#TeaserTuesday ONE SUMMER NIGHT & #Giveaway

Good morning and Happy Tuesday! Today I’ve got an excerpt for you from ONE SUMMER NIGHT which has been getting great reviews! The latest one is from Fresh Fiction and here’s what they had to say:

    Hot, sexy, and refreshing! ONE SUMMER NIGHT is a wonderful example of contemporary romance at its best! The characters are dynamic and surprisingly relatable. The Jersey Shore comes fully to life; the perfect setting for these characters’ sizzling attraction. Readers will root for Maggie and Owen to open their hearts and fall fully in love.

And now, for today’s teaser! In this scene, Owen has just climbed up a wisteria vine to sneak into Maggie’s room via the balcony at her shore house. Since this is a Romeo and Juliet kind of story, I just thought it would be fun to have a balcony scene!

Excerpt

    Owen loved the blossom of pink across her cheeks and her obvious discomfiture. While they may have both been young and maybe a little tipsy, he recollected her response, and it had not been lacking in any way.

    “Funny, but I remember it was kinda nice,” he said, closing his eyes for a moment to drag up that memory. Maggie in her bikini, her body lean but with all those curves he itched to touch. Her blue eyes, bright like a summer sky, darkening with pleasure as he’d caressed her cheek and urged her closer for a kiss.

    “Owen, wake up,” she urged, and he slowly opened his eyes to meet her questioning gaze. Then he dipped his gaze down and hers followed.

    Another layer of color painted her cheeks as she noticed what was happening in his jeans.

    “I’m more than awake, as you can see,” he teased and cradled her face. Urging her gaze back up, he said, “You were beautiful then, and you’re even more beauti- ful now.”

    “Is that all this is? Physical attraction?” she said and gestured to the very obvious bulge visible beneath the denim.

    He stroked a thumb across the stain of pink on her cheek before dipping his thumb down to trace the edges of her lips. “It’s a good start,” he said, because as much as he wanted to tell her how much he liked her intel- ligence and poise, his brain couldn’t find a way to say it just right. He wanted it to be just right with her in every way that it could be.

    “Kiss me, Maggie. Please,” he said and eased his hand behind her neck to apply gentle pressure and draw her closer.

    Her soft sigh of resignation spilled across his lips a second before the moist warmth of her mouth covered them.

    Sweet lord but he loved the feel of her. The taste of her, he thought as he met her kiss. He accepted the mingling of her breath with his and the fluid brush of her lips across his. As the kiss deepened, he opened his mouth and licked her lips, silently pleaded for her to open to him, and she did, accepting the slide of his tongue. Meeting it with her own.

    He groaned, his head whirling with everything that was Maggie and that he’d wanted for so long.

I hope you enjoyed that excerpt! ONE SUMMER NIGHT is available at the following retailers:

Amazon Kindle: http://amzn.to/2krMwfE
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/2kYLWZV
B&N: http://bit.ly/2kNuo0p
iBooks: http://apple.co/2qsqdwx
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2fuEphL

Fresh Fiction Review

Giveaway

Don’t miss this giveaway! If you cannot see the post below, you can click here to enter!
8166595913″>Monday, October 16, 2017

Chicken in Sour Cream – The Way to a Girl’s Heart

THE PRINCE'S GAMBLE Romantic SuspenseFirst of all, many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to leave a review of THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE. It really means a lot to me that you did that and I thank you. Reviews really help authors to get the word out about their books. Here is one I just got from Fresh Fiction! Thanks, Annette.

Those of you who have read THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE know that there are a number of Russian foods mentioned in the story. In one scene, Prince Alexander decides to show Kathleen just how wrong she has him by making her a Russian-style meal. Prince Alexander serves up chicken with sour cream and butter with a side of a pilaf chock full of an eclectic mix of ingredients as he tries to work his way into Kathleen’s heart.

This morning I’m sharing with you the recipe for Prince Alexander’s Chicken in Sour Cream. This is a really easy recipe that can be adapted in a number of ways. For example, if you’re not a mushroom fan, just leave them out. You can also add some paprika (about 2 tablespoons of sweet paprika) to the sour cream to make Chicken Paprikash. It’s that simple.

Hope you enjoy today’s recipe from THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE.

Chicken in Sour Cream

Ingredients

2 skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
1/2 cup onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup sour cream
1 cup sliced mushrooms
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat the butter and oil in a saute pan. Pat dry your sliced chicken breasts and brown them in the butter/oil. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook until just getting brown. Mushrooms have a lot of water so you always want to cook them by themselves and you want to steam away all that water before adding the other ingredients, otherwise you’ll just be steaming the food.

Add the onions to the mushrooms and cook until the onions are soft and beginning to get golden.

