Court of the Hawk by Debbie Peterson (VNBtM, guest post, excerpt and GIVEAWAY)

I have the pleasure of having a guest post by author Debbie Peterson...

For this exciting tour stop, my lovely hostess asked me an interesting question. She wanted to know if any of my hobbies has in one way or another, enriched my writing. Now there’s a loaded question if I ever saw one!

Let me answer it like this…

For those who know me--have followed any of my previous book tours, or read my bio on the back of any one of my books--know that I have a PASSION for genealogy and family history. This passion goes way beyond looking for the names, dates, and locations one might find on a grave stone in an old cemetery, creepy or otherwise. No, I have to have so much more than just that. Way more. I want to know who they were! I want to know everything about their lives and their families. What did they do for a living? Farmer? Merchant? Fisherman? Sailor? Inventor? What historical events were taking place while they lived? Did they participate in those events or merely witness them? As far as my colonial ancestors go, what made them leave everything they knew behind, cross a temperamental ocean and settle themselves in an unknown land, the dangers of which they couldn’t even begin to comprehend?

After years and years of research, I’ve been able to answer some of those questions for many of my ancestors. Each tidbit I discovered along the way was like winning the lottery! Especially if I could find a recorded history about them personally in a dusty old library or courthouse.

In turn, I used some of that knowledge in my books. Spirit of the Rebellion, I took a page pertaining to America’s Civil War from my own family history. My great-great granduncle, William Confer, met his death at the age of nineteen during the battle of Chickamauga. You’ll find parts of his life intertwined in the characters of both Beau and Chauncey. I also patterned a letter that Shae (the heroine) reads to Tristan (my ghostly hero), from several letters that a civil war ancestor penned to his wife.


In my novel Spirit of the Revolution, Jolena uses her knowledge of the “how-to’s” of genealogical research to help Mathias solve the enigma of his last earthly mission. A mission that involves a mysterious letter written to General George Washington.


The castles spoken of in both Spirit of the Knightand Court of the Hawk are based on real castles that a couple of my ancestors (bearing the title of “Sir Knight”) occupied or fought to defend. Also included in Spirit of the Knight, are the genuine steps one must take to obtain knighthood. Steps all of these ancestors had to have taken.


So, at least in my way of thinking, this particular hobby of mine has definitely enriched and will continue to enrich, my writing!



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Court of the Hawk

by Debbie Peterson

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BLURB:



Epigraphist Dr. Essie DeSpencer travels to an ancient Welsh castle in order to decipher an Ogham inscription discovered by the handsome and enigmatic, Garreth ap Daffyd. But the journey is not what she expects. She doesn’t plan to fall for the Lord of the castle, or to find herself deeply entrenched in legends, myths, and magic. Real legends, and real magic, that have devastating consequences.



Garreth didn’t plan for Essie to stay any longer than it took her to decipher the pictograph. Instead, he finds himself falling in love for the first time in his very long life. Now the Lord of

Llys y Gwalch must find a way to attain the heart of his soul mate and keep her safe from the dangers that threaten them both.





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EXCERPT


“How old are you?” She held her breath and waited. In fact, she waited so long she wondered if he’d answer the question at all.

Finally, he dropped his gaze and returned a slow nod. He made the gesture more in response to an inner resignation than directing it toward her. “First, if I might ask, what gave rise to your curiosity?”

She combed the windblown hair away from her face and shrugged. “Does it make any difference as to how you’ll respond?”

He considered that for a time before he spoke. “No, I suppose it doesn’t. Still, I’d like to know.”

“All right, I don’t have a problem giving you the answer.” She cleared her throat. “The quake disturbed several portraits hanging along the hallways. I found one of them on the floor after leaving my room. So, I picked the antiquated thing up with every intention of replacing it, but the subject stole my attention. You see, if asked under oath in a court of law, I would swear you posed for the portrait at least two, maybe even three centuries ago.”

“And you didn’t stop to consider whether or not the man in the painting might be a distant ancestor to whom I bear a great resemblance?” he asked.

She extended a finger to his face, gently traced the scar that did naught but enhance his looks, and shook her head. “Not when the artist painted him with this.”


