

He offered his hand. “Let’s start anew. Pretend we just met. I am Alex.”

She shook his hand gently and beamed at him. “Pleased to meet you, Alex.” She pointed a finger over her shoulder. “I have a son back there. His name is Leo. He is nine.”

He rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner, clearly in jest. “Oh, I think I remember him. He has a mean tug.” He gave a titter, and she echoed the happy sound with her own. It felt good to be in his presence and not cringe, for a change.

There was a large glass pane on the wall a little further away behind her. Feeble natural daylight was streaming in, making his brown eyes glow, like steaming mocha.

It made her realize she was thirsty, funnily enough, and it was hard to focus on the moment, because of the way his eyes were gazing into hers. And then, it dawned on her she actually preferred for her mind to roam in those moments. She didn’t want to dwell on how attractive he was. I didn’t have this problem with Angry Alex…

He flashed her an easy smile, and it served to return her to the present without delay. He tilted his head again, his smile forming a cute dimple on one side of his mouth. It was clearly visible through his thin well-trimmed beard.

She melted, but then froze, when he took a step forward and said, “Let’s bury the hatchet, Cathy. Let’s have a nice Christmas, yes?”

She giggled, despite herself. “Yes, let’s.”

“Good. I’ll see you around.” He raised a hand and turned to go, but then faced her anew to add, “Oh. Just to say. You don’t have to wait on me, just, well… the old man.”

A shadow crossed his face momentarily as he said the last two words. Again, she noticed he’d avoided to refer to Mr. Stavros as “dad” or “father.”

He chirped anew and added, “I’ll make my own breakfast, Cathy. Though, I do look forward to your cooking. I am useless at cooking. Back in Athens, I practically live on take out dinners.” He gave an impish grin.

Smiling sweetly at him, she said, “Sure thing! What do you like to eat?”

“All typical Greek food, I guess. But Mrs. Marianna told me you’re American, so I am not sure what you have in mind?” He wasn’t being offensive in the least, just humorous, the playful glint in his eyes unmistakable.

She raised her chin and played along, to say deadpan, “Hamburgers, corn dogs, macaroni and cheese, and apple pie sound okay?”

He bit the bait. Flinching, he said, “Seriously? Oh… I don’t think the old man would like any of that. He loves his Greek stews and roasts. And his baklava.”

She chortled and flicked her wrist. “Relax, I’m only kidding. I am actually half-American. My Greek father and my grandmother taught me how to cook.”

“Phew! That’s a relief! So, you were raised here in Greece?”

“Yes. I’ve lived here most of my life. We left the States when I was only six.”

“That explains your impeccable Greek, too. I did wonder about that.”

“Yup. Thanks,” she said, looking down at her socked feet, feeling all timid and vulnerable all of a sudden, realizing she was still in her pajamas in the few awkward moments of silence that ensued. His loafers looked pristine.

His chuckle caused her to look up again. “Though, I would love to know what a corn dog is…”

She cocked her eye at him, about to enlighten him, but then he winked, smiled, and walked away.

*****end of extract*****

About Effrosyni Moschoudi – 

Effrosyni Moschoudi was born and raised in Athens, Greece. As a child, she loved to sit alone in her garden scribbling rhymes about flowers, butterflies and ants. Today, she writes books for the romantic at heart. She lives in a quaint seaside town near Athens with a British husband, two naughty cats, and a staggering amount of books and DVDs. Her little town is heavenly enough, yet her mind forever drifts to her beloved island of Corfu.

The Ebb, her new adult romance that was inspired from her summers in Corfu in the 1980s, is an ABNA Q-Finalist. Her debut novel, The Necklace of Goddess Athena, won a silver medal in the 2017 book awards of Readers’ Favorite. Her ghost romance novella, The Boy on the Bridge, was a Top 10 winner in the “50 Best Indie Books” awards of Readfree.ly in 2021.

Her latest book, My Greek Island Christmas is part of the Holiday Reading Selection and was released in December 2025. Click to buy on Amazon UK and Amazon US. 

Say hello to Effrosyni via her website (where she has listed delicious Greek recipes and a plethora of blog posts about her life and travels in Greece), Facebook, X, Amazon and Goodreads.

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.