Contest Winners

 

The winners from my Big Birthday Bash giveaway are:

$25.00 Amazon gift certificate- Jennifer Simpkins

pdf copy of "A Kitchen Affair" - flchen1

pdf copy of "Saved by the Sheriff" - Crystal Newman

pdf copy of "Love, Lies & Deceit" - Ashley Applebee

Congratulations to the winners! I will be contacting you soon.

Thanks to everyone who entered.

Carol 

Big Birthday Bash Giveaway

My birthday is coming up on Wednesday, January 30 and I want to celebrate by giving four lucky readers some gifts. I've been blessed with a wonderful family, great friends, and loyal readers, so I want to give back with a free giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment below with your email address and you're entered. I will used Random.org, a random number generator, to choose the lucky winners. What are the prizes?

First Prize is a $25.00 Amazon gift certificate

Second Prize is a .pdf copy of "A Kitchen Affair"

Third Prize is a .pdf copy of "Saved by the Sheriff"

Fourth Prize is a .pdf copy of "Love, Lies & Deceit"

You can enter only once and the deadline is 11:59 EST on January 30. The winner will be announced the evening of January 31.

You can find descriptions of my books on my Amazon Author Page.

Good luck!

Carol

 
 Please keep comments G-rated, or face possible deletion.

Very Inspired Blogger Award

Over the weekend, I was tagged for the Very Inspired Blogger Award by Christina Cole and Cindy Christiansen from their blogs. Thanks ladies, I appreciate the award. For my readers here, please go visit these ladies' blogs. They are wonderful writers.

The Rules:

1. Display the award logo on your blog.
2. Link back to the person who nominated you.
3. State 7 things about yourself.
4. Nominate 15 bloggers for this award and link to them.
5. Notify those blogger of the nominations and award requirements.

Seven things about me:

1. I live in Indiana.
2. I LOVE Indianapolis Colts football.
3. My day job is as a Human Services Consultant.
4. I want to visit Vermont and Colorado some day.
5. My husband and I want to retire to the mountains in Tennessee.
6. My favorite genre to read are mysteries.
7. I hold a amateur radio license.

I'm supposed to nominate 15 other blogs, but the truth is that pretty much everyone I know that has a blog has already been nominated. If you have a blog and want nominated, consider it done and post away.

Carol

I'm such a movie geek

Several of my co-workers and I were having a conversation about movies over lunch this past week and I had to admit that I was a movie geek. I love movies, but tend to wait until they are on DVD or television before I watch them. It's so expensive to go to a movie these days, especially with the concessions, that I usually wait, unless it's something that I really want to see.

The other ladies and I discussed the types of movies that we like and I was in the minority. Most of their favorites were "chick flicks." My favorites are suspense and action dramas, especially if they involve police, federal agents, or military.

I've been known to occasionally watch a historical or period movie. Which brings me to why I'm writing this. I was on Pinterest tonight and saw the photo below which absolutely put me in the mood to watch Lord of the Rings tonight. I remember when he made that first appearance in the movie. That shadowed face, that voice was all I needed. He fast became my favorite character in the movie. So, while you're reading this, I'll have enjoyed the night with Aragorn.

Carol

Author T.J. Brown

Today, I'd like to feature author, T.J. Brown a successful writer that I am honored to have as a friend. T.J.'s newest release is called Summerset Abbey and if you are a fan of the PBS series Downton Abbey, I think you will enjoy her book.

Summerset Abbey
1913: In a sprawling manor on the outskirts of London, three young women seek to fulfill their destinies and desires amidst the unspoken rules of society and the distant rumblings of war. . . .
Rowena Buxton
Sir Philip Buxton raised three girls into beautiful and capable young women in a bohemian household that defied Edwardian tradition. Eldest sister Rowena was taught to value people, not wealth or status. But everything she believes will be tested when Sir Philip dies, and the girls must live under their uncle’s guardianship at the vast family estate, Summerset Abbey. Standing up for a beloved family member sequestered to the “under class” in this privileged new world, and drawn into the Cunning Coterie, an exclusive social circle of aristocratic “rebels,” Rowena must decide where her true passions—and loyalties—lie.
Victoria Buxton
Frail in body but filled with an audacious spirit, Victoria secretly dreams of attending university to become a botanist like her father. But this most unladylike wish is not her only secret. Now, Victoria has stumbled upon a family scandal that, if revealed, has the potential to change lives forever…
Prudence Tate
Prudence was lovingly brought up alongside Victoria and Rowena, and their bond is as strong as blood. But by birth she is a governess’s daughter, and to the lord of Summerset Abbey, that makes her a commoner who must take her true place in society—as ladies maid to her beloved “sisters.” But Pru doesn’t belong in the downstairs world of the household staff any more than she belongs upstairs with the Buxton girls.  And when a young lord catches her eye, she begins to wonder if she’ll ever truly carve out a place for herself at Summerset Abbey…
Other books in the series:
A BLOOM IN WINTER (Summerset Abbey #2) March 5, 2013
SPRING AWAKENING (Summerset Abbey #3) August 6, 2013

