Winter Blogfest: Helen C. Johannes

December 26, 2024 By 4 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a Kindle copy of The Prince of Val-Feyridge, US only . 

A Festive Holiday Alternative to Pie by Helen C. Johannes

With the holidays just around the corner, many of us are planning our holiday dinner menus. If your family is looking forward to the traditional pumpkin pie, wonderful! However, if you’re looking for alternative desserts, or need an extra one if company is coming, I have a recipe for you. And it looks super festive, too!

This family recipe for Apple Upside-down Cake is at least 70 years old, so definitely tried and true! Simple, everyday ingredients. It’ll look lovely on your brunch table if that’s the meal you’re hosting on the big day.

Apple Upside-down Cake

Cake batter:

¼ cup butter or other fat

½ cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 ½ cups sifted flour

2 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

½ cup milk

2-4 firm-fleshed apples, peeled, quartered and sliced (enough to cover the bottom of a 10-inch round pan)

Topping:

1-2 tsp. cinnamon (to taste preference) mixed with ¼ cup sugar

10-inch round pan. Springform pan works best but a layer-cake pan or pie pan also will serve.

Parchment paper

Cream the fat while adding the sugar, well-beaten egg, and vanilla. Sift the dry ingredients together and add alternately with the milk to the first mixture. Line the pan with parchment paper and spray or grease the lining. Pare, quarter, and slice the apples thin. Arrange the slices in an overlapping layer on the bottom of the pan, starting with the outer rim and working in circles to the center. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the apple layer. Pour the cake mixture over the apples. The batter is thick and may need to be spread with a knife to cover all the apples. Bake at 325 for 45 min. Allow to cool for a few minutes before inverting onto a plate or serving platter and removing the parchment paper. Serve warm or cool with whipped cream or hard sauce or ice cream.

Enjoy!

She’s all wrong for Prince Arn, this lowborn healer who keeps meddling in his march to conquer her homeland. If only she hadn’t helped him, and he hadn’t kissed her, he could stop looking for her everywhere, hoping to find her…again.

Prince Arn has a destiny-an ancient throne-but he’s not waiting for fate to deliver when he can act now, before his enemies organize against him. The healer Aerid longs for her barely remembered homeland. Marked out by her gift and her unusual looks, she insists she is no witch. The swordsman Naed hopes to honorably defend his uncle’s holding, but he harbors a secret fascination for the exotic healer. Prince Arn’s campaign against Aerid’s homeland throws them into a triangle of forbidden love, betrayal, and heartbreak. Only when they realize love is blood-kin to friendship, and neither is possible without risk, can they forge a new alliance and restore a kingdom.

If you long to be swept away from today’s worries, what better way than joining larger-than-life characters on an epic quest where honor matters, a broken land’s future is at stake, and forbidden love requires world-altering sacrifices?

 

Helen C. Johannes writes award-winning fantasy romance inspired by the fairy tales she grew up reading and the amazing historical places she’s visited in England, Ireland, Scotland and Germany. She writes tales of adventure and romance in fully realized worlds sprung from pure imagination and a lifelong interest in history, culture, and literature. Warriors on horseback, women who refuse to sit idly at home, and passion that cannot be denied or outrun—that’s what readers will find in her books.

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Winter Blogfest: Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

December 26, 2024 By 1 Comment

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a digital copy of Sleuthing the Klondike.

December

The word December comes from the Latin word decem which means ‘ten’. In the Roman calendar, which began with the month of March, December was the tenth month. The days between the end of December and the beginning of March (cold and snowy in the Northern Hemisphere and hot and sunny in the Southern Hemisphere) were originally unnamed. Eventually, those days were given the names January and February and they were considered the first months of the calendar year. Although December was now the twelfth month in the Gregorian calendar, which was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, its name was kept.

December has the shortest daylight hours and longest nighttime hours on December 21 and that day marks the beginning of winter. It is the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere, with December 21 having the longest daylight hours and shortest nighttime hours. That day marks the beginning of summer.

The Anglo Saxons had two names for the month of December. One was ‘Winter Monath’, which is self-explanatory, and the other was ‘Yule Monath’ which is the custom of burning a Yule log as part of the pagan Yule celebrations. Yule, at the time, meant the observance of the Winter Solstice. It is now synonymous with the word Christmas and the celebration of the birth of the baby Jesus. When the Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity they changed the name of ‘Winter Monath’ or ‘Yule Monath’ to ‘Heligh Monath’ meaning ‘Holy Month’.

For the Native American first peoples, the full moon in December was called the ‘Full Cold Moon’ because of the cold winter months that followed it.

