Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Mind Games by Christine Amsden

From time to time I showcase other authors and books on my blog. Today I have the 3rd in the Cassie Scot series...along with a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card! (See Rafflecopter box below to enter.)

Mind Games
By Christine Amsden
book 3 of the Cassie Scot series*
Available now from Twilight Times books
*book 1 is on sale during the month of May!

Beware your heart and soul…

Evan broke Cassie’s heart two months ago, and she still doesn’t know why. She throws herself into family, friends and her new job at the sheriff’s department, but nothing helps. The only thing that finally allows her heal and move on is the love of a new man, mind mage Matthew Blair. Cassie finds him…irresistible.

Matthew may also be the only one who can help keep the non-magical residents of Eagle Rock from going crazy over the murder of a beloved pastor’s wife. It looks like a sorcerer is to blame, but while Cassie tries to figure out who, others take matters into their own hands. With tensions running so hot, a single spark might set Eagle Rock ablaze.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sunday, May 18, 2014

An Unseasonably Hot Encounter -Snippet Sunday

J 12:00 AM 7 Comments

~~Warning: adult language, mature themes~~

On Sundays, I share tidbits of my works in progress as part of Weekend Warrior’s 8-Sentence Sunday.

This week, I have a snippet from another short story that was rewritten for inclusion on Amazon. It's titled Spring Break Seduction, a super hot, super naughty erotica piece. Here's my snippet (edited to fit the 8-sentence format):

As I sat holding my cellphone while listening to my mother’s moderately drunk, disjointed reply about termites and her having forgotten I was coming home, movement outside the house next door caught my eye. There he was, in the flesh and mowing the lawn. April had turned unseasonably hot, and so had Billy Hunt.
As many times as I fantasized about the guy, I hadn’t truly remembered every nuance of the utter fucking sexuality that dripped off him like the sweat rivulets rolling down his bare, chiseled torso. His chestnut hair was longer than I remembered, and he tossed it out of his eyes with a boyish motion that dried every bit of saliva from my throat.

To my simultaneous delight and terror, he shut down the mower as soon as he saw me. The wide smile that always weakened my knees appeared on his face, and before I even realized it, I’d opened the car door. My mother was still babbling when I clicked off the cell phone.

So, what do you think?

Find Spring Break Seduction on Amazon.
Buy Now for 99 cents!

An erotic short story…

Jinger was supposed to spend Spring Break catching up on her neglected studies. Instead, her visit home brings her naughtiest fantasies to life—in the arms of Billy Hunt, her best friend’s father and the hottie next door.

