Karen Docter's Blog, page 229
November 12, 2015
Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **Author Special** with Kristina Knight
Karen’s Killer Fixin’s
**AUTHOR SPECIAL**
with KRISTINA KNIGHT!
Welcome to my Friday bonus feature called Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **Author Special**!! Today, in lieu of one of my own recipes, I’m going to introduce you to a new author who will share one of her favorite recipes. Not only will you and I occasionally learn how to make something new and delicious, but we’ll get a chance to check out some wonderful authors. Introducing author, Kristina Knight, and her favorite recipe for KRISTINA’S FAVORITE NO-PEEK CHICKEN!
~~~
FIRST LOVE AGAIN
Harlequin Superromance
BY KRISTINA KNIGHT
Blurb
Some loves deserve a second chance…
Coming back to Gulliver Island after a ten-year absence to take care of his father should have been simple. Emmett Deal would fix and sell the family home, and return to Cincinnati with his ailing father in tow. Yet something compels him to stay a little longer. The beautiful, bright eyes of Jaime Brown.
Ten years ago, traumatic events changed the course of Jaime’s life forever, catching her in a small-town life she can’t escape. Emmett’s return stirs up the memories she wanted to ignore…and dreams she had forgotten. Now she finds herself with a rare opportunity—a second chance. Only this time, it’s not just for love…
FIRST LOVE AGAIN
Harlequin Superromance
BY KRISTINA KNIGHT
Excerpt
He reached out and tugged a lock of her hair. A Canadian Soldier, a tiny insect that came out of the lake during the early summer months, alighted on Emmett’s shoulder. Jaime flicked her finger at the mayfly then smoothed the material.
“Have a nice night,” she said, her voice sounding rough to her ears.
“You, too.”
Neither moved. Emmett tucked the same strand of hair behind her ear or maybe he was caressing it, Jaime couldn’t tell. And she told her hand to let go of his shirt three times, but the order seemed to short circuit somewhere between her brain and her hands.
“It was good to see you, Jaime.”
Was it her imagination or was his voice slightly more husky than normal?
“I’m sure we’ll run into one another a few more times before you leave.” No guessing about that, her voice was definitely huskier than normal.
“Probably so. It’s only a mile-wide island.”
“Two miles across, three miles around,” she said, hating the words even as they passed her lips. Emmett knew the size of the island; he hadn’t been talking literally. Just making conversation. And when had he stepped closer to her?
No, wait, she was the one doing the stepping because his glutes were still very much attached to the porch railing.
Not smart, Jaime. Step away. Walk away.
But she didn’t step back.
Jaime swallowed and so did Emmett. She watched; her attention focused on the way his Adam’s apple slid down and then up along the strong column of his throat. He needed a haircut, she decided for at least the tenth time since recognizing him in the diner, but hoped he didn’t get one. She liked the way the longer hairs tangled against his neck. Wondered what his hair would feel like now compared to the short spikiness of it when they were kids.
“I should go.” She didn’t want to, but she should and maybe saying the words aloud would force her feet to obey.
“Me, too.”
“But you’re already home.” This time her feet obeyed and Jaime stepped away from him.
Just then Emmett stepped forward, bringing his chest up hard against hers. His heat seemed to wrap around her and her hands crept over his shoulders. He leaned in, his lips brushing her cheek, singeing her. Jaime gasped at the contact, wanting more and less at the same time.
“We should try that again,” he said and didn’t wait for her reply.
About Kristina Knight… 
Once upon a time, Kristina Knight spent her days running from car crash to fire to meetings with local police–no, she wasn’t a troublemaker, she was a journalist. Her career took her all over the United States, writing about everything from a serial killer’s capture to the National Finals Rodeo. Along the way, she found her very own Knight in Shining Cowboy Boots and an abiding love for romance novels. And just like the characters from her favorite books, she’s living her own happily ever after.
Kristina writes sassy contemporary romance novels; her books have appeared on Kindle Best Seller Lists. She loves hearing from readers, so drop her a line!
~~~
Links to Kristina Knight’s Website, Books, & Social Media:
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00V3P25LS
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/first...
KOBO: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebo...
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/firs...
Author Links:
Website: http://www.kristinaknightauthor.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kristinaknigh...
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/authorkristina
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/authorkristina/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+KristinaKnig...
I hope you enjoy the recipe Kristina is sharing with us today on Karen’s Killer Fixin’s. Happy eating!
Karen
P.S. We’re at 232 recipes and counting with this posting. Hope you find some recipes you like. If this is your first visit, please check out past blogs for more Killer Fixin’s. In the right hand column menu, you can even look up past recipes by type. i.e. Desserts, Breads, Beef, Chicken, Soups, Author Specials, etc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KRISTINA’S FAVORITE NO-PEEK CHICKEN
This is one of my favorite deadline dishes – it’s super simple to prep and once it’s cooking I can zone into my manuscript or whatever else I’m doing that day while the oven does all the heavy lifting! Here’s what you need:
2-3 lbs of chicken, uncooked (thighs, legs, breasts, wings – you choose what type!)
1 Family size can Cream of Chicken Soup
2 boxes Chicken flavored rice
Paprika, Salt, Pepper to taste
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, stir together 1 Family size can of Cream of Chicken Soup with 2 boxes of chicken flavored rice. Add 1.5 cups of water. Sprinkle the seasoning packet from the rice over this mixture and then stir that in as well. Once mixed together, spoon the rice into a 13×9 inch pan. Remove the chicken pieces from their packaging and rinse under cool water. Place in 2 rows on top of the rice and sprinkle the paprika, salt and pepper over the chicken. Cover the dish with tin foil and put into the oven. Cook for 1 hour and then check the rice – if it feels dry add a half cup of water to it so the rice doesn’t get crusty. Re-cover and cook for another hour. Serve!
~~~
**SPECIAL GIVEAWAY**
Kristina is giving away an e-copy of any of Kristina’s backlist books to one of her Karen’s Killer Fixin’s blog readers! Leave a comment below for a chance to win.
Don’t miss the chance to read this book.
Thanks, Kristina, for sharing your story with us!!
Karen’s Killer Book Bench: The Duke’s Temptation by Addie Jo Ryleigh
KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH: Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!
~~
THE DUKE’S TEMPTATION
Men of Circumstance #1
BY ADDIE JO RYLEIGH
Blurb
A Duke. A Runner. An Earl.
Three men, each born into different circumstances.
Each fighting to overcome their own adversity.
All striving to change their past.
Gabriel St. James, Duke of Wesbrook, desires any birthright other than being the son of a hideous man. Unfortunately, Gabe knows the exact moment he became like his father—a night that has haunted him for seven years. Resigned to his future, he is unprepared when his illegitimate—and more importantly unbeknown—young daughter appears on his London doorstep. With no one to care for her but him.
Lady Elizabeth Blakely has loved only one man—her brother’s longtime friend, Gabe St. James. Not even his rakish and, oftentimes, wicked behavior dissuades her. Yet it all seems hopeless as he continues to overlook the woman she has become.
When Elizabeth learns Gabe is in need of assistance with his daughter, she seizes the opportunity. Gabe, less than thrilled with the situation—mostly due to his fierce desire for his best friend’s sister—has no option but to concede. Besides, a more sinister threat lurks; someone is blackmailing Gabe with his darkest secret. Through it all, Gabe vows to resist Elizabeth, no matter how tempting.
Sometimes it’s better to surrender . . .
THE DUKE’S TEMPTATION
Men of Circumstance #1
BY ADDIE JO RYLEIGH
Excerpt
The next morning Gabe found himself sitting at his cluttered desk once more.
But today was different. Today he couldn’t find his focus. Today visions distracted him.
Visions of a sweet, delectable, half-dressed woman perched on the very desk that now held a layer of books, ledgers, and papers.