There are other important holidays observed in December along with Christmas. The Jews celebrate Hanukkah, which takes place on the 25th day of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar and lies between late November and late December. This is in recognition of the rise of Jews against their Greek/Syrian oppressors, as well as, the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century AD.

The Buddhists celebrate Bodhi Day on December 8. A man named Siddhartha sat under a Bodhi tree and meditated for three days until he found the root of suffering and liberated himself from it. On the third day he discovered the answers he sought and became enlightened. He was then known as Buddha or the ‘Awakened One.’

A Hindu festival, Datta Jayanti, commemorates the birth day of the Hindu Deity Dattatreya or Datta, which is the combined form of the Hindu male divine trinity of Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma. The festival takes place between November 30th and December 3rd in the temples throughout India.

December is a month full of historical events, festivals, and observances of special days. And it marks the end of the old year and a time to look forward to the new one.

Helen Castrel has just arrived in Victoria, British Columbia, from England and she hires Baxter Davenport of the Davenport & Son Detective Agency to go with her to Dawson City and help find her second oldest brother, David, whom she hasn’t seen since she was eleven years old.

David had been trouble to the family since he was young and was sent to Canada as a remittance man ten years ago. The last communication her father, Charles Castrel, received from David was late last summer when he sent a telegram from Victoria, British Columbia, saying he was on his way to the Klondike gold rush at Dawson City. Since then Charles Gastrel has heard nothing from his son, not even a letter stating where his remittance money was to be sent. Helen needs to find David to make sure he’s alive and to deliver a message from their father.

Baxter Davenport isn’t sure about travelling north with two women. He will have a job to do and doesn’t need to be looking after them. Plus, he doesn’t like the idea that Helen Castrel is excited about being a sleuth along with him. He soon finds out that both women can look after themselves.

Mattie Lewis, Helen Castrel’s lady’s maid, insisted on accompanying Helen, not only to look after her but because she has worked for the family for years and remembers David better than Helen does. She also has her own motive for wanting to find David.

The three head north armed with an old photograph and a recent description they obtained from David’s former landlady. They arrive in Dawson City where the gold rush is in full swing. There they are challenged by deceit, fraud, and danger in their quest to find David.

Joan Donaldson-Yarmey began her writing career with a short story, progressed to travel and historical articles, and then on to travel books. Between 1990 and 2000 Joan traveled through and researched the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, the territory of the Yukon, and the state of Alaska and wrote seven books them.

She called these books her Backroads series and in them she described what there is to see and do along their back roads. Once she was finished travelling she switched to fiction writing and has had four mystery novels published: ‘Gold Fever’ is a stand-alone mystery/romance; and ‘Illegally Dead’, ‘The Only Shadow In The House’, and ‘Whistler’s Murder’ are three novels in her Travelling Detective Series.

Romancing the Klondike, Rushing the Klondike, and Sleuthing the Klondike are her Yukon Historical Novels. Joan has also published two Canadian Historical novels for two young adults: West To The Bay and West to Grande Portage. The third one will be out in 2025. She has had two holiday romances, The Twelve Dates of Christmas, and Single Bells (both written with her sister Gwen Donaldson) published. In the continued variety in her writing, Joan has also written Cry of the Guilty, Silence of the Innocent, a two book sci/fi series. The titles are: The Criminal Streak and Betrayed.

Joan was born in New Westminster, B.C. Canada, and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. Since she loves change, Joan has moved over thirty times in her life, living on acreages and farms and in small towns and cities throughout Alberta and B.C. After seventeen years on Vancouver Island she is now back in Edmonton.

Joan belongs to Crime Writers of Canada and Writer’s Guild of Alberta.

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Winter Blogfest: Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

December 26, 2024 By 2 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an ebook copy of Homeward Bound Hearts. Book is also available in paperback. 

Once in Awhile You Can Go Home Again by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

We all have somewhere our heart calls home. Sometimes it’s only a memory but there are times when home remains a reality. Sometimes we find unexpected blessings, especially during the holiday season. And although Thomas Wolfe wrote that you can’t go home again, once in a while you can and do.

After a move far away, we were going home, to my Granny’s house, for the holiday when I was ten. We had a tree in our new place but were told there would not be another at Granny’s.

On a cold December night, we arrived at Granny’s old two-story frame house. We unloaded our suitcases, brought in a couple of bags of presents, and when we headed upstairs to bed, I made a discovery.

A tall Douglas Fir rested against the wall in one of the bedrooms. The soft pine aroma wafted from it. Delighted, I hugged my grandmother and thanked her, but it wasn’t her doing.