Buy Links:

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All Romance EBooks
Bookstrand
Kobo
Itunes

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:



Debbie is an author of paranormal and fantasy romance because she has a soft spot for fairy tales, the joy of falling in love, making an impossible love possible, and happily ever after endings. She loves music, art, beautiful sunrises, sunsets, and thunder storms.



When she is not busy conjuring her latest novel, Debbie spends time with the members of her very large family within the lovely, arid deserts of southern Nevada. She also pursues her interests in family history, which she also teaches, mythology, and history.



Connect with Debbie:

Website
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Pinterest


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GIVEAWAY







a Rafflecopter giveaway


Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here

Shoshanna's Short Shorts by Shoshanna Evers (spotlight, excerpt and GIVEAWAY) GFT ADULT title

Shoshanna's Short Shorts
is an ADULT title
by Shoshanna Evers

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If you’re in the mood for a quickie (ahem), you’ll love this collection of eleven sexy short stories from New York Times and USA Today bestselling erotic romance author, Shoshanna Evers

—“Queen of the erotic novellas.” (Fandom Fanatic). This collection pulls Evers’ published stories together from nine different anthologies into one volume. Includes a never-before-published story, plus the bestselling Overheated!

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EXCERPT

Excerpt from Forced Orgasms

Copyright 2015 Shoshanna Evers. All Rights Reserved.

Tonight, he was paying to make his dream a reality, a reality that would last for exactly one hour once his doorbell rang. The escort service called the woman “Genevieve,” although as far as Ivan could tell she seemed more like a Jenny trying to look worth her sticker price.

She seemed very friendly, and calm, although Ivan was looking forward to seeing the desperation on her face he knew the evening would bring. Was that sick? Probably. But she’d love it. At least the first fifteen minutes of it, anyway. His cock hardened, straining against his slacks.

“Jenny,” he said cordially, kissing her cheek.

She didn’t correct him on the name. Maybe he’d been right about her, or maybe she was smart enough not to start off an evening with a client by correcting him. Maybe she’d let him call her whatever he wished.

“Take off your clothes, please,” he said.

Jenny gave him a saucy smile and pulled her expensive dress over her head, leaving a matching black-and-red lace brassiere and thong.

“Beautiful,” he said appreciatively. “But those need to go too.”

“Wow, get right down to business,” she said, laughing. “I’m surprised.”

She sat down on the couch, but he shook his head.

“I have a special chair for you. Why are you surprised?” He nodded over to the corner, to the bondage chair he’d pulled out of the garage and shined with leather cleaner and stainless steel polish. The chair had cost more than she had.

“I was told you weren’t interested in sleeping with your escorts,” Jenny said, eyeing the leather straps attached to the chair and sitting in it anyway.

“No, I’m not,” he replied. It was the truth, after all. “I just want to watch you be pleasured with my vibrator, over and over. Does that sound good to you?”

She laughed. “Sure! I never get to come during these—” Jenny stopped speaking suddenly, as if someone had put the mute switch on her. More likely, she’d remembered a rule the escort service had given her. Ivan imagined it went something like: Don’t complain about other clients. It makes the man you’re with now feel like he’s not the only one, and it makes him wonder if you’re complaining about him to the other men.

“Good. Spread your legs.”

Jenny complied, spreading her thighs wide so that her ankles touched the straps on the bottom of the chair. Ivan made quick work out of restraining her.

“Hands behind your back, gorgeous,” he said, and she obeyed, silent now. He used fuzzy red cuffs to handcuff her wrists. The cuffs looked cute and playful, but their bondage was real.

“I’m going to make you come until you pass out. Does that sound like a good idea?”

She laughed again, and Ivan recognized it for what it was—nerves. “Yes. I’m yours for the next…” she looked up at the large metal clock ticking above the fireplace, “forty-three minutes.”

Ivan stifled a groan of desire. Forty-three minutes. Forty-three minutes to watch her come, and come again, and squirm, and scream. Then beg…and beg. And come again.

The memory of this evening would fulfill all of his masturbatory fantasies for the rest of his life.

