Sara Daniel Romance Author: July 2014

Monday, July 28, 2014

Character Interview – Rob from One Night with the Bridesmaid #1NS @DecadentPub

Rob Wellington, the hero of One Night with the Bridesmaid is a busy guy, but I've managed to snag him for a quick interview.

Hi Rob, come over here on the sofa and put your feet up. What would you like to drink--tea, coffee, wine?

Scotch. Actually, any kind of whiskey will do.

So what does a movie director do, exactly? Can you describe your typical day?

As a movie director, I’m responsible for bringing a story to life in a way to will resonate with viewers, entertain them for a couple hours, and hopefully give them a broader perspective on the world. In reality, I spend way too much time dealing with high-maintenances actors and actresses obsessed with stardom, regardless of how many people they have to step on to get there… Pass the whiskey, please.

I heard you've been to a rather eventful wedding recently--your brother’s? What juicy details are you at liberty to divulge?

I arrived in town on what was supposed to be the eve of my brother’s wedding. I planned my entire movie production schedule around the date, so I could be there, only to discover it had been called off. After a little digging (and a lot of whiskey), I further discovered the maid of honor had been doing most of the wedding planning. It didn’t take much to figure out she wanted my brother to herself. Well, she’s going to have to go through me first, and believe me, I won’t be so easy to fool.

On the topic of weddings--what are your views on marriage in general? Is there still such a thing as Happily Ever After? 

If you couldn’t tell, I’m pretty cynical. Everyone I meet wants the power and fame I can help them achieve. They don’t care about me. And if they find someone who has more of both, well, then they’re not interested in me. So, yeah, in theory I think marriage should be for love and the big Happily Ever After. But good luck finding anyone pure enough to achieve that kind of perfection.

Can you describe your "perfect girlfriend?" If you ran into her--say...on a blind date--what do you think would happen?

I suppose the “perfect girlfriend” would have a pure motivation and would like me for me and not want my money or fame. Does such a woman exist? I sincerely doubt it. The odds that I would meet her on a blind date—well, that’s absolutely ludicrous. If by some miracle I did, though, I’d be a fool to let her get away.

Oh dear, it looks like you have to run. One parting question--would you ever consider having a one night stand with a total stranger? There are girls out there who would like to know...

Being in the limelight, a guy can’t be too careful. Just because a woman’s a stranger to me, she likely knows all too well who I am and is hoping to propel her own acting career by association. Girls, find someone else. I’m not interested in being used.

Thanks for dropping by, Rob. For those who’d like to spend more time drooling over, ur, reading about him, check out One Night with the Bridesmaid.

Gifted with a 1Night Stand, Sabrina Lopez decides to use the chance to hook up with a man who knows how to give a woman pleasure—a man she’d never have the nerve to approach in real life. Madame Eve exceeds her expectations with the opportunity of a lifetime—and the man of her dreams, movie director Rob Wellington. He might be out of her league, but she’s willing to risk it all for one night.

Believing Sabrina responsible for breaking up his brother’s wedding, Rob sets out to stop her from scamming her way into the groom’s bed—even if he has to take his brother’s place. The last thing he expected to discover was a woman he could love and hold for the rest of his life—if he can convince her that he wants more than one night...

Buy Links

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Join @sharonledwith on the lake with her Family Fiesta Dip #recipe

by Sharon Ledwith

Canada Day (July 1st) officially kicked off holiday season for me here in the northern hemisphere. Kids have big smiles on their faces, and adults are gearing up for family getaways. Some families head for their cottages or vacation homes while others prefer to pack up the trailer or tent and venture into Provincial or State Parks armed with bug spray and bathing suits. Still others choose a stay-cation, opting to stay at home, hang by the pool, or go on day trips with their loved ones. Whatever method of holiday people decide on, the anticipation of being with family for one or two weeks is well worth the wait!