My dad’s oldest brother, Uncle Roy, provided a tree. We decorated it with the simplest ornaments, a new glass topper from the dime store, and a string of lights. That scrawny tree remains my favorite in a lifetime of Christmas trees and traditions.

I still recall the joy of going home for Christmas and the love surrounding me once there.

In Homeward Bound Hearts, Jeb Hill returns home after being injured. He doesn’t expect much but he has nowhere else to go. His return becomes a defining moment in his life and leads to the family he’s long wanted.

Here’s the blurb and a brief excerpt:

 

Take one saddle bronc ridin’ cowboy, Jeb Hill, the Hillbilly Hotshot, who suffers the worst injury of his career. Send him home to be cared for by a widowed nurse, Shelby Thacker, who struggles to pay her bills and support her two children. Add some friendship, then stir in a little attraction. Complicate things with the return of Jeb’s long absent father and throw in the Christmas season. Jeb wants an old-fashioned, heartwarming Christmas, but Shelby’s poverty destroyed her holiday spirit long ago. Toss in some faith, a country church, and a rodeo rider ready to play Santa Claus. Shelby’s and Jeb’s friendship deepens, but can they fulfill each other’s hopes and dreams?

 

“Bring it on, then.” Jeb bit his lip so he wouldn’t groan. He’d hurt before many times, but not this bad. “Will I walk again?”

“No reason you shouldn’t. You can talk to the doctor when he comes in, which will be soon. Dr. Ahmed is making rounds. I’ll get your meds and be back. Don’t go anywhere.” Sam stood and winked.

If he could have, Jeb would have punched him square in the nose.

Before the physician arrived, the nurse returned and injected Jeb with morphine.

It dulled Jeb’s pain to a tolerable level, but relief wasn’t immediate.

Dr. Ahmed sauntered into the room in a confident fashion. His salt-and-pepper hair and beard indicated he wasn’t young. He catalogued Jeb’s injuries, outlined the treatment plan, and read the chart. “Have you been briefed on your injuries?”

“I got two questions —will I be able to walk and can I ride again?” Jeb clenched the edge of the sheet with his fingers. Both activities were important to Jeb. His future depended on those abilities.

“Walking shouldn’t be a problem, not after rehab and therapy. Dr. Ahmed tugged at his tidy goatee. “Riding horses is more problematic. I don’t recommend busting broncs or participating in any other rodeo events in the future. Although you’ll recover from the fracture, your spine is compromised. You don’t want any further injury because any future breaks are more likely to cause permanent issues.”

The doctor’s stern expression sobered Jeb. He tightened his jaw so hard it ached. If he couldn’t ride, he would no longer be able to compete. With his career and livelihood at stake, Jeb drew a harsh breath as he steeled himself not to weep. “When can I go home?” Jeb pictured his quiet farmhouse back in Missouri. “And how do I get there?

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Winter Blogfest: E.L. Roux

December 26, 2024 By 2 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an ebook copy of Unrequited Love (claim before January 1st) . 

Allergy and Food Intolerance-Friendly Chex Mix by E.L. Roux

Hi All,

This is your friendly low fantasy romance author E.L. Roux, here to talk about all things festive, and by all things, I really mean food. I have food intolerances (not allergies fortunately), but it means I have a hard time digesting fun things like wheat, dairy, soy, and plants in the Allioideae family including onions, shallots, and garlic. Sadly things like Lactaid don’t work for me, but I was able to find a powder that enabled be to digest onions and garlic (Fodzyme has been a lifesaver to my tastebud delight).

All of this is to say I love food, mainly because I have to make a lot of my food, and I try to include that love in my work. This time of year, I make a mean Chex Mix, a homemade peppermint bark, fudge, pumpkin pie, and cookies, so many cookies.

What I’ve found if you’re cooking for yourself, or a family member or friend, is that you need to read labels constantly, even for items you’ve used in the past. Don’t assume that because it’s labeled on the front as something that there isn’t a weird ingredient in it that could trigger a response. Non-stick sprays tend to almost always have soy in them. I’ve come across soy in spaghetti sauce instead of olive oil, and milk hides in things as a thickener. Vegetable oil usually contains soy, and margarine isn’t always dairy free.

All those hard things to remove aside, here’s the Spicey Check Mix I make several times around the holiday season:

• 3 cups Corn Chex
• 3 cups Rice Chex
• 1 cup nuts of choice
• 2 cups Pretzels (not all gf pretzels are soy and dairy free)
• 1/4 cup imitation butter (I use Smart Balance or soy free Earth Balance)
1/4 cup corn oil
• 1.5 tablespoon parsley flakes
• 1.5 teaspoon celery salt (watch the salt in the butter because you can over salt)
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 6-12 drops of hot sauce (tabasco is usually a safe bet)

Set oven to 250°F.

1. Heat butter and oil with flavor additions until combined and simmering, stirring occasionally.
2. Turn off heat before flavorings burn.
3. Add Chex, nuts, and pretzels into a clean paper bag.
4. Add flavoring a few teaspoons at a time, shaking and mixing the bag between additions, until all flavorings have been added and the Chex has a light oil covering.
5. Give the Chex a taste and adjust flavoring as needed by adding more spice or salt. If more oil is needed, use appropriate oil spray like an avocado oil nonstick spray or the rare canola oil nonstick spray. NOTE: I haven’t tried an olive oil spray because of its distinct flavor.
6. Place an even layer of the Chex Mix on a cookie sheet/s and place in oven the rough middle of the oven. Dry out Chex Mix in oven until fingers no longer come away with moisture and flip mix half way through (usually takes 2 to 3 hours).

Cool down before storing in an airtight container to keep it crisp😊 or just eat it by the handful like I do.

I hope you enjoy this spicy mix as much as I do!

E.L. Roux

 

I’ve been in a rut since my boyfriend dumped me, and now he’s in my coffee shop every day with his new fiancé. When grouchy Cane makes my body hum again, I know I’m ready to move on. With his curled horns and awkward smile, I’m braced for Cane to ask me out, except he doesn’t.

Cane wants to make a deal. I’d help to foresee into my ex’s love life, something I don’t want to do, and I’m guaranteed a sexy night of skin-on-skin contact wrapped in Cane’s warm muscled arms, an experience I might have been hoping for.

What’s the harm in partaking of the pleasures the spell requires? The thing is, love spells require one thing, and it’s something I’m not sure I can give…

 

E.L. Roux is a Science Fiction and Fantasy Romance author who writes about finding love in all the wrong places. E.L. uses their knowledge on everything from prosthetics to the sport of fencing, to weave together complex romances you can’t put down.

E.L. Roux lives in Washington State with their artistically inclined family, an indoor street cat, and a terror of a Bosten Terrier.

To find out more about this author, or to stay in touch, visit www.linktr.ee/elroux

BIO

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Winter Blogfest: Cherie Colyer

December 26, 2024 By 2 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a digital copy of Merry Little Wishing Spritz. Additional for US only, swag. 

 

Embracing the Warmth of the Season and Wishing You Happy Tidings by Cherie Colyer

 

As the temperatures drop and snow gently falls outside, blanketing the world in a peaceful white canvas, there’s an undeniable warmth that fills the air. The holiday season is a wonderful time for coming together, but it’s also a beautiful opportunity to slow down, reflect, and find joy in the simple pleasures of life.

My holiday decorations are up, my shopping is down, and it is way too cold to be outside for long periods of time. But it’s a perfect time of year to curl up with an enchanting book or movie. I like to nestle in my favorite chair, wrapped in my cozy Gryffindor throw. The aroma of hot coffee, with a hint of peppermint, wafting through the air as I hold the steaming mug in my hands. It’s the perfect setting to lose myself in a captivating story. Be it a classic holiday tale, a heartwarming romance, or a spellbinding fantasy, escaping into another world, leaving behind the hustle and bustle of everyday life, is a wonderful escape.

As you reflect on another year past, as the outside world fades away, replaced by the magic of the story unfolding before you, in this tranquil space, I wish you peace, joy, and a renewed sense of wonder. So, this holiday season, give yourself the gift of time—time to relax, to read, and to bask in the warmth of the season.

 

Happy holidays, happy reading, and may 2025 be filled with magic! 📚❄️☕

When modern-day witch Cassie Moore’s cozy life is threatened, she casts a well-intended spell meant to save her apartment and her job. But magic is unpredictable, especially when her friend casts a little charm of her own that has Cassie lusting after the man she desperately wants to despise.

 

Professional network technician by day, novelist by night, Cherie lives a quiet life in the Chicago suburbs with her charming husband. She has four amazing sons who she loves dearly. Cherie magically weaves together stories with a paranormal twist. She’s the author of the Embrace series (Embrace, Hold Tight, and Entwined), Challenging Destiny, Damned When I Didn’t, and Friends to the End. She waltzes into the adult novel world with this enchanting holiday romance, Merry Little Wishing Spritz.

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Winter Blogfest: Susie Black

December 26, 2024 By 16 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an ebook copy of Death by Sample Size, book one in my award-winning Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series. 

