Apricot and Almond Rice Pilaf from the Prince and a #FreeRead

There is a scene in THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE where Prince Alexander decides to show FBI Agent Kathleen Martinez just how liberated a man he can be by making her dinner. I guess he hoped to woo his way into her heart by way of her stomach!

I shared the prince’s sour cream chicken recipe a couple of Tuesdays ago and now I’m going to share the recipe for the apricot and almost rice pilaf he made!

Apricot and Almond Rice Pilaf

Ingredients:

2 cups rice (you can use brown rice. I also wash the rice several times but that is a matter of choice)

4 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)

1-2 onions (medium to small. You can substitute shallots here!)

1/2 cup diced apricots

1/3 toasted slivered almonds

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Directions:

Heat the butter and olive oil in a pot. Add onions and saute until onions are translucent, but not brown. Add the rice and cook until just turning golden. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce to a low simmer and add the diced apricots. Once all the liquid is absorbed, fluff with a fork and add the toasted almonds. You don’t want to add them too early because they will get mushy!

Serve with the sour cream chicken or any kind of chicken. You can also use brown rice or quinoa in the recipe. Possibly even check out using couscous.

As for the free read . . .

Rum running, white slavery, money laundering, ghosts, murder and mysteries along the Jersey Shore! Now you get a free read of A GHOST OF A CHANCE when you purchase THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE. Plus, you’re helping out a good cause since my share of the proceeds from the sales from now until March 1 are being donated to the Hurricane Sandy NJ Relief fund. Help rebuild and restore the Jersey Shore and get some fun Jersey Shore reads while you do! THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE is now available for sale at Amazon (http://amzn.to/WGsxKy), B&N (http://bit.ly/WxipEv) and Kobo (ht.ly/fBKN0) as well as a number of other online retailers.

Gamble on Love & Fool for Luv #Giveaway

I’m a sucker for romance. What can I say? I love a good love story. I have since I was a little kid and I’ve yet to lose my hopeful optimism that there is someone out there for everyone.

With that in mind, today and tomorrow we’ve got two fabulous giveaways to help you get in the spirit of love!

To celebrate the release of THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE, join me today and until February 14 at the Entangled Publishing Facebook Page for a chance to name a character in a future book or a Sony E-reader or a $25 Gift Card. Just share your gamble on love to be entered in the giveaway.

For those of you who don’t do Facebook, you can leave a comment on this blog post with your gamble on love.

All of your stories must be posted by midnight PST on February 14th for a chance to win!

Tomorrow through Feb 16th, visit with me at the wonderful Fools For Luv Blogspot for a chance to win an assortment of prizes, including three of my erotic e-novellas – NIGHT OF THE COUGAR, THE VAMPIRE’S CONSORT and NOCTURNAL WHISPERS.

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A Sexy Night with a Royal Free Read from THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE

I was having such a fabulous time with Babs on her radio show last night that we forgot to do the giveaway!! So here goes: I shared a secret on the show about something I did during the Las Vegas trip that inspired THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE. Hint: It was not the pole dancing class. LOL! So, post a comment on this blog post on what was the secret I shared last night for a chance to win a collectible print copy of GHOST OF A CHANCE! If you didn’t hear the original broadcast, you can listen to it at this link: http://ht.ly/heWU3

But for now, I’m sharing a sexy night with the luscious Prince Alexander. Warning, this excerpt is for mature audiences. If you can’t see the excerpt below, you can click here to read.

A Sexy Night with a Royal – THE PRINCE'S GAMBLE Romantic Suspense – For Mature Audiences Only by Caridad Pineiro

On the Tenth Day of Christmas #giveaway #guestblog

HER VAMPIRE LOVER erotic paranormal romance novellaOn the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, ten lords a leaping!

Interesting thing, Lords. I have to confess to being fascinated by royalty. I guess I passed that on to my daughter, hence her love of all things British.

I’ve had royalty in a number of books and have had fun with them. I’ve also read a number of books with royalty in them. In fact, I’m taking a break for a day or so and finishing up The Royals of Cordina series by Nora Roberts. I’m on my last one, The Playboy Prince, and absolutely loving Bennett.

One of my latest erotic novellas, HER VAMPIRE LOVER, has Count Gregori who is fascinating and a hero in so many ways. So for today, I’m offering up a copy of HER VAMPIRE LOVER to one reader who leaves a comment on my guest blog with the lovely and talented Cathy Perkins!