Since this will be our last summer at our lake home (cue the tears), we’re having a big family gathering to say good-bye and celebrate all the good times we’ve had here. I’m expecting a good size crowd, and have plenty of food on the menu. One such appetizer I’ll prepare—Family Fiesta Dip—is popular at any summer bash, especially when family and friends drop by. So, juice up your taste buds and dive into my easy to make spicy dip at your pleasure.


Family Fiesta Dip
250g package of cream cheese (soft)
1 tbsp. margarine
½ cup of mayonnaise
1 small jar of salsa (vegetable chunk style)
1 medium red pepper, finely chopped
1 medium green pepper, finely chopped
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 cup shredded cheese of your choice (I prefer the nacho or tex-mex brand)
1 bag of Tortilla chips

Mix cream cheese, margarine, and mayonnaise until smooth. Spread in a medium-sized dish with edges to prevent spill over.

Cover with salsa – not too much so it’s not runny.

Layer as follows: chopped red pepper, chopped green pepper, chopped tomato, chopped green onions, and then top with shredded cheese.

Refrigerate before serving. Serve with tortilla chips (and napkins).

While you’re waiting for the Family Fiesta Dip to set, why not kick back on the beach or pool side or wherever you’ll be during your holidays and take a trip back into time with my Last Timekeepers MG/YA time travel series. Safe travels, everyone!

There is no moving forward without first going back.

Lilith was a young girl with dreams and a family before the final destruction of Atlantis shattered those dreams and tore her family apart. Now refugees, Lilith and her father make their home in the Black Land. This strange, new country has no place in Lilith’s heart until a beloved high priestess introduces Lilith to her life purpose—to be a Timekeeper and keep time safe.

Summoned through the seventh arch of Atlantis by the Children of the Law of One, Lilith and her newfound friends are sent into Atlantis’s past, and given a task that will ultimately test their courage and try their faith in each other. Can the Timekeepers stop the dark magus Belial before he changes the seers’ prophecy? If they fail, then their future and the earth’s fate will be altered forever.

To read an excerpt from Legend of the Timekeepers please click here.

Legend of the Timekeepers Buy Links:
MUSA PUBLISHING ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀ SMASHWORDS ׀ APPLE

If you haven’t already read Sharon Ledwith's novel, The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, here’s the blurb…

When 13-year-old Amanda Sault and her annoying classmates are caught in a food fight at school, they're given a choice: suspension or yard duty. The decision is a no-brainer. Their two-week crash course in landscaping leads to the discovery of a weathered stone arch in the overgrown back yard. The arch isn't a forgotten lawn ornament but an ancient time portal from the lost continent of Atlantis.

Chosen by an Atlantean Magus to be Timekeepers--legendary time travelers sworn to keep history safe from the evil Belial--Amanda and her classmates are sent on an adventure of a lifetime. Can they find the young Robin Hood and his merry band of teens? If they don't, then history itself may be turned upside down.

To read an excerpt of The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, please click HERE.

BUY LINKS
Musa Publishing - Amazon Link - Barnes & Noble - Kobo

BONUS: Download the free PDF short story The Terrible, Mighty Crystal HERE.

Check out The Last Timekeepers series Facebook Page.

Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/YA time travel series, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS, available through Musa Publishing, and is represented by Walden House (Books & Stuff) for her teen psychic series, MYSTERIOUS TALES FROM FAIRY FALLS. When not writing, researching, or revising, she enjoys reading, yoga, anything arcane, and an occasional dram of scotch. Sharon lives a serene, yet busy life in a tourist region of Ontario, Canada, with her hubby, one spoiled yellow Labrador and a moody calico cat.

Learn more about Sharon Ledwith on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

7 Sentences for @MySexySaturday #99cent #kindlesale @DecadentPub #BeyondFairytales

Seven Sentences from Once Upon a Marriage - on sale for 99 cents on Amazon for a LIMITED time!

“I’ve exhausted all my avenues—threats, offers of settlement funds, court orders,” the attorney said. “Nothing gets his attention.”
“Exactly. That’s why we’re getting a divorce.”
“The only option we haven’t tried is for you to deliver the papers to him and personally ask him to sign.”

She could tolerate Ian ignoring her from a few hundred miles away, but every memory of how he’d chosen his work calls over talking to her and went out of his way to accommodate a guest while leaving her waiting in his bed hurt too much to revisit. If he’d cared about her or about saving their marriage, he would have called when she left him.

Once Upon a Marriage - on sale for 99 cents on Amazon for a LIMITED time!

Thursday, July 17, 2014

$.99 #sale Once Upon a Marriage #BeyondFairytales #Romance @DecadentPub

Once Upon a Marriage - on sale for 99 cents on Amazon for a LIMITED time!

A Decadent Publishing Beyond Fairytales Retelling of Grimm's Three Army Surgeons

Time is running out for Armina Keer to have the baby she’s always wanted. Before she can move on with her life, she needs her estranged husband to sign their divorce papers. When she can’t get him to respond, her meddling uncles arrange for a trip to his inn. Despite vowing to guard her broken heart, she has to settle the past before she can have a future.

Ian Keer might not deserve a second chance with his wife, but he’s not going to give up one either, not with the immediate flaming attraction still between them. While her uncles’ antics wreak havoc on life at The Inn, he offers her the ultimate gamble: Spend the night with him, and afterwards he’ll sign the papers if she still wants to leave.

With everything riding on one night together, Ian must convince her that their love is strong enough the second time around, and Armina must decide if love is worth sacrificing her dreams.

Excerpt:


“You hate me,” Ian whispered, feeling more nauseous than if he’d ingested a prosthetic eyeball. How could she not hate him when she believed their personal relationship had meant less to him than an employment issue?

Armina gazed beyond his left shoulder. “I don’t hate you. I’ve never hated you. When we got married, I understood you had a strong work ethic combined with an unusual drive to succeed and a consuming passion for the Inn. I knew I’d come in second to this place.”

He opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but couldn’t. If she’d made him choose, he wouldn’t have picked her.

“I thought I was okay with it,” she continued. “After all, I loved the Inn, too, and wanted you to realize your vision for it. Turns out I wasn’t okay. I didn’t realize how distant second place actually was.” She shrugged her slim shoulders. “Live and learn, right?”

Not right. He wanted to take back the lesson and teach her about real love instead. “You never should have had to settle for second place. With me or with anyone else. No one has the right to ask that of you.”

“Agreed.” Her voice came out stronger, her shoulders squared, and she looked him directly in the eye. “Now you understand why I want a divorce.”

Once Upon a Marriage - on sale for 99 cents on Amazon for a LIMITED time!

Monday, July 14, 2014

Cheese Toastie #recipe from Across the Pond by @lizzietleaf #travel

by Lizzie T. Leaf

I received the instructions for this sandwich several years ago on a trip to Borough Market in London. The lady on the grill at the Kappacasein stand talked with me as she grilled up morsels of yum and told me how to make the gooey delights. When we returned home and I attempted to duplicate the sandwich that has us all drooling, including the two granddarlings who were with us on the trip, the first efforts weren’t so great. But time and patience has worked. The secret is slow and easy cooking. You want the cheese to melt and ooze out and the bread to become brown and crispy before you’re ready to indulge. It’s probably a good thing I don’t live in London because I could see this becoming a weekly addiction for me.


As for the making of the sandwich, it’s about the bread and the cheddar. Start with sourdough bread cut into sandwich slices. They used shredded Montgomery cheddar and say the complexities are one of the reasons the sandwiches are so good. Montgomery is hard to come by here (and expensive). Check your grocery store for an aged farmhouse cheddar cheese that has a nutty taste and is sold by the block or wedge.

They also had a container of finely chopped white onion, red onion, leeks, and crushed garlic at the ready.

To make the American version of the Borough Market Cheese Toastie do the following:

Place a thick layer of shredded cheddar on a slice of sourdough bread. Add a teaspoon or two of the chopped mixture per sandwich, then slap on the top slice of sourdough. Grill according to the directions below.

Electric Grill: Lightly oil and heat. Place sandwich on the grill and cover. Cook for about three minutes or so. You want the cheese melted and gooey, the bread nice and toasted.

