Archive for the 'Cooking' Category

BREAKFAST IS SERVED

October 10, 2018 | Author Friend Promo, Cooking

from Dominique Eastwick

Pumpkin is one of my all time favorite foods. No matter how it is prepared, I love it! My recipe below will give you a new appreciation for that unique fruit.

Dom’s Morning After Pumpkin Waffles

2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. pumpkin spice
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1⅓ cups milk
3 tbsp. butter, melted
1 cup fresh or canned pumpkin

Topping Suggestions
Butter and maple syrup, always buy the real stuff
Pecans
Whipped Cream
Powdered Sugar

Preheat waffle iron.

In large bowl mix dry ingredients. In a second bowl stir together wet ingredients *except pumpkin*. Mix well and then incorporate pumpkin.

Combine your wet and dry ingredients until just smooth.

Spray hot waffle iron and follow iron instructions.

Top with Pecans. Whipped Cream, and/or Maple Syrup.

Now that you’ve enjoyed a delicious hot breakfast how about settling in with a thigh-clenching book?

Billionaire Connor Rankin has only two things on his mind—food and skiing. A beautiful set of hazel eyes make Connor change his priorities. The young woman in question is in trouble, so he has no choice but to help out.

What’s a woman to do when her sister is left heartbroken and jilted?

Level headed, human lie detector Breanne Scott is going to make sure her sister’s boyfriend pays, but Connor isn’t what she expected. How do you know what’s true when everyone is telling a different story?

Can they negotiate a field of lies and deceit to find love on the other side of The Billionaire Trap?

Award-Winning author Dominique Eastwick currently calls North Carolina home with her husband, two children, one crazy lab and one lazy cat. Dominique spent much of her early life moving from state to state as a Navy Brat. Because of that, traveling is one of her favorite pastimes. When not writing you can find Dominique with her second love…her camera.

Learn more about Dominique Eastwick on her website, blog, and Amazon author page. Be sure to join her Newsletter for up to the minute info on new releases, contests, and more.

Stay connected on Facebook Twitter, Tublr, and Pinterest.

LUNCH IS SERVED

October 3, 2018 | Author Friend Promo, Cooking

by Chris Pavesic

Readers of the Revelation Chronicles know that my main characters love tomato sandwiches. To make them special, I have included a recipe for Vegan Mayonnaise. You only need four ingredients to make this dressing and it is ready in just 2 minutes! You also only need four ingredients to assemble your tasty lunch: homemade bread, sliced garden tomatoes, lettuce, and mayonnaise.

Vegan Mayo
1 cup avocado oil
½ cup unsweetened plant-based milk
2 tsps. apple cider vinegar (or key lime juice)
Sea salt to taste

The oil and the plant-based milk should be at the same temperature. It is easier to blend.

If you use an immersion blender: combine all the ingredients in bowl. Place the immersion blender so it sits firmly on the bottom of the bowl. Pulse until the mayonnaise emulsifies. Once most of the mayo has emulsified, move the blender up and down to incorporate any oil that is sitting on the top.

If you use a regular blender: place all the ingredients in the blender, except the oil, and blend for about 5 seconds. Then add the oil gradually while the blender is on, turning it gradually from low to high until the mixture thickens.

Note: I make this with almond milk rather than soy because of allergies. Almond milk makes a thinner mayonnaise than soy milk. To thicken, simply decrease the amount of liquid by one teaspoon.

If you use key lime juice rather than apple cider vinegar, the mayonnaise will be sweeter.

While you enjoy your sandwich, check out this excerpt from Travelers Zone, my newest novel in The Revelation Chronicles series.

Above the tree line floats an airship close to three hundred feet long with a slightly rounded wooden hull. Ropes attach the lower portion of the ship to an inflated balloon-like aspect, bright white in color with an identification symbol, a red bird with white-tipped feathers extended in flight, inside a round yellow circle in the center of the canvas. The deck is manned with archers and swordsmen. There are two sets of fore and aft catapults.

What I don’t see are cannons or any other type of a gun large enough to account for the sound of the explosion.

The ship pivots in the air, coming around to point directly at what looks like an oncoming flock of five large birds. Or creatures. They are too big and too strange looking to be birds. They drift closer, flapping their wings.