A grin arched his upper lip when he recalled the uproar the mess he and Elizabeth had left in the study had caused. Thinking the intruder had returned and rifled through the desk, Wilkes had awakened Gabe in a very controlled Wilkes-like state of distress. Gabe had had a devil of a time trying to explain how everything from the desk had come to be on the floor.
It amazed him that he’d kept the satisfied smirk off his face, knowing the real reason his study had been left in shambles. Either way, Wilkes must be losing his touch if he’d believed Gabe’s lack of organizational skills had resulted in piles of documents tipping over and sliding to the floor. It had sounded like pure rubbish. Thankfully, being the Duke of Wesbrook had benefits.
Not being questioned happened to be one of them.
Uncomfortable with someone other than himself or Phillip going through the papers, Gabe had rolled from bed, dressed, and retreated to the study before others caught sight of the mess.
After righting the papers, the hour was still early. Gabe had started going through the remaining reports. However, at his current rate, he’d never be done.
It was all Elizabeth’s fault.
Maybe not exactly her fault. His distraction was no one’s blame but his own, but like most things in his life, she was intricately attached to it.
Weary with staring at numbers and seeing nothing but gibberish, he shoved the ledger away. Yesterday might have been an aberration. Maybe he didn’t have what it took to be a responsible landowner.
Perhaps he should stay with what he knew . . . gambling, drinking, and pleasuring women.
Strike that, pleasuring a woman. One very singular woman.
But after telling her he couldn’t marry her, he’d be surprised if she ever allowed him to touch her again.
Except this was Elizabeth and when she loved something, she let nothing stand in her way. Something he was only now beginning to understand.
Nevertheless, for her own sake, he would do what was necessary to keep his lustful intent away from her. The last thing he needed was for her to become with child.
Meet the Author, ADDIE JO RYLEIGH… 
Addie Jo Ryleigh writes historical regency romances that feature rakish heroes and strong feisty heroines.
Addie Jo lives in the same cold winter and hot summer area of Minnesota where she was born and raised. And frankly, wouldn’t live anywhere else. Sharing in the raising of her three extremely rambunctious boys is her very understanding husband that so graciously enabled her to fulfill her dream of writing. Keeping Addie Jo company while she writes (besides her wonderfully loud children) is her yorkipoo, Bella, who is never far from Addie Jo’s side.
Addie Jo has always had a love and passion for romance books and became engrossed in historical romance (particularly Regency) soon after graduating from Lurlene McDaniel’s young adult books. Currently, Addie Jo reads any genre that has a great emotional story that keeps her reading into the early hours of the morning.
Addie Jo has a bachelor degree in accounting and is a financial coordinator when not driving her children around central Minnesota, cuddled up with a good book, or writing her next story.
~~~
Links to Addie Jo’s website, blog, books, etc.
Link to Follow Tour:
http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/09/the-dukes-temptation-men-of.html
Goodreads Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26931389-the-duke-s-temptation?from_search=true&search_version=service
Buy Links: AMAZON
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
November 10, 2015
Karen’s Killer Book Bench: Killing Secrets by K.L. Docter
KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH: Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!
~~
KILLING SECRETS
A Thorne’s Thorns Novel
BY K.L. DOCTER
Blurb
Some secrets are better left dead.
Rachel James’ ex-husband is released from prison determined to reclaim her and her little girl — the child is his key to controlling the James fortune. Frightened, Rachel flees to Denver with the child who hasn’t uttered a word since her daddy went to prison.
Contractor Patrick Thorne wants nothing to do with another of his parents’ charity cases. He failed his own wife so abysmally she took her own life as well as his unborn son’s. After two years, it’s time to concentrate on the bid he’s won and the saboteur trying to destroy his construction firm.
There is no room for trust in either of their hearts. But trust is all that will untangle the secrets that dominate their lives, free a little girl of her silent prison, and save them all from a serial killer who stands too close.
(A Thorne’s Thorns Novel)
KILLING SECRETS
A Thorne’s Thorns Novel
BY K.L. DOCTER
Excerpt
Denver, Colorado.
At the first crack of gunfire, Rachel dove headfirst into the garden she was weeding. Listening for the second report she expected to follow, she prayed Amanda stayed at Patrick Thorne’s house where she’d gone an hour ago to play with her new friend, Suze.
Gasping for air, she inhaled the rich, spicy scent of freshly turned soil and crushed nasturtiums instead. Dirt and grit bit into her cheek and the bare flesh exposed by her cutoffs and T-shirt. The mid-afternoon sun beat hot against her shoulders and legs, and all she could do was lie there and watch a fat bumblebee dip into a russet blossom three inches from her nose.
Had she run almost nine hundred miles only to die like this, grubbing alone in the dirt like a spineless worm?
A surge of anger gave her impetus to lift her head. She peeked over the flimsy wall of twelve-inch annuals between her and the street. A second gunshot rang out, belched in a cloud of black smoke from an ancient Volkswagen bus that disappeared around the corner.
Backfire?
She groaned, more relieved than embarrassed by her overreaction. Her chin dropped. Taking several deep draughts of the thin Colorado air, she worked to calm the pound of her heart against her ribcage. Her efforts made her head swim. A minute later she was able to push herself out of the three-foot section of garden she’d mown down.
Her nerves had been on edge since she fled Dallas on Friday, five days ago. If she weren’t so overwrought it would have occurred to her Greg would never stand at a distance and take potshots at her. No. Greg liked to look into her eyes when he meted out his punishments.
An icy shiver skimmed her skin. Each day that passed without his appearance should have reassured her she’d made the right decision to accept Katy’s arrangements with the Thornes. As long as Greg didn’t track her and Amanda to Denver, they were safe.
Problem is she hadn’t felt safe since Amanda was born and she discovered what kind of man she’d married. Now she couldn’t pluck enough weeds from Evelyn Thorne’s gardens by day to tear the anxiety from her heart at night. Her growing sense of trepidation kept her awake long after the morning stars dimmed above the mile-high city’s cloudless skies.
How could the justice system simply hand Greg a “get out of jail free” card? She’d always known the man had connections in high places, but how had he arranged for the evidence in his case—evidence she’d risked everything to provide—to disappear before he even went to trial? If he’d accomplished that feat while behind bars, how in the world was she and Amanda going to stay out of his clutches?
She felt like there were giant bull’s-eyes painted on their backs, that it was only a matter of time before Greg tracked them down. During their marriage the man would spend weeks, even months, laying meticulous groundwork for one of his cons. He’d had six months to plan dozens of new punishments for his betrayer.
“‘Til death us do part, darlin’.”
His words echoed over the expanse of time and distance, ringing a fresh peal of dread in Rachel’s breast. With one hand, she brushed clumps of soil off her tangerine T-shirt and whispered a small prayer. Please don’t let him find us!
She tossed her worry as well as a forgotten fistful of dandelions clutched in her hand into the metal bucket at her side. She flicked cotton dandelion seeds from her fingertips and rubbed at an ache in her lower back.
Examining the flowerbed she’d weeded before lunch, she sighed with satisfaction. She’d made it her mission today to eradicate every weed in the nasturtium bed that ran the length of the house. As missions went, it wasn’t much. But it was something she could control, and the very least she could do for the woman who’d given her another hole to crawl into, saving her from running one more mile.
There weren’t many people who’d hand over their home and greenhouse to a total stranger for a month. Evelyn Thorne was either a saint or naive as sin. Exactly the kind of mark Greg specialized in conning out of their life savings.
Her insides twisted at the thought of how many innocents had suffered at Greg’s hands. But it was the last innocent, the little girl who’d built an impenetrable wall around her world that tormented Rachel most.
Amanda hadn’t said a word when her mother pulled her out of bed on Friday and drove her away from the sparse home they’d built with Katy. Just as she hadn’t spoken that awful night when Rachel’s doctor friend, Simon, hustled them out of their house to his clinic where he tended Rachel’s broken body. In pain, sedated, she hadn’t registered that her daughter had gone completely mute until the next morning when she woke up in the hotel room where Simon had stashed them. The child just stood there at the side of the bed, her doe-like brown eyes fixed on her mama, clutching the doll her father gave her a week earlier to replace her puppy savaged by a rogue coyote.