Why Jews Eat Chinese Food on Christmas by Susie Black

What makes the holiday season most special are the traditions we create and share; and in that way, make them uniquely our own. Even those of us who do not celebrate Christmas have still found ways to participate in the joy of the season. For us Jews, eating Chinese food on Christmas day has become an international tradition that started in New York in the 1930s. They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Jews looking for a special way to celebrate a day off on December 25th in a friendly place with a welcoming atmosphere featuring exotic food they didn’t normally eat were hard-pressed to find any restaurants open except those whose proprietors did not celebrate Christmas either. In most neighborhoods, Chinese restaurants were the only ones open on Christmas Day. And so, as many things in life come to be, out of necessity or by process of elimination, a delightful tradition was born.

My maternal grandparents were married on December 25th and every year celebrated their anniversary by following this tradition. They, in turn, passed it down to my mother who continued it when she married and had children, and passed it down to us. I cannot recall any Jew I knew who did not go out for Chinese food on Christmas day.

Chinese food was the first foreign food I was introduced to as a small child. I spent the early years of my childhood in Linden, New Jersey, a bedroom community southwest of Manhattan. One particularly cold and snowy Christmas day my father was under the weather, so rather than go out to eat in a Chinese restaurant like we normally would, my mother brought in take–out Chinese food instead. We ate Chinese food often throughout the year, and my mother frequented a neighborhood Chinese take-out. We got to know the owner, a kind and generous older Chinese man who always paid me special attention. That evening, I accompanied my mother to pick up dinner. When it was our turn to order, I told the owner I didn’t want to eat his food any longer because he put worms in it. He wasn’t offended, but he asked me to show him the worms. I pointed to some translucent squiggly-looking worms in the chow mein he was about to put into a container as part of our order. He asked my mother if I could come back to the kitchen with him. She said yes. We went into the kitchen, and he sat me on a stool next to him in the preparation area. He showed me how he cut the onions and how he cooked them. When they were done, he explained they were not worms, but the same thin onion strips he just cut that when cooked, only looked like worms to me (I was about 5 years old). When I was still not completely convinced, he gave me one to taste, and then I was sold. He and I were BFFs after that…I always got extra fortune cookies and almond cookies.

As an adult with a family of my own, we have continued this holiday tradition. We have Chinese food at Christmas every year. As our son lives overseas, most of the time it is just my husband and me. But we also have enjoyed sharing this tradition with both our Jewish friends as well as Gentiles who celebrate the holiday with us. Sharing our tradition with those of other faiths is the most special for us because it truly embodies the fraternal spirit of the season in the sweetest possible way.

The good news is you don’t have to be Jewish to eat Chinese food on Christmas…but it helps. Whichever way you celebrate the holiday, may your traditions bring you and yours the joy that comes with the sense of belonging that binds us humans together.

 

Mermaid Swimwear President Holly Schlivnik discovers the Bainbridge Department Store Easter Bunny slumped over dead and obnoxious swimwear buyer Sue Ellen Magee is arrested for the crime. Despite her differences with the nasty buyer, Holly is convinced the Queen of Mean didn’t do it. The wise-cracking, irreverent amateur sleuth jumps into action to nail the real killer. But the trail has more twists than a pretzel and more turns than a rollercoaster. And nothing turns out the way Holly thinks it will as she tangles with a clever killer hellbent on revenge.

 

Named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, award-winning cozy mystery author Susie Black was born in the Big Apple but now calls sunny Southern California home. Like the protagonist in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Susie is a successful apparel sales executive. Susie began telling stories as soon as she learned to talk. Now she’s telling all the stories from her garment industry experiences in humorous mysteries. 

She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an accent that sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the locals. Since life without pizza and ice cream as her core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she’s a dedicated walker to keep her girlish figure. A voracious reader, she’s also an avid stamp collector and sailor. Susie lives with a highly intelligent man and has one incredibly brainy but smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited genetic defect.

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Winter Blogfest: Morgan Malone

December 26, 2024 By 1 Comment

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment to win Lights of Love, the first book in my Dickens Hanukkah Romance trilogy, and Hanukkah swag, including chocolate gelt, dreidel, and stickers. And a surprise. US only, please. 

A Pirate Menorah! by Morgan Malone

I love Pirates. I have ever since I watched Captain Bloodstarring Errol Flynn decades ago with my mom. Even more after reading The Golden Hawk, one of her romance novels, by Frank Yerby, when I was barely out of Middle School. And then the irrepressible Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, stole my heart!

Once I began writing my own romance novels fifteen years ago, I dreamed about and talked about writing my own pirate romance. I researched for years and the idea grew from one novel to a trilogy. I dragged friends and readers along the way with me, discussing ideas, telling them snippets of what I had written, and even dragging them to interesting (to me) pirate sites along the East Coast.

