Caridad Pineiro® Romance Author
NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Romance Author
Today’s Friday Read is a blast from the not to distant past. August 2013 to be exact.
This book is one of my personal favs. I love the whole Russian royalty aspect and the glamour of Monaco. I also got to love the “villain” of the story, namely the cat burglar.
I liked him so much, that you’ll be seeing at least one story with him some time next year!
I hope you enjoy this little excerpt and have a great weekend!
If you can’t read the excerpt below, you can click here.
So sorry to miss you yesterday, but we had a hack attack on one of the sites that took them all down. Big sigh. . .
Why do people do stuff like that?
Anyway, we had our annual day in NYC and also, our day of getting our Christmas tree. It was an adventure since the snow was falling fast in the morning. We easily had 4 to 5 inches within the space of about 2 hours, but then it luckily held up a bit. Still, it made the Christmas tree fields look lovely.
We were all bundled up as we headed out, found our tree and then rushed home so we could then go into New York City for our annual visit. Lots of fun as we walked around, saw the windows and visited some of favorite places, like the reading room of the NYC Public Library on 42nd Street.
We had a wonderful meal at The Smith right across from Lincoln Center. Hubby later discovered that one of the waiters there had been given one of those amazing Tips of Jesus tips a few days earlier.
After that, we rushed across to watch the Nutcracker and then headed home to go to work the next day. Whew! A whirlwind.
Here’s a picture of Lincoln Center at night! Lovely place.
You can click here to see more pictures!
One fun thing I have to share with you is the picture down below from the public library. Before the library was there, the Murray Hill Reservoir was on this spot. It was a 4 acre man-made lake that provided water to the residents of NYC. It was also a place for people to meet and promenade along the tops of the walls.
Murray Hill (Croton) Reservoir
There are spots in the library where you can still see the remnants of this reservoir. Look carefully toward the bottom of the photo for the big grey stones that were part of the reservoir’s foundation!
Thanks for coming by today! Don’t forget to visit with me at these blog spots for a chance to win a REBORN t-shirt & $25 gift card!
Real World on Writing {Guest Post}
 Thursday, December 12, 2013 Authors’ Cafe {Spotlight} ÂI know brussel sprouts are a love-em or hate-em kind of vegetable. In our family, it’s a love-em relationship with these little green sprouts! One of the reasons is because of how versatile they are.
Today’s recipe is downright easy. If you want to dress up the brussel sprouts once they’re roasted, trying adding some bacon, dried cranberries or walnuts. Maybe even a balsamic glaze. Whatever you do, don’t add fresh cranberries. We did that one year and ruined a wonderful batch of brussel sprouts.
1 pound brussel sprouts, washed and sliced in half
1/4 extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a baking dish or large cookie sheet. You want to have only one layer of brussel sprouts on the dish.
Place oil in a bowl together with the salt and garlic. Use a fork and mash the garlic a little to release the oils. Add brussel sprouts and toss to coat them with the oil. If they look too dry, add a little more oil, but you don’t want them swimming in oil, just coated.
Spread brussel sprouts across the baking dish and cook for 15 minutes. Turn the brussel sprouts and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes or until the brussel sprouts are getting a little caramelized.
And that’s it! Easy, right?
Baby it’s cold outside, so today we’ve got a double dose of heat to warm us up on this Man Candy Monday.
I am absolutely loving ALMOST HUMAN on Fox. It totally has everything that I love in a story. Well, almost everything. Where’s the romance, guys? Our hotties need a little romantic interaction. Yeah, you’ve hinted at it, but we need to see the real deal going on!
But on to the hotties! You may recognize New Zealander Karl Urban from the reboot of the STAR TREK movies. He plays Bones, but man, he’s so hot on ALMOST HUMAN. Karl was also in the second and third LORD OF THE RINGS movies.
Michael Ealy plays Dorian, the “almost human” android on the show. Michael has been in quite a number of other movies, music videos and television shows, including UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING, 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS and FLASH FORWARD.
Thanks to Almost Human’s Fan Page for these posts! Take a moment to go and like the page.
Hope you enjoyed today’s Man Candy Monday!
Take a moment to visit with me today at the following blogs for a chance to win a REBORN t-shirt and $25 gift card:
Friday, December 6, 2013 Blogging the Beloved {Guest Post} Joyfully Reviewed {Author Interview}  Monday, December 9, 2013 [Insert Clever Quip Here] {Guest Post} Margo Hoornstra – Writing Inside & Out {Spotlight} ÂAlso visit with me today at Just Paranormal Romance!
I’ve been scouting out places for the next stories in THE CALLING/REBORN series. The new stories — a novella tentatively titled VAMPIRE REBORN and a full-length novel, FIGHT FOR LOVE, — needed new places for their settings.
The funny thing is, as often as I walk through Grand Central Terminal, I’ve never used it for the books. Not anymore. There will be quite a number of scenes in the upcoming books set in the terminal, its tunnels, and way below, near the generators that power so many of the train lines that come in and out of Grand Central. It’s rumored that during World War II, these generators were so important to troop movements that any unauthorized visitors were to be shot on sight. In fact, two spies who had been sent to damage them were arrested by the FBI before they could execute their plan.