Which was good, because after this he’d probably be cut off from this particular escort service.

Ivan plugged in the long white vibrator, pressing the thick round head against her. Frowning, he dipped his fingers down and spread her nether lips until the vibrator nestled directly against a tender spot. His fingers came back shiny.

“This turns you on?” he asked, surprised.

“Yes,” she admitted shyly.

He flipped the switch to Low and watched her face, her reaction as the vibrator buzzed to life.

“Amazing.” She tilted her head back, a look of ecstasy on her face.


Amazon link
Amazon UK
iBooks
B&N
Smashwords
All Romance eBooks
Kobo

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Shoshanna Evers has written dozens of sexy stories, including The Man Who Holds the Whip(part of the NYT bestselling MAKE ME anthology), I Am Not Your Melody (from the NYT bestselling Cowboy 12-Pack), Beauty & the Beast: an erotic reimagining (from the USA Today bestselling Wicked Hot Reads), The Enslaved Trilogy and The Pulse Trilogy from Simon & Schuster Pocket Star, and the national bestseller, The Tycoon’s Convenient Bride...and Baby.

Her work has been featured in Best Bondage Erotica 2012 and Best Bondage Erotica 2013, the Penguin/Berkley Heat anthology Agony/Ecstasy, and numerous erotic BDSM novellas including Chastity Belt and Punishing the Art Thief, originally from Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

The non-fiction anthology Shoshanna Evers edited and contributed to, How To Write Hot Sex, is a #1 Bestseller in the Authorship, Erotica Writing Reference, and Romance Writing categories.

Shoshanna is also the cofounder of SelfPubBookCovers.com, the largest selection of one-of-a-kind, premade book covers in the world.

Shoshanna is a New York native who now lives with her family and three big dogs in Northern Idaho. She welcomes emails from readers and writers, and loves to interact on Twitter and Sexily *Evers* After… website

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GIVEAWAY

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The Day of the Wave by Becky Wicks (VBT, excerpt, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

I have the pleasure of having a guest post from author Becky Wicks, who answers one of my favorite questions:

What was the most difficult thing to overcome on your path to becoming a published author and how did you conquer it?

BW:  Great question! And thanks for having me on the blog by the way. People ask me this a lot and to be honest the most difficult thing to have to overcome at the start was probably fear. It's the same now, too. As an author you fear a lot... rejection, bad reviews, other people's mean streaks. It can all be too much to think about and in the end, all these niggling doubts can build a wall between you and what you want to do. It seems easier not to try!

Once I'd written my first manuscript, a travel memoir called Burqalicious - The Dubai Diaries, I didn't know a thing about how to get published and at times, the fear of rejection made me wake in the middle of the night, stressing out! But in the end I reached out to agents and was lucky enough to be signed the very same day. A month later I had my deal with HarperCollins, but even then the fear of people hating my work once it was published made me anxious. It never ends!

I think as an author, or any kind of artist, you have to develop a very tough skin. For every critic reading your work and saying something bad, there's another writer out there who was too scared to even start writing, or to put their work out there in the first place. The same applies to everything I guess. You have to remember, it's better to be in the game than to stand on the sidelines wondering "what if."

The Day Of The Wave

by Becky Wicks

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BLURB:

Torn apart by the tragedy. Thrown back together ten years later by destiny... Isla and Ben were just sixteen when the Boxing Day tsunami ripped through their beach resort in Thailand. Just days after forming a life-changing bond, both were missing and presumed dead.

Based on real life events, The Day of the Wave is a story of healing, learning to let go, and figuring out when to hold on with everything you have left.

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EXCERPT:

'Isabella,' I said to the girl in braids behind the computer. She was frantic, tapping away a million miles an hour. A line of people were behind me. All of them were bedraggled and beside themselves, like the cast of a war movie. 'Isabella from England. Izzy. I left her on the beach. Can you look again?'

'We don't have any Isabella's yet, I'm sorry,' she said. I asked a hundred times about Toby, too, and Charlie and Van and Tee, but I always got the same answer.