It was no surprise, then, when gifts for birthdays and Hanukkah took on the pirate theme. Pictured here is perhaps my favorite Hanukkah gift so far, from a dear friend and avid reader: a Pirate Menorah!

It has become a family favorite, especially with my grandsons who are vastly amused by Bubbe’s fascination with pirates. When they, or my daughter, join me on one of the eight nights of Hanukkah, it is the Pirate Menorah that must be adorned with pink candles and lighted to celebrate our holiday.

And because I am a writer, certain things from my life find their way into my books, though none of the characters in my Pirates of the Eastern Shore series have yet celebrated Hanukkah.

But, Saul, the hero of my first Dickens Hanukkah Romance, Lights of Love, is a retired Naval officer. His lady love, Judy, while shopping for Hanukkah gifts, comes across a pirate menorah, which she buys as a gift for him. It becomes a turning point in the story.

Now, two years later, as I wrote my third book in the series, Latkes of Love, it was no surprise to me that the pirate menorah makes another, brief appearance at Saul and Judy’s Hanukkah celebration attended by the hero of the book, Morty, also a retired Naval officer. I imagine that the now famous pirate menorah will become part of another book in my future.

Best wishes to all for a happy and peaceful Holiday Season.

Morgan Malone

This will never work. He is a long-time widower, immersed in the family business, devoted to his son, daughter-in-law and grandsons. A long-time pillar of the community. And he thinks she is a busybody, a yenta, always with an opinion, always a little brash, a little too bold.

There is no way this could work. She is a divorcee, the survivor of betrayal at the deepest level by a controlling husband. But she prevailed in the messy divorce and now lives comfortably in a rambling Victorian, shared with her widowed best friend. She keeps busy, at the synagogue, playing mah jongg and minding everyone’s business. She thinks he is a bit too straitlaced, old-fashioned and tied to his past.

How could this work? Neither is looking for a happy ever after. But as the candles of Hanukkah cast their miraculous glow, love grows. Is it just the holiday or is it time for Morty and Margot to fall in love for the last time in their lives?

 

Morgan Malone has been reading romance since the age of twelve, when she first snuck her mother’s copy of The Saracen Blade under the covers to read by flashlight. An award-winning published author of fiction by the age of eight, Morgan waited fifty years, including thirty as an Administrative Law Judge for a small New York State agency, to pen her next work of fiction. Now retired from her legal career, Morgan lives near Saratoga Springs, N.Y., waiting to find her next rescue dog. When not writing later-in-life romance about men and women who fall in love for the last, or maybe the first, time in their lives, Morgan is penning romantic memoirs or painting watercolors. She travels frequently with her wonderful daughter, a Clinical Psychologist, and spends time with her awesome son-a realtor, amazing daughter-in-law-a nurse, and two delightful grandsons who live nearby.

 

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Winter Blogfest: Kathleen Buckley

December 25, 2024 By 7 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win any one of my e-books. They’re all clean (no explicit sex) but not exactly sweet. Think of Georgette Heyer or Mary Kingswood.

 

Christmas Memories of My Father by Kathleen Buckley

 

Many of my childhood Christmas memories are of my father. He loved Christmas: the food, the gifts, the music. When he was a child, gifts were clothing rather than toys.

One year in Fairbanks, Alaska, Christmas trees were in short supply; they weren’t locally sourced unless you went out and cut one, not an attractive option at -50° F. (-45.5 C.). Gritting his teeth, Dad bought an artificial tree. It was white and fluffy like a Persian cat. We never bought another tree: the limbs on this one were all in the right place, it was easy to assemble, the right size, and it didn’t shed needles.

But mostly I recall the food rather than gifts or decorating because he liked to cook, although the vintage broadsword he gave me one year was a delightful surprise as was the KitchenAid Junior mixer the year I broke a wooden spoon mixing the very stiff dough for a Portuguese Christmas cake. The mixer is still going strong some forty years later.

I don’t recall why he began to make fruitcake, but once he did, his Christmas preparations began in September. He’d soak quantities of candied fruit in brandy in a big container that was stored in the front hall closet. Fortunately, everyone, including guests, used the back door. Then he’d make the cakes in tube pans. When they were done, he’d put them in decorative cans and put a brandy-soaked sponge in a paper cup in the center and let them age, refreshing the sponges occasionally. They made better gifts than the mass-produced fruitcake loaves.   

There was the year we visited family friends on Christmas morning and left the turkey soaking in the sink. When we came home, our Siamese cat had eaten the skin off the breast. Our turkeys always roasted with a strip of bacon on each drumstick and one or two on the breast. A few more strips covered the damage and kept the breast moist.