~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~ *~ *~ * ~ *~ *

For more awesome snippets, check out

Weekend Writing Warriors!

~~~~

I'm J. Rose Allister, wife, working mom, and the author of over twenty-five books. Somewhere in between one and the next, I love hanging out here on my blog and over on Twitter. Give me a comment or follow-I love chatting with people!

# #8 Sunday # Post

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Untangle My Heart Shrimp and Pasta - Guest Author Maria K. Alexander

J 12:00 AM 4 Comments

It's Too Yummy Tuesday!

On select Tuesdays I share delicious recipes either inspired by my books or that are just plain delicious! Today I'm happy to have special guest Maria K. Alexander, author of Untangle My Heart. She's here to share her recipe for shrimp and pasta. Take it away!

Untangle My Heart Shrimp and Pasta

I grew up in an Italian family where both the men and women cooked. Food has always been at the center of any family gathering. I incorporated elements of my heritage and traditions when creating the fictional DiFrancesco family from my contemporary romance, Untangle My Heart.

There’s a scene from Untangle My Heart where my heroine, Kate, is having dinner with her brother, Nick. He came to share good news and they end up discussing issues with his divorce while making this shrimp and pasta dinner.

Shrimp and Pasta DiFrancesco

Ingredients

· 1 pound of cleaned shrimp

· ¾ medium Vidalia or Spanish onion diced

· 6 garlic cloves

· Extra Virgin Olive Oil to coat pan

· 1 can of diced tomatoes

· 1 8.5 oz jar of Julienne Cut Sun Dried tomatoes (drained if in olive oil)

· Salt & Pepper to taste

· Dried basil to taste

· ¼ cup of white wine (I used White Zinfandel)

· 1 pound thin spaghetti

· Grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Sauté garlic and onion in olive oil until translucent.

2. Add diced tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes. Stir.

3. Season with salt, pepper, basil. Stir.

4. Cook about 10 minutes.

5. Add shrimp and cook until shrimp are pink and cooked through, flipping after a couple of minutes.

6. Add wine and stir. Cook on low heat for another 5 minutes.

7. Cook spaghetti. Drain.

8. Serve shrimp sauce over the spaghetti.

9. Sprinkle with Romano or Parmesan cheese to taste

Serves: 4

Buon Appetito!

Untangle My Heartby Maria K. Alexander
Buy now:
Amazon
The Wild Rose Press
Barnes and Noble
Kobo
iBooks
All Romance

When her marriage ended in tragedy, Kate DiFrancesco rebuilt her life, but has never gotten over the pain of what she lost. Seeking the help of an ex-lover ignites feelings she’s promised never to have again. She’ll need to untangle herself from dangers in her past in order to break the hard shell around her heart.

Edward Weston has a lot to prove, both to his stuffy upper-crust British family, and to himself. Working alongside Kate, a woman he had a casual relationship with, stirs unexpected feelings. Helping her family makes him realize what he's missing. For the first time, he wants more than a one-night stand.

When Kate is threatened, Edward must overcome feeling unworthy to protect the woman he loves and fight for the family he never thought he’d have.

About the Author

A romantic at heart, Maria K. Alexander spent hours as a young girl getting lost in and wishing to be one of the heroines in the stories she read. Books gave her the ability to go to another world where she loved meeting new characters, learning about their problems, and watching them fall in love.

Maria is an award-winning author of contemporary romance. She blogs about her writing journey with The Violet Femmes at http://thevioletfemmes.com. When not writing, Maria loves to read, bake, downhill ski, visit the beach, and watch romantic comedies. Maria lives in New Jersey with her husband and children, and writes in her “spare” time between juggling a full-time job and her kids’ busy schedules.

You can keep in touch with Maria at:

Website: http://mariakalexander.com

The Violet Femmes Blog: http://thevioletfemmes.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MKAlexander1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maria-K-Alexander-Author/201236689917319

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/mariakalexander

# Guest Blog # Post

Sunday, May 11, 2014

If You Ever Run Across a Naked Man -Snippet Sunday

J 12:00 AM 8 Comments

~~Warning: mature themes~~

On Sundays, I share tidbits of my works in progress as part of Weekend Warrior’s 8-Sentence Sunday.

I hadn't had any snippets to share for a while, but it's good to be back with a Sunday offering! I've been doing some short story work this month while I take a break from finishing book 7 of my Lone Wolves of Shay Falls series.

This week, I rewrote a previous werewolf story exclusively for Amazon. It's titled My Secret Werewolf Lover 2. Here's the opening:

If you ever run across a naked man lying unconscious in the woods, run.

Those words echoed through my head in my mother’s voice, something that happened to me whenever I wondered what sage advice she would impart to a predicament.

“Yep,” I whispered under my breath as I stared down at the unconscious male sprawled on the ground. “Run far, run fast, and don’t look back.”

There were only two problems with that particular logic. One, this naked man was so beyond gorgeous that I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Two, I happened to know this man.

He was my boss.

So, what do you think?

Find My Secret Werewolf Lover 2, Volume 3 of the Secret Lover series of short erotic stories, exclusively on Amazon.
Buy Now for 99 cents!

~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~ *~ *~ * ~ *~ *

For more awesome snippets, check out

Weekend Writing Warriors!

~~~~

# #8 Sunday # Post

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Chocolate-Dipped Fruit Arrangement -Guest Author Courtney Giardina

J 12:00 AM 0 Comments

It's Too Yummy Tuesday!

On select Tuesdays I share delicious recipes either inspired by my books or that are just plain delicious! Today I'm happy to have special guest Courtney Giardina, author of Tear Stained Beaches. She's here to share a very special recipe idea. Take it away, Courtney!

In my debut novel Tear Stained Beaches, main character Haylie Julian’s day job is an event planner at a local country club. I thought that in honor of Haylie, it would be fitting to showcase a fruit arrangement I made for a recent girls night out event. It really wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be and everyone commented on how cute it was!

Chocolate-Dipped Fruit Arrangement

Ingredients:

¼ cup grapes (whole)

1 apple (cored)

1 orange (peeled)

1 package of dark or milk chocolate chips

Crushed nuts or coconut for topping

Additional Supplies:

Small square or rectangular vase

Floral foam (2 pieces)

Toothpicks

Wooden skewers

Any wrapping paper you have lying around

Double sided tape

Directions:

· Cut the floral foam so it fits snug in the vase you choose. I recommend not putting it all the way at the bottom so you have room to maneuver your skewers and vary height.

· Place double sided tape on outside of vase

· Cut your wrapping paper to cover the full outside of the vase and stick it to the double sided tape. Now you’re ready to begin!

