Annie’s Gift by Author Barbara Bretton
Happy holidays to all Give a big welcome to Barbara Bretton, author of Annie’s Gift.
Have a seat and grab an insulated mug. I’ve got hot chocolate, hot cider and coffee. Choose your pot, they’re labeled. Pick your choice of a Snicker-doodle, Chocolate Chip or Peanut butter cookie from the plate. Yep, I baked them myself. Lets see what Annie’s Gift is all about. But first lets check out Barbara’s Christmas Eve Brownie Extravaganza. My mouth is watering already! Thanks for joining us!
When it comes to the holidays, I am a traditionalist. Whether it’s the movies we watch, the music we listen to,
or the food we eat, I look forward to revisiting those old (and beloved) favorites every single year.
traditions is our Christmas Eve Brownie Extravaganza. Deep. Dark. Still warm
from the oven. Crowned with a ginormous scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with
a holiday-red maraschino cherry.
pleasure to just Christmas Eve? These brownies would be delicious any day of
the year!
melted
melted
vanilla. Add the melted chocolate and butter. Blend until light and airy. Add
flour, then nuts (if using.)
oven in two 8-inch pans for 25-30 minutes. Do not overcook. They should be
moist in the center. The timing is personal. Keep checking and take it out of
the oven when it’s reached the degree of doneness that warms your heart.
like autumn leaves crackling underfoot, and then felt a soft rush of
cinnamon-scented air as a small form appeared then disappeared right in front
of his eyes.
paralyzed with fear and hope, as she took form one more time, looking less like
a hologram and more like a flesh and blood woman. The woman he had loved since
he was sixteen years old.
name tore from his throat and spilled into the space between them. This was his
Annie, before sorrow and sickness had taken their toll.
laughter danced in the air around her. “I did it! How about that, Harry? I
did it!”
her hand but it was like grasping cotton candy. His brain was a bowl of
overcooked oatmeal. “I don’t know what’s going on.”
to spin. He could feel himself starting to go under and he put his head between
his knees.
sugar,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t miss that at all.”
blood sugar,” he managed, gulping in some air. “I’m talking to a ghost.”
put it that way, I guess you are.”
was there to put it? He had buried his beloved wife six months ago and now here
she was in their living room acting like nothing had happened.
huge gulp of air then lifted his head.
here,” she said, her tone softening. “You can trust your senses.”
his disbelief beginning to show cracks. “How?”
arms wide. “Look at this place! You’d never know it was Christmas Eve.”
like Christmas Eve.”
put some effort into it. Put up a tree. String some lights.” She aimed a sharp
look in his direction. “Place the candles in the window where they belong.”
into a scowl. “Did you forget your promise?”
was made a long time ago. Things change.”
doesn’t.”
family anymore. When I lost you, I lost everything.”
and for a second he imagined he felt the touch of her hand. But that was crazy,
wasn’t it? She was no more real than Santa Claus or Easter Bunny.
because I love you,” she said. “And because you need me tonight.”
to overwhelm him. He wanted to believe.
every night, Annie. That’s never changed.”
the night you asked for me.”
was standing there next to the refrigerator with a carton of brown eggs in his
hand.
the eggs were on the floor in a yellow and white mess and his Annie was in his
arms.
long enough to know that second chances didn’t happen often in life.
wasn’t going to let her go.
It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Annie’s Gift!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Annie's Gift, Barbara Bretton, Paranormal Romance, Rocky Hill Holiday Romance by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.
Charm Me Again, A New Release by Tena Stetler
Happy holidays to all! I am so excited, today is the release day for my book, Charm Me Again!
We are on a virtual book tour through Bewitching Blog Tours for Charm Me Again. So much fun! Pssst… there are prizes to be won also. If you want to follow along, the tour stops & dates are listed at the bottom of this post.