   

Most of all, I remember the turkey stuffing. Bread stuffing tends to be bland. Dad’s stuffing scented the entire house. In addition to pork sausage and ground beef, it contained poultry seasoning and cinnamon. I still make it, although I no longer cook a turkey. Sausage stuffing has made a comeback. I applaud the trend but think Dad’s is better.

Ingredients

1 pound bulk pork sausage (one of those rolls like Jimmy Dean’s is what I use)

1½ pounds of lean ground beef

1 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 cube chicken bouillon or equivalent in the powdered form

1 tablespoon poultry seasoning

¼ teaspoon pepper

¾ cup fine bread crumbs

5 teaspoons cinnamon

2 ½ cups water

Fry the sausage and beef, mashing it fine so there are no lumps. Sauté the onions and add them and the crumbs. Add the celery salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Dissolve the bouillon in the water and add it. Cook until the flavors blend, then add the cinnamon and cook a little longer.

 

Allan Everard, an earl’s illegitimate son, is dismissed from his employment at his father’s death but inherits a former coaching inn. Needing to make a new life in London, he begins by leasing the inn to a charity. 

Unexpectedly orphaned, Rosabel Stanbury and her younger sister are made wards of a distant, unknown cousin. Fearing his secretive ways and his intentions for them, Rosabel and Oriana flee to London where they are taken in by a women’s charity. 

Drawn into Rosabel’s problems, with his inn under surveillance by criminals, Allan has only a handful of unlikely allies, including an elderly general, a burglar, and an old lady who knows criminal slang.

A traditional romance.

 

 

Kathleen Buckley has loved writing ever since she learned to read. After a career which included light bookkeeping, working as a paralegal, and a stint as a security officer, she began to write as a second career, rather than as a hobby. Her first historical romance was penned (well, word processed) after re-reading Georgette Heyer’s Georgian/Regency romances. She is now the author of ten Georgian romances: An Unsuitable Duchess, Most Secret, Captain Easterday’s Bargain, A Masked Earl, A Duke’s Daughter, Portia and the Merchant of London, A Westminster Wedding, A Peculiar Enchantment, By Sword and Fan, and Hidden Treasures. While an eleventh is in production she is writing the twelfth.

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Winter Blogfest: Kristina Kelly

December 25, 2024 By 2 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a digital copy of Tavern Tale. 

The snow is falling, the wind is chilling, and maybe I can’t feel my fingertips. But it’s a wonderful time to share my favorite winter moments in fantasy.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Likely the most memorable for me, the whole story is Christmas with high stakes. The snowy landscape, a sleigh, gift giving and Father Christmas. While the Long Winter’s reason for existing isn’t all smiles and giggles, I can’t deny the coziness that comes with a setting of snow and people (er, animals) coming together. But Tomnus, please put on a shirt.

The Fellowship of the Ring

Stay with me on this one. I really like the scene where the fellowship is trying to pass over the mountain and the snowy storm thwarts their plan (whether it is the mountain itself, or Saruman as shown in the movie). In the movie, the scene of treking through the snow is just cinema magic to me. And then, they go into what could be the cozy fires beneath the mountain but, you know, find a balrog. LOTR is a Christmas movie and you can’t convince me otherwise.

The Lady’s Crownbearer

My coauthor and I created an in-world holiday, The Day of Laphrim, for our series the Etherea Cycle and wrote a short story for it. Having a wintry scene is a little difficult when the seasons don’t change (the world is tidally locked which means it doesn’t spin). But the holiday is like Christmas mixed with Mayday – gift giving, music and singing, festival yummies like roasted nuts and popcicles in the shape of Laphrim’s feet, and weaving ribbons around a special tree. And, a mythical creature with antlers like tree branches is said to appear.

Icewind Dale Trilogy

Focusing on the Crystal Shard, it makes me nostalgic for hunting giants in the tundras of the MMORPG Everquest. Drizzt, the drow elf, also roams the Tundra of Icewind Dale hunting yeti and giants. Since the whole setting is a winter icy landscape, there are many scenes of cold…and more cold. But I particularly remember several key moments like an avalanche and a crystal tower which really made me think of a giant icicle. While I loved the descriptions, I’m glad I don’t live there.

What about you? What’s one of your favorite winter scenes in fantasy?

“What if the side quest is really the main quest?