· Peel orange, cut each slice in half and place on toothpick or skewer

· Cut apple (I left the skin on), cut in half and place on toothpick or skewer

· Place grapes, whole onto toothpick or skewer. You can place as many as you’d like for variation

· Melt chocolate chips at low heat , stirring continuously

· Once chips are melted, dip your fruit shallowly into the chocolate and roll it around until it’s covered to your liking. Shake off any excess and stick into the extra piece of floral foam to dry

· Once all fruit is covered with chocolate, place it in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes (or until hard)

· Take it out and stick into your vase, arranging them however you’d like

· I rolled some of them in coconut for a different look

· And voila! Your very own fruit arrangement to impress guests at your never party

Alternating between regular skewer and toothpick gives the arrangement depth. Feel free to use your imagination and any other combination of fruit you prefer!

Note: I didn’t stick the oranges in chocolate because they kept falling off J

Tear Stained Beaches

by Courtney Giardina

Buy in paperback or ebook format now on Amazon

Haylie Julian wants nothing more than to put her crumbling marriage back together. Chase used to be a fun-loving, light hearted husband who had lately become an overworked attorney obsessed with climbing the corporate ladder. It isn’t long before Haylie starts waking up next to a man she barely knows. His secretive phone calls and late nights at the office leave her feeling alone and afraid of what he might be hiding. Ignoring his continuous pleas to just leave well enough alone, she continues to dig for answers and discovers a heartbreaking truth.

Struggling with what she has just learned, Haylie sets off to a quaint little North Carolina beach town to decide if her marriage can survive. It isn’t long after she arrives that her world is once again turned upside down as Chase’s secret stares her right in the face.

Tear Stained Beaches explores what happens when a marriage isn’t the happily-ever-after you thought it was. Can trust be rebuilt? Can a wife forgive the ultimate betrayal?

About the Author

Courtney Giardina is a Rochester, NY native who currently resides in Charlotte, NC. After 9 months of wearing out the delete button on the keyboard, Tear Stained Beaches was completed. She is currently working on her second novel to be published in 2014. When she’s not writing, Courtney is an avid health and fitness lover who has currently taken up a love of boxing as a member of Title Boxing Club and loves trying out new healthy recipes from Pinterest.

To find out more about Courtney, visit www.courtneygiardina.com or follow her on twitter (www.twitter.com/sweetangeleyz)

# Post # Recipes

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Caressed by Shadows -Guest Author Amanda J. Greene

J 12:00 AM 2 Comments

From time to time I showcase other authors and books on my blog.

Caressed by Shadows
By Amanda J. Greene
Released April 19, 2014

Black Knight, Falcon Kenwrec is powerful, relentless, and fiercely loyal, his only allegiance – to his king. But he is torn between duty and desire when the war between the vampire clans and the Red Order hunters escalates and the enemy captures the one woman he longs to claim as his own, Sonya Rebane, Queen of the Voidukas Clan. Falcon will risk everything to save her, even if it means forsaking his king.

After weeks of imprisonment, Sonya is stunned when the chivalrous knight that she has secretly loved from afar appears outside her cell. As they fight and struggle to elude their enemies, they must battle their overwhelming attraction for each other and their love that is forbidden.

As every perilous moment draws them closer together, every smoldering kiss drives them to the brink of a passionate destruction. Will they be able to resist temptation? Or will their love be their ruin?

About the author
Amanda J. Greene is a paranormal romance author. When she is not writing, she can found playing the role of a university student who also works full time at a cosmetology school. She lives in Southern California with her very supportive husband and their two dogs, a sweet cocker spaniel and a rambunctious blackmouth cur mix. Doing all the above and being a military wife is not easy, but rewarding! Of course, she accomplishes everything with a strong cup of coffee in her hand.

Website: http://www.amandajgreene.blogspot.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amanda-J-Greene/162646687109294
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmandaJGreene1
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4503428.Amanda_J_Greene

# Guest Blog # Post

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Mind Games by Christine Amsden

Sunday, May 18, 2014

An Unseasonably Hot Encounter -Snippet Sunday

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Untangle My Heart Shrimp and Pasta - Guest Author Maria K. Alexander

About the Author

Sunday, May 11, 2014

If You Ever Run Across a Naked Man -Snippet Sunday

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Chocolate-Dipped Fruit Arrangement -Guest Author Courtney Giardina

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Caressed by Shadows -Guest Author Amanda J. Greene

The Writer is: IN

Character Quotes:

Posts

Visits To This Blog: