Book Blogging Goals for 2016

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  1. Find New Authors to Read (my goal is 36 – 3 per month)
  2. Rate all books I read on amazon, bn, and goodreads.  I prefer to discuss the things I enjoy most about a book more than I do assigning a single digit number to put a “value” on a book.  However, in the past year I’ve come to realize how important book ratings are to authors.  As in the past, I will never bash an author.  Therefore, if I feel like the book deserves a 1 or 2 star rating, I will refrain from blogging and rating the book.
  3. Read 6 books outside of the romance genre
  4. Create 2 more weekly book-related posts
  5. Archive favorite quotes from books

What are your reading or book blogging goals for 2016?

Release Blitz: Worlds Apart by Holly Mortimer

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Synopsis: Samantha Lane is one of the world’s highest paid actresses, but underneath all the fame and fortune, she’s living a lie. Her love life is non-existent. Her bio is completely made up and to top it all off, she’s reached the ultimate in celebrity status. She’s got herself a stalker. Now filming a career changing movie in Ireland, she’s fighting to take back control of her life before the world finds out just what a fake she really is. Brennan O’Brien has returned to his Irish roots to raise a daughter he never knew existed and to dig the family’s pub out from the brink of bankruptcy. He has no time for spoiled actresses, lunatic stalkers or meddling friends and family, and has vowed to never give his heart to another woman. Unfortunately, he now lives in the land of magic, folklore, and hopeless romantics and will have to decide if he can resist the pull of Samantha Lane or give in to her maddening allure. Follow Sam and Brennan’s twisted path to true love, where these jaded souls test the limits of fate to find a way to come together and overcome their pasts to discover the truth about who they really are and what they really need.

*NOTE* While Worlds Apart can be read as a standalone, it is book #3 in The Sisters series.

 

Worlds Apart – Excerpt

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Saving you.”

“Pray tell, from what? The evil leprechaun who lives in your pub?”

He continued dragging me out to my car, as if I hadn’t spoken. We stopped at my SUV and he looked extremely uncomfortable and royally pissed off about something.

I dug around in my purse for my errant keys, counting the seconds until I could escape this never ending nightmare. “Well, thanks for saving me from whatever you were saving me from. I gotta run now.”

I unlocked the door and went to get in when he spun me around and caged me up against the side with his hands. “Brennan, what the—”

He silenced me with a growl and a punishing kiss. I was so surprised, I gasped and he took advantage of my open mouth to deepen the kiss with his tongue. His beard gently scratched and sparked across my skin, awakening feelings in me that had long since gone dormant. My hands instinctively went to his chest to try to push him off, but it was then he changed tactics and moved to my neck. My area of weakness. My Achilles heel but on my neck, if you will. Oh, he did not fight fair. Whatever the hell he was up to, he was in for it if he thought he could silence me with a kiss. A damn fine, hot as hell kiss, but still. The righteous indignation was spilling out of me. Ha, I was a great liar, turned amazing actress and now I was even trying to fool myself. I was into the kiss. No doubt about it. The heat spreading from ground zero was all the proof I needed.

He came back to my mouth with an aggression that was intense and angry. Abruptly, he ended the kiss, pushed away from me, turned on his heel and walked away without a single sound coming from that luscious mouth. I was so stunned that I didn’t move a muscle or say a word, but lifted my hand to touch lips that I was sure were red and swollen and scratched all to hell.

I slowly turned and got in my car, started it and carelessly peeled out of the parking lot, not caring where in the world I was going, just trying to get somewhere where my life made sense.

Buy Links for Worlds Apart (The Sisters, #3):
 
 

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Synopsis: Georgina has built herself a quiet life following the tragic death of her husband. She moved to LA to start her life over and has no intentions of ever falling in love again. Her hermit existence and passion for reading and writing romance have driven her to fear the real world, but while out on a forced blind date she accidentally meets Finn Lowry. Kind, sensitive, funny and voted one of 2014’s hottest actors, he’s hard to resist, not to mention, totally out of her league. In order to keep her promise to herself, she needs to steer clear of him at all costs.