A moment passes before I realize that they are not creatures either. They are some sort of gliders. A person hangs below each set of the feathered wings, which flap and move with mechanical precision in a sky washed out by the morning sun.

The archers nock their arrows and aim at the flock.

The gliders draw in their wings and dive toward the deck, covering the distance in a few heartbeats. Most of the arrows fly uselessly past the attack force and fall like black rain from the sky. The archers aimed and released the volley too late.

The forward catapult releases a torrent of small rocks at the lead glider. It is a scatter-shot approach that proves effective. There are so many missiles that it is impossible to dodge them all.

But at the moment the stones strike, the other four let loose with fireballs. Spheres of crackling flame spring from their hands, glowing faintly at first and then with increasing brightness. The balls of fire shoot from their hands like bullets from a gun and fly toward the ship, exploding. Pieces bounce off the hull and fall to the ground, throwing hissing, burning globs of magic-fueled fire in all directions, setting everything they touch aflame.

AH, YES, COMFORT FOOD

September 26, 2018 | Cooking

This recipe makes one delicious sandwich that works great for lunch or dinner. Add a bowl of soup or crispy salad and a nice cold beer for a complete meal.

Revved Up Grilled Ham & Cheese Sandwich

2 slices Italian bread
4 slices ham, cut thin
2 slices mozzarella cheese, cut thin
2 slices tomato, cut thin
Garlic powder NOT garlic salt
⅛ tsp. ground thyme
2 tbsp. butter or so

Preheat a heavy 8-10 inch skillet or griddle over medium-high heat.

Spread the butter on the inside of each slice of bread. Sprinkle on a little garlic powder. Grill bread buttered side down until lightly browned. Remove bread to cutting board.

Reduce heat to medium.

Lay one slice of cheese on toasted side of bread, then sprinkle on thyme. Add ham and tomato. Top with another slice of cheese. Cover with the second slice of bread, butter the outside, and sprinkle on a little garlic powder.

Place the buttered side of the sandwich in the pan and fry until the bottom slice is browned to your taste. While that cooks, butter the outside of the top slice and sprinkle on a little garlic powder.

Flip the sandwich and fry until it reaches the color your like. Cover the pan so the cheese melts thoroughly.

Enjoy!
Sloane

FATHER KNOWS BEST

September 19, 2018 | Author Friend Promo, Cooking

from Sharon Ledwith

Especially when it comes to candy. This wonderful peanut brittle has a WOW factor that adds to any celebration. Give as gifts or enjoy with family and friends. This recipe is a sure-fire crowd-pleaser! Make sure you have all the ingredients measured and ready to go, as it requires you to react quickly between steps.

FATHER KNOWS BEST PEANUT BRITTLE

1 cup white sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
¼ tsp. salt
¼ cup water
1 cup peanuts
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp. baking soda
Candy thermometer

Grease a large cookie sheet. Set aside.

Bring sugar, corn syrup, salt, and water to a boil in a heavy 2 quart saucepan set over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved.

Stir in peanuts.

Set candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking. Stir frequently until temperature reaches 300° F (150° C).

Remove heat. Immediately stir in butter and baking soda. Pour at once onto cookie sheet. With two forks, lift and pull peanut mixture into rectangle about 14×12 inches. Allow to cool.

SNAP candy into pieces and enjoy while you take a glimpse at my latest novel.

Fairy Falls was bores-ville from the get-go. Then the animals started talking…

The Fairy Falls Animal Shelter is in trouble. Money trouble. It’s up to an old calico cat named Whiskey—a shelter cat who has mastered the skill of observation—to find a new human pack leader so that their home will be saved. With the help of Nobel, the leader of the shelter dogs, the animals set out to use the ancient skill of telepathy to contact any human who bothers to listen to them. Unfortunately for fifteen-year-old Meagan Walsh, she hears them, loud and clear.