The attention to detail in the terminal is amazing as you can hopefully tell from these photos. Artwork at the gate entrances and even where you purchase your tickets. The constellation along the ceiling of the main concourse. The little rats scurrying up the posts to an awning over a Lexington Avenue entrance. The eagle perched on the corner of 42nd Street and Vanderbilt which was salvaged from an earlier station at the location.
So many amazing things as the station celebrates its 100th birthday this year!
Of course, things were not always so wonderful. The area in and around Grand Central was a mess during the mid-1970s when NYC was on the brink of bankruptcy. In 1975, Trump bought the nearby Commodore hotel and renovated it to one of the first Grand Hyatt hotels. He also did work on the exterior of Grand Central and by 1980, the area was being transformed and survived another near bankruptcy of the city in the mid-1990s.
Today, the terminal is one of the most visited tourist stops in the world, with nearly 22 million people visiting it yearly. It is the largest rail facility with 44 platforms serving 67 tracks. If you count rail yards, there are over 100 tracks. The terminal covers 48 acres and continues to be a main location for travel from various areas. There is now a project underway, the East Side Access project, that will give access to the Long Island Railroad.
I hope you enjoyed this behind the scenes look at Grand Central Terminal.
Don’t forget that the BORN TO LOVE Blog tour is still on! Please take a moment to visit one of these sites for a chance to win a REBORN T-shirt and $25 gift card!
Monday, December 2, 2013 Nancy Jardine features {Author Interview} Amberkatze’s Book Blog {Guest Post}  Tuesday, December 3, 2013 For Whom The Books Toll {Author Interview} MJ Schiller, Romance Author {Guest Post}  Wednesday, December 4, 2013 WordWranglers {Guest Post} What Readers Want {Spotlight}  Thursday, December 5, 2013 Secret Southern Couture {Guest Post} Romance Me {Spotlight}  Friday, December 6, 2013 Blogging the Beloved {Guest Post} Joyfully Reviewed {Author Interview}I took a walk in the clouds this morning, the fog was so thick and dense. Here’s a shot of it, although the fog has started to lift somewhat. When I first walked to work, you could barely see most of the Chrysler Building. It had rained earlier as well, so the streets were glistening from the headlamps of passing cars and the street lights.
It’s these kinds of gloomy mysterious mornings that have inspired so many of the scenes in THE CALLING/REBORN. Yep, mornings and not nights because as you might know from reading the various blog posts, I’m a scairdy cat and not too enamored of the dark.
Of course, come the late fall/winter/early spring, I spend a lot of time in the dark as I go to work and come from from work. I guess I can call that time in the darkness inspiration! LOL!
I’ll be sharing some more inspiration tomorrow, but for today, don’t forget to visit with me at the Wedding Week blogs and at the various stops along the blog tour (listed below) for a chance to win some goodies!
Monday, December 2, 2013 Nancy Jardine features {Author Interview} Amberkatze’s Book Blog {Guest Post}  Tuesday, December 3, 2013 For Whom The Books Toll {Author Interview} MJ Schiller, Romance Author {Guest Post}  Wednesday, December 4, 2013 WordWranglers {Guest Post} What Readers Want {Spotlight}  Thursday, December 5, 2013 Secret Southern Couture {Guest Post} Romance Me {Spotlight}Christmas has finally arrived in New York City, but first . . .
Don’t forget to visit with me at the Wedding Week blogs and at the various stops along the blog tour (listed below) for a chance to win some goodies!
Monday, December 2, 2013 Nancy Jardine features {Author Interview} Amberkatze’s Book Blog {Guest Post}  Tuesday, December 3, 2013 For Whom The Books Toll {Author Interview} MJ Schiller, Romance Author {Guest Post}  Wednesday, December 4, 2013 WordWranglers {Guest Post} What Readers Want {Spotlight}I’m so sorry to have missed you yesterday, but I was still trying to catch up from Thanksgiving and also trying to work with a cover artist for next year’s releases! I’ll have several more contemporary romances for you as well as a novella in THE REBORN/CALLING series in February hopefully. Then FIGHT FOR LOVE should be ready for you by the spring. So excited!
I’m also excited about Christmas! It’s one of my favorite times of year since I get to spend more time with family and friends. It’s also my favorite time of year in New York City, despite the cold. I am soooooo not a winter person.
Everywhere I look, Christmas trees and lights are going up all around the city, making it bright and shiny and oh so festive. My family and I visit every year to look at all the windows, go to the Nutcracker ballet, and share a special dinner together. I’ll share photos of that day as soon as we go!
For today, I’m sharing some of the Christmas trees I pass every day. This one is in Bryant Park by the skating rink and little shops that pop up for the holiday season.
This one is in the Chrysler Building lobby right next to the Toys for Tots boxes! I always buy a toy or two to put in there so that kids won’t wake up without something on Christmas Day.
I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving and your holiday season is off to a good start! See you all tomorrow!