Monthly Archives: November 2014

#BlackFriday Sale on Tempting Josie by Anh Leod #romance $.99 Nov 27-Dec 1

 

Fashion style photo of a cute couplehttp://www.amazon.com/Tempting-Josie-Anh-Leod-ebook/dp/B00JWRWA7I

Read my sexy contemporary romance set in small town Spruce Park, WA this holiday weekend for just $.99! The second Spruce Park story, Wet Christmas, will be out in a holiday anthology any day now.

Blurb:

Josie Manheim never expected to reunite with her sinfully gorgeous high school ex on a blind date, but one look at him has her remembering their sexy exploits and wanting more. He’s changed, though, become darker and more mysterious than in the old days. Each encounter ratchets the intensity of their connection…and begs the question of who he is now.

Miguel Barrino, an undercover FBI agent, has trailed a priceless piece of stolen art to his former home town. He needs answers from his artist ex. She’s involved in the theft somehow. Can he keep Josie out of trouble and still heat things up with her under the covers? With criminals on the loose, falling in love could lead to more than hearts in danger.

 

One chapter ends, another begins

One chapter ends, another beginsGender not specified View treeBorn:
Father: UnspecifiedMother: Unspecified
Children: none
Siblings: none

oldest running carThe oldest running car on the planet: the 1884 De Dion, Bouton et Trepardou Dos-à-Dos

It’s done! I just turned in Book 6 of my Redcakes series, which is Matilda’s book. Time to start plotting book 7, which will be the first book set at the new Redcake’s Tea Shop in Kensington! Yes, my Victorian tea shop story world is expanding a bit. Things can’t stay the same forever. But the heroine is someone who has been around since book 1, The Marquess of Cake, and she has a dark secret you’ll never guess. It’s time to finally get to know the real Betsy Popham, who readers have known since she was just seventeen.

I hope you’ve been enjoying my most recent release, Christmas Delights, which came out less than two weeks ago. In honor of Lewis Noble, the hero, I posted the photo of an early car above.  The vehicle Lewis uses to drive Victoria and Penelope to Brighton in 1889 would probably not have been much more elaborate than this. I hope you appreciate the visual!

I have my holiday menu planned, and tonight is the big Thanksgiving shop with my mother-in-law. We’re going to try baking a fancy new caramel shortbread bar in addition to pumpkin and apple pies. Should be tasty…

Happy shopping, prepping and eating this week! How many people are you eating with this Thanksgiving? We just have five this year, so it won’t be too crazy.

Christmas Delights: A Deleted Scene “The Birds”

Christmas Delights_ebook200x300This extract from my new release had to be cut from Chapter One! It is one of three mini-stories I made up as part of my holiday house party tale.

from Christmas Delights, Chapter One:

“I know a story about birds,” Miss Redcake said dreamily. “I particularly remember it because my cousin Lewis used to make automaton birds. They spoke in the eeriest voices. When I hear the story I think of his creations.”

“Oh, do tell,” Penelope urged. “You can stop any time you feel out of breath.”

Miss Redcake nodded. “This is the story I was told. In Roman times, Clementina was trying to escape from a lover who’d become too insistent when they’d taken an after-dinner walk. She ran into a fen, to hide on a peat mound among the tall grasses and spindly willows, hoping the sounds of bird calls would hide her slow progress along the sand. It had rained a great deal, being spring, and she left footprints in the clay. But before she went deeper into the fen, she turned, fearfully, to look for her tormentor, and saw that her footsteps were being filled in by wildflowers.” Miss Redcake paused and sniffed her salts.

“My goodness,” murmured Victoria. Another spurned lover tale. She’d rather hear one about a lover catching the girl and laying her down in a meadow of wildflowers.

But no, Miss Redcake had a more poetic soul than she. “When Clementina turned back, she found her way blocked by a tall figure. The light was descending by then and she only had a faint impression that this was a man in a cloak or a habit. A monk perhaps? A traveler?

“Clementina stepped forward, holding out her hands in imprecation. When she looked back again, sure she’d heard footsteps, she found reeds had grown up all around her and the figure. Protection or imprisonment? She did not know.”

“Good heavens,” Penelope breathed, letting the bag of peppermint candies she’d taken out of her pocket drop to her lap.

Miss Redcake smiled. “The sound of footsteps diminished. The figure in front of her raised its arms. Clementina shrank back, then all of a sudden, the figure dissolved into hundreds of sedge warblers. Their frantic squeak chirr calls sounded in deafening repetition. But five seconds later, the birds were gone, flown over the reeds. And Clementina was alone, her virtue safe for another night.”

“Lucky her,” Victoria said sarcastically.

Learn more

New Release! Christmas Delights by Heather Hiestand #romance

Christmas Delights_ebook200x300Christmas Delights, the new Redcake’s book, releases in electronic form today, to join its print brethren! Because it is a holiday house party book, it is truly a standalone release in the series and can be enjoyed whether you’ve read the first four books.

To by the book, see my links here

Join my blog tour to read exclusive excerpts from the book and enter to win a big gift card!
November 10: Susana’s Parlour
November 10: A Writer’s Life
November 11: Rachel Brimble Romance
November 12: Room With Books
November 13: Queen of All She Reads
November 14: SBM Book Obsession
November 17: Dena Garson – Real… Hot… Romance
November 17: Unabridged Andra’s
November 18: Buried Under Romance – review
November 19: The Buttontapper
November 20: A Cup Of Tea and A Big Book – review
November 21: Brooke Blogs
November 24: Cynthia Gail
November 25: Love Saves the World
November 26: Booklover Sue
November 27: Bunny’s Review – review

November 28: Danita Minnis
November 28: Hope. Dreams. Life… Love

ET_ChristmasDelights_Banner

#Baking Orange Raisin Shortbread — #Recipe

20141103_173620_resizedIn celebration of next week’s release of my novel Christmas Delights!

Orange Raisin Shortbread

1/3 cup golden raisins
5 tablespoons orange juice
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
additional sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 8×8 pan. Bring raisins and four tablespoons of orange juice to boil in microwave or on stove. Stir; remove from heat and cool.

Combine flour and sugar in bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in raisin mixture and remaining 1 Tbs orange juice.

Knead just until dough holds together. Press into pan. Prick entire surface with fork. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake until pale golden, 22 minutes. Makes a doughy, not terribly sweet shortbread with a delicious aftertaste!

Christmas Delights_ebook200x300