Forced to live with her Aunt Izzy in the safe and quiet town of Fairy Falls, Meagan is caught stealing and is sentenced to do community hours at the animal shelter where her aunt works. Realizing Meagan can hear her, Whiskey realizes that Meagan just might have the pack leader qualities necessary to save the animals. Avoiding Whiskey and the rest of shelter animals becomes impossible for Meagan, so she finally gives in and promises to help them. Meagan, along with her newfound friends, Reid Robertson and Natalie Knight, discover that someone in Fairy Falls is not only out to destroy the shelter, but the animals as well. Can Meagan convince her aunt and co-workers that the animals are in danger? If she fails, then all the animals’ voices will be silenced forever.

Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/YA time travel series, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS, and the teen psychic mystery series, MYSTERIOUS TALES FROM FAIRY FALLS. When not writing, researching, or revising, she enjoys reading, exercising, anything arcane, and an occasional dram of scotch. Sharon lives a serene, yet busy life in a southern tourist region of Ontario, Canada, with her hubby, one spoiled yellow Labrador and a moody calico cat.

Learn more about Sharon Ledwith on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter, Google+, Goodreads, and Smashwords. Look up her Amazon Author page for a list of current books. Be sure to check out THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS TIME TRAVEL SERIES Facebook page.

CHEERS

September 5, 2018 | Author Friend Promo, Cooking

from Carol Browne

To make this bread choose a nice dark, hoppy beer to add a malty flavour.

BEER BREAD

3¾ cups (375g) self-raising flour
1 bottle of beer (300ml)
½ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F / Gas Mark 4

Grease a loaf tin.

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl and empty into prepared pan.

Bake one hour or until the top is crispy and golden.

Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

How about curling up with my epic fantasy while your bread bakes?

Elgiva, a young elf banished from Elvendom, must seek shelter among the Saxons as her only hope of surviving the coming winter.

Godwin, a Briton enslaved by the Saxons, is a man ignorant of his own inheritance and the secret of power he possesses.

A mysterious enemy, who will stop at nothing to wield absolute power over Elvendom, is about to make his move.

When destiny throws Elgiva and Godwin together, they embark upon the quest for the legendary Lorestone, the only thing that can save Elvendom from the evil that threatens to destroy it.

There is help to be found along the way from a petulant pony and a timid elf boy but, as the strength of their adversary grows, can Elgiva’s friends help her to find the Lorestone before it falls into the wrong hands?

EXCERPT
The night was waning when Elgiva woke, wondering where she was. The dark ceiling of Joskin’s cave hung above her, and everything had a reddish glow, cast by the embers of the fire. She slid from under the fur coverlet, her skin tightening at the loss of its warmth, and searched for her leather sandals.

Something had woken her, something that waited outside the cave. A runnel of dread ran down her spine.

She had an inexplicable sense of impending danger, but it was too insistent to ignore. An unnamed instinct stopped her from alerting her companions. She must face this menace alone.

She left the cave as quietly as she could. Her heart pounded in her throat as she peered between the rowan trees and searched the night. Whatever had awakened her, it beckoned. She held her breath and listened, but her ears detected nothing, save for a silence as dark and empty as an abandoned crypt.

It would soon be daybreak, but the sun had yet to rise, and the dark beyond the cave swarmed with potential horrors. She stepped out from among the rowans, relying on her acute senses to make out her surroundings. An unnatural calm gripped the night and as her sandals whispered against the cold grass, they sounded abnormally loud. She feared they would betray her presence.

After a while, she came to a stop and searched the trees. Thin strands of mist curled along the ground, cold and clammy, like an exhalation of sickness.

She hugged her shoulders, knotted her fingers in the cascade of her hair, and shivered in her ragged robe. All around her, the silence seemed to be drawing into focus.

“Who is it?” Her throat was too dry for her purpose. She swallowed and licked her lips. “Who’s there? I know you’re there. I can . . . I can feel you!”

Feel you.

A flash of silver sliced through the dark, and Elgiva gasped in fear. Her arms came up to shield her face as the beam struck a rock several yards ahead. It exploded with a whoosh and sent up thousands of splinters of light, which fell to the ground and sizzled in the mist.

A shape now stood upon the rock, its form concealed in a black, hooded cloak.

Elgiva clutched the amulet to her breast. Her hands were white with terror. “In the name of Faine, who are you? What sort of trick is this?”

