Amanda Usen's Blog, page 13

Leave The Lights On at Thanksgiving

Karen Stivali and I met on Twitter, but we bonded at Lori Foster’s Reader & Author Get Together. Meeting her got me hungry to read her book THEN, AGAIN, which we chatted about at dinner. I referred to it as the “Grandma’s recipes foodie romance.” I’m also looking forward to reading her latest book, LEAVE THE LIGHTS ON. Because I’m into that, LOL! Don’t forget to enter the Hungry Hearts super swag pack giveaway at the end of this post and hop on all the Hungry Hearts blogs for recipes and a giveaway you don’t want to miss! Take it away, Karen…

One of the most frequent comments I hear from readers is “Your book made me hungry!” I always enjoy hearing that because it makes me happy to get people thinking about food. I adore food. Whether it’s something I’ve cooked or just something I really enjoy eating, I love sharing food with people. That’s why my characters can always be found cooking, snacking, dining or even grocery shopping together. There’s something simultaneously intimate, enticing and sensuous about it. I love the aromas, the textures, the anticipation. To me, it’s the perfect opportunity for exploring likes and dislikes, bonding over a shared experience and deepening a relationship.

Available from AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, ALL ROMANCE e-BOOKS, and more.

In Leave The Lights On, Parker and Sophie are childhood friends who find themselves neighbors once again now that they’re adults. Their friendship is instantly rekindled as is their age old crush on one another. Not wanting to move too fast or make assumptions, Sophie invites Parker to attend a food expo with her. She’s a wedding planner and has to go but she tells him he should come along, for fun. Parker is all too happy to have any reason to spend some extra time with Sophie, so he jumps at the opportunity. Here’s a sneak peek at the day they spend together, sampling all sorts of decadent treats….

Excerpt from Leave The Lights On:

The intricate displays at the food show contained the most elaborate culinary concoctions Parker had ever seen. Towering pyramids of cream puffs housed in structures sculpted out of chocolate. Fruits and vegetables carved into flowers or turned into edible cups containing anything from savory soups to the lightest mousses he’d ever tasted. Bite-sized samples of everything from cheese to candied nuts to grilled meats. Each table more impressive than the last.

As much as he enjoyed the food, all of it paled in comparison to how happy it made him to spend the day with Sophie. She’d been a whirlwind since they’d first entered the expo. It seemed as though she knew at least half of the vendors, most of whom had come out from behind their displays to greet her with a hug or a kiss before pulling her to the side to give her special samples they’d held aside for VIPs. Impressive and more than a little bit of a turn on. Parker knew Sophie as the smart, capable, sweet girl she’d been when they were younger, but he’d never seen her in work mode. Her charm and grace were irresistible. And clearly not just to him.

“You’re certainly popular with this crowd,” he said, taking the umpteenth box of chocolates out of her hand so she could finish eating the miniature key lime mousse cup she’d just plucked off a silver tray.

Her auburn brows pinched together. “What do you mean?”

Watching her pop the last of the mousse cup into her mouth and lick a stray crumb from the corner of her lips made Parker’s abdominal muscles tense. He held up the three large totes full of samples they’d accumulated. “Do you not realize how many freebies we’ve got here?”

She grinned, sending the tension lower. “Okay, so maybe a few of them favor me a little bit.”

“They love you.”

Her cheeks pinked. “Half of them probably just wanted a closer look at the hot guy who’s carrying my bags.”

Hot guy? That’s got to be good. “So you’re saying you brought me along just to snag extra giveaways?”

“Pretty much. And so I wouldn’t have to carry them myself.” She batted her eyelashes, her lips pursed in a coquettish grin.

He wanted to drop all the bags, sweep her into his arms and kiss her right there in the center of the dessert aisle.

“Oh, Antoinette’s Chocolates. You have to try her truffles. They’re insane.”

She curled her fingers around the crook of his arm and tugged him toward a table with a white chocolate Eiffel tower. Having her hand on him made Parker even less able to concentrate on the food. He could imagine her hands everywhere. Is she just being friendly or does she want to touch me as much as I want to touch her?

His thoughts were interrupted as she held a small chocolate pyramid to his lips. “Try this.”

He swallowed hard then opened his mouth. Sophie popped in the chocolate. Her fingertips brushed his lips, making him feel lightheaded from lack of blood flow to his brain. He forced himself to chew the candy. The creamy chocolate liquefied on contact with his tongue, releasing a combination of caramel and hazelnut. “God, that’s good.”

“Mmmm.” She closed her eyes as she chewed. “They’re my absolute favorites. I shouldn’t admit this but I try to talk clients into ordering them just so I’ll get to eat them at the wedding.”

“Do you go to every wedding?”

She nodded, her eyes scanning the display. “Pretty much. Here. These are amazing too.” Again her delicate fingers paused in front of his lips, this time holding up a disc of chocolate with a white-chocolate rose etched on the surface.

Caramel and sea salt flooded his mouth as soon as he bit into the dark chocolate shell. “Jesus. I’ve got to get myself invited to some weddings. This stuff’s amazing.”

Sophie laughed, the shimmery sound sending tingles through Parker’s limbs. “Or you can be extra nice to me, and maybe I’ll bring you home goodie bags from all the ones I go to.”

She grabbed two sample boxes off the table and tucked them into one of the tote bags.

Parker chuckled. “Now there’s officially more food in these bags than in my entire kitchen.”

“That’s just because I haven’t taken you grocery shopping yet. We’ll get your kitchen stocked soon enough.”

“Sounds good.” Anything that involved more time with Sophie sounded good. His gaze was drawn to the saunter of her hips as she made her way through the crowd. Jesus.

“I think we’ve hit every booth. You ready to go?”

“Sure.”

Parker held the door as they left the convention center. As they headed down the street, the sky darkened with deep blue clouds. Thunder rumbled long and deep. “Think we’ll make it to the car before the storm starts?”

No sooner did the words leave his mouth than the sky opened up.

Sophie shrieked, “No. Run.”

They tore down the sidewalk, fat raindrops pelting them faster by the second. One of Sophie’s sandals slipped off, and she started giggling. “Wait, my shoe.”

Parker stopped, slicking his hair back off his face. “Got it?”

“No.” She laughed harder, grabbing Parker’s arm to steady herself as she wiggled her foot back into the shoe. “There.”

Her eyes sparkled as she gazed up at him, her breath coming fast from laughter, her rain-soaked shirt clinging to her every curve. Parker smoothed her wet hair off her cheek. The feel of her skin, warm and inviting, was too much. He couldn’t wait another second.

His lips touched hers mid-giggle, for just a second. He held his breath, his fingers still woven into her hair, waiting to see if she’d pull away. She hesitated, the sweet scent of her making him dizzy, then her mouth was back on his.

Sophie went up on her toes, leaning in toward him, her lips parting beneath his. She tasted like the chocolate they’d had and red wine they hadn’t, a decadent blend of the richest flavors he’d ever savored. He no longer noticed the rain or heard the thunder—his whole world had condensed into the kiss. The only word his brain could form was Sophie.

Official blurb for Leave The Lights On:

When love throws you a curve, swing for the fences.

Parker Wood’s dreams of becoming a professional baseball player are shattered when he’s injured in a devastating car crash. After two years in hospitals and physical rehab facilities, he’s ready to move back to his childhood home and take over the family landscaping company. The house and business are his, now that his father has passed.