Have a great weekend! Remember that you can go back and follow the instructions for each day of the giveaway up until Midnight EST on January 6th.

#ManCandyMonday Aaron Rodgers & HEA Today & Parajunkee

It’s a busy Monday today! First up, some guest blogs at Parajunkee and at the USA TODAY Happily-Ever-After Blog. Please visit with me as I discuss the destruction along the Jersey Shore and my latest romantic suspense release, THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE.

Also, if you get a chance, please vote for KISSED BY A VAMPIRE over at the Paranormal Romance Guild! I’m nominated for Best Paranormal Romance! Thank you so much!

Today’s Man Candy Monday is a shout out to all my Wisconsin friends! Meet Aaron Rodgers, quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. He is such a cutie! Here he is talking about his ‘stache and having some fun. If you can’t see the video below, you can click here.

#ManCandyMonday Prince Alexander Ivanov

You may be wondering what I had in mind when I thought up Prince Alexander from THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE.

Exotic would be a good word to describe him off the bat. FBI Agent Kathleen Martinez certainly thought so at her first meeting with the prince.

Despite his tone and attitude, it was hard for Kathleen to ignore that he was an incredibly handsome man. The pictures and clippings in her file had not done him justice.

Ivanov stood at least six foot two with broad shoulders that strained the expensive fabric of his designer suit. His well-muscled upper body flowed into lean hips and powerful legs.

She dragged her attention back to his face. The muscles in his chiseled jaw clenched with annoyance. It was hard to tell if he had full lips from the angry slash of his mouth. High cheekbones served to highlight winter blue eyes with an exotic tilt. Or maybe his eyes only seemed clear as the sky due to the midnight hair ruthlessly styled into place.

Two gorgeous men in one day, and just her luck they were both connected to her investigation. But while Detective Roman still possessed a hint of boyishness in his features, Alexander was a man with a capital M. Her flare of attraction to him was disturbing on several levels.

LOL, definitely a MAN with all caps. But the things that I found most intriguing about Alexander were the many layers to his personality. Alexander is a man shaped by hardship and yet privileged as few can be. That really brought a number of different traits to him that I found fascinating and that Kathleen did as well.

I hope you’ll enjoy finding out more about Alexander in THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE.

Now to leave you with a little of my inspiration for the prince!

Photo Credit: [email protected]

The Holiday Season is here!

So much going on today that we’re going to have to skip Man Candy Monday and get started with the holiday season!

What, you say, NO NO NO! You want your Man Candy? LOL! How about we timeshift Man Candy to Tuesday for this week since there is so much happening today?

In the spirit of giving, visit with me at Fresh Fiction as I blog about the inspiration for THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE.

In the spirit of hope, drop by the Harlequin Paranormal Romance blog as I chat about KISSED BY A VAMPIRE and why it’s never too late to find true love!

In the sharing and fun, look for our upcoming Holiday Blog Tour where you can find stories, art work and other interesting pieces of art! Here is the schedule for the tour!

Holiday Blog Tour Stops

Dec. 7 Jasmine Clemente, Jasmine Clemente
Dec. 8 Gwendolyn Jerris, Silence & Honeysuckle
Dec. 9 Natasha Oliver, 2 cents
Dec. 10 Regina Tingle, Unsolicited Certainties 
Dec. 11 Caridad Pineiro, Paranormal Romance Author Caridad Pineiro
Dec. 12 Teresa Carbajal Ravet, Sententia Vera
Dec. 13 Nathasha Alvarez, AudaciousLady
Dec. 14 Stephanie Dorman, How Many Frogs
Dec. 15 Karen La Beau, My Life on Canvas
Dec. 16 Annette Santos, The Monga Confesses
Dec. 17 Zoraida Cordova, Zoraida Writes
Dec. 18 Kristy Harding, Kristy Harding
Dec. 19 Nikki Kallio, Purple Houses
Dec. 20 Sujeiry Gonzalez, Love Sujeiry
Dec. 21 Samantha Kolber, Sam Poet
Dec. 22 Thelma T. Reyna, The Literary Self
Dec. 23 Julia Amante, Julia Amante
Dec. 24 Icess Fernandez Rojas