They'd brought in experts from everywhere - Austria, the Netherlands, Australia, Germany, and all of them I realized quickly were carrying out the gruesome tasks it took to identify the dead. Most of it wasn't even happening behind closed doors. There weren't enough doors.

After a while, no one was bringing the injured in anymore. It was just more bodies and still none of them were Toby. Still none of them were Charlie or Izzy... at least, I didn't think they were. There were panels of photos of the bodies as they were brought in, on the walls. But they were all so horribly deformed. You can't even imagine what water does. People go black, their eyes bulge out of their sockets. The only way to recognize somebody at first is by their jewelry.

They were fingerprinting the corpses, I discovered. They gave them full dental examinations and took X-rays, then they sent the DNA samples away for analysis. It was when I learned they were matching them to a missing-person's list in Phuket that I begged to be taken there, to the International Hospital. I knew more bodies were there. Maybe I'd find Toby there.

I found my mom instead. She'd just flown in and been allowed a transfer. 'My baby,' she cried when she found me, pulling me against her and sobbing. I was sixteen but her words hit hard. I felt like a baby; a useless, helpless, broken baby. Glenn stood solid like a tree behind her. He hugged me too. It was the first and last time he ever did.

We moved to a hotel, where we stayed for two weeks and I made it my job to look out for Sonthi. He was going through the same thing, only he was still searching for twenty people he loved. We played guitar at night. We knew the same Beatles song so we sang together outside, taught ourselves the harmonies to take our minds off all the tragedies. Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away, Now it looks as though they're here to stay, Oh I believe in yesterday.

Even though Sonthi didn't know the meaning of the words, I think they helped us both somehow. The yesterdays we missed were haunting everyone but at least we escaped with our lives.

I went with mom to the councilor, too, but she cried all the way through, and she cried so much at the hotel that I didn't sleep for days. I was a shell. I had no tears left. 'They're gone, they're never coming back,' mom yowled.

'We don't know that!' I yelled at her, but she yowled even more into the walls and the floor and the pillow, while a thousand other people doing the same made even the hotel feel like a funeral parlor.

We got told that DNA breaks down once bodies decompose. The longer we had to wait, the less chance we had of identifying anyone. Eventually I had to say goodbye to Sonthi and everyone at the hospital I'd gotten to know. Our flight was booked; my brother and uncle and Izzy were officially missing, assumed dead. My mom was a pale-faced Martian I didn't know anymore and she hadn't really spoken to me in days. 'Toby, my baby, Toby!,' she wailed into Glenn's expensive shirt as he helped her outside and into the taxi.

I was just about to leave for the airport when the girl in braids came to grab me. 'Ben,' she said, leaning down, putting a hand to my shoulder. I could tell by her face she had bad news. 'We found Isabella, from the UK,' she said as the tears careened down her face. 'There's only one on the list. I'm so sorry.'

It was raining when I got outside. It was a real tropical downfall; the kind of rain that lashes and hurts. I turned my face up to it and let it hit me as the wind howled. I wanted to feel the physical crash of everything that had been breaking my heart. The only thing I felt was how it wasn't rain at all. It felt like my brother and Izzy and Charlie and two hundred thousand other souls were crying.

Amazon

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Becky Wicks is mostly powered by coffee. She had three travel memoirs published by HarperCollins before going the indie route. Her first book in the Starstruck Series, 'Before He Was Famous' recently reached #1 in Amazon's Coming of Age and New Adult & College categories. The second in the series, 'Before He Was Gone', and the third, 'Before He Was A Secret' are both out now along with 'The Day Of The Wave' - a romance based around the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

Becky blogs most days at beckywicks.com and always welcomes distractions on Twitter: @bex_wicks (especially if you have cat photos)

Amazon Author page

Goodreads

Facebook

Blog

Twitter: @bex_wicks

YouTube- Book Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwDJwkxsreI

 

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GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here

Eve's Rescue by Sarah Marsh (VBB, excerpt, review and GIVEAWAY) GFT ADULT title

Eve's Rescue

by Sarah Marsh

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BLURB:

Evangeline Scott was hoping for a fun night on the town after a hellish day. What she couldn’t have imagined was getting kidnapped by alien slavers and then left to die on an abandoned ship.

Kai Dallen and Roan Quinn were having some bad luck of their own when they found themselves set up by an old adversary and trapped in the vault of a Dhuaation Pharaoh's ship with no way out. When Khaman-Ra makes them an offer they can’t refuse, the two space pirates end up rescuing a ship full of human female cargo. All three males are immediately drawn to one of the beauties and make an agreement to satisfy everyone’s desires. The only problem is, they didn’t think to ask Eve and when she wakes up to find that she’s now married to three aliens she’s mad as hell. By the time all four of them realise their true feelings, will it be too late, as a woman from Roan’s past threatens to ruin it all?

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EXCERPT:

The door swished open as they stepped up to it, and her breath immediately caught as she saw the golden sculpted pharaoh sitting with his bare chest behind the desk while both Kai and Roan sat in chairs on the other side dressed in black leather breeches and vests. Obviously the temperature of the ship was kept on the warm side to accommodate the Dhuaatian fashion sense, but Roan and Kai must have been used to the heat to be able to wear leather. They looked so dangerous and sexy compared to Khaman’s golden ethereal presence, and God, why did they have to smell so good? When the door opened and she got a rush of warm sandalwood and male musk she began to ache and immediately all she wanted to do was go over and rub herself all over them. Which of course was exactly the kind of slutty alter-ego thought she needed to give her head a shake and put her plan into the works, so she purposely looked each of the now smugly smiling men up and down before she turned back to Mhat-Am and said, “You were right, Matty, this place is much nicer than mine. I’ll totally move in, but where are these guys going to stay?” she said with a thumb pointed toward the men.

It was like watching a slow-motion playback when their smug attitude and smiles at her hormone-struck entrance slowly turned down until all three of the huge men were scowling at her, then in turn they looked toward Mhat-Am like they would string him up. It was all she could do not to laugh out loud. Plan “make these gorgeous bastards squirm” was officially off to a tremendous start. She casually walked out back to the main sitting room, running her fingers over the expensive furniture, pretending not to listen when the pharaoh was the first to express his displeasure.

“Mhat-Am! What is the meaning of this?” he asked in a steel tone, which said he was furious, but he didn’t want Eve to overhear. “You were supposed to explain the situation to Evangeline and then bring her to us to begin the bonding process.”

Poor Mhat-Am looked like he was going to be sick. He kept looking back from Khaman and the two angry Sirotians, to Eve, and then back again like he didn’t know which situation was more dangerous. When he visibly started to sweat and stutter Eve realized that she’d been kind of an asshole to throw him under the bus like that, so she stepped back up to the office. Damn conscience, it just had to ruin all her fun.

“Mhat-Am, I think you can go now. I’ll discuss this with my husbands in private and settle things. Will you be back tomorrow so we can begin my lessons?” she asked with a deceptively sweet tone while still keeping eye contact with the three seething males in front of her.

“Yes, my lady. Pharaoh?” he asked quietly, seeking permission to leave the room as quickly as possible.

“Go,” was all Khaman said between clenched teeth as he watched the older man sigh in relief and scurry out the door leaving them with their new bride.

“So, fellas, how was the wedding? Did my new in-laws spring for the good appies? Anyone on my side get drunk and pass out in the chocolate fountain?” Eve asked as she placed her hands on her hips and expressed her displeasure; a look of surprise on all three men’s faces as they suddenly realized why she was so mad was priceless. Sure it made them even cuter, but Eve was determined to punish them for at least a month before she gave in. As her traitorous eyes took a slight detour down her pharaoh’s golden abs, she did a quick recalculation and decided that two weeks was probably more appropriate. Yes, definitely two weeks…

Buy links:

Amazon

Bookstrand

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Sarah Marsh was born in British Columbia where she still lives, she has only recently began her writing career finding it the perfect outlet for taking the edge off a nine to five office job. She’s been a science fiction and romance junkie for years and when her imagination started to take the characters she’d read about even further in their adventures she decided to try writing something of her own. Sarah’s also a former pastry chef and spends a lot of time cooking and baking for friends and family as well as painting and knitting. Her biggest weakness is animals of any kind, she loves a happy ending.

