M.A. Church's Blog, page 68

Pucker Up Monday

Welcome to Pucker Up Monday. It's not what you think, lol. Since Mondays do tend to suck, I though I'd try to start the week off right for y'all.

Finicky Friday - Easy Mexican Casserole

Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 30 mins
Total: 50 mins
Servings: 6
Yield: 6 servings


Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef

2 cups salsa

1 (16 ounce) can chili beans, drained

3 cups tortilla chips, crushed

2 cups sour cream

1 (2 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained

½ cup chopped green onion

½ cup chopped fresh tomato

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese



Directions

Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Step 2
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef until no longer pink. Stir in salsa, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in beans, and heat through.

Step 3
Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Spread crushed tortilla chips in dish, and then spoon beef mixture over chips. Spread sour cream over beef, and sprinkle olives, green onion, and tomato over the sour cream. Top with Cheddar cheese.

Step 4
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.


Link: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20680/easy-mexican-casserole/?internalSource=staff%20pick&referringId=17738&referringContentType=Recipe%20Hub

Thursday Book Recommendation

These are books I’ve read and really enjoyed. Most of what I talk about will probably be paranormal/scifi but not always. Although it’s rare, I do read some contemporary.



This week is:
Blurb:Protector. Boogeyman. Hellhound. Meshaq has been called it all. As alpha of the hellhounds, his goddess has tasked him with protecting the secrets of the supernatural world. He’s the police of other creatures and the enforcer of the goddess’s rules. If his duty leaves him lonely and longing for a mate and a larger pack, well, the goddess knows the secrets of his heart and she will grant them if it is her will.
Drew Metcalf is a man on the run. When he finds himself in a biker bar surrounded by leather wearing giants, he thinks he’s a goner. But there’s something different about the man slinging drinks. He makes Drew feel safe, something he hasn’t felt in a long time.
When Drew and Shaq’s worlds collide, a different kind of magic happens. Shaq doesn’t understand why he’s so drawn to the human whose life is shrouded in mystery and danger. What Shaq does know is that Drew needs his protection. Magical forces are at work, beginning a battle that will require all of Shaq’s skill as the goddess’s champion. With a terrifying threat looming, Shaq and Drew are in danger of losing more than their hearts.

My thoughts: Loved these books. Hellhound, y’all! I mean, how many books have you read with hellhound??? And it’s a series too. Whoot!
But I would say you need to read The Chosen One series first. (All or Nothing: The Chosen One Book One. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FMQYCGMIf you do, you’ll have a better idea what’s going on in Hellhound books.)

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JW8VB73

Tuesday Teaser

This is an teaser from Day's Light, book#2 in the Mystic Bay series. 


Faced with the choice of watching Mark die and losing his mate forever, or forcing the transformation on him in the hope he’d live, Hunter went with option two.

He couldn’t watch Mark die. He couldn’t. His wolf wouldn’t let him. But how steep of a price was he going to pay for turning Mark without his consent? Hell, Mark didn’t even know werewolves existed, and now suddenly Mark was one. Or he would be if the transformation didn’t kill him.

Would Mark ever forgive him?

Saliva in an open wound was all it took. But biting Mark where his shoulder and neck met—well, that had nothing to do with the transformation and everything to do with claiming Mark at his mate. 
He hoped the mating bond would give Mark the added strength he’d need to survive. But it was a risk. Turning him and mating him at the same time…. yeah. While it might save him, it could also be more than his body could handle.

The Harvest Young: Bound by Love (The Next Generation Book 3)

Bound by Love is now live in KU!

This is Neo and Hamza's story, and I can honestly say that it was one of the hardest books I've ever written. There's tragedy and heartbreak... but also an enduring love that shines through the darkness. Family is everything in the Harvest series, and it's never more clear than in this book.



Blurb:

Will history repeat itself?

Years of peace are shattered with a devastating strike against the very heart of Tah’Nar, and war threatens once more.

Prince Hamza Shou: Young to King Duran and King Consort Jolak. Grief stricken. Angry. Vengeful. Screams of the dying stalk his waking moments. Death surrounds him even as he plots. He’s losing himself to the darkness and growing colder to those around him, including Neo. Brought together by some universal force and bound by love even before they were born, heartache tests the ties that bind them.

Dr. Neo Kere: Young to Doc and John. Sorrowful. Worried. Overwhelmed. He’s seen males draw their final breath. What doctor hasn’t? However, his experiences didn’t prepare him for wholesale murder. The last gasps of the dying stalk him too. But he took an oath to preserve life, and he doesn’t want the death of innocents on his conscience. And now his oath is being tested by the very male he loves—his mate, Hamza.

Or will the same mistake be made again?

Extinction once hunted the Tah’Narians. Now they threaten the Ne Reyn with the same fate. Can Neo change the destructive path Hamza treads before the darkness swallows him? Or is it too late?



Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BKZDWGS/

Pucker Up Monday

Welcome to Pucker Up Monday. It's not what you think, lol. Since Mondays do tend to suck, I though I'd try to start the week off right for y'all.

Finicky Friday - Lemony Lemon Brownies

Ingredients :
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup flour
2 eggs, large
2 Tbsp lemon zest
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
Tart Lemon Glaze:
4 Tbsp lemon juice
8 tsp lemon zest
1 cup icing sugar



Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease an 8×8 inch baking dish with butter and set aside.

Zest and juice two lemons and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the flour, sugar, salt, and softened butter until combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice until combined.

Pour it into the flour mixture and beat for 2 mins at medium speed until smooth and creamy.

Pour into baking dish and bake for 23-25 mins, should turn golden around the edges.

Allow to cool completely before glazing. Do not overbake, or the bars will dry.

Filter the powdered sugar and whisk with lemon zest and juice.

Spread the glaze over the brownies with a rubber spatula and let glaze set.

Cut into bars and serve

Link: https://imjussayin.co/lemony-lemon-brownies/

Thursday book recommendation

These are books I’ve read and really enjoyed. Most of what I talk about will probably be paranormal/scifi but not always. Although it’s rare, I do read some contemporary.
This week is:


Blurb:Kaleb Holten’s father’s debt to an underground group The Association has just been called in, and the man can’t pay the loan. Instead of turning over his wealth, he releases his son and Kaleb finds himself thrown into a world where a class of men see themselves as untouchable. Going so far as to call themselves gods.
After the Great Economic Collapse there are no laws that cannot be broken. And Kaleb is forced into a ten-year sentence of servitude where he will have no say, no rights, no value and yet be coveted and protected as if he were a priceless treasure.
Leo Roan, has slipped the noose the Association bound him with by breaking his addiction to ambrosia and Kaleb Holten was supposed to be his last assignment as a doxie Master. But something about the boy begins weaving a new net that will not only ensnare him but the conscious darkness inside, that craves pain, agony, suffering, and death.

My thoughts: This is a dark, gritty, erotic romance that is not for the faint of heart. I’m serious, this is hardcore stuff. So, with that in mind, I have to say this is one of the best dark romances I’ve read. It does need to be read in order, or you’ll be completely lost.


Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DJTN4W4

Tuesday Teaser

This is an teaser from Day's Light, book#2 in the Mystic Bay series. Mark is running a fever and delirious. He's going through the transformation to be a werewolf. 



Nothing had gone according to plan. Instead of apprehending the two werewolves who stole from their pack, he and Brax blundered into a mugging that left two innocent humans dead and another fighting for his life—a human who just happened to also be Hunter’s mate.

The one lucky break they had was that those fuckers dropped a wallet and that he noticed it. As soon as they got in the SUV, he had Brax check it. His mate’s name was Mark James, was twenty-six years old, and was from New York City.

Mark. He liked it. It was a good, strong name, just like his right hook. Hunter flexed his jar. He still couldn’t believe Mark punched him. Not that he blamed him, of course. For a human, Mark hit pretty hard.

“Bad idea. Going this way was a bad idea.”

“I know, but you’re not in that little alleyway now.”

“Those eyes. Those eyes! Yellow? Asshole yellow! What the fuck?”

Hunter blinked in surprise. Asshole yellow? That wasn’t a color he’d ever heard of. “Don’t worry about those eyes. Mark? Can you hear me? Look somewhere else, okay? Don’t look at those eyes.”

“Dad? No! Mom? Mom, please!”

“I’m so sorry,” Hunter said softly as Mark twisted on the bed. If only he could do more. Maybe if they’d gotten there sooner, maybe if they’d reacted quicker, things would have been different.

Bound by Love is out! And it's in KU~

   The Harvest Young: Bound by Love (The Next           Generation Book 3) 


Blurb:
Will history repeat itself?

Years of peace are shattered with a devastating strike against the very heart of Tah’Nar, and war threatens once more.

Prince Hamza Shou: Young to King Duran and King Consort Jolak. Grief stricken. Angry. Vengeful. Screams of the dying stalk his waking moments. Death surrounds him even as he plots. He’s losing himself to the darkness and growing colder to those around him, including Neo. Brought together by some universal force and bound by love even before they were born, heartache tests the ties that bind them.

Dr. Neo Kere: Young to Doc and John. Sorrowful. Worried. Overwhelmed. He’s seen males draw their final breath. What doctor hasn’t? However, his experiences didn’t prepare him for wholesale murder. The last gasps of the dying stalk him too. But he took an oath to preserve life, and he doesn’t want the death of innocents on his conscience. And now his oath is being tested by the very male he loves—his mate, Hamza.

Or will the same mistake be made again?

Extinction once hunted the Tah’Narians. Now they threaten the Ne Reyn with the same fate. Can Neo change the destructive path Hamza treads before the darkness swallows him? Or is it too late?