Panini Pan: Same as above. The best is the best method to make this delicious sandwich.

Grill Pan: Same as above but place a frying pan with several cans in it (for added weight) on top of the sandwich.

Remove and enjoy!!!

Here are the original directions for this dynamite sandwich:

Borough Market Cheese Toastie
80g montgomery's cheddar, grated
10g comté cheese, grated
10g ogleshield cheese, grated
2 slices of Poilâne sourdough bread
2 tsp mixed chopped white and red onions, leek, and crushed garlic

Assemble the sandwich and place it in a hot, lightly greased griddle pan (assuming you don't have a Panini toaster. Place a frying pan on top of the sandwich and weigh it down with a couple of cans.

Cook it for about 3 minutes until the crust starts to brown and the cheese melts through the pores of the bread. Flip it a couple of times so it cooks evenly, but make sure you don't overcook it, or you won't be able to taste all the flavours.

Kappacasein’s owner Bill Oglethorpe developed Ogleshield cheese in collaboration with Somerset dairy farmer Jamie Montgomery, whose 150 Jersey cows produce the rich, unpasteurised, full-fat milk that gives the mature cheese its distinctive flavour.

The result is one the finest aromas your nostrils could ever hope to savour, emanating from Kappacasein’s Swiss raclette - a generous helping of melted Ogleshield on a pile of new potatoes, baby gherkins and pickled onions - and its toasted cheese sandwiches, made with Montgomery cheddar, onions, leeks and garlic on Poilâne sourdough.

Now that you're done cooking, sit back with your favorite beverage and your sandwich and check out a lively read from my DEAD series, DEAD Hot.


Will family secrets let her find love with a guy that cats around?

Sharla Gomez’s dream encounter with the man she’s lusted over for months turned into rain-soaked nightmare. Her hopes of love and passion have gone to the dogs. Being a shifter is hell, especially when you’re a Pug/Chihuahua mix, or as some call the breed, a Chug. Even dogs don’t want to be told they’re so ugly they’re cute?

Dorsey Smith wants to get to know the exotic number-cruncher in charge of the strip club’s books. Just his luck she disappeared before he could ask her out for coffee. Instead of taking home the woman he lusts for, he takes home the small, drenched dog shivering in the rain. When he discovers the animal missing the next morning and he senses magic in the air. Has his safe haven been discovered and will his secrets be revealed?

Can two people with deep secrets discover the truth about each other and still find love. Or will the secrets and the evil lurking drive them apart?

To read an excerpt please click here.

Learn more about Lizzie T. Leaf on her website and blog. Connect with Lizzie on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Operation Owl Tour of the Capital @LaylaTarar #BeyondFairytales

Tara Quan’s Operation Owl Tour of the Capital – A (Residence) Inn
by Tara Quan
I owe Sara Daniel a huge thank you for hosting me today. I’m trying something new, which is to chat up my book prior to getting a firm release date. Because of my impending move to Rome, I may soon experience a prolonged Internet blackout and have prescheduled my stops. To the best of my knowledge, my latest multicultural romance from Decadent Publishing comes out some time in July 2014 (so, depending on when you stumble upon this blog, it might be available now).
For updates as well as a chance to win a $25 gift card, drop by my website: TaraQuan.com/Owl
In honor of the place I consider home (what the government terms the National Capital Area), I’m dedicating the posts on this tour to Washington, D.C. and its surrounding suburbs. The romantic comedy I’m very blatantly promoting is set entirely in the US capital. A Beyond Fairytales adaptation of The Owl by Brothers Grimm, Operation Owl features a geeky hacker hero and his bookish best friend. They team up to expose a cyber conspiracy at the heart of the US government and end up indulging in some other equally exciting activities.
Waypoint: A (Residence) Inn
Since Once Upon a Marriage, Sara’s Beyond Fairytales launch story, stars her adaptation of Grimm’s innkeeper, I thought I’d use this opportunity to highlight my preferred place to stay when visiting D.C. My husband’s job occasionally makes us return to the capital for short 2-3 week jaunts (which inevitably includes a visit to the dentist, a stop at the doctor’s office, and some shopping). Whenever this happens, I prefer to stay at the Marriott Courthouse Residence Inn.
Located literally on top of an Orange Line Metro Stop, this hotel is within walking distance to CVS, Walgreens, Whole Foods and Trader Joes. All their rooms include a kitchenette, and it’s a 2-minute walk to a pizza parlor, burger joint, steak house, Thai restaurant, Japanese place, as well as multiple coffee shops and bars. Marriott rewards points are relatively easy to spend internationally, and one can also get a discount with a valid government/military ID.
While not the lap of luxury, this hotel is a more than adequate home away from home. I highly recommend it for any trip to the D.C-metro area.