Bloglink

FacebookLink

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GIVEAWAY


a Rafflecopter giveaway



Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here

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My review:

4.25 out of 5 stars

Eve's Rescue by Sarah Marsh is an erotic ménage science fiction story that is part of the ‘Coalition Mates’ series.  This tale centers around Evangline (Eve) Scott, who wakes up after having been kidnapped and discovers that not only is she surrounded by amazingly sexy aliens but she has been mated to three of them, supposedly for her own protection.  Despite the strong alpha vibe and highhanded actions of Nomac Pharoah Khaman-Ra (Kham) and his heads of security and personal bodyguards, Sirotians Kai and Roan, Eve must find a way to convince these males in her life that she isn’t a pushover.  Hmm…how does one fight against a pair of males whose culture traditionally dictates that they be courtesans, especially with their powerful pheromones?  Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and Eve definitely has the will, or does she?

This delightfully entertaining story provides a creative twist on the sensationalist tabloid tales of being captured by aliens for nefarious purposes.  The horrific circumstances of Eve’s introduction to life on a space vessel is quickly overshadowed by the sensual overload and the imaginative explanation for certain mysteries that have plagued Earth scholars for centuries.  There is a wonderful mix of tongue-in-cheek humor and intensely spicy interludes and one is hardpressed to feel too sorry for this woman who has three very sexy males determined to woo her.  This is the first story in this series that I have read and there is no problem reading it as a stand-alone, but wow, given the events in this story and the glimpses of some of the characters who evidently have had their own adventures, I am anxious to read the rest in the series.  A fun, sexy, imaginative quick read that will undoubtedly require that one have a cold drink and/or a hot partner nearby!

A copy of this fun title was provided to me for review

Get Your Bake On: Sweet and Savory Recipes From My Home to Yours by Brian Emmett (spotlight and review)

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SWEET AND SAVORY SATURDAY

 Get Your Bake On: Sweet and Savory Recipes from My Home to Yours

Brian Emmett

May 26, 2015

ISBN: 9781476772561

Price: $18.00

Paperback

Gallery Books

 

“Emmett, winner of CBS's The American Baking Competition, shares 75 recipes that have been passed down through the generations of his family. Dessert classics, such as lemon meringue pie and a yellow cake with vanilla buttercream frosting, are offset with savories including chicken pot pie, Chicago and New York–style pizzas, and a "Mile-High" quiche. Fans of The American Baking Competition will recognize the "Petit Four Flag Cake"…Emmett offers clear instructions on his popular "Peanut-Vanilla Chiffon Roll with Peanut Praline and Gold-Dusted Peanuts" and carefully walks home bakers through the multiple steps, including making a chocolate-peanut mousse, chocolate ganache glaze, peanut praline, and gold-dusted peanuts. His down-to-earth tone makes this a good buy for those new to baking.”

—Publishers Weekly

 

“Distinguished by its ease of use and down-home midwestern ’tude…[with] family-type-introductions to each type of dish…Good tips on techniques precede every chapter…The proof of his talent is in the collection: For the most part, the inclusions are standard Americana, often with a twist.  Try oatmeal muffins for a breakfast differentiator, maple mascarpone frosting on a carrot, and poppy-seed sugar-plum rolls (translation: filled donuts).  Demyth-ifying the craft of baking.”

—Booklist

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Whip up some delicious down-home goodness with Get Your Bake On: Sweet and Savory Recipes from My Home to Yours, a cookbook of sweet and savory recipes from Brian Emmett, who burst onto the culinary scene with his charm, confidence, and superior baking and cooking skills on CBS’s The American Baking Competition™.  He won the hearts of Americans nationwide, who watched this enthusiastic husband and father immerse himself in his passion—and, ultimately, take home the illustrious title of America’s Best Amateur Baker.

 

Now in Get Your Bake On, Brian shares over seventy-five recipes that leave no doubt as to why he was crowned champion of the show.  This cookbook encompasses a hearty mixture of The American Baking Competition favorites, brand-new concoctions, and Emmett family recipes passed down for generations.  Staying true to the show’s theme, there are plenty of sweets.  From Poppy Seed Sugar Plum Rolls to his famous Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies, Brian’s baked goods are sure to satisfy even the most demanding of sweet tooths.