Simon hadn’t missed the signs though and, when he gave Rachel money to escape San Francisco, he’d given her enough to take Amanda to a doctor when they got settled. Now that they were on the run again, Rachel despaired of helping her little girl back to normalcy.
Meet the Author, KAREN DOCTER… 
Bestselling author, Karen Docter writes two different kinds of romance novels…Contemporary Romance w/a Karen Docter and Romantic Suspense w/a K.L. Docter.
Karen’s contemporaries are cute & spicy romances. She loves writing about real men and women with dreams and goals that don’t allow for a relationship just so she can throw them in each other’s path…with a tickle and a smile. Her romantic suspense novels are also filled with romance, although the dangers the hero and heroine face are intense, usually because a serial killer is bent on ending one or both of their lives before they can fall in love.
Karen’s an award-winning author, a four-time Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart® finalist, and won the coveted Kiss of Death Romance Writers Daphne du Maurier Award Category (Series) Romantic Mystery Unpublished division.
When she’s not saving her characters from death and destruction or helping them fall in love, she loves camping and fishing with her family, reading, gardening & cooking. If she can do most of those things over a campfire, all the better!
~~~
Links to Karen/K.L.’s website, blog, books, etc.
Website/Blog: http://www.karendocter.com
Twitter: @KarenDocter
Karen Docter FB: http://goo.gl/6TXc5X
K.L. Docter FB: http://goo.gl/uD1iGL
Goodreads: https://goo.gl/bsswDd
Book Bench for Romance Lovers FB Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/281099382014548/
Killing Secrets:
Amazon: goo.gl/BzGZLc
B&N: goo.gl/wsqVxB
Kobo: goo.gl/KM563U
iTunes: goo.gl/pg58wN
Season of Thrills Box Set
5 full-length Suspense/mystery/thriller Stories
ONLY $.99 ~ Pre-Order until November 30:
Amazon – amzn.to/1WS2RHV
KOBO – bit.ly/1VJAw3R
iTunes – apple.co/1huLmNC
B&N – bit.ly/1NvGZjL
chapters.indigo – bit.ly/1LmlQ9y
Catch That Santa (ONLY $.99 or FREE/Unlimited):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ACDF0EG?keywords=CATCH%20THAT%20SANTA&qid=1446923376&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1
Cop On Her Doorstep:
Amazon: http://goo.gl/bUHNMu
B&N: http://goo.gl/6uoZTd
Kobo: https://goo.gl/fd92aB
Satin Pleasures:
Amazon: http://goo.gl/9EftxB
~~~
**SPECIAL GIVEAWAY**: Comment on the following question for a chance to win a $5 Amazon Gift Card I am giving away next week!! There are actually two villainous characters working their machinations in Killing Secrets. Name your favorite villainous character in a book or movie or TV, and tell us why you enjoy him or her.
Don’t miss the chance to read KILLING SECRETS this holiday. Happy Reading!!
November 9, 2015
Karen’s Killer Book Bench: The Wrong Bride by Gayle Callen
KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH: Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!
~~
THE WRONG BRIDE
Highland Weddings #1
BY GAYLE CALLEN
Blurb
The first in a wonderfully engaging series set in the Scottish Highlands, USA Today bestselling author Gayle Callen creates an unforgettable story of mistaken identity and irresistible attraction.
Shaken from sleep during the night, bundled off to the Highlands by a burly Scot, Riona is at first terrified, then livid. Hugh McCallum insists they were promised to each other as children to ensure peace between their clans. The stubborn laird refuses to believe he’s kidnapped the wrong Catriona Duff. Instead, he embarks on a campaign of slow-burning seduction…
At first, Hugh cares only what their marriage can do for his people. Now he’s starting to crave Riona for her own sake. But her true identity jeopardizes his clan’s contract. And unless she chooses to risk all to be his bride, he’ll lose the only thing he prizes more than the lands he’s fought so hard to save-the passionate marriage they could have together.
THE WRONG BRIDE
Highland Weddings #1
BY GAYLE CALLEN
Excerpt
From Gayle: This excerpt is the beginning of THE WRONG BRIDE. A good kidnapping scene always sets the stage for all the conflict to come between the hero and heroine! Not that I’m condoning kidnapping… 
November 8, 2015
Karen’s Killer Book Bench: Catch That Santa by Karen Docter
KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH: Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!
~~
CATCH THAT SANTA
A Holiday Novelette
BY KAREN DOCTER
Blurb
When widow, Sara Marks, hears her Grams has gone on the lam from Happy Acres Residence on Christmas Eve – on Santa’s arm, no less — she teams up with sexy stranger, Francisco de la Vega, to chase the couple down with one thing in mind…keep her Grams from becoming Mrs. Claus. Of course, Francisco’s grandfather is not really Santa Claus, but Grams did run off to Vegas to marry him and she’s obviously not in her right mind.
Sara leaves her seven-month-old baby, Lanie, with a friend and she and Cisco head west in the worst snowstorm in decades, chasing his grandfather’s ’57 Ford Fairlane over the river and through the woods.
Will they catch Santa and his crazy Mrs. Claus before it’s too late? Or will love stop them in their tracks?
(Novelette, approximately 50 pages)
CATCH THAT SANTA
A Holiday Novelette
BY KAREN DOCTER
Excerpt
“What do you mean, Grams ran off with Santa Claus?” Sara Marks stared at the first floor orderly, Buddy Cantor, who’d met her outside her grandmother’s room at Happy Acres Residence. She could barely catch her breath after dashing through the facility carrying her sleeping baby. It had taken her a full thirty minutes to drive from the church near her apartment across Denver’s snow packed streets in her crotchety, old Ford, when it should have taken ten. Twenty minutes too long if her grandmother was truly missing.
She should never have gone to the Christmas Eve service. She’d suspected Grams was up to something when she called and told her to come later so she could take a nap before their planned dinner together. There was something in her voice, but Sara hadn’t paid enough attention with little Lanie fussing in her ear. “Next thing you’ll tell me is Santa took her to the North Pole in a sleigh pulled by reindeer.”
“No. A gold ’57 Ford Fairlane convertible.” The man shuffled uneasily in the doorway. “And they’re headed to Vegas. We think.”
“Vegas.” Movement in her arms made her aware Lanie was fully awake and ready to play. She grinned up at Sara with two shiny new bottom teeth, like she’d woken up just to laugh at her great-grandma’s latest flight of fancy.
Oh, Grams, what have you done?
Meet the Author, KAREN DOCTER…
Bestselling author, Karen Docter writes two different kinds of romance novels…Contemporary Romance w/a Karen Docter and Romantic Suspense w/a K.L. Docter.
Karen’s contemporaries are cute & spicy romances. She loves writing about real men and women with dreams and goals that don’t allow for a relationship just so she can throw them in each other’s path…with a tickle and a smile. Her romantic suspense novels are also filled with romance, although the dangers the hero and heroine face are intense, usually because a serial killer is bent on ending one or both of their lives before they can fall in love.
Karen’s an award-winning author, a four-time Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart® finalist, and won the coveted Kiss of Death Romance Writers Daphne du Maurier Award Category (Series) Romantic Mystery Unpublished division.
When she’s not saving her characters from death and destruction or helping them fall in love, she loves camping and fishing with her family, reading, gardening & cooking. If she can do most of those things over a campfire, all the better!
~~~
Links to Karen/K.L.’s website, blog, books, etc.
