Review and Recipes

All the Little Liars by Charlaine Harris
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I found that the voice of Aurora Teagarden was much more the voice of Charlaine Harris a 60-something than that of a 30-something librarian. For example, what 37 year old woman in 2016 uses the word trousers to describe pants. C'mon! This book takes place just a few weeks after the last one, which is disjointing. (esp. since the previous book was set in the early 2000s)  So just a few weeks ago Aurora finds her SIL dead and now it is Christmas, she is pregnant, married and not only is her step brother missing but there are other kids missing AND dead teenagers. It seems like a bit much, and yet there is plenty of time for the author to give paragraphs of space to the discussion of  Aurora preparing the most bland food ever eaten.

Lastly during the book Aurora does three stupid things and hides 2 crucial details from police that prolong the mystery and are so reckless it's hard to fathom. I almost through the book across the room a couple of times due to the lack of critical thinking by Aurora and her husband.


View all my reviews

A common thread in all Charlaine Harris books is uneccessary discussion of what food the protagonist is preparing.  If the food sounded good, that would be forgiving, but her main characters are bad cooks.   Just the most boring food. It's depressing.  If I was her editor, I'd put big red slashes through all food talk!

To combat bad food writing I thought I would share a couple fun Halloween themed recipes:

Pumpkin Soup with Herbed Pumpkin Seeds (Tastefully Simple) 

ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. 1 tsp. Avocado Oil or olive oil, divided

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• 2 Tbsp. Onion Onion Seasoning 

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• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 (15 oz.) cans 100% pure pumpkin
• 13-14 oz. can coconut milk
• ½ cup roasted and salted shelled pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
• 1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
• Sour cream (optional)

directions

Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add Onion Onion™ Seasoning; sautè 30 seconds.

Stir in broth; bring to a simmer. Add pumpkin and 1 Tbsp. Rustic Herb Seasoning; simmer 5 minutes. Stir in coconut milk; continue simmering 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine pumpkin seeds and remaining 1 tsp. oil in small bowl. Add remaining 1 Tbsp. Rustic Herb Seasoning and Parmesan cheese. Toss to coat.

Ladle soup into bowls or shot or cordial glasses. Sprinkle with herbed pumpkin seeds.

Tips:

• To decorate the glasses, add sour cream to a resealable plastic bag. Cut off a bag corner. Pipe slightly wavy ring around the inside of each glass. Using a wooden skewer, push the sour cream down to make elongated lines. Pour soup into glasses.
• Serve soup in Jack Be Little or other small pumpkins. To prepare pumpkins, cut top ½ inch off each pumpkin; scrape out seeds. Place on a baking sheet with rim. Add ½ cup water to baking sheet; cover pumpkins with foil. Bake 20 minutes or until soft enough to scoop out pumpkin flesh. Remove from oven and cool; gently scoop out flesh, leaving a ¼-inch shell.

And here is a recipe from All Recipes that sounds like a fantastic Chili!
Pumpkin Turkey Chili ! 

Above Average Temperatures

Checked out the old weather forecast and it looks like the next 7 days in Chicagoland will continue to be above normal.  Rain is supposed to show up on Tuesday and Wednesday so I'll have to remember not to wear sandals on those two days.  Sandals in October?  Yes.  I'm going to keep on wearing my sandals until the daily temps go under 60.  Why not right?  Plus I need to buy a new pair of black boots and have not gotten around to doing that and right now since we are paying for 2 kids to go to Disney on school trips in 2018- I'm trying to put as much $ toward getting those trips paid off as possible as quickly as possibly.

All this warm weather does make it rather hard to remember Fall is here.  The trees aren't bursting with gold, orange and red leaves, and you can leave the house without a jacket. I am sure this will change shortly, but for a bit longer I'll stick with my warm weather clothes. 

That being said I do realize Halloween is fast approaching.  I have amassed a collection of glass jars that I am trying to prioritize DIYing into cute Halloween décor.  I did my Googles and found this blog called Crafts by Amanda-easy craft tutorials for adults and kids.  My plan is to follow through and get crafty the weekend of 10/21- 10/22.  My goal is to get at least one of the kids to make the crafty luminaries with me.  Wish me luck!