Turn down the heat, add the sour cream to the pan and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes. You can use low-fat sour cream to cut down on the calories. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to get up all those brown bits. Those are the sugars from the food that have caramelized on the pan and have all the tasty goodness! The acid from the sour cream will also help to deglaze the pan. If you wish, you could also put a touch of white wine to deglaze the brown bits and add a little more flavor to the sauce. A small amount of chicken broth will likewise work.

Once the sour cream is warm, add the chicken breast back to the pan and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes. I asked you to thinly slice the breasts to make sure they would cook thoroughly. If you’re using a thicker breast, check for doneness before serving.

You can serve the above dish with white rice, pilaf (next week’s recipe), buttered noodles or even an un-Russian item like spaetzle.

Guilty Pleasure Monday – Chris Evans as Captain America & Contests!

Those of you who visit regularly probably know by now that I am a superhero comic book fan. I cut my teeth on Batman and Superman, but have grown to love the Marvel collection of superheroes.

Today’s Guilty Pleasure is a redux, but a worthy one – Chris Evans. I cannot wait to see him in Captain America. He is more buff than ever – no Spandex muscles for this hottie. Take a moment to enjoy this little teaser trailer! If you can’t see the video below, you can click here to visit the teaser for Captain America.

Contests, contests, contests!

But now, here is more news since today is November 1 and lots of fun things are happening today!

Starting today you can sign up for my ARE YOU STRONG ENOUGH contest which features a grand prize of a SONY Pocket Edition e-reader along with other goodies. Just click here for the contest!

Also running all month long is my Fresh Fiction contest which features an autographed copy of SINS OF THE FLESH, STRONGER THAN SIN T- shirt & tote bag, Bath and Body Works Gel and Jesse Bradford Rubber Ducky. You can click here to enter the Fresh Fiction contest!

Today only, drop by these fun locations for a chance to win some massively fun goodies:

  • BookPage Bookcase Blog: Leave a comment on the blog for a chance to win T-shirt and copies of Sins of the Flesh and Stronger than Sin. You can click here to visit the BookPage Bookcase blog.
  • Bitten by Books: RSVP by clicking here for the STRONGER THAN SIN release party today! Grand Prize is a $50 gift card. Party starts at 12:00 p.m. Central Time.

Whew, lots of news, but that’s it for this Guilty Pleasures Monday. Stay tuned for more contests and giveaways which I’ll be posting to you on the blog.

Jason Statham and Special July Contests!

Hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend! Today we’re having a belated Guilty Pleasure and some special July Contests!

So who is today’s Guilty Pleasure? What about a totally buff masculine man? What about a kick butt action hero?

We’re talking about Jason Statham who has played both the bad guy (Cellular with hottie Chris Evans), sidekick (The Italian Job) and the hero (the Transporter series). Buff and burly, he’s not a pretty boy, but he sure is hot!

Courtesy of Lionsgate - Transporter 3

Hope you enjoyed this belated Guilty Pleasure!

And as for contests. . .

We’re having not one, but two Jersey Shore Sin Hunter Summer Goody contests during the month of July!

Come down the shore with me for Christmas in July with my wonderful friends at Fresh Fiction.

From July 5 to July 26th you can enter the Jersey Shore SIN HUNTER Summer Goody contest to win a $25 B&N Gift Card, Autographed copy of SINS OF THE FLESH and SIN HUNTER Summer Goody bag which includes a STRONGER THAN SIN T-shirt & Tote bag, Jesse Bradford Rubber Football Ducky, Bath & Body Works Shower Gel, Mini-Beach Ball and Candy! Just click here for the contest or cut and paste this link in your browser: http://freshfiction.com/contest.php?id=2675

Join the fun at the Summer Beach Party with my amazing friends at Writerspace!

Register now for the July 18th event and a chance to win an assortment of prizes! If you’re lucky, you might win my prize which is:

Autographed ARC of STRONGER THAN SIN & SIN HUNTER Summer Goody bag which includes a STRONGER THAN SIN T-shirt & Tote bag, Jesse Bradford Rubber Football Ducky, Bath & Body Works Shower Gel, Mini-Beach Ball and Candy.

Click here to enter the 2010 Summer Beach Party Contest or cut and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.writerspace.com/beach/


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Fun Friday – Flowers on the First Day of Spring

It’s the first day of Spring and it’s snowing!!! Luckily it looks like the snow is letting up and the crocuses, daffodils and other spring flowers are starting to emerge.

Since it is the first day of Spring, I’d thought I’d share some flower photos with you from my trip to the Philadelphia Flower show this year.