Finn sets out to pull Georgina back to the surface, showing her it is possible for her to find love again after living with a heart on lock down for so long. Humor, persistence and life in the limelight come together with Finn to conspire to show Georgina the way to her heart. Can she let go of her old insecurities and avoid Finn’s fans for long enough to let him get through to her?

Buy Links for Blindsided (The Sisters, #1):
 
 
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Synopsis: FRANKIE
The only thing I crave is a peaceful existence. I’m scared, I’m tired and I just want to wake up each day not afraid of him finding me. What I never wanted to find was Hardy Hanson. Turns out, cravings, once fed, morph into something different. I couldn’t ignore the need he awakened in me, but giving into it would mean only one thing. We would both go up in flames.

HARDY
When I’m in, I’m all in. I was born to protect and my second chance at redemption came when I crashed into Frankie Windsor. The problem was, she was so damaged, I wasn’t sure even I could save her, but I was willing to put it all on the line to risk enough for the both of us to finally find some peace. What I didn’t know, was just how dangerous loving her would be for both of us.

Buy Links for Ignite (The Sisters, #2):
 

Nona Raines – His Kind of Woman

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Roy knocking on Venetia’s door was a great beginning to this novella.

The emotional honesty in this book is what makes this a book worth reading.  The characters are open about their fears, sadness, regret, and love.  None of the characters feelings are dismissed or ignored because they are difficult.  I really liked how Venetia was strong enough to anticipate Roy’s hesitancy and strip down her clothes and boundaries and bare herself to him.

There was a lot packed into this short novella.

See Related Post:

Nona Raines – Her Kind of Man

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JR Ward – Blood Kiss (Black Dagger Legacy)

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FABULOUS SPIN-OFF!! Very little about the lessors and a lot of hot Brothers

This story has two main story lines: Butch and Marissa, from the original series, and the new to the Brotherhood training program, Paradise and Craeg.  I love that this spin off doesn’t abandon the characters from the original series.  In fact, that relationship constitutes about half of the novel.

Butch and Marissa face a break in their relationship if Butch keeps his feelings to himself.  The fear of losing Marissa is Butch’s achilles heal.  The importance of a Shellan in a Brother’s life is irresistible.

Paradise and Craeg are both strong and attracted to each other but they come from extremely different backgrounds.  Paradise proves to be an incredible strong woman and Craeg proves to be a man of worth.  The comparison of what that means to each respective gender is captivating.

As soon as I finished this book, I was immediately craving more BDB.  The Brotherhood vampires are the sexiest paranormal characters every been published.  They have toned, perfectly developed bodies that are made go the distance.  They are fearless and eternally protective.  When they bond with a female, their love is infinitive, true, and unequivocally faithful.  Butch’s faithfulness is described by comparing the intrigue of walking through a roomful of beautiful naked women to watching a lawn mower.  Butch never suffers from a wandering eye.  He only sees Marissa.

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image from Dirty Girl Romance 

See Related Posts:

Favorite Spin-off Book Series (newly added series 5/21/15)

J.R. Ward – The Shadows (Black Dagger Brotherhood #13)

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Tess Bowery – She Whom I love

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Who knew that historical romance could be hot?  The book is like an incredible mash-up of Downtown Abbey, Erotica, and Thriller.  This book surpassed all my expectations.

Synopsis

Treading the Boards, Book 2

Marguerite Ceniza dies on the London stage each night, but her own life has barely begun. The ingénue is on the prowl for a lover, but while she burns with desire for Sophie, a confession could ruin their decade-long friendship. In the meantime there are always men vying to be her patron, and square-jawed, broad-shouldered James Glover can’t help but catch her eye.

Sophie Armand has been a lady’s maid for too long, and she’s sick of keeping secrets. Her hidden scripts and the story of her birth are only the beginning. Her nights are haunted by desperate thoughts of the beguiling Marguerite, and of James, the handsome tradesman who whispers promises of forever into her ear.

James has the kind of problem a lot of men would kill for—two women, both beautiful, both sensual, and both willing. Sophie wants marriage, while Marguerite’s only in it for fun, and choosing between them isn’t easy.

What’s the worst that could happen if he secretly courts them both?