Sophie Vaughn has suffered through a hellishly public divorce from a husband who couldn’t manage to stay faithful for two months of marriage. Determined not to let her personal drama impact her successful wedding and party planning business, she buys her parents’ old house, hoping the comfort of familiar surroundings will help her heal.

When Parker and Sophie discover they’re neighbors once again, it’s as if time has stood still. Their friendship is quickly rekindled, along with the decade-long crush neither of them ever admitted having. Then the heat between them exposes a long-held secret that threatens to tear them apart…unless they can detach from their painful pasts and move forward—together.

Warning: Contains sultry summer nights, steamy pool-side encounters, and you’ll never look at a jar of peanut butter the same way again.

Need to know more about that peanut butter? Buy LEAVE THE LIGHTS ON at AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, ALL ROMANCE e-books, and more!

A little something about Karen Stivali:

Karen Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant for books, movies and fictional British men. She is a multiple award winning author of contemporary and erotic romances for Ellora’s Cave, Turquoise Morning Press and Samhain Publishing.

Website: karenstivali.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/karenstivali

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/karenstivali

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5170527.Karen_Stivali

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/karenstivali

The Hungry Hearts authors are giving away a prize pack! Click this link to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway

And don’t forget to hop around the Hungry Hearts Holiday Hop to get some great Thanksgiving recipes and enter to win a Harry & David Crater Lake Gift Basket!

Give Thanks for Heat in the Kitchen!

I was really hung up on the idea of a New Orleans Thanksgiving…until I read this post. Now I’m only going to dine where the pie-to-person ratio is 1:1. Let’s give a Hungry Hearts welcome to Kate Meader on release day for her brand new Hot in The Kitchen romance ALL FIRED UP!

Not having grown up in the States, I wasn’t familiar with Thanksgiving when I landed in Chicago in the summer of 1993, ready to make my way in the world. From the movies I’d seen, my abiding impressions were that a parade might be involved (Miracle on 34th Street) and getting home to loved ones invariably involved risks to life and limb (Planes, Trains, and Automobiles). I had a vague notion that turkey was the main food group and that this holiday was preferred over Christmas because everyone celebrated it regardless of faith and there weren’t any expectations to exchange gifts. I’m from Ireland where Yuletide rules to the extent that people save up their vacation time to take those twelve days of Christmas off and the country shuts down to the point of paralysis. Across the pond, The Great Escape is considered a Christmas movie (I’ll tell that one another time) and Doctor Who is the highest-rated TV show, not just on Christmas Day but all year. We do Christmas, people, and we do it well. So what’s the deal with Thanksgiving?

Twenty years ago, I was working at Starbucks and had made lots of friends, but as the week of Thanksgiving rolled around, the exodus from the city began. Most of my Starbucks crew were transplants from the East Coast, slinging lattes in between auditions and improv sets at the Second City, and a lot of them were heading home for the holidays. All except a couple of Bostonians who couldn’t afford the airfare. And so I was introduced to my first Orphan Thanksgiving.

None of us were orphans in the truest sense, but we banded together around a fold-out card table and a couple of thrift store pieces. We had golden turkey, creamy mashed potatoes, and rich gravy. I tried yams with marshmallows for the first time and neither liked it nor understood how anyone could (still don’t). My future husband was there but he was dating someone else at the time and it would be five more months before we got together. On our first Thanksgiving, he made a pie for every person—an entire pie—a tradition he maintains to this day. This was indeed a banner event!

No one held hands and announced what they were grateful for—these Boston smart mouths were too jaded for that—but I know what I would have said if asked. That I was glad to be included, even though I had brought no food or wine (my invitation was too last minute) and that I now understood what Thanksgiving was all about. Not parades or life-threatening journeys. Not even the best turkey I’ve probably ever tasted. Just reaching out to bring a non-believer into the fold, though I insisted I wouldn’t have cared about being alone on a Thursday that meant little to a foreigner. I didn’t know I was lonely, but after that day, I knew I had friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kate Meader

Available from AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, and more.

ALL FIRED UP

Hot in the Kitchen, Book 2

Her sweetest mistake . . .

Cool as a Chicago winter, private events planner Cara DeLuca is a model of self-control . . . until she meets the one temptation she can’t resist: Shane Doyle. The sexy, Irish pastry chef is too hot, too sure, too young, and after a crazy night in Vegas-her new husband. While at first Cara wants nothing more than a way out of her sham marriage to Shane, she soon finds that beneath his farm boy demeanor lies a man who can match her drive, both in and out of the bedroom. How can the wrong guy feel so deliciously right?

. . . Tastes so, so good

Shane has carefully structured his career and life around one goal: connecting with the family that doesn’t know he exists. Marrying a woman with more issues than a magazine stand wasn’t part of the plan, but melting Cara’s icy exterior is so worth the detour. Now as the annulment date nears and long-buried secrets are revealed, Shane will have to fight for the one thing guaranteeing the perfect life he craves . . . the current Mrs. Shane Doyle.

Excerpt from ALL FIRED UP:

Irish chef, Shane and private events planner, Cara are getting to know each other after their drunken marriage in Vegas has forced them into close quarters. Marriages under the influence for the win! Here, our intrepid duo gets busy in the kitchen with a spot of sexy scrambled eggs.

He put her to work whisking the eggs, handing off the ingredients she needed: a splash of milk, a pinch of salt, a couple of grinds of pepper. Meanwhile, he sautéed the morels in butter and cracked pepper until the honeycomb surface browned up to a golden caramel color. The rich, muddy scent filled the air around them.

Looking over, he found her paused midbeat over the eggs. She caught his stare.

“I’ll mess it up if I cook them.”

“You? You couldn’t mess up anything if you tried.”

“You don’t know me very well.”

But God, he wanted to. So much for keeping it separate. He removed the morels from the heat and transferred them to a plate. “Just put the eggs in here.”

She poured them in carefully, as though she were dealing with molten gold, then stood awkwardly, almost childlike. The slender column of her throat bulged on a swallow. He’d never met anyone so nervous in a kitchen, not even Dennis-the-extern.

“You know,” he said, moving closer, “cooking is as much about confidence as it is about skill.” She tilted her big eyes up to his. “Sometimes you just have to play the part.”

“The part of a cook?”

“The part of a confident, sexy cook. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake and you probably won’t.” He pulled on the knot of her hair and enjoyed the sensuous unfurl from its constraint.

“There’s nothing sexier than a confident woman in the kitchen. You’re confident everywhere else, so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be here, either.”

“Okay,” she said suspiciously, shaking out her hair.

He put a hand on her waist and felt a deep breath rack her body. “Do you mind if I…”

Without waiting for her answer, he undid the top button of her blouse and revealed that beautiful shadow in the valley of her cleavage. He let his knuckles graze the plump swell of her breasts while another unbutton produced a glimpse of the laced edge of her bra. Pink, sheer, devilishly designed to turn him to granite in zero point zero seconds. Pink was her favorite color and it was getting up there on his list as well.

“This is supposed to make me better at cooking eggs?” Her voice rasped a little, and it thrilled him more than he could have thought possible.

“A sexy cook makes sexy food.” He trailed his hands down her sides and over the flare of her hips. “Your skirt’s not short enough.” It fell a couple of inches above her knees, and while her calves were amazing, her thighs were spectacular. He wanted more thigh.

The snugness of her skirt was no match for his hands. Eyes never leaving hers, he pulled it up at her waist and folded it over so it revealed more skin than it covered. She made a breathy noise in her throat and his dick jumped.

“How are those shoes feeling?”

“What?” Voice in a tremble, she looked down, bending forward enough to give him another healthy glimpse of her gorgeous breasts.

“I’ve been wearing them for close to sixteen hours. How do you think they feel?”

“Take them off.”

She stared at him like he wasn’t the full shilling. “That’s against health codes—isn’t it?”

“I won’t tell if you don’t.”

Her eyes had been bright before but now they sparkled like stars. Something about what he had said appealed to a deep part of her, either the rule-breaking or the secrecy. Maybe both. Leaning her palm on his shoulder, she kicked them off, and they hit the metal-bottomed counter with a satisfying thud. Her toes shone a shimmery pink, like sanding sugar. He liked the toes.

“So now you’ve got me half naked and barefoot. You planning to knock me up next?”

“Patience, young padawan. Let’s see how you do with the eggs first.”

He spun her around and turned the knob on the stove, sparking the blue flame to life. Resting one hand on her hip, he passed her a wooden spoon with the other. “Now stir.”

He kept one eye on the eggs and the other on her mouth as she broke up the glossy mixture with jerky strokes.

“It’s not that hard,” she said, catching her fleshy bottom lip by her teeth.

If you say so. All his blood had pooled in his erection and only sheer willpower prevented him from rubbing his body against hers. Unknotting her hair had released fragrant herbals that now filled his nostrils. Without her heels, she was several inches shorter than him so he would have to lift her up to get her to notch right in to the spoon of his crotch. While he pondered the logistics of that, he looked over her shoulder at the eggs that were cooking up quickly. They were eggs, and they had no clue that he needed more time breathing her in.

Bloody eggs.

To see how fast Shane moves, buy ALL FIRED UP from AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, and more.

A little bit about Kate:

Kate Meader writes contemporary romance that serves up delicious food, to-die-for heroes, and heroines with a dash of sass. Originally from Ireland, she cut her romance reader teeth on Catherine Cookson and Jilly Cooper novels, with some Mills & Boons thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron, and she’s there. When not writing about men who cook and the women who drool over them, she works in an academic library. Her stories are set in her adopted home town of Chicago, a city made for food, romance, and laughter – and where she met her own sexy hero.

Contact: kate.meader@gmail.com

Website: http://katemeader.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkatemeader

Twitter: @kittymeader

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6551743.Kate_Meader

Blog: http://katemeader.com/blog/

The Hungry Hearts authors are giving away a prize pack! Click this link to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway

And don’t forget to hop around the Hungry Hearts Holiday Hop to get some great Thanksgiving recipes and enter to win a Harry & David Crater Lake Gift Basket!

Dishing on THANKSgiving

Christine Warner and I met on June 10th when our Indulgences released from Entangled Publishing. I am totally in LOVE with her BACHELOR’S SPECIAL cover! Stay tuned for an adorable excerpt and a super Hungry Hearts author prize pack giveaway…after a few words about Thanksgiving from Christine!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. Ever since I was a child I’ve enjoyed the day because it’s always been filled with family, friends, food, laughter—and a healthy dose of tradition. The year after I got married I took over hostess duties from my mom and dad and I’ve never looked back.

I love it!

Oh sure, I’ve made a few mistakes here and there—like keeping the heart, neck, and gizzard bag in the turkey while it cooked…not once, but twice…lol—or leaving the corn in the microwave and not noticing until hours after dinner had been eaten and put away, or adding too much salt to the gravy that only a few potatoes could cure—but all of these only added to the funny stories we added to our list to talk about the following year and each year afterward. (Yes, I still get asked by my husband every Thanksgiving morning if I removed the “extras” bag from the turkey…teehee).

One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is that each family member is asked to bring a dish to pass. One that is a mainstay and is on the table every year—like the vegetable tray, or deviled eggs—but we also have to bring a new dish to pass. Sometimes this new dish will be added to the table for years to come and sometimes it’s just a one time deal.

We’ve shared some interesting foods. Dishes we might not have ever dared to make and some we probably shouldn’t have. Lol! One of the best recipes that has been added to our table each year is a Fruit Medley Punch that I made as my new dish several years back and it’s been on the table each year since. This is such a well loved punch that when I decided to shake things up one year and try a new punch I had a minor riot on my hands—I haven’t deviated from my punch recipe since. The recipe can be found on my blog if you want to check it out at christine-warner.com.

I’m looking forward to this year. I’m already pouring through recipes to find my “new” addition and am hoping it tops the sweet potato soufflé I made last year. My brother loved it and took all the leftovers home, but it left me with a cavity and semi-comatose from a sugar overdose. Definitely not one I’ll be making again. Lol! I’m also in full anticipation mode to see what my sister brings. Although she doesn’t enjoy cooking, she has a great imagination and always comes up with a hit.

How about you and your family? Any special Thanksgiving traditions you’d like to share?

I’m sure Chet and Jill from Bachelor’s Special are full of tradition. I can see Jill in the kitchen preparing a fantastic turkey dinner with Chet’s unskillful help. But I know they are both looking forward to their families coming together to celebrate the season…

Available from from AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, KOBO, iTUNES and more.

BACHELOR’S SPECIAL BLURB:

Saute, simmer, and flambé…

Jill Adgate wants three things from life: a successful catering business, the devoted love of an exceptional man, and a family. What she has is no job, a mounting pile of bills, and her outspoken best friend—who sets her up on a blind date with the man who inadvertently ruined Jill’s life.

Chet Castle is a prosperous businessman who has everything, except the ability to trust. Burned by a money-hungry fiancée, he refuses to get involved with any relationship that has a shelf life longer than a head of lettuce.

Intrigued by her ambition–and determined to get her in bed–Chet offers Jill the chance of a lifetime: Work for him for the next eight weeks as his live-in chef and he’ll help her get her catering business off the ground. When sparks fly in the kitchen, Jill realizes what’s cooking with her commitment-phobic employer is a recipe for disaster…but it’s just too tasty to not take a bite.

The excerpt I’m sharing has a little taste from both Jill and Chet’s perspective. ENJOY!

EXCERPT:

Her body hummed as his smile wavered. Although he wore sunglasses, she’d bet her last dollar his gaze swept across her chest, lingering on the betrayal of her pert nipples pushing against the fabric of her suit.

Until this moment, shyness had never been a trait she possessed. Air stalled in her lungs, her palms grew sweaty, and she itched to cover herself with a towel. Even though her replica vintage swimsuit hid more than most sets of women’s underwear, she felt too exposed. She turned to the side slightly and folded her legs up. Not that it helped, but it made her feel a bit less exposed.

Chet slid his feet from his sandals, brushing a hand through his hair. The heat from the sun wasn’t the only thing scorching her skin. She trickled several droplets of water over her arms, but she couldn’t drag her focus from his toned flesh. Jill soaked in his ripped abs and the obvious package of goodies covered by his brown swimsuit—the same sexy brown as his hair. Damn, did a man have a right to fill out a pair of swimming trunks like that? Flecks of hair, just enough to give him a manly appeal, covered the etched muscles of his long, tan legs.