Have a seat and grab an insulated mug. I’ve got hot chocolate, hot cider and coffee. Choose your pot, they’re labeled. Pick your choice of a Snicker-doodle, Chocolate Chip or Peanut butter cookie from the plate. Yep, I baked them myself. Lets see what CHARM ME AGAIN is all about. Then we’ll get to the Holiday Extravaganza Feature about Twinkle Bright and Elves Secret Santa! Thanks for joining us!
A little about Charm Me Again –
Breaking the curse is only the first step to forever.
Daylan, a warlock, is being haunted, but what the ghost wants is a mystery. His magical powers bring him no closer to an answer—until he encounters Josie, a Yoga instructor.
But when she is kidnapped by an ancient Fae Warrior set on revenge Daylan must rescue her before the rogue claims her as his own. During his quest, his world spirals out of control, and a devastating curse comes to light. Could the ghost hold the answers he needs?
Can he break the age-old curse to save Josie and their future, or will Daylan lose her forever?
Buy Links for Charm Me Again
Amazon Amazon UK Amazon AU Amazon CA Kobo
A sneak peak between the pages of Charm Me Again!
Suddenly the wind increased and changed direction bringing a cold chill to the warm day. She tugged her sweater close around her as a thin maroon line formed along the flat bottom of a dark, boiling cloud spreading across the sky. Moments before there’d been only an occasional fluffy white cloud floating in the bright blue sky. Oh, no, not again.
The line slowly drifted to vertical and spread open to reveal a sparkling interior. Four striking creatures, sharp-angled features with fierce expressions on their inhumanly handsome faces appeared. Gleaming swords hung at their sides as they slipped out of the cloud and stepped onto the ground not more than fifty feet from her and Daylan along the tree line of the property. Holy shit. This can’t be happening.
She rubbed her eyes but when she opened them the men were still there. Dressed in heavy boots, jeans, and formfitting leather vests, shimmering silver bands adorned their muscular upper arms. Two of them had thick shoulder length blond hair, the others had jet black hair hanging in waves past their shoulders.
She jumped up and opened her mouth to scream. But Daylan reacted faster clapping his hand over her mouth while still facing the advancing creatures. To her surprise, a soft giggle escaped from her lips. They look like a group of medieval bikers. Their apparent leader, his reddish sable hair hung well beyond his shoulders in waves, paused a few yards in front of them.
The others flanked the leader in a V formation. Her heart beat a tattoo against her chest. The vision taking place in front of her wavered and spun. I will not pass out. I will not faint. I absolutely will not. She pried Daylan’s hand away and sucked in a deep breath then blew it out slowly.
The wind settled down to a light breeze that flipped strands of her hair over her face and eyes. Raising a hand, she brushed the hair out of her face and licked her lips nervously.
In the distance a door banged, a dog growled, then eerie silence prevailed.
“You can see the Fae, the cloud, and feel the change in temperature?” Daylan whispered, his voice tinged with surprise.
Everything snapped into focus and she nodded her eyes went wide. “Fae?” I’ve lost it. This isn’t happening. For god sakes one of them has a pointed ear sticking through his hair. Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, Devlin, Summer, and Piper joined them. Piper remained behind Summer, voicing her displeasure in low menacing growls.
Holiday Extravaganza Feature –
Twinkle Bright – Elves Secret Santa
Direct from the North Pole, welcome to the Elves Secret Santa party! Here at the North Pole it’s extremely busy, but we still have time for a little holiday fun and shenanigans.
Let me introduce myself. I’m an elf and my name is Twinkle Bright because my elf hat has twinkle lights wound all around the scalloped edge and the pointy top.
I make yummy Hot Chocolate for Santa and the elves from a secret family recipe passed down from generation to generation. 
My hot chocolate keeps everyone warm and toasty inside at the North Pole. There is even an automatic dispenser in Santa’s Sleigh providing him with hot chocolate during his travels on Christmas Eve. It goes good with the cookies the children leave for him.