Countdown to Halloween...3 weeks from tomorrow!

Oktoberfest at Imperial Oak (a local brewery) -Pumpkin Ale Review

Last week in Chicagoland the weather was amazing.  We started the day at Pet-A-Palooza where I had a Tastefully Simple booth.  BMO who is crazy about dogs came with to check out all the pups on parade. Literally, there was a Pet Parade and prizes!  Later in the day, I dragged the hubs along to check out a local brewery's  Imperial Oak Brewing Oktoberfest. 

For the event they had food trucks, a German Band and about 40 different beers on tap. Tom was a real peach, he doesn't like beer but he still posed for a picture.

Tom is holding a Sour Beer called Straw.  It was my first time trying a Sour Beer and turns out, I don't really think it's my thing. I wanted to give this a try because it is a Wild (Brett) Saison) and I like Saisons from time to time. They have a flowery essence that I find appealing during Spring.  A couple of years ago I fell in love with IPAs and all their citrus punch, but a few months ago, one day out of the blue, I was done.  I'm over IPA and Sours fall a bit into that category. Now if I'm going to enjoy a beer I'm looking at Lagers, Stouts and Porters. 

For my Pumpkin Ale, I tried the Bourbon Barrel aged Dark Gourd- Pumpkin Ale.  It was a pretty dry beer, and I didn't taste pumpkin or seasonal spices coming through.  A bit of a bummer.  Lucky for me third time is the charm.  The Kolsch was great!  Kaiser-Kolsch- 5.4 ABV, 19 IBU. What is a Kolsch? Its a nice sunny beer that is made with mostly Pilsner Malt.  ( paraphrasing from Wikipedia).  It would be spectacular paired with a big bowl of German Potato Salad. When I make my German Potato Salad I wing it, but here is a recipe that looks like the real deal should you want to try your hand at a great side dish.

A winner of a beer!  The picture doesn't do the color justice, in real life it was a brighter yellow. And there you have it, good beer super local.

New Beginnings Need Not Wait for a New Year

You may recall a couple of posts ago, I said I would be sharing an exciting new project I've decided to embark upon this Fall.  You probably don't recall this, but you may.  Ready for the scoop?  For decades I have avoided doing something I loved and planned to make my career, to write.  

Labor Day weekend the stars aligned and I had a mental shift.  I decided to stop waiting for a 'book worthy' idea to show up in my life.  Instead I made an executive decision to stop avoiding writing and just do it.  I don't need to write the next great american novel or a best seller. I think I'd rather write  comfort food, a cozy mystery. 

What's a cozy mystery?  It's when the main characteristic the story  is not a detective or police person and they are thrust into a situation where they must solve a murder. The murder typically takes place off the page and the setting is typically a small town with a small pool of potential suspects. The main character solves the murder the old fashion way-by talking with people and deduction.  If you have any familiarity with the old show "Murder, She Wrote." then you have the idea. 

I spent the rest of September working on my outline and now I am ready to write. I am going to see what I can get done in October, and then I'm challenging myself to do      NaNoWriMo(National Novel Writing Month) this November. 

I'm exciting to spend time with my Main Character who is still nameless.  I just call her Pro so far, but her daughter is Hildegard (as per Ms. Anna's request).

Wish me luck!  

xoxo

First of many review posts for Pumpkin Beers and Harvest Ales.

I have been working on getting all the pictures on my phone uploaded to Google Photos because that app allows me to post my pictures in this blog.  To get the pictures uploaded you have to have a Wi-Fi connection which means I need to remember to open the app when I am at home. I have forgotten to do so for several days now. 

What does this have to do with a beer review? My Google Photos are updated through 8/24- but I took picture of this weeks beer: Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin last week so it's not uploaded.  My executive decision at this point is to do my blog post anyway.  Maybe I'll get a picture uploaded here tomorrow and without further ado, here is my review! 

Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin:

ABV: 5.7

Cost $8.49 at Meijer

I chose to start my reviews with this beer because it was on sale.  This one is easily found in any grocery story or mass market retailer. I have had it before and enjoyed it in the past.  I purchased a 6-pack and tried one cold.  I sampled the Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin which cooking so by the end of the bottle it was getting warm.  When you take a swig of this beer you can taste malt and a bit of your favorite Fall spices cinnamon, cardamon, and cloves.  I would personally enjoy a stronger hit of the spices.  The ABV was higher than I would have guessed. It's a smooth beer and I would have assumed it didn't break 5%.  The aftertaste is a little bitter and the beer itself is best served cold. When it warms up, I find it too malty for me to enjoy.

Would I buy this again?  Maybe, if I was sharing the 6-pack with others and if I had an Ibotta rebate.  In case you aren't familiar, Ibotta is an app you can use to get rebates on purchases at grocery and other stores.  You click on a store, add the rebates that interest you and then when you get home you scan your receipt in the app and $ is added to your account.  You can redeem your rebates for various gift cards or transfer the money to your PayPal account. I'm saving my earnings for Christmas shopping.  Here is a referral link : My Ibotta Link

This weekend I'm going with Tom to a local brewery's Oktoberfest and I plan to try at least one beer to blog about-stay tuned for that! 

Happy #ThirstyThursday!*

*and I just realized I should do my pumpkin beer reviews every week on Thursdays. You heard it here first; I'm making it a thing! 

Happy Fall! No need to put away the flip flops

Fall is officially here and along with it, Chicagoland has temps over 90 degrees for another 3 or 4 days.  As anyone you run into will tell you, it's hotter now than it was in August.  August was quite lovely.  Now here we are trying to get our Fall on and you'll suffer a heat stroke if you break out the boots or savor a hot cider. 

The current weather situation has killed my mums and thrown a wrench in my meal planning plan for the week. Good thing I said I was going to meal plan in my last post because putting that down in writing has made me feel  accountable and thusly ice cream for supper Saturday through Wednesday ain't gonna happen here.

Today the man went to the grocery store and mostly followed my prepared list. Does he realize how lucky he is that I put the list in order of the store layout? Anyway he did a better than fair job of  purchasing what was on the list.  Right now the air is on and we are slow roasting a beef roast.  I am using a Tastefully Simple recipe from my One Pot 10 Meal Kit  this one is Savory Beef & Carrots .

I'll let you know how it turns out.  Tomorrow I'm going to try the Rustic Chicken Wild Rice Soup  .  Monday I'm going to keep it super simple because we have our annual eye doctor exam after I get done with work.  So chicken wings and turkey burgers w/baked French fries and salad.  Tuesday another Tastefully Simple ! Chicken Fajita Tacos Wednesday I have a Wine Wednesday Tastefully Simple party- so the fam is on their own.  For Wednesday, I am putting Bryce in charge, he likes to make pork chops.  Thursday chicken stir fry- i.e. chicken, rice and whatever vegetables are in the refrigerator.

There you have it, I just spend about 10 minutes and planned the week- with an assist from the 10-Meal Kit this week.

Next week it's going to be cooler, so I'm thinking butternut squash soup!

Pro Tip: For a slimming look, pose with a giant pumpkin!

Who knew

Who knew it would be 4 years between posts from me.  I didn't, well actually I didn't have a plan to come back to this blog.  Today I decided, let's do this thing.  I enjoy a place where I can talk about stuff and I like to look back on what the kids were up to in these posts.

Speaking of the kids, all of them are now officially teens! So I will try and respect privacy and still brag on them when possible.  In my opinion, teenagers don't particularly  have good self esteem or confidence.  Maybe it is just my 3; in any case,  I'm working on bolstering that when I have the opportunity.

Since I last wrote we moved back to Chicagoland. Turns out I need to be surrounded by people, I don't necessarily feel a need to talk to strangers, like the hubs does, but I do like lots of people around me making up a big colorful group of different lives being lived.  To whit, when I run a race I notice the people around me and savor the differences.  People can be really cool and they can suck at the same time.  I'm trying to focus on the cool part, focus on what I want to see more of,  and all that pop psychology rigmarole.

My plan for this blog moving forward is sharing some book reviews, recipes, money saving tips, great podcasts and what the family is up to in 2017 and beyond. My goal for this week is to sit down and do meal planning for the upcoming week. Wish me luck!