Website/Blog: http://www.karendocter.com
Twitter: @KarenDocter
Karen Docter FB: http://goo.gl/6TXc5X
K.L. Docter FB: http://goo.gl/uD1iGL
Goodreads: https://goo.gl/bsswDd
Book Bench for Romance Lovers FB Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/281099382014548/
Catch That Santa (ONLY $.99 or FREE/Unlimited):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ACDF0EG?keywords=CATCH%20THAT%20SANTA&qid=1446923376&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1
Cop On Her Doorstep:
Amazon: http://goo.gl/bUHNMu
B&N: http://goo.gl/6uoZTd
Kobo: https://goo.gl/fd92aB
Satin Pleasures:
Amazon: http://goo.gl/9EftxB
Killing Secrets:
Amazon: goo.gl/BzGZLc
B&N: goo.gl/wsqVxB
Kobo: goo.gl/KM563U
iTunes: goo.gl/pg58wN
Season of Thrills Box Set
5 full-length Suspense/mystery/thriller Stories
ONLY $.99 ~ Pre-Order until November 30:
Amazon – amzn.to/1WS2RHV
KOBO – bit.ly/1VJAw3R
iTunes – apple.co/1huLmNC
B&N – bit.ly/1NvGZjL
chapters.indigo – bit.ly/1LmlQ9y
~~~
**SPECIAL GIVEAWAY**: Comment on the following question for a chance to win a $5 Amazon Gift Card I am giving away next week!! What is your favorite childhood memory or holiday ritual you enjoyed with your family?
Don’t miss the chance to read Catch That Santa this holiday. Happy Reading!!
November 5, 2015
Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **Author Special** Bonanza with The Bluestocking Belles & 7 Holiday Recipes!
Karen’s Killer Fixin’s
**AUTHOR SPECIAL**
with The Bluestocking Belles authors Amy Rose Bennett, Susana Ellis, Sherry Ewing, Mariana Gabrielle, Jude Knight, Caroline Warfield & Nicole Zoltack!
Welcome to my Friday bonus feature called Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **Author Special**!! Today, in lieu of one of my own recipes, I’m going to introduce you to a new author who will share one of her favorite recipes. Not only will you and I occasionally learn how to make something new and delicious, but we’ll get a chance to check out some wonderful authors. Introducing authors Amy Rose Bennett, Susana Ellis, Sherry Ewing, Mariana Gabrielle, Jude Knight, Caroline Warfield & Nicole Zoltack, and their favorite holiday recipes for VANILLA SHORTBREAD, BERRY TRIFLE, MASHED SWEET POTATOES AND PEARS, APPLE SCRAPPLE, GINGERBREAD, MULLED CIDER, AND CHOCOLATE DECADENCE YULE LOG!
~~~
MISTLETOE, MARRIAGE, AND MAYHEM:
A BLUESTOCKING BELLES COLLECTION
ABOUT MISTLETOE, MARRIAGE, AND MAYHEM
In this collection of novellas, the Bluestocking Belles bring you seven runaway Regency brides resisting and romancing their holiday heroes under the mistletoe. Whether scampering away or dashing toward their destinies, avoiding a rogue or chasing after a scoundrel, these ladies and their gentlemen leave miles of mayhem behind them on the slippery road to a happy-ever-after.
All She Wants for Christmas, by Amy Rose Bennett
A frosty bluestocking and a hot-blooded rake. A stolen kiss and a Yuletide wedding. Sparks fly, but will hearts melt this Christmas?
The Ultimate Escape, by Susana Ellis
Abandoned on his wedding day, Oliver must choose between losing his bride forever or crossing over two hundred years to find her and win her back.
Under the Mistletoe, by Sherry Ewing
Margaret Templeton will settle for Captain Morledge’s hand in marriage, until she sees the man she once loved. Who will win her heart at the Christmas party of her would-be betrothed?
’Tis Her Season, by Mariana Gabrielle
Charlotte Amberly returns a Christmas gift from her intended—the ring—then hares off to London to take husband-hunting into her own hands. Will she let herself be caught?
Gingerbread Bride, by Jude Knight
Traveling with her father’s fleet has not prepared Mary Pritchard for London. When she strikes out on her own, she finds adventure, trouble, and her girlhood hero, riding once more to her rescue.
A Dangerous Nativity, by Caroline Warfield
With Christmas coming, can the Earl of Chadbourn repair his widowed sister’s damaged estate, and far more damaged family? Dare he hope for love in the bargain?
Joy to the World, by Nicole Zoltack
Eliza Berkeley discovers she is marrying the wrong man—on her wedding day. When the real duke turns up instead, will her chance at marital bliss be spoiled?
***All proceeds benefit the Malala Fund.***
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
The Bluestocking Belles’ books carry you into the past for your happy-ever-after. When you have turned the last page of our novels and novellas, keep up with us (and other historical romance authors) in the Teatime Tattler, a Regency scandal sheet, and join in with the characters you love for impromptu storytelling in the Bluestocking Bookshop on Facebook. Also, look for online games and contests and monthly book chats, and find us at BellesInBlue on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Come visit at www.BluestockingBelles.com and kick up your bluestockinged heels!
About Amy Rose Bennett… 
Amy Rose Bennett has always wanted to be a writer for as long as she can remember. An avid reader with a particular love for historical romance, it seemed only natural to write stories in her favorite genre. She has a passion for creating emotion-packed—and sometimes a little racy—stories set in the Georgian and Regency periods. Of course, her strong-willed heroines and rakish heroes always find their happily ever after.
Amy is happily married to her own Alpha male hero, has two beautiful daughters, and a rather loopy Rhodesian Ridgeback. She is a Speech Pathologist, but is currently devoting her time to her one other true calling—writing romance.
Website and Blog: http://AmyRoseBennett.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmyRoseBennett.Author
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmyRoseBennett
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/AmyRoseBennett/
About Susana Ellis… 
Susana has always had stories in her head waiting to come out, especially when she learned to read and her imagination began to soar.
A former teacher, Susana lives in Toledo, Ohio in the summer and Florida in the winter. She is a member of the Central Florida Romance Writers and the Beau Monde chapters of RWA and Maumee Valley Romance Inc.
Website: http://www.SusanaEllis.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Susana.Ellis.5
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SusanaAuthor
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/SusanaAuthor/
About Sherry Ewing… 
Sherry Ewing picked up her first historical romance when she was a teenager and has been hooked ever since. A bestselling author, she writes historical and time travel romances to awaken the soul one heart at a time.
Website and Blog: http://www.SherryEwing.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SherryEwingauthor
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Sherry_Ewing
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/SherryLEwing
About Mariana Gabrielle… 
Mari Christie is not romantic–at all. Therefore, her alter-ego, Mariana Gabrielle, lives vicariously through characters who believe in their own happy-ever-afters. And believe they must, as Mariana cherishes her villains, but only loves her heroes and heroines, all of whom suffer hearts bruised, broken, and scarred long before they reach the pages of her books.
She is a professional writer, editor, and designer with almost twenty-five years’ experience, and a member of the Bluestocking Belles, the Writing Wenches, and the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. She has written two Regency romances, Royal Regard and La Déesse Noire: The Black Goddess, and will soon release three Royal Regard prequel novellas and a mainstream historical, Blind Tribute.
Author Website & blog: www.MarianaGabrielle.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MariChristie...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mchristieauthor
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/marichristie/
About Jude Knight… 
Jude Knight has been telling stories all her life: making up serial tales to amuse her friends and children, imagining sequels to books that have moved her and left her wanting more, occasionally submitting short stories to magazines and the radio, starting more than a dozen novels set in different times and places.
She has devoted most of the last forty years to a career in commercial writing and raising a large family. She wrote and published her first historical romance in 2014, and now has the wind in her sails and a head full of strong determined heroines, heroes with the sense to appreciate them, and villains you’ll love to loathe.
Website and Blog: http://www.judeknightauthor.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/judeknightbooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JudeKnightBooks
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/jknight1033/
About Caroline Warfield…
Carol Roddy – Author
Caroline Warfield grew up in a perapatetic army family and had a varied career (largely centered on libraries and technology) before retiring to the urban wilds of Eastern Pennsylvania. She is ever a traveler and adventurer, enamored of owls, books, history, and beautiful gardens (but not the act of gardening). She is married to a prince among men.