A soft, sly voice spoke back to her. “Why should you fear magic?”

“What do you want?” she pleaded, her voice a croak of fear.

“To see for myself.”

“To see what?”

The dark shape sniggered, but made no answer. Instead, it swept its cloak aside, and a cloud of sparks flew out and covered the ground with beads of light.

Elgiva stepped back unsteadily, resolved to flee.

“Stay!” commanded the creature.

It raised a skeletal hand, and the forefinger swung towards Elgiva and pinned her against the darkness, holding her like a rivet of bone. No elf, no wilthkin, ever owned such a hand. Her legs threatened to buckle beneath her. This had to be a nightmare; she was still asleep in the cave. But no, it was all too real.

“Who are you? What do you want?” she cried. “I have . . . I have an amulet!”

The creature laughed derisively. “I am Death, and I have come for you.”

It began to radiate a sickly green light, enveloping itself in a caul of brilliance that pulsated with force. The light grew in size until the trees behind it were bathed in its angry glare. It reached for Elgiva, like a foul stench creeping along a breeze, and she was helpless. The creature’s power throbbed in the darkness.

Within the taut coils of her fear, her instincts screamed at her to run, but her limbs had turned to stone.

Siriol, Siriol, help me . . . help . . .

With a shriek of glee, the creature increased the throb of its power. Elgiva’s mind was suddenly invaded by an inexplicable force. She became divorced from herself and watched from a great distance, waiting for the horror to unfold.

Stay connected with Carol on her website and blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

EASY SUMMER SWEET

August 29, 2018 | Author Friend New Releases, Cooking

from Chris Pavesic

These treats mirror the taste of a mass-produced candy bar while at the same time being made with simple ingredients. My family likes a bittersweet chocolate with a high amount of cacao, but you can use whatever type of chocolate you like the best. These pair exceptionally well with a dish of homemade vanilla ice cream.

Chocolate Coconut Squares

6 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
2 cups powdered sugar
14 oz. sweetened shredded coconut
16 oz. bittersweet chocolate (1 bag of chocolate chips can be substituted.)
2 tbsp. melted butter
Extra butter to coat aluminum foil

Line an 8×8 straight edged pan with aluminum foil, overlapping the edges, and lightly coat with butter.

Combine condensed milk, vanilla, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Stir in powdered sugar (1 cup at a time) until you have a smooth mixture. Add coconut and mix until thoroughly coated and combined. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and press in to an even layer using your hands or rubber spatula lightly coated with butter.

Refrigerate for at least an hour, until firm enough to cut in to squares.
When the coconut mixture has set, lift out of the pan by the foil. Peel the foil off and place on a cutting board. Cut in to strips then cut in to squares.

Pop the squares back into the refrigerator. Keep refrigerated until ready to coat.

Heat a double boiler until the water simmers. Add chocolate to the top pan. Stir every so often until it has melted. Add butter, stir until chocolate and butter are completely blended and the chocolate is thinned and shiny.

Use a fork to dip each coconut square in to the chocolate. Allow any excess drip off. Place coated bars on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Continue to dip the bars and then let them sit until the chocolate is firm and set.

Store at room temperature or refrigerate.

Treat yourself to a few candy squares while you enjoy a brief glimpse into my newest release, Travelers Zone.

The amazing story of Cami Malifux continues with Book 2 of the Revelation Chronicles.

Escape from a world of darkness into a magical realm of limitless adventure.

In Starter Zone, Cami kept herself and her younger sister Alby alive in a post-apocalyptic world, facing starvation, violence, and death on a daily basis. Caught by the military and forcefully inscribed, Cami manages to scam the system and they enter the Realms, a Virtual Reality world, as privileged Players rather than slaves. They experience a world of safety, plenty, and magical adventure.

Indeed, magic, combat, gear scores, quests, and dungeons are all puzzles to be solved as Cami continues her epic quest to navigate the Realms and build a better life for her family. But an intrusion from her old life threatens everything she has gained and imperils the entire virtual world.