Their romantic triangle is complicated in the most delicious way, until a shadowy figure from Marguerite’s past threatens to destroy the budding relationship—and their lives.

Warning: Contains a lady’s maid with secret desires, a corset-maker who knows his way around a woman’s body, and an actress who never has to fake it. Rated for adult audiences only.

Review

Unlike most historical romance that are prim and proper as society expected people to behave at the time, this book is about raw desire and behaving well outside the accepted rules.  Behaving outside the norm, makes their choices very risky because the repercussions of discovery could be tragic.  This certainly heightened the emotional intrigue.

Let’s talk fashion. The men and women of the time wore a lot of clothes.  While this could serve as an impediment, the author turns the cumbersome attire into an incredible excuse for extended foreplay.

Despite women having limited power at the time, the way that Meg and Sarah take control over James is phenomenal.  All men should be made to beg in such a manner.

I also appreciated the overall acknowledgement and struggle for female empowerment.  Women were not really afforded any opportunities but needed to finagle their way through life to claim some power for themselves.

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Stacey Brandon and Karen Bell – Crash

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Crash Synopsis:

Charli has a plan for her life. It does not include the hot guy at table four. This is the first time she’s seen him at The Crash, the bar where she works most evenings. From the moment he arrives with his power suit, condescending friends, and unnerving stare, he’s hijacked her thoughts. It doesn’t help that he keeps finding ways to insinuate himself into her life.

Logan has a plan for his life. It does not include the quirky little waitress at the new bar his friends discovered. He has a lot of obligations and very little time. If he needs a female distraction once in awhile, she isn’t the type of woman he normally looks to. Despite all of this, she has become what he wants most of all.

Working to overcome all the things threatening to separate them won’t be easy. Can they find a way to meet in the middle if it holds the promise of happily ever after?

Review:

Very fun book!  The things that come out of Liv and Charli’s mouths are fantastically hilarious.  Fortunately, for Charlie’s sake, it is just the perfect amount of insanity that makes Logan fall for her.

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The romance is also fun.  Logan and Charli’s work schedules make it difficult to do the traditional dating rituals, which lead to g0-cart racing and trips to the zoo.  Their inability to behave appropriately in a family-friendly environment is absolutely entertaining.

While I’m all about the HEA, I even liked the author’s heart break moments.

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The malicious characters act according to character and not in an over-the-top ridiculous fiction kind of way.  They both act with an appropriate amount of deceptiveness and bitchiness.

Finally, I liked the happily-ever-after because despite their major differences it was a shared belief in what is important that brings them together.  Couples don’t need to like all the same things – they don’t need to like to eat at the same types of restaurants.  Core beliefs are a must in a relationship.  The authors don’t brow beat the reader with this message, but rather subtly pose the importance of volunteering.

Buy Links:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/crash-56

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1063726095

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Stacey Brandon & Karen Bell Bio:

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Once upon a time, these two hookers became best friends…

Stacey Brandon and Karen Bell both live in the same small Texas town on the Gulf Coast, are happily married and the proud Moms of awesome kids.  Stacey owns and runs a photography studio and Karen designs and sews her own children’s clothing line.  They met over fifteen years ago when they decided to turn one large professional space into a single home for both businesses.

Well, that’s all the boring facts expected to be included in an “about the author” page, right?  The reality is so much more fun.  Stacey and Karen and their families spend holidays together, travel together… and generally turn every situation into something crazy and chaotic.  They are both fluent in English, Sarcasm and Profanity and have decided the irrefutable proof of their best friend status is how often people assume they are “together” when in public.  The poor husbands are good sports about it… and might even encourage this misconception at times for sheer entertainment value.  

When Karen battled cancer… and kicked its ass… in 2014, they learned to value every day and quit worrying about what others think.  Do what you love!  Karen is happy to take advantage of the situation though.  She loves to remind everyone she “had the CANCER, dammit!”   and now she can always and forever claim the last brownie 😉

Links:

Facebook | Goodreads | Website | Instagram

International Buttercream Bake-off

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Which is better:

Swiss Meringue Buttercream or

French Buttercream?  