She licked her lips, hoping she could still speak. “Do you want some privacy?” Yes, say yes. She needed an excuse to make an escape without coming off like someone desperate to be making an exit.

***

Hell no, he didn’t want privacy. Through the shield of his sunglasses, he inspected her body from the tips of her pink-painted toenails to the top of her brightly flowered swimming cap. Did people still actually wear those things?

“No, you look comfortable. Stay and enjoy the day.”

“Oh…are you sure?”

“Sure.”

Amazed at his own ability to talk without his tongue hitting the cement, Chet turned to throw his towel and sunglasses on a nearby lounge chair. Damn. The red and white polka-dot halter-style suit featured a tight bodice, but her slender hips and shapely thighs hiding beneath a matching skirt grabbed his attention until all oxygen left his blood. Even showing less skin than the average girl on the beach, she far exceeded sexy and alluring.

Get a grip, Castle. She’s off limits, no matter how delectable.

He turned and stepped onto the diving board. He bounced along the surface as he made his way over the water. When he looked at Jill’s bathing cap covering her head, he held back his grin. The neon rubber flowers reminded him of something his grandmother would’ve worn, but there the similarity ended. Everything beneath that cap was far from making him think of Grandma.

To see how things work out with Jill and Chet, buy BACHELOR’S SPECIAL from AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, KOBO, and iTUNES.

A little bit about Christine Warner:

Christine Warner is living her dream in Michigan along with her husband, three children, one laptop and a much loved assortment of furry friends.

Besides laughing and a good round of humor, she enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, reading, writing but no arithmetic. A confessed people watcher, she finds inspiration for her stories in everyday activities. She loves to read and write about strong heroes and determined, sometimes sassy, heroines.

You can find Christine on the web at:

Christine’s Words http://christine-warner.com/

Twitter: @ChristinesWords https://twitter.com/ChristinesWords

Facebook…stop by and LIKE my page and stay up to the minute on what I have going on and play along with some of the games we play: https://www.facebook.com/authorchristinewarner?ref=hl

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5763713.Christine_Warner

The Hungry Hearts authors are giving away a prize pack! Click this link to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway

And don’t forget to hop around the Hungry Hearts Holiday Hop to get some great Thanksgiving recipes and enter to win a Harry & David Crater Lake Gift Basket!

Big Easy THANKS-giving

Rachel Harris and I met online in the Entangled Publishing author loop, but I honestly had to search my brain for a minute because her warm, dynamic, bubbly online personality makes me feel like we’ve met in person! If she ever invites me to Thanksgiving dinner, I’ll go. She grew up in New Orleans, and I bet she throws a heck of a party! The thought of a Big Easy Thanksgiving makes my mouth water…or maybe that’s just her SEVEN DAY FIANCE excerpt below. I hope you’ll enter our very special giveaway at the end of the post for the chance to win fun swag from Rachel and the other Hungry Hearts authors. For the chance to win our BOOKS, visit our Facebook event, going on all week! But first, a few holiday thoughts from Rachel Harris.

Thanksgiving makes my heart happy.

The focus is family and gratitude, no presents needed, no elaborate costumes required. You eat, you laugh, you watch football, and then you shop. You go around sharing what you are grateful for that year, and you add another leaf to your handmade Thanksgiving tree. We do, anyway. My kids love that the most. Cutting out construction paper leaves, handing them out to every visitor and waiting until they’ve written down the things they are most thankful for, and then taping it to our hand-drawn tree.

Our turkey is roasted, and sometimes fried. We also a ham because we like them both, and hey, it’s the holidays. Gumbo and stick-to-your-ribs macaroni and cheese. Three different stuffings, and pecan and pumpkin pie, because everyone has a favorite. Harry Connick Jr. and Dean Martin on the radio…until after dinner when someone switches it to Christmas tunes. That’s Thanksgiving in my house.

What does it look like in YOUR house?

Happy THANKS-giving!

Rachel Harris

See what I mean? Count me in! And to make you even hungrier, check out this excerpt from Rachel’s latest release SEVEN DAY FIANCE where city boy Cane Robicheaux discovers what Thanksgiving is like in Cajun princess Angelle Prejean’s house:

A soft chuckle pulled Cane’s attention away from his plate. Thanksgiving dinner was half over. He’d lost count of the number of people there, but it had to be pushing fifty. Tables were shoved together throughout the wide living room and kitchen, where every Cajun dish he could think of was present. The huge ham that’d been tempting him all morning was joined by a pork and beef roast, both smothered with gravy, candied yams, jambalaya, rice and gravy, gumbo, and a dish Cane had never heard of, corn maque choux. He didn’t know what it was, but it was freaking delicious.

As one of Angel’s many cousins said while filling his plate, “If you leave here hungry, it’s your own damn fault.”

Glancing over at his giggling fiancée, he wiped his mouth on a napkin and asked, “What’s so funny?”

“You only eat one thing at a time.” She pointed her fork at what was left of his meal, green eyes dancing with amusement. “You did it last night, too. Is there a method to your culinary madness, or are you just in the food zone?”

Cane leaned back in his metal chair, thoughts of finishing his jambalaya abandoned. Confident and teasing were definitely his two favorite hellcat traits. “I’ll have you know that some believe eating this way is better for the body,” he informed her, fully aware that his nerd flag was flying and not giving a damn. “Foods break down differently, and eating one thing at a time can ease digestion. It’s also said that people who do it are more task-oriented.”

“More like inflexible and stubborn,” Angelle muttered with a smirk. “And what about people who mix it up and inhale their food, like yours truly? Got an answer for that?”

She batted her eyelashes, clearly believing she’d stumped him, which made it all the more gratifying when he replied, “Fast eating is linked with putting others first. As for mixing it up, they say it implies you’re great at handling responsibility.” He grinned and added, “Personally, I think it means you eat weird.”

Angelle shook her head and narrowed her inquisitive eyes, looking as if she’d never seen him before. And in a way, she hadn’t. After a moment of shocked silence, she recovered and asked, “Do you, like, memorize Wikipedia for fun?”

More like Discovery Channel. Cane shrugged. “I like to be informed.”

She smiled, a soft natural smile seemingly meant for him and not for show. Even as euphoria hit his blood, seeing that directed at him instead of the fearful looks she used to give him, anxiety knotted his stomach. She was getting attached.

Close friendship was good. Or so he thought, having never had that before. Seeing another man take her home and make her smile would kill him—but it would be for the best. And at least those honest smiles, that feisty spunk, and the scent of sunflowers would remain in his life. But she had to know it could never be anything more.

“Speaking of informed.” Her cousin Lacey’s voice broke from across the table, snapping both their heads forward. Suspicion lit her hazel eyes and had her tapping a painted nail on the tabletop. “How does one’s fiancée not notice that kind of food quirk before?”

Nails bit into the denim on his thigh. The art of lying—on the spot or otherwise—was not one of Angelle’s gifts. Cane hated dishonesty, too, but a life of smoke and mirrors had unfortunately honed a talent. Taking her small hand in his, he shrugged again, this time in a confident display of nonchalance. Never let them see you sweat was rule one.

“I’ve been this way all my life,” he said, leaning back and leisurely lifting his mouth in a grin. Distraction by charm was rule two. “But you’d be surprised how long it takes some people to notice. Your cousin must’ve been too busy staring at this sexy mug of mine to notice my eating habits.”

The double eye-roll from both women was almost audible—but the trick worked. Only a trace of doubt lingered in Lacey’s voice as she replied, “Good Lord, it’s a miracle that head of yours fits through the door,” and Angelle slumped beside him.

Another disaster averted.

If you’re hungry for more of Cane and Angelle, buy SEVEN DAY FIANCE from AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, KOBO, iTUNES, and more.

Here’s a little something about Rachel:

Rachel Harris grew up in New Orleans, watching soap operas with her grandmother, and staying up late sneak-reading her mama’s romance novels. Today, she still stays up late reading romances, only now she does so openly.

A Cajun cowgirl now living in Houston, she firmly believes life’s problems can be solved with a hot, sugar-coated beignet or a thick slice of king cake, and that screaming at strangers for cheap, plastic beads is acceptable behavior in certain situations.

She homeschools her two beautiful girls and watches countless hours of Food Network and reality television with her amazing husband. She writes young adult, new adult, and adult Fun, Flirty Escapes, and LOVES talking with readers!

Visit Rachel Harris on the web at http://www.rachelharriswrites.com/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RachelHarrisAuthor

and Twitter https://twitter.com/RachelHarrisYA

The Hungry Hearts authors are giving away a prize pack! Click this link to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway

And don’t forget to hop around the Hungry Hearts Holiday Hop to get some great Thanksgiving recipes and enter to win a Harry & David Crater Lake Gift Basket!

Give Thanks For Chocolate Mousse

Hey y’all, I’m thrilled to welcome Gina Gordon today! We met in Anaheim, CA at the Romance Writers of America conference, and I fell in love with her hot chefs! Stay tuned for a sexy excerpt and a Hungry Hearts author super prize pack giveaway, but first…a little Canadian THANKS-giving.

Thanksgiving in Canada has come and gone. It was a quiet day spent with family, lots of food, and just the right amount of criticism. LOL!

I have so many things to be thankful for. My husband and family who support me unconditionally. Great friends, both in my writing world and out, who are there for me during all the ups and downs. I’m also thankful that I have the ability to pursue my writing dream. But this is a foodie blog hop, so let’s get to the food!

In my contemporary romance, RECIPE FOR SATISFACTION, my characters get down and dirty with some chocolate mousse. It’s a very *cough* versatile dessert and one of my favorites. Speaking of mousse, I had the best triple chocolate mousse on a cruise last Christmas—white, dark, and milk chocolate layered in small glass. Yum!

It seemed like a good idea at the time, in the heat of the moment, to include chocolate mousse in one of my sex scenes, but now I can’t think about or even look at chocolate mousse without thinking of Jack and Sterling and getting a big grin on my face.

If I’ve piqued your fancy, check out a recipe for a delicious favorite chocolate mousse.

And Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Gina Gordon

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty curious about what happens with that mousse…

Excerpt from RECIPE FOR SATISFACTION:

She scooped a huge dollop out of the bowl and let out a mewl of pleasure when the spoon touched her lips. He could only imagine how her tongue swirled and swayed inside her mouth around that utensil. Just as it would if it was him between her plump lips. Luckily, she was a messy eater. “You have some chocolate on your lip.”

“Oh…”

Before she wiped away the small dot, Jack grabbed her hand. “Allow me.”

He rubbed his thumb along the side of her lip and removed the chocolate. Her body quivered under his touch. Instead of retreating, he took it one step further and leaned in, licking along her bottom lip. He heard the clatter of the spoon on the counter, then her hand grabbed at his thigh.

Green light.

He pressed his lips against hers, gently, enjoying the sound of her tiny whimpers. Her fingers flexed on his thigh and her free hand threaded through the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Wait,” she whispered. “We didn’t finish dessert.”

“I’m having my dessert right now.” He gripped her biceps and stood over her, pushing her against the edge of the bar. “Besides, I like to play with my food.”

Ooooookay…whew! *fanning myself* If you’re wondering how messy all that gets…you can buy it from AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, iTUNES, and more.

A little something about Gina Gordon:

When her dream of becoming a mafia princess didn’t pan out, Gina Gordon went after her second dream…becoming a writer. And she hasn’t looked back.

Gina, a self-proclaimed happily ever after junkie and cupcake connoisseuse, loves spinning contemporary tales of knee bending first kisses, unconditional love and super-hot sex. She broke out onto the romance scene with her #1 Amazon Bestselling erotic short story Her Five Favorite Words that’s been called a “deliciously naughty tale” by Joyfully Reviewed.

When not chained to her computer, you can find Gina sipping Starbucks, making cupcakes or feeding her addiction to celebrity gossip. She lives in Milton, Ontario with her husband and lovable dog.

Find Gina on the web at http://www.ginagordon.net

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/GordonGina

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorGinaGordon

The Hungry Hearts authors are giving away a prize pack! Click this link to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway

And don’t forget to hop around the Hungry Hearts Holiday Hop to get some great Thanksgiving recipes and enter to win a Harry & David Crater Lake Gift Basket!

Bringing Thanksgiving Back

Buy from AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, KOBO and more

I’m so grateful to have Meg Lacey, author of SOMETHING’S COOKING, to kick off the inaugural blog of the Hungry Hearts Holiday Hop! Meg and I met at Lori Foster’s Reader & Author Get Together and hit it off like turkey and gravy! Meg also writes for the Indulgence line at Entangled Publishing, and as you’ll see from her excerpt below, she likes it as hot in the kitchen as I do! I hope you’ll enter our giveaway for a Hungry Hearts author prize pack at the end of this post. But first…check out Meg’s beautiful thoughts about THANKS-giving:

To me, there has always been something magical about Thanksgiving. I think it had to do with the song “Over the river and through the woods, to Grandfather’s house we go. The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh through white and drifted snow…”

Doesn’t that set a very specific image in your mind? It sure does to me. I’ve always wondered what it felt like to race over the snow in a sleigh knowing that at the end you’d find a large family gathering, a lot of laughter, warmth and wonderful smells, and finally delightful tastes and contentment. This sleigh image has always been so identified with Thanksgiving to me that the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims and Indians has always taken a backseat—except when my daughters were in Thanksgiving school plays, that is.

Now however, Thanksgiving is practically forgotten in the storm of merchandise that heralds Christmas. Our poor thankful American holiday is shunted aside as we see images of trees, santas, stockings, toys, not to mention the stress. You don’t read a lot about people getting frenzied and depressed about the Thanksgiving holiday as you do about the Christmas one. Today people are bombarded with the warm family images of a media Christmas. You know—the images that can depress the snot out of you if your family is non-traditional, practically non-existent, or just plain dysfunctional. The end result is so many people tend to kick themselves for not having the perfect holiday.

Newsflash! Nothing is perfect. Perfection leaves you nothing to strive for, and besides it’s the quirks in life that make life exciting. So, I think it’s time to strike. I think it’s time to say—

“Viva Thanksgiving!”

It’s time to bring Thanksgiving back. Regardless of where you are in the world, whether you celebrate this holiday or not, I hope you will all take a minute and give thanks for the good things in your life and share the hope that things can be better for those less fortunate. Let’s all hop on that sleigh to Grandma’s and revel in the feel of the wind across our faces, in the sounds of crunching snow under the runners and most of all in the joyous celebration of this season.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Meg Lacey

Here’s a little something about SOMETHING’S COOKING:

Tess Banyon and Josh Faraday in my novel, SOMETHING’S COOKING are probably enjoying their first Thanksgiving together. Tess is burning the turkey and Josh is trying to watch the game while sneaking a piece of pumpkin pie. Of course in the novel, Tess and Josh are just meeting and falling in love, after overcoming a lot of disasters and issues.

Blurb:

Tess Banyon has turned her brilliant recipe and crafting ideas into a multimedia empire. Landing her own TV show throws her into a panic. If she’s not careful, the public will discover she isn’t the domestic diva everyone thinks she is.

Investigative reporter Josh Faraday smells something smoking in Tess’s world. His goal to expose the real Tess goes into overdrive when she lands a television show deal. He secures an assignment to shadow her, reporting on her program, but what he’s really doing is getting dirt for his expose. Things get even stickier when Tess’s family play matchmaker. There’s no shortage of fire between them, and after an impulsive night together, Josh discovers a story he never expected–or bargained for.

Excerpt from SOMETHING’S COOKING:

Josh stood in the doorway of a kitchen that resembled an experiment gone wrong, if he had to judge by the mess on the counters. Tess Banyon was standing with her back to him, busily pressing buttons and talking to herself.

“Is it supposed to look like this? I don’t know if I’d like this on finger sandwiches. Maybe I can use it as a vegetable dip instead.” She reached for a bowl on the counter, opened the lid of the blender, and dumped something in before turning it on again.

“Excuse me,” Josh said. He took a step into the kitchen.

She hadn’t heard him, seemingly mesmerized by the green mixture lurching and burping inside the blender. Josh walked over to stand behind her as she turned the speed down, and then began to lift the container from the motor, taking off the lid with her other hand as she did so.

“I said excuse me!” he bellowed, wincing as his overloud voice echoed around the kitchen.

Startled, Tess whirled around, the contents flying through the air like a low-lying cloud of green gunk. Unerringly, it honed in on his shirt—his pale yellow shirt—where it landed smack in the center so perfectly that a bull’s eye might have been painted on his chest.

Tess gasped.

“Oh hell,” he swore, swallowing the rest of his words as the cold mass spread across his chest.

Tess dropped the container and her hands fled to her face. “My god, you scared me!”

Josh stripped off his blue blazer and plucked at his shirt, which was rapidly feeling clammy as it plastered itself to his chest. “Yes, I can see that.”

“I’m so sorry.” Tess tried to smile, giving a valiant attempt at making the situation appear normal. “But at least you…you…look good in green.”

“Thank you,” he said, giving her a wry smile as his sense of humor came to his rescue.

“You’re welcome.” Tess flushed, perhaps realizing how ridiculous that sounded. She grabbed a damp sponge and advanced on him.

He was casually dressed in jeans and a yellow shirt. At least it used to be a yellow shirt before she’d gotten to it. His hair was collar length and casually swept back from his forehead, and sharp cheekbones were balanced by a clean-cut jawline. Slashing brows set off twinkling green eyes, while firm shapely lips accentuated straight, brilliant white teeth. Sensuality mixed with effortless charm.

The man was downright luscious, even covered with gunk, which only served to force her attention to the breadth of his chest and the width of his shoulders. Once at his chest, she had to look lower at his trim hips and long legs, muscles delineated by the soft denim that molded to his form. The image burned into her brain. If she looked much longer she might have heart failure.

She jerked her gaze up to his chest again, staring at the stain on his shirt, which was resisting all her efforts to erase it. Instead, it was now twice its size. She undid a couple of the buttons, slid a hand underneath his shirt, and resumed scrubbing as if her life depended on it. The heat from his chest warmed her hand. She looked up to find him watching her. Their eyes met and as cliche as it sounded, time stood still. Those eyes, she felt as if she could lose herself in them. And his mouth was so perfect. At some point, she must have dropped the sponge—both hands now splayed across his broad, muscular chest. She tilted her chin up and parted her lips, wanting to feel the texture of his mouth on hers, the firm then tender curve of his lips, the rasp of his emerging beard as it scraped against her skin.

She wondered if his lips would singe hers. If she would sink into the heat, the feel, the hard velvety texture of them exciting her, fueling an excitement she hadn’t felt in some time. If her tongue darted forward to tangle hotly with his, giving him taste for taste, sensation for sensation, would it move her as much as she imagined, or was it just a reaction to being so close to a sexy male animal?

MUST KNOW?! Buy SOMETHING’S COOKING from AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, KOBO and more!

…and here’s a little something about Meg Lacey:

Over the years, Meg has been an actress, director, producer, creative director, food stylist, CEO, copywriter, creative dramatics teacher, VP, mime, mom, college instructor, and a school bus driver. She’s established two creative marketing/media companies and created projects in all media. Meg is published with Harlequin, Imajinn Books, Samhain Publishing and now Entangled Publishing.

To learn more about Meg and her spectacular books, please visit:

http://www.meglacey.com

http://www.facebook.com/meglaceybooks

or follow @meglaceybooks

The Hungry Hearts authors are giving away a prize pack! Click this link to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway!

And don’t forget to hop around the Hungry Hearts Holiday Hop to get some great Thanksgiving recipes and enter to win a Harry & David Crater Lake Gift Basket!

Do You Have A Hungry Heart?

Everybody does, right? You’re in the right place. Welcome to the HUNGRY HEARTS HOLIDAY HOP! We’re going to hop through the holidays, starting with Thanksgiving.

We are so excited to CELEBRATE FALL with mouthwatering Thanksgiving recipes and delicious EXCERPTS from today’s hottest food-loving ROMANCE writers! Hop around and fill out the Rafflecopter form on each author’s site to enter our Grand PRIZE Giveaway: a Harry & David Crater Lake GIFT BASKET Classic!

In addition to the Grand Prize, one SWAG pack will be given away right here on each day of the hop. Visit my blog each day for an author spotlight and more FALL GLEE.

When the seasons change, our hearts fill with GRATITUDE. Life is grand, isn’t it? Hop with us and share your love of all things food, fall, and THANKS-giving!

I love pumpkin. Pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, and even pumpkin beef stew. Once a year is never enough pumpkin pie for me, so I make it in July, too. My husband also has a thing for pumpkins. One year, he grew this in the side yard. We couldn’t eat it, of course. It was chock full of pesticides. In fact, I probably shouldn’t have let the kids get that close, but…they seem fine.

Which brings me to PUMPKIN CREME BRULEE. In my second book, LUSCIOUS, Olivia makes this amaretto and anise laced pumpkin creme brulee on the night she intends to get busy with the hero.

From LUSCIOUS:

Sean picked up his spoon and cracked the sugar shell on top of his dessert. Mmm, pumpkin, as spicy and comforting as Thanksgiving memories. He sighed as other flavors teased his palate. Almond? Yes, and something more elusive and unexpected, like the lavender last night.

He looked up to see Olivia watching him. “Luscious,” he said, taking another bite. She smiled around her spoon and he couldn’t take his eyes off her mouth. He had completely lost interest in the opera tonight. Their kiss in the kitchen had made him want to toss her over his shoulder and carry her upstairs for a private performance instead.