Praise for The Revelation Chronicles:

“She entered the game and I was hooked. I don’t even play that kind of computer game, but the story was as addicting as I imagine a real MMORPG to be. Each level up, each new character, each new threat drew me in. I wish I could read the next book already!” —Kata, NetGalley Reviewer

“I love the dystopian genre, and a lot of the problem I run into is a lot of them are boring and follow the same storyline. This one is so different it’s amazing. I cannot recommend this enough. It’s sci-fi, it’s dystopian, and it fresh. A definite must read that I plan on reading again!” —Liliyana S., NetGalley Reviewer

“Both sisters are strong female characters who are good role models for young girls. This story is filled with suspense and adventure with a taste of the gaming world. It is the first LITRPG book that I have read and I really enjoyed it.” —Teresa O, Educator

“This book was amazing! The story line, along with the development of the characters was phenomenal. This book is very well paced, and easy to follow. Seeing the story play out for the characters, along with the lessons you gain from reading this book, makes it one of my new favorites. For, this book is more than just another dystopia novel. It’s basis is on family love, and what you’d do to keep them safe. It’s a young adult novel, yet is appropriate for anyone above the age of 10. I would highly suggest reading this book ASAP. You won’t regret it!”–Almaz D, Reviewer

Want to learn more about The Revelation Chronicles? Click HERE for updates on this and the other series by Chris. Watch the video on YouTube.

Chris Pavesic is a fantasy author who lives in the Midwestern United States and loves Kona coffee, steampunk, fairy tales, and all types of speculative fiction. Between writing projects, Chris can most often be found reading, gaming, gardening, working on an endless list of DIY household projects, or hanging out with friends.

Learn more about Chris on her website and blog.

Stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, and her Amazon Author Page.

MAKE SUNDAY MORNING SPECIAL

August 22, 2018 | Cooking

with this delicious and easy make-ahead meal. Serve with mini croissants or French bread, butter and jelly. Hash browns and fruit salad are nice accompaniments. Mimosas are a lovely drink to top off your breakfast/brunch.

Breakfast Soufflé
1 pound ham, bacon, or breakfast sausage
9 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups milk
1 tsp. dry mustard
Diced green, red, and/or yellow pepper to taste
4 – 1 inch slices Vienna or French bread, cubed
½ pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated
½ pound Swiss or Gruyere cheese, or a combination of the two grated
Diced onion to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Dice the ham or bacon. If you use ham, set aside in the bowl you choose for the eggs. Fry bacon to the crispness you prefer. If you use breakfast sausage, fry the meat until no longer pink. Be sure to break up any clumps. Drain the meat in a colander while you continue to prepare the soufflé.

Add all ingredients, but the bread, to the eggs. Stir well.

Stir in bread.

Pour mixture into an ungreased 9×13 inch glass dish. Bake for 1 hour or until a knife inserted in the center has no egg cling to it.

This dish can be assembled a one or two days ahead of time. Allow the soufflé to sit on your counter 1 – 2 hours before you bake it.

Leftovers are excellent from the microwave.

May you enjoy all the days of your life around a well laden table!

Sloane Taylor
Twitter
Amazon Author Page

Who Doesn’t Love Crunchie® Bars?

August 15, 2018 | Author Friend Promo, Cooking

by Sharon Ledwith

Those were my go-to chocolate bars when I was a kid, and I still love’em to this day. This angelic chocolate covered sponge toffee recipe will bring back memories of the good old days when a trip to the corner store armed only with a dollar bought more than just one candy bar. Create a batch for gifts or to add to the festivities, these melt-in-your-mouth treats will add life to any party.

CHOCOLATE COVERED SPONGE TOFFEE
1 cup white sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tbsp. baking soda
1 pound chocolate confectioner’s coating
Candy thermometer

Butter a 9×13 inch baking pan.

In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, combine sugar, corn syrup, and vinegar. Cook, stirring until sugar dissolves.

Set candy thermometer in place, and heat, without stirring until temperature reaches 300° F (150° C).

Remove from heat and stir in baking soda.

Pour into prepared pan. Do not spread. Allow to cool completely.

In the microwave (or over a double boiler) melt coating chocolate, stirring frequently until smooth.

Break cooled sponge toffee into bite sized pieces and dip into melted chocolate coating.

Place on waxed paper until the chocolate is set. Store in tightly covered container. Make sure to hide some pieces for yourself!