Website and Blog: http://www.carolinewarfield.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carolinewarfield7
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CaroWarfield
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/warfieldcaro/
About Nicole Zoltack… 
Nicole Zoltack loves to write romances. When she’s not writing about gentlemen and their ladies, knights, or superheroes, she spends time with her growing family. She enjoys riding horses (pretending they’re unicorns, of course!) and visiting the PA Renaissance Faire. She’ll also read anything she can get her hands on.
Website and Blog: http://NicoleZoltack.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorNicoleZoltack
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NicoleZoltack
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/NicoleZoltack/
~~~
LINKS TO THE BLUESTOCKING BELLES ON THE WEB
Website and home of the Teatime Tattler:
www.BluestockingBelles.com
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/BellesInBlue
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/BellesInBlue
Pinterest: www.Pinterest.com/BellesInBlue
Bluestocking Bookshop online storytelling: www.Facebook.com/groups/BluestockingB...
Amazon Author page: www.amazon.com/author/BellesInBlue
Support the Bluestocking Belles’ Fundraising campaign for the Malala Fund:
www.classy.org/BluestockingBelles http://ow.ly/RJ5tl
I hope you enjoy the recipes these ladies are sharing with us today on Karen’s Killer Fixin’s. Happy eating!
Karen
P.S. We’re at 231 recipes and counting with this posting. Hope you find some recipes you like. If this is your first visit, please check out past blogs for more Killer Fixin’s. In the right hand column menu, you can even look up past recipes by type. i.e. Desserts, Breads, Beef, Chicken, Soups, Author Specials, etc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE BLUESTOCKING BELLES’ RECIPES
AMY ROSE BENNET – ALL SHE WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS
Vanilla Shortbread
[Adapted from Nigella Lawson’s recipe of the same name in her cookbook ‘Forever Summer’.]
Ingredients:
100 grams (3 ½ ounces) icing sugar/powdered sugar
200 grams (7 ounces) plain/all-purpose flour
100 grams (3 ½ ounces) cornflour/cornstarch
200 grams (7 ounces) unsalted butter – softened to room temperature
1 vanilla pod – split and seeds scraped out
caster/superfine sugar or vanilla sugar for sprinkling (See note*)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 160°C/325°F
Prepare a Swiss roll tin/Jelly-roll pan; grease the tin lightly and line the base with baking paper.
Place the icing sugar/powdered sugar and flours in the bowl of a food processer (use the double-bladed knife attachment) and process until thoroughly mixed.
Add the softened butter and vanilla seeds. Process all the ingredients until the mixture begins to clump around the food processer blade, forming a ball.
Turn out the mixture into the prepared Swiss roll tin/Jelly-roll pan. Gently press to fit, using your fingers or the back of a metal spoon. Gently rolling a straight-sided water glass over the surface will also give the shortbread’s surface a nice smooth finish.
Mark the pressed out shortbread into regular-sized fingers or squares using the tip of a sharp knife. Then use the tines of fork to make 3 sets of decorative puncture marks in each biscuit. Marking each finger/square at an angle looks quite nice.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. When cooked, the shortbread should be a pale golden color with darker golden, slightly crisper edges. Remove the shortbread from the oven and carefully recut the fingers/squares with a knife (the mixture expands slightly during cooking and the original marks tend to fade). Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before carefully removing each finger/square to a wire rack; a palette knife works well. Sprinkle the still warm shortbread with caster/superfine sugar (or vanilla sugar if you have some) and leave to cool completely. Store in a tin.
*Note: To make vanilla sugar, place 1 cup of caster/superfine sugar and the seeds from 1 vanilla pod into a food processer. Reserve the vanilla pod. Process the sugar and vanilla until well-combined. Store the sugar and vanilla pod in an airtight jar until ready to use.
SUSANA ELLIS – THE ULTIMATE ESCAPE
Berry Trifle
[Original recipe found on
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/18993/berry-trifle/]
1 (10.75 ounce) package prepared pound cake, cubed
1 (10 ounce) package frozen blueberries
1 (10 ounce) package frozen raspberries
1 (10 ounce) package frozen blackberries
2 tablespoons praline liqueur
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup milk
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
Place cubed cake in bottom of large glass serving bowl. Layer the blueberries, raspberries and blackberries on top of the cake. Sprinkle with praline liqueur.
In a medium bowl, combine pudding mix, milk, condensed milk and 1 cup of whipped topping, stir well. Pour mixture over frozen berries. Top custard with remaining whipped topping. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour or in refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours, enough for the berries to thaw before serving.
SHERRY EWING – UNDER THE MISTLETOE
Mashed Sweet Potatoes And Pears
[8 Servings]
5 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
4 large firm but ripe Bartlett pears, peeled, cored, cut into 1/3-inch-thick slices
3/4 cup (or more) pear nectar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon (generous) ground cardamom
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter 13x9x2 inch glass baking dish. Pierce potatoes in several places with fork. Place on baking sheet; bake until very tender when pierced with knife, about 1 hour. Remove from oven. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees.
Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pears; sauté until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add 3/4 cup nectar; bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until pears are very tender, adding more nectar if mixture sticks to skillet and stirring often, about 4 minutes. Transfer to processor and puree.
Peel sweet potatoes; place in large bowl of electric mixer. Add 4 tablespoons butter; beat until smooth. Mix in pear puree, sugar, cinnamon and cardamom. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to prepared dish. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)
Bake potatoes uncovered until just heated through, about 20 minutes.
MARIANA GABRIELLE – ‘TIS HER SEASON
Mariana Gabrielle’s Apple Scrapple Recipe
My only connection to the city of Philadelphia is my great-great uncle, Percy Whaley, who was the Executive Editor of the Philadelphia Evening Ledger in the 1930s. This recipe did not come from him, but it is, nonetheless, a blatant Yankee (Philadelphia) tradition in my very Southern food heritage. This is my traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday breakfast food, because it can be made ahead and cooked quickly and easily, even in the midst of other cooking that always needs to be done on those days.
Ingredients:
1 pound bulk pork sausage
1 small finely chopped onion
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 medium diced apple
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon ground sage
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 cups water, divided
1 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Additional butter for frying
Maple Syrup
Directions:
In a heavy saucepan, bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Combine cornmeal, salt, and remaining water; stir into boiling water. Return to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
In a skillet, cook the sausage and onion until sausage is no longer pink and onion is tender, breaking up the sausage into a fine dice. Remove from skillet with a slotted spoon; set aside.
Reserve 2 Tbsp drippings in skillet. Add butter, apple, thyme, sage and pepper to drippings; cook on low heat for five minutes or until apple is tender. Remove from the heat; stir in sausage and onion mixture. Set aside.
Once cornmeal is finished cooking, stir in the sausage mixture. Pour into a greased 8x4x2-inch loaf pan (or line the loaf pan with a double layer of Saran Wrap). Cover and chill overnight.
Slice 1/2 inch thick with a serrated blade. Dredge in flour. Fry in a buttered skillet until browned on each side.
Serve with syrup or topped with a fried egg.
JUDE KNIGHT – GINGERBREAD BRIDE
Gingerbread Shapes
Ingredients:
2/3 cup molasses
2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
12 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda (not traditional – but improves the texture)
220 grams butter (2 sticks or 8 oz)
3 1/2 cups of flour (more if needed)
1 large egg, beaten.
Directions:
Put molasses, sugar, and spices in a pot and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve. Boil for two minutes and then take off heat.
Add baking soda and stir until it froths up.
Add butter and stir until it melts.
Add one third of the flour and mix.
Add egg and rest of the flour, and mix until the mixture is smooth and not tacky.
Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead until you have a good dough. It should not stick to your hands when ready. Add more flour, a little at a time, if you need to.
Divide the dough in half.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
For each half, roll out the dough to your desired thickness — thinner dough will be less robust but crispier.
Transfer to a baking sheet and chill till firm.
Cut into shapes and remove scraps.