Somehow, my characters always end up seducing each other with food. Since I’ll do just about anything as long as my husband keeps the coffee, little sandwiches, and snacks coming, I guess it’s art imitating life. HA! In my new book SEDUCING THE PLAYBOY (January 2014 Entangled Publishing) Jenna flies out to California to get the hero to hire her…and to seduce him, naturally. He resists, so she turns to food.

From SEDUCING THE PLAYBOY (unedited excerpt):

She needed this job and not only because she’d spent a half-dozen years pining for Roman Gallagher.

She forced herself to keep her smile sweet, her gaze innocent. Clearly, he still thought of her as Cole’s little sister. Overt seduction wasn’t going to get her a place in his kitchen, but she had other skills. Didn’t they say the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach? She was willing to start there.

Please don’t hold me responsible for what happens after Thanksgiving Dinner if you make this PUMPKIN CREME BRULEE (or the oatmeal cream pie cupcakes which I’ll be posting on my blog during release week for SEDUCING THE PLAYBOY).

PUMPKIN CREME BRULEE

If you don’t have a propane torch at home, this custard is also great sprinkled with granola or sugared almonds.

Makes 12 four-ounce brulees

24 ounces heavy cream

12 ounces pumpkin

1/2 cup sugar

a good pinch of salt

5 star anise

3 eggs

4 yolks (you can use the whites to make macaroon cookies!)

4 ounces of Amaretto

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 325. Find 12 ramekins or shallow bake-proof molds. Find a pan with sides. It must be large enough to hold the ramekins so you can make a water bath.
In a medium saucepan, whisk heavy cream, pumpkin, half of the sugar and the salt.
Add the star anise and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat, cover and let sit at least 15 minutes.
In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, yolks and the rest of the sugar.
Temper the hot mixture into the egg mixture by adding a cup of so of hot liquid to the bowl and whisking. Add remaining hot mixture to bowl. Whisk in Amaretto and almond extract.
Strain into a pitcher or something easy to pour out of. Or strain it into anything and use a ladle to dip the mixture into the ramekins
Put ramekins into the high-sided pan. Fill ramekins with pumpkin brulee mixture. Put pan into oven. Then pour water into the pan so that it comes halfway up the outside of the ramekins. Bake until set. You will know the custards are done when you give the ramekin a gentle poke and the custard jiggles back and forth. You will know the custards are NOT done if you give the ramekin a gentle poke and the custard jiggles in concentric circles, as if a stone has been dropped in a puddle. Baking will take 30-45 minutes, but (as I always tell my students) bake until done, not until the recipe says stop. (Yes, they roll their eyes, too.)
When the custards are done baking, let them cool slightly. Then remove them from the water bath and let them cool the rest of the way. Put them in the fridge overnight to chill completely.
To brulee them, sprinkle an even 1/8 inch layer of sugar over the top and use a propane torch to melt the sugar. Add more sugar and torch again, if needed. Be careful not to hold the torch on one section of the custard too long or you will scramble it. Also – do not get any hot sugar on your hand! HOT! HOT! HOT!
Alternately, toss some sliced raw almonds with a little egg white and sugar and bake until toasty brown. Put that on top of the custard to add some delightful texture. Or put granola or streusel on top. Mmmmm…pumpkin!

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Click this link to see what’s cooking on the other Hungry Hearts Holiday Hop blogs:

And don’t forget to visit here daily during the HUNGRY HEARTS HOLIDAY HOPS (yes, HOPS, we’ll be back to celebrate Christmas and the New Year, too!) for the chance to win SWAG, SWAG, and more SWAG every day!

Hoppy Holidays! (Nope, couldn’t resist!)

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night…

On the ALL ENTANGLED EVE blog hop, and my husband and I walked down the street to our neighbor’s Halloween party. Can you guess our costume? What are we?

Welcome to Entangled Publishing’s All Entangled Eve Halloween Hop! Mwahahahaha! If you dare to click this link right here, you will be taken to the Entangled Blog, where you will find a tantalizing list of Entangled authors who are offering prizes to those brave enough to take the leap (or hop…). Don’t be afraid…really. We mean you no harm. We just want to share our books with you! We won’t ask for blood or your soul. We won’t even ask for your first born or your favorite pet. And we promise…it won’t hurt a bit. We just want a few moments of your time for the chance to win spooky, funky, fun giveaways! What could go wrong?

What is MY giveaway? What am I offering in return for your soul, I mean in return for the time you spend typing in your entries on the Rafflecopter below? An INDULGENCE. No, not in the Catholic Pope sense, although that would be pretty tricky! An ENTANGLED INDULGENCE e-book of your choice (for Kindle or Nook), and there are some FREAKY AWESOME choices. Take a peek at the INDULGENCES. Sexy. Smart. Fun. Full of HEART. Happily Ever Afters with Powerful Heroes AND Heroines. Guilt-free pleasures for the modern woman…or whichever woman you feel like today. Because every day is not the same, or not for THIS woman! If you are the lucky winner, I’ll also send you a first chapter excerpt booklet of my Indulgence book, INTO THE FIRE. Just in case you enjoy a one-night-stand that turns into double betrayal…a little revenge…enemies to lovers with smokin’ hot sex. Want a taste? Here’s an EXCERPT of the delicious heat between Lila and Jackson.

Ready to DO IT? Enter to win my GIVEAWAY by clicking this link: a Rafflecopter giveaway

And be sure to visit the ENTANGLED BLOG for the chance to win more spooky, funky, fun-tacular prizes! Thanks for visiting and HOP-PY HALLOWEEN!

Click the pic for a Halloween adventure!

If you want to leave a comment on the blog and guess our Halloween costume, scroll down to the bottom of the screen and find the red box that says “COMMENT.” Pretty tricky, huh?

Treat You Right!

Welcome to Heather Long’s Lucky 13 Trick or Treat Blog Hop! I’m a treat! Actually, this is ironic. Halloween is not my favorite holiday. I’m usually working and miss it! If I’m home, the dog barks her fool head off, so someone has to be on dog duty, someone has to be on candy duty, and someone has to be on kid duty…and there are only two grown-ups to go around. I also tend to roll my eyes and groan at the cost of making or buying a costume that will be worn once then strewn in parts and pieces around the house for YEARS to come. As for the candy…I’m a pastry chef. I’m not in the least bit snobbish about my sweets, but there are a lot of sweet things in this house most of the time. When you throw three bags of candy into the mix, I become THAT mom. The sweets police, or, as I have affectionately become known as around here…

SPIRIT CRUSHER!

But don’t be sad for my poor kids, I married a guy who puts up one of these every year. And wears a Halloween costume to work. The kids are fine, well-steeped in the American tradition. And since I eschew the holiday, they never suspect me of stealing their candy.