While looking for some recipes for my daughter’s holiday party in her French class, I kept coming across French buttercream.  It piqued my interest.  It made me wonder how is this different than the typical buttercream that I generally use?  Further hunting on Pinterest lead me to find Swiss Buttercream and Italian Buttercream recipes.

Thus, I decided I needed to do a little bake-off.

The Italian type is most closely related to the Swiss type and my time is limited, therefore I limited my bake-off to just Swiss and French Buttercream.

There are a few major differences between standard buttercream and the French and Swiss variety.

  1. American buttercream includes lots of powdered sugar and a small amount of shortening.
  2. French and Swiss contain a LOT more butter in the recipes and also contain egg
  3. French uses egg yolks
  4. Swiss uses egg whites
  5. French and Swiss include a heating process to kill the bacteria in the egg

In order to compare the buttercream recipes, I choose the purest flavor, Vanilla.  Considering the international flair to this little comparison, I thought I should splurge on some higher grade vanilla flavoring.  Luckily, I found vanilla beans on sale at Costco (the store typically sells them during the holiday season).

I choose a buttermilk devils food chocolate cupcake because I thought that it would showcase the buttercream well.  Note: I used no-fade cupcake papers that have an aluminum lining.  The baking time had to be reduced drastically to accommodate this type of wrapper.

What were the results of the bake-off?  The jury was split.  I found both the Swiss and French to be way too rich, creamy, and buttery.  Perhaps it is an acquired taste, but I’ll stick to my standard buttercream.

Standard (American) Buttercream Recipe

Ingredients: 1/2 c shortening, 1/2 c butter, 1 tsp vanilla, 4 c powdered sugar 3/8 c milk

Directions: Cream shortening and butter.  Alternately add powdered sugar and milk.  Add vanilla.  Beat until light and fluffy.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream – recipe from Cake Boss

http://www.cakebossbaking.com/recipes/swiss-meringue-buttercream/

French Buttercream – recipe from Cake Boss

http://www.cakebossbaking.com/recipes/french-buttercream/

HAPPY BAKING!

 

Gluten Free Christmas Treats

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Light Meringue Cookies 

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These are a truly light meringue cookie as compared to almost every other meringue recipe that I’ve ever tried.  Most meringue cookies are very solid throughout and have a powdery taste.  These, on the other hand have a lot of air throughout the cookie and the chocolate chips and nuts add a lot of flavor.  This is a recipe that has been in my family for a long time, but I’ve decided that it must be shared.  Too many people are seeking gluten free desserts and this is one of the best.

Ingredients: 3 egg whites , 1 1/8 cups sugar, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, 12 oz chocolate chips (I used colored chips for the holidays), 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350.  Cover two cookie sheets with aluminum foil.  Whip egg whites until fluffy, keep whipping and SLOWLY add sugar (I pour it so that it appears to be a slow constant rain of sugar – should take a couple of minutes to add sugar), add vanilla and whip until incorporated.  Stir in pecans and chocolate chips by hand.  Drop by spoonfuls onto prepared cookies sheets.  TURN OFF OVEN! Place cookie sheets in the oven for at least 10 hours (I usually keep it in overnight)  DO NOT OPEN OVEN!  Gently remove from cookie sheets.

Note:  I only make these cookies during the winter when the humidity is low.

Chocolate Peppermint Bark

IMG_0275This isn’t a fancy dessert, but it tastes delicious and  is festive looking for the holidays.  Whether or not someone is gluten free, they are sure to enjoy the flavor.

 

Ingredients: 2 lbs of chopped chocolate, 1 tsp of peppermint (not mint) extract, 1 1/2 cups of chopped peppermint candy canes,

Directions:  Place wax paper over a jelly roll size cookie sheet.  Melt chocolate in the microwave, stir in peppermint extract, mix in 1 cup of chopped candy canes, spread onto prepared cookie sheet, sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of chopped candy canes.  Chill at least 1 hour in the refrigerator.  Break into serving pieces and enjoy.  As long as you live in a cool area, the bark can be kept at room temperature.

See Related Post:

Gluten Free Halloween Treats

Gluten Free Halloween Treats

HAPPY BAKING!