Every cook must taste test their finished product. Sit back, munch away, and take a glimpse at my latest novel.

Fairy Falls was bores-ville from the get-go. Then the animals started talking…

The Fairy Falls Animal Shelter is in trouble. Money trouble. It’s up to an old calico cat named Whiskey—a shelter cat who has mastered the skill of observation—to find a new human pack leader so that their home will be saved. With the help of Nobel, the leader of the shelter dogs, the animals set out to use the ancient skill of telepathy to contact any human who bothers to listen to them. Unfortunately for fifteen-year-old Meagan Walsh, she hears them, loud and clear.

Forced to live with her Aunt Izzy in the safe and quiet town of Fairy Falls, Meagan is caught stealing and is sentenced to do community hours at the animal shelter where her aunt works. Realizing Meagan can hear her, Whiskey realizes that Meagan just might have the pack leader qualities necessary to save the animals. Avoiding Whiskey and the rest of shelter animals becomes impossible for Meagan, so she finally gives in and promises to help them. Meagan, along with her newfound friends, Reid Robertson and Natalie Knight, discover that someone in Fairy Falls is not only out to destroy the shelter, but the animals as well. Can Meagan convince her aunt and co-workers that the animals are in danger? If she fails, then all the animals’ voices will be silenced forever.

Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/YA time travel series, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS, and the teen psychic mystery series, MYSTERIOUS TALES FROM FAIRY FALLS. When not writing, researching, or revising, she enjoys reading, exercising, anything arcane, and an occasional dram of scotch. Sharon lives a serene, yet busy life in a southern tourist region of Ontario, Canada, with her hubby, one spoiled yellow Labrador and a moody calico cat.

Learn more about Sharon Ledwith on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter, Google+, Goodreads, and Smashwords. Look up her Amazon Author page for a list of current books. Be sure to check out THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS TIME TRAVEL SERIES Facebook page.

DINNER IS SERVED

August 8, 2018 | Author Friend New Releases, Cooking

from Lizzie T. Leaf

I’ve used sesame chicken sauce often on poultry and one day I decided to give it a try on fresh salmon. End result was yummy. I hope you think so, too.

Photo Courtesy of Robson Melo Pixabay

SALMON
1 lb. salmon filet with bottom skin
1 small onion, sliced thin
½ to ¾ cup of sesame chicken sauce

Be sure to check for pin bones on the fish. If you find some use tweezers for best results.

Place salmon in a plastic bag with sliced onions. Pour sauce over and massage to work sauce over the salmon and onions.

Marinade in refrigerator at least 2-3 hours (or night before if you work). Occasionally turn so sauce contacts all of the fish. If you refrigerated the night before then turn the bag in the morning before you leave.

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Place salmon skin side down in an oiled skillet. Lay onions on top.

Bake 20 minutes or until fish flakes.

ROASTED SWEET POTATOES
1 sweet potato per person
Olive oil
Salt, optional

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Peel and cut potatoes into chunks. Place potatoes in an ovenproof dish.

Add oil and salt. Toss to coat well.

Roast approximately 30 minutes or until fork tender.

STIR-FRY GREEN BEANS
½ bag frozen shoestring green beans
1 tbsp. olive oil
Pinch cayenne pepper
Pinch salt, optional

Heat frying pan on medium-high. Carefully add oil.

Scatter beans into hot pan. Stir for 4 minutes.

Add cayenne pepper, according to your spice preference, and salt. Stir 1 minute and serve.

Here is a little from my latest spicy romantic release for your reading pleasure.

Following the Powers directive to unite soul mates, a Scottish Cailleach’s magic will have repercussions in several realms.

Mixed-blood author Ian McCabe, grandson of Fae and gods, tries to deny his powers while hiding his true origins from the human world. When he discovers mortal, Emma Grant unconscious at his front door, his world starts to change.

Tour director Emma Grant leads a group of senior ladies through Scotland. The breakdown of their bus on a rural Scottish backroad has her sloshing through the rain and mud on foot. Her efforts to seek help results in a fall that knocks her unconscious. She awakens to find the man of her dreams staring into her eyes.