Rechill your baking sheet of shapes.
Bake until golden.
Let shapes cool completely on the baking sheets.
Ice with royal icing, with fondant icing cut with the same shape cutters, or with a combination.
Can be used to make gingerbread houses.
CAROLINE WARFIELD – A DANGEROUS NATIVITY
Mulled Cider
1 Gallon Apple Cider (preferably unfiltered orchard cider)
4 cinnamon sticks
1 Navel orange cut in ¼ inch rounds
1 Small apple cut in ¼ inch rounds
Cloves
A dash of nutmeg and allspice
1 cup of rum (optional)
Imbed the cloves in the orange and apple slices. Place all ingredients except rum and powdered spices in a slow cooker and heat on high for one hour. Add rum and spices to taste. Reduce heat to low and heat for one more hour. Be careful not to boil. Keep the cooker on warm until you ladle it into mugs.
Variations:
Vary the fruit
Add ½ cup lemon juice
Leave out rum
Substitute whiskey for rum
NICOLE ZOLTACK – JOY TO THE WORLD
Chocolate Decadence Yule Log
Original recipe found on
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/15704/chocolate-decadence-yule-log/
Ingredients:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons coffee-flavored liqueur
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
confectioners’ sugar for dusting
4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet baking chocolate
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon coffee flavored liqueur
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 10×15 inch jellyroll pan and use parchment paper if desired. Sift the flour with the baking powder and the salt and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs on high until they are fluffy. Gradually add in the sugar, beating until very thick. Gently fold in the flour mixture.
Melt the chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat. In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of water with the 2 tablespoons of coffee liqueur, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and the baking soda. Gradually stir into the melted chocolate until smooth. Quickly fold chocolate mixture into batter.
Pour batter into the pan. Bake for about 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Lightly sift an even layer of confectioners sugar over a cloth napkin. Flip the cake out of its pan onto the prepared cloth as soon as it comes from the oven. Carefully peel away parchment paper if used. Lightly dust top of cake with confectioners sugar. Trim away crisp edges. Starting with one of the short sides of the cake, immediately roll the cake up in the cloth, jellyroll style, and cool thoroughly on a rack.
For the Filling and Frosting: In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate then let cool to lukewarm. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with the confectioners sugar until smooth. Blend in the vanilla extract and coffee liqueur. Blend this mixture into the melted chocolate. Unroll the cake and spread about 1/3 of the filling evenly over the surface. Roll the cake back up.
Arrange cake roll on serving tray. Frost generously, swiping with an icing spatula to form the long ‘bark line’ design. Swipe ends of cake in a circular motion to simulate the tree-rings of a cut log. Decorate log as desired with holly leaves and berries.
~~~
**SPECIAL GIVEAWAY**: The Bluestocking Belles are giving away a gift swag that includes a Christmas ornament, a print copy of THE BLUESTOCKING BELLES’ GUIDE TO A GOOD TIME and other author swag to one of their Karen’s Killer Fixin’s blog readers! Leave a comment below for a chance to win.
Don’t miss the chance to read these novellas!
Thanks, Amy Rose, Susana, Sherry, Mariana, Jude, Caroline and Nicole for sharing your stories with us!!
November 4, 2015
Karen’s Killer Book Bench: Tangled Pursuit by Lindsay McKenna
KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH: Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!
~~
TANGLED PURSUIT
Delos Series Book 2
BY LINDSAY McKENNA
Blurb
Navy SEAL Chief Wyatt Lockwood is fascinated by Marine sniper Captain Talia Culver. But she wants nothing to do with him after learning of his reputation as a heartbreaker. The cocky Texan refuses to take the hint and keeps placing himself in Tal’s path. When she agrees to help him tend to needy families in an Afghan village, she learns there’s more to this SEAL than meets the eye. But is she strong enough to risk having her heart broken again?
Wyatt can’t stay away from the beautiful, surly Marine. Tal is fascinating—and frustrating—and he is determined to crack through her tough exterior and get to know the soft woman he knows lurks beneath the surface. When he joins Tal on a sniper mission in the Afghan mountains, their bond continues to grow. But the mission takes a dangerous turn. Has he lost his chance with Tal forever?
TANGLED PURSUIT
Delos Series Book 2
BY LINDSAY McKENNA
Excerpt
“Just as Wyatt gripped a branch, hauling himself up on shaky legs, the rain suddenly eased, giving him an instant view of his immediate surroundings. His eyes widened as he saw a dozen tree trunks that had been snapped off and were now a pile of giant toothpicks jammed up along the side of the ridge.
“Tal!” he roared, cupping his hands to his mouth. Wyatt didn’t give a shit about anyone hearing him now. His voice was muted by the thunder and the continuing gusts of wind. As he surged toward the pile of trees near their destroyed hide, he looked up.
The entire cliff that had once been above them was gone. Wyatt saw fifty or so pine trees sticking out at odd angles within the mud avalanche that had created this wall of debris. Breathing hard, he reached the trees jammed together on the ridge.
“Tal!” he yelled, starting to climb up on the unstable pile, searching for her. Oh, God, let her be alive! Wyatt yanked his attention toward the slope. Their hide had been completely buried beneath a six-foot wall of mud. Thank God they had gotten out in time, but where the hell was she?
Where are you, Tal?
Slipping on the bark of a trunk, Wyatt fell, skinning his legs as he was hurled down into the logs. And then he saw her. She was lying, unmoving, one leg trapped beneath the broken trunk of the smallest tree.
Oh, God! No!
Scrambling, Wyatt leaped over the other two tree trunks, landing on the soft, muddy ridge.
Wyatt raced around the end of the group of trees, dropping to his knees next to Tal. Her flesh was colorless, her lips parted, mud splattered across her body, face, and hair. Instantly, he tore off his gloves, pressing two fingers against her carotid artery on the side of her slender neck.
There was a pulse!
She was alive! Her pulse was thready and unsteady, and his gaze took in her leg, trapped beneath the tree. His mouth tightened as he moved swiftly, trying to lift the trunk off her leg. Even a man as strong as he was could recognize the superior power of the fallen trunk. He didn’t have a chance.
Wyatt’s mind raced and he grabbed his sat phone. It wasn’t waterproof, and he kept it in a huge Ziploc bag to protect it. His hand was shaking so hard he had trouble dialing the number to connect him with SEAL HQ at Bagram. When the phone connected, he bent over, protecting it from the rain, putting it to his ear. The OIC, officer-in-charge, answered. Trying to keep his voice calm, Wyatt gave his CO a quick picture of what had happened. “I need a QRF, quick reaction force, and medevac right now,” Wyatt told him, his voice shaking as he gave him Tal’s present medical status.
“On its way,” his CO said, his voice grim.
Wyatt gave him their GPS. He knew what would happen. There were always six SEALs sitting in a CH-47 helicopter idling on the runway at Bagram, ready to take off. They were a quick reaction force. They’d find two Apaches—God, he hoped there were two available—that would fly with them to protect them as they raced to this mountainside. With them would be a medevac Black Hawk.
He put the sat phone away, returning to digging out the soft mud beneath Tal’s leg. Wyatt knew it was broken and his mind raced over horrifying possibilities as he dug. There were two major bones in the lower leg. There was a major artery, too. If either or both bones were broken, it could tear into the artery and Tal could bleed out in a matter of minutes and die.
He dug hard and quickly, mud flying in all directions behind him. Wyatt measured the length of the tree trunk that had trapped Tal. There was no way anyone, not even a group of SEALs, could move that log. Tears filled his eyes as he removed the debris around her leg.
Now Wyatt’s heart dropped. He saw that her right ankle was twisted outward at an odd angle. Worse, he saw her calf had become swollen. It meant the artery had been torn. How badly, Wyatt didn’t know, but it wasn’t good.
The rain began to ease. The thunder was rumbling to the east of the mountain now. The wind had stopped gusting. Wyatt could smell the earth, the scent of pines strong around him as he completely exposed Tal’s leg. Taking his SOF knife, he slit her cammie trouser from her ankle to up above her knee.