Hop along and see how other romance authors feel about Halloween. Prizes are offered at EVERY stop! The GRAND prize for the Hop is a KINDLE PAPERWHITE and gift card! And TWO e-books bundles will be given away! The TREAT bundle includes:

FOOL’S GOLD, The Diamond Series Book 2 by Cassandra Dean
Her Wicked Sin (Sins of Salem #1) historical romance (Entangled Scandalous) via Amazon or BN gift copy
Hot Winter Kiss, Irish Kisses bk4 by Joanne Kenrick
Norse Jewel by Gina Conkle
Once Her Man, Always Her Man by Heather Long
Then, Again by Karen Stivali
Reforming the Cowboy: A South Beach Book, gifted as an Amazon ebook by Marisa Cleveland
Scrap Metal by Jennah Scott
Brazen (Whispering Cove) by Cathryn Fox
A Date with Death (1NS ) by Louisa Bacio

and the TRICK bundle includes:

Fight or Flight by Natalie J. Damschroder
Silken Edge by Lacey Paige
Sleepy Hollow Dreams by Taryn Kincaid
Lightning by Taryn Kincaid
Ruby Hill supernatural romance (Entangled Ever After) via Amazon or BN gift copy
ebook bundle, Tales from the Coffin by Joanne Kenrick
Last Flight of the Ark by Dawn Jackson
Kindred of the Fallen by Isis Rushdan
Protector of the Flame by Isis Rushdan
Hereafter by Joya Fields
Earth Witches Aren’t Easy by Heather Long
Marshal of Hel Dorado by Heather Long
Amazon or B & N gift copy of To Catch Her Death (Book 1 in the Grim Reality series) by Boone Brux
Hunter’s Moon (Paranormal Romance) by Lisa Kessler

To enter the GRAND prize giveaway visit the Rafflecopter at the end of this post.

Are you dressing up for Halloween this year? What are you going to be? Leave a comment on this post to enter MY GIVEAWAY: a signed copy of my very own LUSCIOUS which takes place in the fall in Verona, Italy, where the heroine makes a spectacular Pumpkin Creme Brulee! I’ll also throw in an excerpt booklet for INTO THE FIRE. In that book the heroine makes a delicious sauce for Chicken Alighieri, using – you guessed it – PUMPKIN! Both recipes can be found here on my site because I might not love Halloween, but I totally groove on PUMPKIN! Rules: My giveaway is international. Entrants must be 18 years of age. The winner will be picked on October 26th and will be contacted within two days. Winner must respond to my e-mail by October 31st or another winner will be chosen. I will cheerfully mail the prize, but after it leaves my hands at the Post Office, I am no longer responsible for delivery. Entry constitutes an understanding of these rules and proof that you are 18 years of age.

You can enter the GRAND PRIZE giveaway for the KINDLE PAPERWHITE and the TRICK and TREAT Bundles right here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hop around to these sites and enter to win more prizes!

Hop-py Halloween!

Louder Than Love

Buy from AMAZON
Barnes & Noble, or iTunes

Once upon a time, I was in the middle of writing a book, and I dropped my daughter off for a play date with a new friend. “I’m so sorry I can’t stay to chat,” I said to the mother, a woman I recognized from Hebrew school pick-ups because she has amazing salt and pepper curls with a cool gray streak. “I’m writing a book, and it’s killing me. I’m going to lock myself in my in-laws upstairs bedroom until I get something done.”

“Really? I’m writing a book, too,” she said.

I smiled politely and took off. After I got to know her a bit, I offered to read her half-a-book, and HOLY CRAP, I fell in love. You will, too, and this is why.

The OFFICIAL reasons:

This September marks the release of LOUDER THAN LOVE (Intermix; September 2013; 9781101634790; $4.99) by Jessica Topper, a powerful novel that traces the paths of two ravaged lives amidst the vivid urban backdrop of Manhattan and the quirky comfort of Lauder Lake.

After a freak train accident leaves her widowed with a one-year old, Katrina Lewis flees Manhattan. A levelheaded librarian, she cannot make sense of staying where her husband existed one day and not the next, so she returns to the place where she existed before she knew him. She cocoons herself in her suburban hometown of Lauder Lake – unable to go back, unable to move on – until a chance meeting sets her on a different path.

Reclusive rocker Adrian ‘Digger’ Graves barely escaped the 80s alive. He survived the implosion of his heavy metal career, but his muse has lain dormant for years. Until the day Kat invites him to perform at her local library – not on the basis of his impressive music credentials but rather, because of the obscure children’s television jingle he wrote as a lark years ago. In this chuckle-worthy case of ‘mistaken identity’, Adrian stumbles into the lives of this captivating young widow and her comically lovable daughter, who is now almost five years old.

Using his tattooed torso as an illustrated reference, Adrian slowly begins to unfurl his former life for Kat, in all its shock rocker glory. He defies the standard classification she is used to: is there a place in her life, and her heart, for such glorious chaos? Falling in love comes easy for Kat and Adrian, but putting her ghosts and his demons to rest might end up tearing these soul mates apart.

The UNOFFICIAL reasons:

Full disclosure: I was the first person to read this whole book. Jess sent it to me in pieces. She made me beg. To say I am a fan would be an understatement. Jessica Topper’s words are so beautiful I want to squeeze them and rub them on my skin. She digs deep into emotion, unearthing layers of character and adding rich detail. If you are a writer, you will pause and marvel at her descriptions. You might have a flash of jealousy, but then you’ll just be glad she wrote it, so you can read it. My god, the treadmill scene will turn you inside out. It levels me every time.

LOUDER THAN LOVE is sexy, too. Like old school rocker sexy. Adrian has been there, done that, has regrets, but will rock your world. Did I mention he’s British? And Kat is real – and funny – and smart. And her young daughter is charming. Kat has a posse of badass BFFs, too. Add all that together and you have a smart, sexy, surprising, heart wrenching read. This book will make you crave bagels and a trip to NYC. (Topper loves her NYC and you will feel it’s magic.) You’ll want to have coffee with your best friend and sex in an iconic hotel with a new lover. You will want to listen to the Beatles, even if you don’t like the Beatles. Or maybe you’ll find yourself listening to heavy metal music because you want to get a little closer to Adrian…

(I found myself doing yoga to heavy metal music, but that is Jess’s story, told HERE.)

This book is a journey for characters and reader. Take it. You will not regret it. (Unless you think it’s a New Adult book. Then you might be a little WTF, but I bet you’ll still love it!) You know when your best friend grabs your arm and says, “You’ve got to read this book!” Give me your arm, and let’s be best friends! Because you’ve got to read this book.

Let me facilitate: buy from AMAZON, buy from BARNES & NOBLE, buy from iTUNES.

Jessica Topper’s bio:

Jessica Topper is an ex-librarian turned rock n’ roll number cruncher. She can trace her love for the written word back to age three, when she memorized Maurice Sendak’s “Chicken Soup with Rice” in its entirety.

After her daughter was born, Jessica left the Manhattan library world and began working for her husband’s music management company. He offered her a part-time bookkeeping job so she could “stay home for the baby’s first year” and pursue her dream of writing.

The baby is now eleven, and Jessica has been working her full-time, sold-her-soul-for-rock-n-roll job as Office Manager for veteran jam band moe. ever since. She may have traded in books for bookkeeping, but the written word is never far from her mind, or her heart.

Jessica is a PAN member of the Romance Writers of America, and belongs to their Western NY and Women’s Fiction chapters. She is also a charter member of the Women’s Fiction Writer’s Association. She lives in upstate New York with her husband, daughter and one ancient cat.

Website: http://www.jessicatopper.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jesstopper
FB: https://www.facebook.com/JessicaTopperAuthor
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18068436-louder-than-love