 I also plan to try all the pumpkin beers I can find this Fall Season - and that will start with whatever is on sale at Jewel this week. So holding myself accountable, look for 2 upcoming posts from me to you:

1. Pumpkin or Fall Ales (in case I run out of  pumpkin specific ales too quickly) review.
2. My Meal Planning Adventure

I can't leave this list at 2.  I need a third..

3. In which I discuss my new adventure, a personal project I've been putting off for over 2 decades.

xoxo

#WordlessWednesday

It's almost time to brine! 

Its Tuesday, Do you know how to carve a turkey?

I don't , I can cook one, I can brine one, but I'm pretty hopeless when it comes to carving.

Thank goodness for youtube ! Hey if you have been doing that whole post everyday in Novemeber on Facebook something you are grateful for this year and you've run out of ideas.  Well I just gave you one for today.

You're welcome!

I also have a youtube from The Food Network of Alton Brown breaking down how to carve a turkey.

And what post of how to carve a turkey can be complete without a turkey recipe, well probably all of them, but I like to share recipes so here you go:

From my webpage

Garlic Butter Basted Turkey
Submitted by Rosemary (MN) HQ Resident Chef

Ingredients
1-2 Tbsp. Italian Garlic Bread Seasoning
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
Seasoned Salt
8-12 lb. whole turkey

Directions
Combine first 2 ingredients; let stand 30 minutes. Sprinkle inside of turkey with Seasoned Salt. Rub prepared butter liberally over outside of turkey; place any leftover butter in the bottom of the turkey roasting pan. Roast turkey at 325° for about 20 minutes per pound or until a meat thermometer inserted in the thigh reaches 180°. Baste turkey with seasoned butter every 30 minutes. Makes 10-12 servings.

Talking Turkey

So when it comes to Thanksgiving where do you stand?  Are you planning a feast?  Or planning major shopping?

Even though I enjoy Christmas, and I really enjoy watching all the Hallmark Channel movies, I like the gift-free gratitude-filled -ness that is Thanksgiving.

It's also fun to try new dishes.  Especially since I have lots of opportunities to create new dishes with our Tastefully Simple products and I have lots of hosts who love to share awesome recipes with me! I'm a lucky cooker as the kids used to say when they were little.

Recently my host Annette, who is an awesome cook, made the yummiest dressing. 
If you are looking for a way to wow this Thanksgiving I must recommend it.

Here is the recipe from our website:

Creamy Wild Rice Stuffing
Submitted by Rosemary (MN) HQ Resident Chef

Ingredients
Creamy Wild Rice Soup Mix
5 cups hot water
2 tsp. Garlic Garlic™
2 - 3 Tbsp. Onion Onion™
6 - 8 slices diced bacon
4 stalks diced celery
14 oz. unseasoned breadcubes
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Combine first 4 ingredients; simmer, covered for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sauté bacon in large skillet until browned; add celery. Cook until celery is tender. Toss bread cubes in large bowl with bacon mixture and cranberries. Add prepared soup, season to taste with salt and pepper; mix well. Place dressing in greased 9 x 13 baking dish; cover with foil. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes. Remove foil, bake an additional 10-15 minutes. Serve hot. Makes 10-12 servings.

Cavemen and Cookie Creation

Over at Hayesville Elementary School the 4th grade recently completed a unit on prehistoric life. I think Miss Anna's report is charming. She thinks her picture is not good enough to share.  Where do you stand?

Ah yes, so the picture is sideway.  I resaved and re-uploaded it, like 5 times and it will not change it's orientation. 

Anna would say that is karma for posting it in the first place.

"A Day in The Life of a Nomad"
by Anna Hamel, age 9

First I would wake up, then I ate some berries and nuts. Next I went into the woods and got some birch wood.

Then I saw a Mastodon and I called everybody and we raced to get it and then I shot it with my bow and it wasn't even close to being injured.

Then the Mastodons ran away and we had to move so we packed up and moved. Then when we move it was like heaven how much animals there was so then we settled in and we could not wait to eat dinner and so then my dad and my brothers killed a giant deer.

After they brought it back we skinned it we ate it and then my mom made our bed and then we went to bed.