Gently pulling the flaps aside, Wyatt got his first good look at her injury. The best news was that her skin was scraped and bruised but not broken. He ran his hand down across her calf, feeling the spongy swelling caused by blood leaking from the broken artery.
Because Tal was unconscious, he could probe a little more deeply. Damn! Both her bones were fully fractured, the ends separated from one another. Why one or both had not ripped through her skin, he’d never know. But it was a miracle.
Wyatt knew if she’d sustained an open fracture, she could have bled out quickly, but fortunately, the pressure of the blood swelling inside her calf was actually slowing down the flow of blood out of her artery and into the surrounding muscle tissue.
Had Tal been struck in the head by a log and knocked out? He needed to do a quick head-to-toe exam on her and try to see what other injuries she might have sustained. Shakily getting to his feet, he looked around, peering through the light rain for any signs of the enemy. Wyatt doubted there would be anyone around. But they were in the badlands, and anything could happen.”
Meet the Author, LINDSAY McKENNA… 
Lindsay McKenna lives her life as a risk taker, and it shines through the books she loves to write: romance, adventure and suspense. She started writing at age thirteen and continues to hone her writing skills to this day. She sold her first romance novel in 1981. The rest is history.
Because she went into the military, this experience became the backbone of her writing—she is credited with writing the first military romance novel (Captive of Fate, 1983, Silhouette Special Edition) and has created a thriving sub-genre within the romance field! As a New York Times Best Selling author, she has sold 23 million books and in 32 foreign languages in her career thus far. Her many experiences in the U.S. Navy are backdrop for her understanding of the military in general, and also her very successful Morgan’s Mercenaries, which is an ongoing series in Silhouette to this day! Forty-five books strong!
Lindsay has gone Indie in 2015 and has created a new family saga on par with Morgan’s Mercenaries It is known as the DELOS SERIES. There will be paperback and eBooks created under Blue Turtle Publishing, her company for her fans. Readers who love Morgan and his family are bound to fall in love with the Culver family. Delos is romantic suspense, which Lindsay is well known for. It took her five years to create and bring DELOS to her readers. It was worth the wait, but we’ll let you decide that.
Lindsay loves to hear from her readers and loves to know what they’d like to see her write next. Stay up with the latest on the Delos Series here. Please visit her Web site at www.lindsaymckenna.com. And be sure to sign up for her free quarterly newsletter. It contains exclusive content found nowhere else on the Net. Plus, giveaways and other surprises, to her loyal and faithful subscribers!
~~~
Links to Lindsay’s website, blog, books, etc.
Link to Follow Tour:
http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/09/tangled-pursuit-delos-2-by-lindsay.html
Goodreads Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26139754-tangled-pursuit?from_search=true&search_version=service
Goodreads Series Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/series/158707-delos
Buy Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo
Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads
November 3, 2015
Karen’s Killer Book Bench: Dances In Moonlight by Charlene Raddon
KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH: Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!
~~
DANCES IN MOONLIGHT
A Western Historical Novella
BY CHARLENE RADDON
Blurb
Sixteen-year-old schoolgirl Beth Webster is fascinated by tales of noble Savages, despite the hatred her father holds for Indians. When her wealthy mother dies, her father arranges for her to travel from New York to Utah Territory to join him at Camp Floyd. For Beth, the journey represents an adventure she cannot refuse. Yet she dreads the thought of living with a cold, stiff father she barely knows.
Snake Indian Sparrow Hawk accepts the Army assignment to scout for the expedition in order to help feed his people, but the moment he lays eyes on the young honey-haired girl he must protect along the way, his heart is lost. He knows he must ignore his attraction to the white girl, but her free, independent spirit and open heart call to him. Especially when she makes it plain she has no desire to resist him.
Can a young couple of such different cultures come together in love and peace, or will Beth’s father’s bigotry tear them apart?
DANCES IN MOONLIGHT
A Western Historical Novella
BY CHARLENE RADDON
Excerpt
The war cry echoed eerily over the plain, terrifying enough to curdle the blood in a man’s veins. Or a woman’s. Beth wanted nothing more than to burrow into the ground like a rabbit and pray for safety. Her pulse pounded in her temples and she feared the fright would stop her heart. But fear for Hawk, Miss Hightower and the others drove her to act.
“Come on, Francie. Yell,” she cried, standing.
They screamed for all they were worth, waving and bouncing on their heels. Their arms entangled them in the willows and they moved out into the open.
The night became rife with noise. Piercing cries of “Yi, yi, yi” Beth assumed were the Pawnee. Shouts and screams of pain came from the dragoons. Would the battle never end? Who had been hurt or killed? Please keep Sparrow Hawk safe.
Her prayer shocked her. Yet he had been kind to her this night. He had protected her. Because Mr. Stewart asked him to or because, in spite of being Indian, he was a good man? She wished she knew.
A horse crashed through the willows. Beth dropped to her knees and yelled for Francine to hide. The boom of gunfire close by all but deafened her.
Francine screamed.
The horse continued to thrash about in the shrubbery. Beth’s heart lodged in her throat. She raised up to look for her friend and saw a hideously painted warrior on the horse aiming a gun at Francine who lay in the grass.
“No!” Beth shouted. Grabbing up a stout stick, she burst out of the bushes and ruthlessly struck out at the man and horse. “You heathen bastard! Leave us alone. Go. Get out of here.”
The horse bolted and she almost fell. The Indian was gone.
Dropping the stick, Beth turned to Francine and instantly became aware of a new set of thundering hooves bearing down on her, this time from a different direction. Why had they left their hiding place? They were going to be killed.
A brown arm marked with slashes of red paint snaked around her waist. Her feet left the ground. She hung at the side of the horse, the Indian’s arm holding her in place.
“Beth!” Francine yelled. “Beth!”
In her dangling position, she could not see her captor. She struggled to free herself, digging her fingernails into the man’s arm. Instead of dropping her, he began to draw her up onto his lap.
From out of nowhere, strong brown hands latched onto her and she was torn from the Indian’s grasp, falling to the ground.
Nearby two men rolled over the earth, grunting, and pounding at each other.
Hands pressed over her mouth, Beth watched in horror until Francine cried out for her again. Scooting backwards on her bottom, Beth found her friend and cuddled next to her.
“It’s Mr. Hawk,” Francine said. “And the Pawnee who grabbed you.”
Beth recognized Hawk then. He had freed her from the Pawnee and now fought for his life. For hers and Francine’s life.
A sudden quiet fell on the small, trampled clearing in the trees where the girls waited, breaths held.
One man lay still. The other slowly rolled off of him and lay on his back panting.
The Pawnee? Or Sparrow Hawk?
Meet the Author, CHARLENE RADDON…
Charlene Raddon’s first serious attempt at writing fiction came in 1980 when a vivid dream drove her to drag out a typewriter and begin writing. She’s been writing ever since. Because of a love for romance novels and the Wild West, her primary genre is historical romance. At present, she has five books originally published in paperback by Kensington Books. More recently these were published as e-Books by Tirgearr Publishing. Taming Jenna and Tender Touch are also available in print from Tirgearr. Charlene also designs book covers and other graphic materials for authors at her site, http://cover-ops.blogspot.com. Her latest historical romance is Dances in Moonlight, which she is self-publishing and plans to release in November 2015.
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Links to Charlene’s website, blog, books, etc.
Website: http://charleneraddon.com
Anyone who signs up for Charlene’s newsletter on her website will be eligible for a drawing for a new Kindle. Or they can have their name added by leaving their email address and name in a comment on this blog post.
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**SPECIAL GIVEAWAY**: Charlene has a giveaway for one of her Karen’s Killer Book Bench blog readers! Leave a comment below for a chance to win an e-copy of DANCES IN MOONLIGHT by CHARLENE RADDON.
Don’t miss the chance to read these stories!