And thus concludes my Capital Area tip for the day. Follow along at TaraQuan.com/Owl as I continue my tour at the blogs of some awesome romance authors. 

Operation Owl
Five years ago, Maya Jain kissed her best friend only to have him run out of her dorm room and leave the state. When he shows up in Washington, D.C., a wanted fugitive sought after by every branch of the US government, she can’t bring herself to ignore his plight. As their physical relationship picks up where it left off, she decides it’s time to make him see her as more than the bespectacled, bookish girl he once called “Owl.”
After being accused of espionage and treason, Zack Strong needs a forensic accountant to help clear his name. Not knowing who he can trust, this white-hat hacker has no choice but to ask his former best friend and math tutor for help. Together they unravel a cyber conspiracy at the Barn, an NSA facility tasked to intercept electronic communications. But as they traverse the nation’s capital to avoid capture, Maya insists on letting their simmering sexual tension take its natural course. Even though he’s never been able to shake the memory of their one kiss, he refuses to let her give up her life for a man with no future.
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Comedy, Multicultural

Buy Links: Amazon | B&N | AllRomance | Decadent | GoodReads

Monday, July 7, 2014

Have the kids fix dinner with this easy Ham & Broccoli #Recipe #appetizer

These are so easy I commissioned my nine-year-old to make them when she wanted to cook dinner for the family to give me a break. (Yes, she can be absolutely adorable when she wants to be, and yes, I still supervised the chopping and the oven.) These roll-ups also make a wonderful appetizer for holiday parties.

Ham and Broccoli Roll-Ups

2 cups chopped broccoli
2 tbsp. parsley flakes
2 tbsp. margarine/butter softened
1 ½ cups shredded Colby-jack/cheddar cheese
2 cups ham chopped
2 (8-roll) cans crescent dinner rolls


Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cook and drain broccoli.

In a large mixing bowl, combine parsley and margarine. Add cheese, broccoli and ham. Mix. Set aside.

Grease a round pizza pan. (A rectangle cookie sheet works too.) Separate the crescent roll dough into the pre-cut triangles. Arrange triangles around the outer edge of the pan, points hanging over the outside of the pan, bases overlapping. If you have more rolls than the pan will hold, you can use the remaining rolls to make a small inside circle as shown in the picture.

Spoon ham filling evenly over the bases of the triangles. Fold points of triangles over the filling and tuck under the bases toward the center of the pan.

Bake for 17-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Once Upon a Marriage @MySexySaturday #Teaser @DecadentPub #BeyondFairytales




He turned in front of her and stopped walking, forcing her to stop, too. “I know we can’t go back to how things were. I’m not asking you to give up the life you’ve created. I’m just trying to understand who you are now and how you’ve changed since we were together.”
Armina opened her mouth, but found she had no words. She had no intention of sharing the goal that had driven her every decision over the past year. To have a baby before time ran out, she needed his cooperation to ensure a quick divorce.
“I’ve moved on,” she finally said, not sure she spoke the truth but hoping she did or at least that the words would soon come true. She needed to move on. The next chapter of her life couldn’t be put on hold.
“I’m not asking you to stop moving on. I just need you to give me a moment to sprint to catch up to you.”
The crazy-romantic image sent a shot of longing through her, but she couldn’t agree. The new life she was building allowed no room for him. She opened her mouth again, but he placed his index finger against her lips.
“Don’t answer yet. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other. We need to adjust and talk first.” He leaned closer, sliding his finger down, tugging her lower lip out into a pout. Tilting the underside of her chin, he tipped her head up so she stared into his strong, handsome face.
Enveloping her in the heat from his body, he touched his lips to hers with a profound gentleness. She could have turned her head aside and pointed out they weren’t talking as he’d proposed, but the tenderness and hunger in his eyes captivated her. For the first time since their wedding night, she owned his complete attention.