Also remember that the extended contest week continues until midnight EST on March 20th (Today!!). Visit any of these blogs and leave a message and you could win a copy of SOLDIER’S SECRET CHILD, an autographed ARC of SINS OF THE FLESH and a CALLING T-shirt. Also drop by Fresh Fiction on March 20th because they are featuring FURY CALLS as their Fresh Pick! (So excited about this!)

Share some coffee and chat with me at Over Coffee:
http://siamckye.blogspot.com/2009/03/balancing-work-and-passion.html

Single Titles Interview:
http://singletitles.com/?p=1607

Loves Romances and More:
http://loveromancesandmore.blogspot.com/2009/03/welcome-to-caridad-pineiros-guest-blog.html

Wicked Wednesday – Honor Calls and more contests!

Thanks for making me the post of the day over at Cataromance by visiting Single Titles! Woo Hoo!

Contest week continues this week and up until midnight EST on March 20th! Visit any of these blogs and leave a message and you could win a copy of SOLDIER’S SECRET CHILD, an autographed ARC of SINS OF THE FLESH and a CALLING T-shirt. Also drop by Fresh Fiction on March 20th because they are featuring FURY CALLS as their Fresh Pick! (So excited about this!)

Share some coffee and chat with me at Over Coffee:
http://siamckye.blogspot.com/2009/03/balancing-work-and-passion.html

Single Titles Interview:
http://singletitles.com/?p=1607

Loves Romances and More:
http://loveromancesandmore.blogspot.com/2009/03/welcome-to-caridad-pineiros-guest-blog.html

Since today is Wicked Wednesday, I’m sharing with you another bit of HONOR CALLS which is available online at various e-book retailers. HONOR CALLS will also be available as part of the AWAKENING THE BEAST collection in October 2009!


HONOR CALLS February 2009 Shit, Jesus murmured under his breath as he realized his intent to just drive by The Blood Bank wouldn’t be possible.

The small street on which the club was located was not wide enough for the passage of a car. As he rounded the block for the third time, he scoped out a free spot a short distance away and after parking, headed on foot toward the Goth club.

He hadn’t gone more than a few feet before the heat and humidity of an August Manhattan night had him sweating beneath the weight of his suit jacket. Since he was armed, removing the jacket wasn’t possible and he was starting to regret he hadn’t gone by his apartment to at least change into a t-shirt and jeans.

Swiping at a line of perspiration along his brow, he paused at the mouth of the street, one of the older ones in the city. More like an alley, which seemed apropos for the place he was about to visit, he thought. Definitely a back alley kind of operation from what he had seen in the various reports that had crossed his desk.

Ahead of him and about four small blocks down was a line of people at a nondescript building – The Blood Bank he assumed. The line was relatively long considering the hour and filled with a decidedly rough-looking crowd clad in lots of black, leather and metal. That at least was not very different from what he had expected.

As he proceeded along the cobblestones, bright with the light from a full moon and uneven beneath his shoes, he kept a wary eye on the smaller, even narrower side streets and tight gaps between the buildings. It was at the mouth of one of those alleys that the last body had been found.

Or at least, parts of the body.

A grunt, loud and painful-sounding, snared his attention as he passed the entrance to a space between two turn-of-the-century brick buildings. The buildings were built so closely together that the moonlight did little to illuminate the area between, but even with the lack of light, he detected the activity going on in the gap.

Another grunt came followed by the din of metal trash cans crashing against one another.

Definitely a fight and judging from the sounds of it, someone was getting their ass kicked.

He pulled out his Sig and advanced to the opening of the space between the buildings. He took a step within and his eyes adjusted to the lack of light, revealing the two people locked together in combat. One tall and much bigger than the other and as they grappled together, the light from a side door lamp illuminated their features.

The smaller one was a woman while the other. . .

Eerily bright blazing eyes shot a glance his way while long white fangs gleamed from the artificial light of the lamp. The creature growled at him, the sound like the rumble of a mountain lion, but then turned back toward the woman.

She had her arms braced against the creature’s jacket, trying to keep those wickedly long fangs away from her face, but with the vampire’s greater height and bulk, he feared she might be fighting a losing battle.

Ño, he cursed as she continued with the fight, totally ignoring his presence.

The creature spun the woman around and as the light swept over her face, he could tell she was young. Mid-twenties he guessed before she whirled out of sight again, struggling to break away from the demon’s grasp.

With a quick upward jab of her arm, the woman snapped the creature’s head back. It emitted a louder growl and another glimpse of its face showed its lethal fangs once again.

The woman’s blow did little to slow the demon. It reached behind to grab the woman by the scruff of her neck and whip her away from him and against the brick wall of one of the buildings. She hit the wall with a thick thud and fell to the ground dazed, prompting him to action.