Thanks, Charlene, for sharing your story with us!!
November 2, 2015
Karen’s Killer Book Bench: Bearing It All by Vonnie Davis
KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH: Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!
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BEARING IT ALL
Highlander’s Beloved #3
BY VONNIE DAVIS
Blurb
A Scottish hunter and a French secret agent find themselves on a collision course with danger—and irresistible desire—in Vonnie Davis’s new bear-shifting Highlander novel, perfect for fans of Jennifer Ashley and Shelly Laurenston.
In the pine-dense mountains of the Scottish Highlands, shape-shifter Ronan Matheson is running free when a desperate woman parachutes out of the sky, directly onto his furry, powerful chest. Instead of clawing her to death, Ronan’s inner bear longs to keep her safe. Once he’s back in human form, Ronan is amused by the mysterious beauty’s fearless attitude—and tempted by her expertly toned physique. But what could she possibly be doing in this isolated stretch of the Highlands?
French intelligence agent Anisa Brosseau never imagined she’d be on the CIA’s bad side—until she’s framed for treason and forced to flee in a stolen drone. Hiding out in a remote cabin, Anisa just needs some time to clear her name. What she doesn’t need is a brooding, muscle-bound Scot in a skimpy kilt to drive her crazy with lust. But when Anisa’s enemies come knocking on his door, Ronan calls on a secret weapon to protect his turf and the bonny lass he’s come to love.
BEARING IT ALL
Highlander’s Beloved #3
BY VONNIE DAVIS
Excerpt
Ronan gaped at her as she closed the bathroom door. Me God, she was a cautious somebody. He hadna given her any reason to fear him. What had her in a major self-protection mode? Just what the bloody hell was going on in her life? What the feckin’ hell had happened to her that had her mistrusting everyone and anything? She hadna been like that when they knew each other in Paris.
She’s ours. We’ll protect her.
Ronan opened the cabinet in his room where he kept his shoe care kit. “She is not ours and it is not our bloody job to protect her. I’ll give her a meal and a warm place to sleep tonight.”
With us. She is too ours!
God, Ronan could almost hear his bear stomp his furry foot.
Ronan’s eldest brother’s bear was a little on the timid side at times. His youngest brother’s was bossy as hell. But Ronan’s bear could go from playful to stubborn in a heartbeat. “Dinna get in one of yer snits. I’m not looking fer a woman. Ye ken that.”
Ronan slid the stool to his big chair over in front of the hearth and sat. He quickly dipped her boots in the water then began brushing away the muck and mud. Using his shoe brush, he cleaned her boots as best he could. All the while, he wondered how she, of all people, ended up here, of all places? Effie. The witch had to have had a gnarled, pink-polished fingernail in this weird situation. He nodded as he set the cleaned boots on the other side of the burning fire. Coincidences like this didna just happen. They were arranged. And Effie was the Queen Witch at arranging things. He did a quick rinse of her socks and flight suit, removing her badge before he shoved the outfit into the dirty water.
She hadna lied about her being in the military, but she had failed to mention she was Major Anisa Brosseau of the French DPSD, whatever the hell that was. The card held no reference of the CIA, so why had she even mentioned it after she fell on his bear? He glanced at the bathroom door—the shower running behind it—and scowled. Just what kind of business were she and the French government up to here in an isolated part of the Scottish Highlands? And what did she mean when she mentioned going against everything she believed in?
Canna ye see? She’s scared outta her wits. She’s running from someone or something. And so are ye. Ye’re running from yer secret desire fer yer own family. We need to take care of her. She dropped from the sky just fer us. She’s our mate, ye obstinate human. Ours!
Living with this bear since he’d begun shifting when he was ten, Ronan kent there was no use arguing when it got into a challenging mood like this. How could Ronan have an attraction to a woman he hadna seen in years and wasna so sure he trusted? That was more Creighton’s style. Hadna his eldest brother fallen for the American animal communicator as soon as she arrived at the lodge?
Meet the Author, VONNIE DAVIS… 
Vonnie Davis, who studied English at Penn State, likens herself to a croissant: crusty, wrinkled, flaky—and best served with strong coffee. After a career as a technical writer, she’s spending her retirement playing fairy godmother to her characters, giving them their happily-ever-afters. Six fantastic, talented kids call her “Grandma” and brighten her world in so many ways. She lives in Southern Virginia with her husband, author Calvin Davis.
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Links to Vonnie’s website, blog, books, etc.
Link to Follow Tour:
http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/08/bearing-it-all-highlanders-beloved-3-by.html
Goodreads Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22890402-bearing-it-all?ac=1
Goodreads Series Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/series/134541-highlander-s-beloved
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
**Author Peek** Interview with Charlene Raddon’s Character, Elizabeth Anne Webster
**AUTHOR PEEK** Interview with
CHARLENE RADDON’S Character, Elizabeth Anne Webster!!
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INTRODUCING….Character Elizabeth Anne Webster, DANCES IN MOONLIGHT by CHARLENE RADDON.
1. What is your name? Do you have a nickname?
Elizabeth Anne Webster. Call me Beth.
2. Who is your best friend? What kinds of things do you do when you’re together?
Francine Gibbs is my best friend. We like to read books about other peoples and lands, like The Last of the Mohicans. Love that book. At the Runyon’s Finishing School for Refined Young Ladies where we went to school, no one wanted to be friends with a girl me who has the Devil’s kiss on her cheek, or a girl like Francine, who is illegitimate.
3. If you have a family, how do you get along with them? If you don’t, are there people in your life that you consider family? How do you get along with them?
The only family I have is my parents. Father is a Brevet-Major in the Army. He commands the Fifth Infantry at Camp Floyd in Utah Territory and detests Indians. Mother hates living on Army bases so she lived in Boston until recently when she died. Her inheritance from her grandmother allowed her to live in high society. I hadn’t seen her since she sent me to school when I was twelve, four years ago. She never paid much attention to me. Father can’t stand to look at me because of my birthmark. I barely know him.
4. Do you have a birthmark? Scars? Where is it/are they? How did you get it/them?
Yes, my birthmark is like a lip imprint only a little faded on one side. It’s high on my left cheek. I hate it, but there’s nothing I can do about it. Francine says people who care about me won’t even notice. So far, that only includes her and Sparrow Hawk.
5. When you’re angry, what do you do? Where do you go? How do you deal with your anger?
When I’m angry, I do something rebellious. I guess I don’t deal well with my anger. Miss Runyon, the headmistress at school, said I was incorrigible and too impetuous for my own good.
6. If you had to make me a meal right now, without going to the store, what would you find in your refrigerator to feed us?
What is a refrigerator?
7. What’s the one thing you’re afraid of losing?
Francine. She keeps me sane.
8. What makes you laugh out loud?
Getting the best of snooty people who think they’re better than Francine and me. People like Miss Hightower, my chaperone.
9. Has anyone broken your heart? Who was s/he?
I guess you could say Mother broke my heart, and Father as well, because they could not love me.
10. What’s the one thing you want out of life that you don’t think you can have? Why can’t you have it?
Love. I’m afraid no one will ever love me because my birthmark makes me ugly and some people think I’ve been marked by the Devil.
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Be sure to come back to read more about Charlene, Elizabeth, and DANCES IN MOONLIGHT on Wednesday’s Karen’s Killer Book Bench. Happy Reading!
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Links to Charlene’s website, blog, books, etc.
Website: http://charleneraddon.com
Anyone who signs up for Charlene’s newsletter on her website will be eligible for a drawing for a new Kindle. Or they can have their name added by leaving their email address and name in a comment on this blog post.
~~~
**SPECIAL GIVEAWAY**: Charlene has a giveaway for one of her Karen’s Killer Book Bench blog readers! Leave a comment below for a chance to win an e-copy of DANCES IN MOONLIGHT by CHARLENE RADDON.
Don’t miss the chance to read these stories!
Thanks, Charlene, for sharing your story with us!!