I think a Mastodon would taste like chicken, really good!

**********************************

Yesterday I got a little creative with my cookie making.  I wanted to do something a little different with our Citrus Sugar Cookies.

I added some Clementine Zest, I don't have a zester, so I used a cheese grater.  I had some walnuts on hand, which I never do, and so I got out my Pampered Chef rotary grater and ground up walnuts.  I rolled the cookie dough in the walnuts instead of the sugar packet included in the box. 

Next up I think I am going to try to take our Classy Chocolate Pound Cake and make it into something with more chocolate and chopped up candy canes. *Sigh* holiday dessert making, it's a tough job but someone has to do it.

Do you make cookies?

I do, but only for the holidays. And hey, guess what? 

Holidays are here. Yippee!  I have a short attention span for making cookies, so I need fast recipes.  Too bad I don't get bored with eating the cookies...That's a topic for another day.

Here at Tastefully Simple we have Citrus Sugar Cookies this year, just add and egg and butter.
Speaking of eggs, I have to share, if you like to eat cookie dough, use egg substitute and you don't have to worry about the salmonella!

Bonus on the cookies is that $1 goes toward Share Our Strength to help end childhood hunger  in America.  Recently there have been reductions in the SNAP benefits, so now more than ever ever $1 helps.

For my open house I dipped the Citrus Sugar Cookies in White Chocolate.  Here you can see them a bit.

 Mine pale in comparison to the awesomeness to be found on our Tastefully Simple blog! How yummy do these look?

If you hope over to tsrecipes.com you can see the recipe, it doesn't look too hard, I think I'll give it a try. How about you?  Do you enjoy cookie making?  cookie sharing? or cookie eating?

Well someone, probably a senior citizen, was disappointed.

Blogger shows me on a special admin screen the search phrases that have brought people to my blog. 

Recently someone somewhere searched 'sexy photo victoria hamel' and they got my blog.  Poor person. I imagine it was a gentleman in his 60s who was crushing on the actress Veronica Hamel of Hill Street Blues Fame and instead he got my blog of rambling and recipes. 

So in the interest of helping a fellow out, here a a tasteful, yet sexy pic of Veronica Hamel.

#WordlessWednesday

Set the DVR!

Looking for a family movie night idea?  On the Hallmark Channel this Friday night the movie Pete's Christmas .  Pete in the movie is the same actor who plays Greg Hefley in the Diary of a Wimpy Kids movies. 

So set the DVR and get out the popcorn for a family movie night, and bonus, it's one that no one in the house can say, "I already saw this."

 

Here is a yummy snack you can make to enjoy while watching the movie!

 

S'mores Snacks
Submitted by Kara Bohack (NY)

Ingredients
Twisty Grahams™
2/3 cup sugar
6 Tbsp. water
2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 Tbsp. marshmallow crème
6 Tbsp. water

Directions
Combine sugar and water in a small microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high for 45 to 60 seconds or until boiling; stir until sugar is dissolved. CAUTION: IT WILL BE VERY HOT. Immediately add chocolate chips; stir until melted. Blend in marshmallow crème. If a thinner glaze is desired, add hot water, a teaspoonful at a time. Lay Twisty Grahams™™™ out in a single layer on waxed paper lined tray. Drizzle glaze over Twisty Grahams™™™. Let cool completely. Store in sealed container. Makes 8 servings.

It's the Time of Year for Lists!

Yesterday, out of nowhere, Anna started talking about what she would look for in a potential boyfriend.

So I asked her to write it down. 

"What a boy has to be lie to date me."  By Anna

1. Smart
2. Hamsome (I had to keep that typo!)
3. No colored hair, like purple.
4. Not a Smart Alec.
5. Not a Dumbo.

I mean it!
(Anna w/Megan a member of the Homecoming Court)

Norse Jewel Author Gina Conkle Guest Post , Inside the Writers Home Office.

What a great summer for new books! And affordable ones at that!  Today I am super excited to have Gina Conkle author of Norse Jewel  guest posting today!

I was drawn to reading her new novel Norse Jewel for one simple reason. I like reading about the Viking getting the girl.

 Norse Jewel did not disappoint me. I was quickly drawn into the tale of Helena,  a Frankish (French) thrall (slave) and her unshakable desire to return to her homeland after being abducted by Danes.  Gina does a wonderful job of balancing historical accuracy with the sensibilities of current day readers. Not often do we have a romance, especially a historical romance that includes a single father. Having Hakan the Viking as a single dad trying to get custody of his son in the first millennium isn't standard romance fare, but I loved it.

Once you read Norse Jewel, I am sure you will be as pleased as me to learn that a follow up book is coming! Click the Picture to enter the blog tour giveaway!

Please read on as we enter Gina's home office for a tour of her work space.

Thanks for this opportunity to be here today. 

The requested topic, “My workspace and how do I feed my creativity?” grabbed me. I took a picture of my desk on Norse Jewel’s release day.  A lot of emotions…maybe reflected in the miasma of post-it notes on my desk!
 

Because our house is small, everything’s contained within my desk and a narrow bookcase beside it.

But, inspiration?

That comes from your head, your heart, your soul.  Feed those parts and you can work anywhere, even a cramped desk.

I wish I had a Zen-ish work space…like super-blogger Leo Babauta.

But it’s not. I’m not.

So, how do you build your dreams?
 

1.      “…walk into a large white room.”

Those words open chapter one of choreographer, Twyla Tharp’s book The Creative Habit.  She went to that plain room at the same time for years, decades even, creating moves that played on stages worldwide.

 Does the white room feel familiar? Like a plain canvas? Or a blank computer screen?

The lesson learned? Find your groove.  Make that a habit, and you’ll feed your muse. Your routine becomes that time that two of you sit down and get to work. 

 

Call it the Law of Propinquity.  Your muse will be a great friend if you rub shoulders with her on a continuous basis. 

 And you will be alone with your muse --- a lot.

2.      “Quietness without loneliness.”

If ideas are fishes, then solitude is the bait that lures them to the surface.

Try this.  Sit somewhere quietly.  But, don’t empty your mind.  You want your thoughts to wander where they will.  Give them a little breathing room.

See if you can do this for a few minutes.  If you reach ten minutes, then the next time expand to fifteen or twenty minutes.

We don’t allow ourselves much time to simply be…to think or wonder.

Oh, and that phrase? It’s a Gaelic phrase for that state of mind that feeds creativity.

3.      Keep a “Lifesaver List.”

The first two items I learned from Twyla Tharp.  This last lesson came the hard way: by burnout.

If your creativity is a bank account, consistent deposits balance continuous withdrawals.  You can’t take, take, take without some give in return.

So, what do you do? Keep a list of things that “fill” you up.  Learn to recognize the signs when you’re close to empty.

Here’s a few things on my “happy” list:

*Alone time with a book

*Pedicure

*Go to a bookstore

*Bubble bath

Now, why not share a few things that fill you up?

Before I go, thank you, Victoria, for hosting me and thank you to your readers for sharing part of your day with me.  I welcome you to connect with me:

On my website: http://ginaconkle.com/

On twitter: https://twitter.com/ginaconkle

On Facebook: http://on.fb.me/180kL1y

On Pinterest: http://bit.ly/180l9gu

 

 

Nice start to a new Vampire Series!

I'm pleased to share a book recommendation  for a new paranormal romance series from Entangled Publishing. Read on as I share my review of  Undying Destiny by new author Jessica Lee.

I was excited to learn that one of her inspirations is Karen Marie Moning! This book draws from the tradition of Urban Fantasy of Karen Marie Moning as well as JR Ward and Ilona Andrews.

In Undying Destiny we met Emily, a third -shift working nurse who has a real loser of an ex-finance stalking her. One night she sees a mortally wounded man in the street. Her professional instincts kick in and she attends to this stranger. Within hours her life is changed forever by Kenric St James, a Vampire who spends his nights keeps humans safe from the scourge of DEAD (Death Euphoria ADdicted ) Vampires.

Jessica Lee does a solid job of world building. I really enjoyed the DEAD concept, and the role of Kenric and his Enclave. The focus was kept on our couple but we are given the seeds of stories to come featuring other members of the Enclave.