Divine, a healer of the Goddess of Souls, has chased the thief who stole her talisman across half of Trelvania. The talisman is the key to accessing her magic well, and without it, she is powerless. While chasing her betrayer, former girlfriend, and servant of the Goddess of Condemnation, Divine meets Saph, a flirty tavern owner with an eyepatch and a proposition. Saph will help Divine locate her talisman if Divine helps her complete a mysterious quest in a chest.

Inspired by RPGs and set in scenic autumn, prepare for an adventure with gods and goddesses, deceitful exes, axe throwing, and fantastical creatures. Can Divine learn to trust again and find romance in the middle of finding her magic?”

About the Author: Kristina W Kelly writes fantasy, sci-fi, and poetry and loves being a geek. Her coauthored novel, Trials of the Innermost, is book one in the epic science fantasy series The Etherea Cycle. Her debut sapphic fantasy romance adventure, Tavern Tale, releases January 7, 2025. She is the author of Imaginari, a sci-fi and fantasy poetry collection paired with her photography. Kristina is a trumpet player but dabbles in other instruments, plays video games, and tends to her flower garden and two children in Indiana. Several of her short stories have received honorable mention, silver honorable mention, and semi-finalist from Writers of the Future. She is amazed by nature and enjoys painting vivid scenes for her readers. She loves going on new adventures in the great wide somewhere (sometimes just by picking up a new book).

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Winter Blogfest: Vicki-Ann Bush

December 25, 2024 By 4 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an ebook copy of Alex McKenna and the Geranium Death. 

Christmas 1997 by Vicki-Ann Bush

My story begins not with joy but with one of the scariest evenings my parents ever experienced. However, I promise if you stay with me to the end you will smile.

It was 1997 and we all resided in Las Vegas, Nevada. My parents, who were retired, lived a modest lifestyle. Enjoying their home and family was the most important way to spend their time. We had all been celebrating my youngest child’s birthday at our home, which was about a 25-minute drive for Mom and Dad. It was getting late, and they were tired, so they decided it was time to go home. We had our good-bye hugs and kisses (Italians take longer to say hello and good-bye than the actual time it takes for the celebration) and walked them to their car.

I’m not sure how much time passed but I had just snuggled into bed when the phone rang. My mom could barely get the words out. My heart raced and my brain shut down. All I could think of was that they were in an accident and Dad was seriously injured. Then over gasps for air, she pushed the words past her lips, “We were robbed! They broke down the front door. All the Christmas gifts are gone.”

The thieves had taken everything, even my mom’s jewelry. My parents were inconsolable. How could someone do this? These were the words they asked over and over again. We found out later that they had been doing it for a while. Hitting homes at the holidays. Eventually, the universe did catch up with them and they were caught. But that didn’t help my mom and dad. They fell into a depression. Only twelve days until Christmas and they couldn’t financially replace everything that was under the tree.

Every Christmas Eve, my parents would open their home to people who didn’t have family or who were separated by miles from their loved ones. Mom would cook for a week. Setting out an abundance of delicious Italian food and delectable desserts. We had the best time, and everyone looked forward to December 24th at the Guidice home. But this year, it was going to be different. Or, at least that’s what they thought.

Unbeknownst to my parents, our family got together and reached out to the friends my parents had helped over the years. Everyone came through with a little something that they could afford. We went shopping and replaced what we could, and used the remaining funds to help them have the most beautiful Christmas Eve ever. All of the usuals came, and a few new faces as well. My mom and dad were overwhelmed with love. Our family spoke about that Christmas Eve for years, and we will never forget the joy and love that not even a vicious few could take away from our family and friends.

 

No dark entities shall pass through this shield, as I will it…so shall it be.

Alex McKenna’s plans for a couple of supernatural-free days are interrupted by an ominous visit from the ghost of seven-year-old Haven.

The little girl needs his help and he’s willing to risk his life to save her after-life. Despite his great-grandmother’s warning, he chooses to cross the bridge between the living and the dead to assist her. The trip lands Alex and his girlfriend at a high school known as the Academy of Souls. The ghostly campus for dead teens is a safe place for those who are unable to complete their after-life journey. There they meet Ophelia, Haven’s older sister, who has been searching for her for more than a century. 

To reunite the sisters, Alex must cross the treacherous terrain of the in-between realm known as the Underworld, and rescue Haven from the clutches of the Soul Gatherer. A demonic spirit who feeds off of the souls of children. 

Could this be Alex’s last case or will he keep his promise to Haven and save her soul before it’s too late?

 

Originally from New York, Vicki-Ann is an award-winning author and short screenplay writer. She currently resides in the Pacific Northwest. Writing Young Adult paranormal, she finds inspiration from events that have been in her life for as long as she can remember. Inheriting the sensitivity to the supernatural from her family, they continue to be an endless source of vision.

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