Both feel an instant attraction, but will his secrets and her distrust of men keep them apart.

A few lines that tweak a grin.
Yep, at this rate, a long three weeks lay ahead. No one had told Emma that the dozen school teachers ranged in ages from sixty-nine to eighty-eight. Good grief, what happened to women at this age sitting on the front porch and enjoying their rocking chairs?

Mildred waved away the correction “Of course, dear. Whatever you say. I just want to know, will we see any men in kilts soon? I want to see what they wear under them.”

Dirty old woman. She asked that question at least half a dozen times before we got on the bus and stated the reason just as often.

Lizzie T. Leaf has loved books since she opened her first one. Her dream was to write them herself. Lost in the hectic day to day world of family, job, laundry and housework, writing became a distant memory. When the twinkling ember did spark, it was usually doused by someone demanding their share of her time.

Lizzie’s life went full circle. The desire to put the stories that continued to play in her head on paper emerged stronger than ever, and at a time when there was someone who encouraged. Now she lives her dream.

Learn more about Lizzie T. Leaf on her website and blog. Connect with Lizzie on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

ANY TIME TREATS

August 1, 2018 | Author Friend Promo, Cooking

from C.D. Hersh

A family friend provided us with this candy recipe and we have taken great pleasure in making and sharing it ever since. If you’re an Ohioan then this chocolate delight is called BUCKEYES. Otherwise it is

PEANUT BUTTER BALLS
2 cups peanut butter
1 lb. margarine at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla
2½ to 3 lbs. powdered sugar
Popsicle sticks, optional

Mix peanut butter, margarine, and vanilla together.

Add powdered sugar. Mix well. Form into balls. Insert sticks if you chose to use them.

Chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

COATING
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate bits
3 tbsp. paraffin (grated)
Decorative candies/sprinkles, optional

Melt chocolate and paraffin in a double boiler. You may need more chocolate mixture to coat the balls than this recipe calls for.

Dip balls in chocolate and then candies/sprinkles. Place on waxed paper and allow to cool thoroughly.

Three ancient Celtic families. A magical Bloodstone that enables the wearers to shape shift. A charge to use the stone’s power to benefit mankind, and a battle, that is going on even today, to control the world. Can the Secret Society of shape shifters called the Turning Stone Society heal itself and bring peace to our world? Find out in the series The Turning Stone Chronicles.

The Promised One, book one:
When homicide detective Alexi Jordan is forced to use her shape shifting powers to catch a paranormal killer, she risks the two most important things in her life—her badge and the man she loves.

Blood Brothers, book two:
Shape shifter Delaney Ramsey’s daughter is missing, and she is bound by honor to protect the man she suspects of the deed. To bring him to justice, she must go against her code, the leader of the secret shifter society, and the police captain she is falling for.

Son of the Moonless Night, book three:
Thrust back into the world of paranormal huntress, Deputy Coroner Katrina Romanovski must unravel a string of murders she believes are vampire attacks. When she discovers the shape shifter she’s in love with is the murderer, she must reconcile her feelings for him, examine her life of violence against paranormals, and justify deceiving him in order to bring him to justice.

The Mercenary and the Shifters, book four:
A desperate call from an ex-military buddy lands a mercenary soldier in the middle of a double kidnapping, caught in an ancient shape shifter war, and ensnared between two female shape shifters after the same thing … him.

C.D. Hersh–Two hearts creating everlasting love stories.

Putting words and stories on paper is second nature to co-authors C.D. Hersh. They’ve written separately since they were teenagers and discovered their unique, collaborative abilities in the mid-90s. As high school sweethearts and husband and wife, Catherine and Donald believe in true love and happily ever after.

The books of their paranormal romance series entitled The Turning Stone Chronicles are available on Amazon. They also have a short Christmas story, Kissing Santa, in a Christmas anthology titled Sizzle in the Snow: Soul Mate Christmas Collection, with seven other authors. Also a standalone novella, Can’t Stop The Music, in a collection with thirteen other authors. 

They look forward to many years of co-authoring and book sales, and a lifetime of happily-ever-after endings on the page and in real life.

Learn more about C.D. Hersh on their website and their Amazon Author Page.

Stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.