 

Get Your Bake On also features a strong savory element with classic, feel-good recipes such as Sunday Brunch Strata and Sky-High Cheese and Chive Soufflés.  Some of these delicious treats include:

 

·         Pies and Tarts…Lemon Meringue Pie

·         Scones, Muffins, and Biscuits…Blueberry and Almond Scones

·         Breads and Pizzas…Focaccia with Fresh Thyme

·         Cookies, Bars, Biscotti, and Brownies…Salted Peanut Cookies

·         Cakes…Cheesecake with Caramel-Apple Topping

·         Pastry and Pie Dough…Apple Cider-Spiked Pie Dough

·         Soufflés and Custards…Sunday Brunch Strata

 One person's review:

“This is by far one of the favorites with my family and friends, but not just for brunch!  It’s a hit for tailgating, Bunco night, bowling leagues, housewarming parties, baby showers…you are sure to be the MVP at any event if you show up with this amazing casserole.  It’s great because you can assemble all the ingredients the day before, refrigerate, and then bake fresh in the morning.  It’s also easy to change up the ingredients, use different cheeses, substitute the meats with seasonal vegetables such as broccoli, asparagus, or spinach, or add fresh herbs such as chopped parsley or basil as garnish for a beautiful presentation.”

 

With Brian Emmett’s Get Your Bake On, readers are expertly equipped to gather with friends and family for any occasion and enjoy the most savory food.  So grab a spoon, America—Brian’s back, and he’s ready to dish!

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Brian Emmett, the ultimate foodie and home entertainer, has been baking, cooking, serving, and designing unique culinary experiences for family and friends for over twenty years.  He lives near Chicago with his wife and daughters. 

Links:

Facebook

Twitter

Website

COME MEET BRIAN!

Saturday, August 22^nd, 2:00 – 4:00 pm

Barnes & Noble

7200 Harrison Avenue

Rockford, IL 61112

 

Friday, November 13^th

America’s Baking and Sweet Show

Chicago, IL

  

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My Review:

4.5 out of 5 stars

Get Your Bake On: Sweet and Savory Recipes from My Home to Yours by Brian Emmett is his first cookbook but I’m betting that it won’t be his last.  There are lovely recipes with clear instructions and mouthwatering pictures in the center of the book.  Thus far, we have tried the recipe for pound cake and I was delighted with the results although my spouse likes his a little sweeter.  I like the way recipes are divided into sections such as Pies and Tarts, Breads and Pizzas, Cakes, etc., especially the series of recipes with chocolate! The anecdotes are fun to read, and I look forward to trying more of these great items.

 
A copy of this title was provided to me for review.

Combustion by Elia Winters (VNBtM, guest post, and GIVEAWAY) GFT ADULT title

It is my pleasure to have a guest post from Elia Winters who mentions that...

It’s Still Scary Sometimes: Dealing With Fears About Writing

Elia Winters

It’s an inarguable fact that nobody likes to fail.

This is why trying new things is scary. Many of us give up trying new things altogether because we’re afraid that we’ll fail and people will laugh at us. Even when “failure” is some kind of intangible, nebulous place that we’re not sure how to identify, we’re all pretty convinced that there’s a group of people waiting to mock us if we misstep. I’m not sure where this mean-spirited mocking group is, but they’re a key part to my fears of failure, and probably yours, too.

The funny thing about fear is it’s always present, but it changes form. Back when I was a new writer, I was afraid that I’d never get an agent. And then I wrote some terrible books that slowly became mediocre, and I got a bunch of rejection letters, and then I wrote mediocre books that slowly became pretty good, and I got an agent. Trigger new fear! After I got an agent, I was afraid I’d never write anything good ever again. But then I wrote some other things that were pretty good, and publishers made offers for them.

Now, I have three books published, which still makes me pretty new at this whole “publishing” gig. Even published, though, I still get scared sometimes when I sit down to write. I’m afraid of two things: 1) I’ll run out of ideas, and 2) No one will like the book.