Undying Destiny introduces us to a very rich "big bad" that I know we will meet again.  Jessica also includes a stunning betrayal and an excellent suprise in the relationship of Emily and Kenric. 

Emily comes into her own in this story, but it's not a far journey. I like that  she is strong and gets stronger as the story progresses. I look forward to Jessica's next Enclave installment! 

Here is a short excerpt from the book as well links to orders and a Giveaway!!

Undying Destiny by Jessica Lee

 

Entangled Publishing - June 2013

 

 

Kenric St. James is out for revenge. Over 300 years ago, an ancient female vampire turned him against his will and killed the woman he loved. He’s spent more than a century building an Enclave of warrior vampires who have sworn to defend humanity against his evil sire and her minions. But when Kenric finds a woman he finally burns to claim as his own again, Kenric knows loving her means giving his sire another target.

 

Emily Ross just wanted a fresh start. She’s a survivor, coming off the tail end of an abusive relationship, and craves time alone to learn who she is and to save the home that holds her heart. The last thing she needed was a controlling, alpha male calling all the shots.

 

Meeting Kenric might just have changed her mind, though. He is wrong for her in all the right ways. But in order to keep her heart from breaking, he first has to keep the hoards of evil vamps from stealing her very breath.

 

Title: Undying Destiny

Author: Jessica Lee

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Release Date: June 2013

Imprint: Edge

 

Purchase from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Undying-Destiny-Enclave-Entangled-ebook/dp/B00CK55RJ2/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=36TOXN5A9DZUF&coliid=I1T3598Q45ETJ6

 

Purchase from Barnes & Noble:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/undying-destiny-jessica-lee/1115290509?ean=9781622660988

 

Author Information

 

 

Almost every author's bio states they've been writing since they learned how to read. It's what they've always wanted to do. Well, my journey wasn't so straight and narrow. I was a nurse for over twenty years and hold a bachelor's degree in science with a major in biology. So as you can see, my career path had originally gone in the opposite direction. I didn't discover my passion for the craft until after I'd had my son and decided to work part-time.

I've always loved to read but had never read a paranormal romance. Then one night at work on break, I began reading Karen Marie Moning's Spell of the Highlander. I couldn't believe what I'd been missing, and I immediately fell in love with the genre.

I wanted to write like that. I wanted to create worlds where others could find the same escape and fascination I did when I read my first sensual paranormal romance.

And I hope that's what I've accomplished in my work. Please dive in, hold on tight, and enjoy the adventure. Just be careful in the dark—you might find more than you expected waiting for you there.

Jessica Lee lives in the southeastern United States with her husband and son. She loves writing and can't wait for that quiet time each day when her son is in school, and she can get lost in another place and world with the fantastical, sexy creatures in her head.

She's a member of Romance Writers of America Carolina Romance Writers.

Author Website:http://www.jessicaleenovels.com/index.html

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessicaleenovels

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jessleenovels

Goodreads:http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3013591.Jessica_Lee

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Retro 80s Summer Bonding with Anna

Mmm Soapy goodness. Remember when everyone watched Soap Operas? As a youngster, I spent many a summer afternoon with Days of Our Lives, Another World and General Hospital. How could I not?  Look at handsome Uncle Jessie before he was Uncle Jessie.

Plus, though it is hard to believe, back then, there was no Teen Nick or a Disney Franchise built around cute teenage boys and girls. So what was a kid to do?  Oh don't worry I spent plenty of time running around outside playing with friends and riding my bike.  I still found time to watch the Soaps, and all without a DVR.

So here we are,  it's now the 50th Anniversary of General Hospital.  I haven't watch the show in perhaps two decades; but, Anna and I like to watch The Chew a few days a week, and one day we were sitting there after it was over and we got sucked in to General Hospital. Some of the characters have changed, but there are many actors and actresses still hanging in there from when I was a wee lass.

Pretty remarkable to have such a long running gig in the mercurial world of television.  50 years in, the show is still providing summer bonding for moms and daughters.

Anna  is still freaked out that Uncle Jessie was on a Soap Opera.

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Awesome Recipe from The Chew website just click the picture to be taken to the recipe which is actually a lightened up Chicken Saltimbocca!