Once Upon a Marriage

A Decadent Publishing Beyond Fairytales Retelling of Grimm's Three Army Surgeons

Time is running out for Armina Keer to have the baby she’s always wanted. Before she can move on with her life, she needs her estranged husband to sign their divorce papers. When she can’t get him to respond, her meddling uncles arrange for a trip to his inn. Despite vowing to guard her broken heart, she has to settle the past before she can have a future.

Ian Keer might not deserve a second chance with his wife, but he’s not going to give up one either, not with the immediate flaming attraction still between them. While her uncles’ antics wreak havoc on life at The Inn, he offers her the ultimate gamble: Spend the night with him, and afterwards he’ll sign the papers if she still wants to leave.

With everything riding on one night together, Ian must convince her that their love is strong enough the second time around, and Armina must decide if love is worth sacrificing her dreams.

Buy Links:
Amazon
Decadent
Barnes & Noble
All Romance eBooks

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Return to Blog Hop here.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

A Behind the Scenes Look at Retelling a Fairy Tale #BeyondFairytales

My favorite school assignment ever was modernizing and retelling a fairy tale, so when Decadent put out the call for a retelling of a Grimm’s Fairy Tale, my hand immediately shot in the air. But then I got my fairy tale assignment, and my excitement wilted. The Three Army Surgeons. Huh? I’d never heard of it.

Not only was it obscure, it was also a little gruesome and definitely not a romance. Basically, there are three guys who cut out their eye, hand and heart. They put them on a tray and give them to an innkeeper, intending to put them back in their bodies the next day. Instead, the parts are taken, so a soldier replaces them with the eye of a cat, the hand of a thief and the heart of a pig. The new parts then make the guys act like a cat, a thief and a pig. The guys discover they’ve been tricked and return to confront the innkeeper who gives them some money to pacify them. (You can read the full original story here.)

My charge was to turn this story into a romance. Um, yeah. I couldn’t even figure out who the hero and heroine would be.

So I started with what I did know. Although I enjoy a good ménage romance, I don’t write them, so having the body-part-plucking guys as heroes was out. Same for paranormal stories, which meant I needed a way for these people to walk around with missing parts that would be believable in a contemporary setting without magic or special powers.

This framework led me to have the men run a prosthetics company, but I was still stumped on the romance angle. The only woman in the original story stood around wringing her hands while others found a solution. Then she ran away and never returned when things went bad. I needed an active heroine, someone with a purpose, someone a reader would want to root for.

After dumping the sexist assumption that a solider automatically had to be a man, I made the soldier’s character my heroine. I named her “Armina,” which means soldier. In case that was too subtle, her uncles (the guys with the missing body parts) affectionately refer to her as “Soldier.”

The other person who played a critical role in the story conflict is the innkeeper. He would fit nicely as the hero. After playing with words for a bit, I dubbed him Ian Keer. Now I needed to make him into hero material, and I needed to create a romance (and conflict) between the innkeeper and the soldier. This wasn’t part of the original fairy tale, so my challenge was to write it within the framework of the fairy tale retelling. Finally, I’d arrived at the fun story retelling I’d expected when I raised my hand for this assignment.


I went from “You have got to be kidding me” at the beginning of the initial brainstorming of The Three Army Surgeons fairy tale to “This is so much fun” as I wrote Once Upon a Marriage. Check out the new Beyond Fairytales line from Decadent Publishing. I’m so excited to be a part of it.


a Rafflecopter giveaway