The more I write, though, the less those fears get ahold of me. Because I love writing! When I’m actually working on a book, I enjoy being in the world with those characters, and even if the writing is going more slowly than I’d like (as it does some days), I’m having a good time putting my ideas on paper. The more time I spend doing what I love, the less time I have to be afraid what’s coming next, and the sillier my fears seem.

Will the fears always be there? Yeah, probably. That’s why I titled this post “dealing with fears about writing” rather than “overcoming fears about writing,” because even if you overcome some of your fears, you’ll probably get new ones. I don’t think I’ll ever get over the wave of panic brought on by a blank page, and there will definitely be people who don’t like what I write. But just like any kind of exposure therapy, the more I sit in the midst of those fears and write anyway, the easier it gets. Then, rather than being these huge insurmountable boulders, my fears shrink down to a-bit-larger-than-average rocks. I can handle a few a-bit-larger-than-average rocks, and so can you.

 

Combustion

by Elia Winters

ADULT title

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BLURB:

A war orphan, Astrid Bailey is content living her adult life alone, working as a contract machinist. Her real passion, though, is inventing felicitation devices that promote women’s sexual empowerment and help them find pleasure independent of a man.

The upcoming World’s Fair, with its substantial cash prize, is an opportunity to open the shop she’s always imagined and hopefully solve her financial woes. Except the committee has denied her entry unless she obtains a “sponsor”. Astrid suspects they mean “male”.

Eli Rutledge, noted watchmaker, knows entering the fair will solidify his reputation as an innovator —but he’s fresh out of ideas. Until Astrid approaches him with her outrageous product line. With no other options, though, he agrees to lend her his good name.

As construction heats up, so does their chemistry—and the complications. Astrid is unaccustomed to asking for help, much less sharing credit. And Eli fights an attraction that could spell professional disaster. As the Fair date approaches, Astrid and Eli must decide how far they’ll go. For the business…and for each other.

Product Warnings Contains period-appropriate graphic language, highly inappropriate amounts of M/F and F/F sex, and copious amounts of *ahem* product testing. May *ahem again* “spark” an online shopping binge for *cough* toys. Of the adult variety.

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EXCERPT

It was a plain brass cylinder, as far as he could tell. What was it, some kind of lipstick or face paint? He held it up to the firelight, puzzled, and finally handed it back to her. “I don’t understand. This is your invention?”

“Yes.” And she spun a dial at the bottom of the device.

Eli jumped when the small device began to hum, vibrating intensely in her hand. All right, so it did that. This still didn’t make much sense. Then, Astrid reached up and touched the tip of the cylinder to his collarbone, right where the white collar of his shirt met the lapel of his coat.

He twitched away. “Wait. That’s…” His voice trailed off as she moved the bullet back and forth along his neck, then to the other side.

“Nice?” Astrid didn’t look away from his eyes, her very gaze challenging him to pull back, to call her on her inappropriate behavior. The problem was, her actions felt so good that he had no intention of stopping her, propriety be damned.

“Very nice.” His voice sounded breathless in his own ears. Astrid reached up to run the device along the back of his neck, wrapping her arm up and over his shoulders, bringing her body very close to his. He was losing his focus, his entire thought process swept away into her flowery smell and some very improper thoughts about what she might look like under all those clothes.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Elia Winters has always been a New England girl, despite having spent much of her childhood in Florida. She holds a degree in English Literature and teaches at a small rural high school where she runs too many extracurricular activities. She balances her love of the outdoors with a  bottomless well of geekiness.

Elia dabbles in many genres, but erotic romance has been one of her favorites since she first began sneaking her mother’s romance novels. In high school, she kept her friends entertained with a steady stream of naughty stories and somehow never got caught passing them around. Her erotic fiction and poetry have been published online at Clean Sheets and Scarlet Letters under a different name. Elia currently lives in New England with her loving husband and their odd assortment of pets.

Elia’s virtual life is as busy as her real life. In addition to her website, you can also find her on

Twitter

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Facebook

Pinterest

and Goodreads

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