While I am mixing up large batches of hot chocolate, I listen to Christmas Carols from a variety of pop, country and rock artists. I always taste each batch to insure it’s up to elf standards. . You would think I’d get tired of hot chocolate, but no — never. I love the steaming chocolaty drink. I usually keep mine in an insulated mug so it stays warm while sampling the cookies in the elves’ bakery. Frosted sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies are my absolute favorites.
Now, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. But you must promise not to tell…anyone.
We do a secret Santa gift exchange around here and this year I got Bob, her job at the North Pole is name checker to make sure Santa has all the correct spellings of the girls and boys. One year she spelled Chrys’ name Chris and wow what an uproar.
Luckily Santa caught it, but we had to rush to change all the tags on her packages. Whew!
I’m getting Elf Bobi a package of 120 different color markers in a jewel encrusted case for marking off the correctly spelled names after she checks them.
Do you think she’ll like that?
Do you like fudge? Great, I’ll share with you my favorite Fantasy Fudge Recipe.
3 cups of sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 – 5 oz can of evaporated milk (do not use sweetened condensed milk)
1 – 12 oz package semi sweet chocolate chips
1 – 7 oz jar marshmallow cream
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
You may add chopped nuts if you wish
Bring sugar, butter and evaporated milk to a full rolling boil in a large saucepan over medium heat, stir constantly
Cook for four minutes or until a candy thermometer reaches 234 degrees.
High altitude takes about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and add chocolate chips and marshmallow cream, stir until melted.
Add vanilla and nuts. Stir until blended.
Pour into a greased 9×13 pan, spread evenly.
Cool completely and cut into squares.
About the Author:
Tena Stetler is a best-selling author of award winning paranormal romance novels. She has an over-active imagination, which led to writing her first vampire romance as a tween to the chagrin of her mother and delight of her friends.
With the Rocky Mountains outside her window, she sits at her computer surrounded by a wide array of paranormal creatures, with a Navy SEAL or two mixed in telling their tales. Her books tell stories of magical kick-ass women and strong mystical males that dare to love them. Travel, adventure and a bit of mystery flourish in her books along with a few companion animals to round out the tales.
Colorado is her home; shared with her husband of many moons, a brilliant Chow Chow, a spoiled parrot and a forty-five-year-old box turtle. Any winter evening, you can find her curled up in front of a crackling fire with a good book, a mug of hot chocolate and a big bowl of popcorn.
You can find her at the following links below: Stop by she loves to chat!
Website: https://www.tenastetler.com
Authors’ Secret’s Blog – My Say What Blog – Facebook Page- Twitter Page- Goodreads- Amazon- Newsletter letter signup-
Pinterest– Tribber –Bookbub- Instagram- and Tumblr:
Thank you so much for stopping by to help me celebrate my new release Charm Me Again! I know you’re going to love it!
Here’s the list of the other stops on the Charm Me Again blog tour. Stop at each one and register for a $15.00 Amazon Gift Card and a book of your choice by Tena Stetler.
December 2 Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read
http://mommasaystoreadornottoread.blogspot.com/
December 3 Books 4 Book Nerds
https://booknerdbooks.wordpress.com
December 4 The Book Junkie Reads
https://thebookjunkiereadspromos.blogspot.com/
December 5 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, and Sissy, Too!
http://3partnersinshopping.blogspot.com
December 6 Ilovebooksandstuffblog
https://ilovebooksandstuffblog.wordpress.com/
December 9 T’s Stuff
http://www.tsstuff.net
December 10 Supernatural Central
http://supernaturalcentral.blogspot.com
December 11 Boundless Book Reviews
http://www.boundlessbookreviews.com
December 12 Celia Breslin
http://www.celiabreslin.com/blog/
December 13 Lisa’s World of Books
http://www.lisasworldofbooks.net/
December 16 Booklikes
http://roxannerhoads.booklikes.com
December 17 Fang-tastic Books
http://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com
December 18 Paranormalists
https://paranormalists.blogspot.com/
December 19 Roxanne’s Realm
http://www.roxannerhoads.com/
December 20 The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom
http://creativelygreen.blogspot.com/
December 20 I Smell Sheep
http://www.ismellsheep.com/
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Blacksmith, Charm Me Again, Christmas, Colorado, Fae, fantasy, Holiday, Paranormal Mystery, Paranormal Romance, shifters, Tena Stetler, Witches, yoga by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.