BIO

TJ Brown is passionate about books, writing, history, dachshunds and mojitos. If she could go back in time, she would have traveled back to England, 1910, Paris, 1927 or Haight-Ashbury, 1967. She resides in the burbs of Portlandia, where she appreciates the weirdness, the microbreweries, hoodies, Voodoo Donuts and the rain.

Find her: TWITTER, FACEBOOK, WEBSITE, GOODREADS

 

Where to find my book

My book, A Kitchen Affair, is finally starting to pop up on all the different book buying sites.You can find that book, as well as my other books, on the sites below.


Sweet Cravings Publishing

Amazon/Kindle

Barnes & Noble/Nook

All Romance eBooks

Bookstrand


Enjoy,
Carol

Upcoming Appearances

In the following few months, I will be making appearances on several blogs for interviews and guest posts. Below, I have listed when and where you can find me. I'll also update this post as new dates become available.

Carol

Online Appearances:

January 14 - Molly's Musings

January 16 - Author Raine Delight Blog

January 21 - Drea Becraft Blog

January 28 - Marian Allen's Blog

February 8 - Heartbreaker Blog Hop here on my blog

February 11 - Marci Boudreaux blog

February 14 - Swept Away Blog Hop here on my blog

February 19 - Susana's Morning Room

February 26 - LaBelle Books

March 8  -  Tabby Shay's Blog 

March 9  -  Secret Cravings Dessert Hop here on this blog

In Person Appearance:

March 16 - That Book Place Author's Fair in Madison, Indiana

Passionate Cooks

I realized today that I had totally forgotten to tell you about my submission to the cookbook that All Romance Ebooks has made available free for everyone. It's called Passionate Cooks and includes recipes from some of the authors that sell at ARe. My addition to the book is my recipe for Chocolate Pancakes. They're so yummy. 

If you love to cook new things, I highly recommend that you get this e-book. You can't beat the price - FREE. You can find it on the All Romance Ebooks site.

Carol

Release Day for "A Kitchen Affair"

Today is the release for my third novel, A Kitchen Affair. My last two novels were romantic suspense novels, but with this one, I decided to try something a little different. This is a sweet romance; no explicit sex scenes, which are usually the norm for romance novels. That's not to say there isn't sex in the book. There is, but it's left to the reader's imagination.

With this book, I was able to combine two of my favorite things, writing and food. When you write about a personal chef, you have to include some really great food and with Jenny cooking for at least three dinner parties, you can expect to read about some scrumptious dishes. I tried to introduce a dish in every chapter. I now wish I had included the recipes at the end of each chapter, but oh well, that's what blogs are for, right? So, below you will find a recipe for Chocolate Rum Cheesecake, which Jenny makes for Derek in the book.

You can purchase A Kitchen Affair on Amazon or on Barnes & Noble 

Carol

Chocolate Rum Cheesecake

For the crust:

1 1/4 c. crushed chocolate wafers

1/4 c. cocoa

2 T. sugar

1/4 c. melted butter

For the filling:

2 - 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

5 - 12 oz. packages semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled

1/2 t. almond extract

1 t. vanilla

1/3 c. rum 

2/3 c. sour cream

Preheat the oven to 300°f. Grease a spring form pan.

To make the crust, combine chocolate wafer crumbs, sugar, cocoa, and melted butter. Press into bottom of spring form pan and chill.

To make the filling, beat the cream cheese until it's smooth adding sugar gradually. Add in eggs one at a time and mix at low speed. Add cooled chocolate, vanilla, almond extract, rum, and sour cream. Beat at low speed until completed blended. Pour into the spring form pan and bake for 1 hour. After the hour, turn off the oven, but leave the cake in for one hour longer. Cool at room temperature and then chill for at least 24 hours before serving.