Tranquilli Bloodline Series by Celia Breslin
Happy holidays to all! Give a big welcome to Celia Breslin, author of the Tranquilli Bloodline Series.
year for the December holidays. We have my Grandma Eddie to thank for this
classic treat. Enjoy!
Condensed Milk
ingredients (milk, sugar, syrup) in a large bowl.
kettle, pour in the mixture and bring to a boil.
boils until it reaches the temperature of 245 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy
thermometer (can take up to 25 minutes).
gets too hard.
is reached, remove kettle from stove.
extract, then pour mixture onto a large buttered cookie sheet or flat pan.
and wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper.
before you do! Makes a delicious holiday gift!
Lets start at the beginning Tranquilli Bloodline,Book One, Haven
Haven:
the side of his car and slanted his lips over mine. Time stopped. My fucking
heart stopped, then thundered so loud in my ears I thought the world exploded
around us. This is what I’d missed, what I craved. This man, these lips. I
groaned. His tongue swept over my lips demanding entrance and I caved, allowing
him in. He growled, a hungry, sexy as sin growl as his tongue plundered my
mouth, taking, tasting, demanding ownership all over again. I let him, taking
all he had to give.
Destiny:
the side of his car and slanted his lips over mine. Time stopped. My fucking
heart stopped, then thundered so loud in my ears I thought the world exploded
around us. This is what I’d missed, what I craved. This man, these lips. I groaned.
His tongue swept over my lips demanding entrance and I caved, allowing him in.
He growled, a hungry, sexy as sin growl as his tongue plundered my mouth,
taking, tasting, demanding ownership all over again. I let him, taking all he
had to give.
ASIN: B07Y8R94Z5
Origins:
I couldn’t convince myself to step out. What if this was a freaking,
injection-induced hallucination? What if I was still back in the damn prison?
out.
mammoth double doors eased open. The man illuminated in the doorway chased away
the numbness, pumped my heart so hard it might pound right out of my chest. He
opened his arms wide, calling me. My lips curled upward in the first true smile
I’d cracked since the last time he’d held me in his arms. That man, my man,
loved me more than any other on this whole damn planet.
closed around me, his hold so tight I could barely catch a breath. Tremors ran
through his hard body, again and again.
croaked, voice sandpaper rough. “Carina.”
neck, I planted fevered kisses along his tan, heated skin. He’d fed recently to
be this warm under my lips. Temptation had me licking his pounding pulse,
nipping at the vein. Couldn’t resist it. My fangs slid home.
between us, our mate bond bursting to life and tearing away whatever magical
wall had separated us for far too long. My bite, the catalyst, his blood the
cure. Awash in the force of our reunion, Alexander staggered then clutched me
closer while I pulled out of his neck and laved the rapidly healing holes.
continued to bubble and stitch us back together, he whisked us into the grand
entryway, planted my ass on an ornate, antique cabinet, and devoured my mouth
like a starving man. His hands roamed everywhere, searching, cataloguing, as if
to reassure himself this wasn’t a hallucination, that I was really here, in his
arms, relatively unharmed.
kissed me, the more those wonderful, golden threads of our connection
resurrected inside me, around me, between us, and I felt like freaking Sleeping
Beauty awakened from her magical slumber by a kiss from her fated handsome
prince. The silly thought made me giggle against Alexander’s seeking mouth, and
then I was crying while my love cupped my face between his hands, wiped away my
tears with his thumbs, and pressed tender kisses to my forehead, my cheeks, the
tip of my nose…
fisted his shirt tight. Please, God, let him be real. “I… I don’t want to wake
up.” Please, don’t let this end.
eyes bored into mine, his brown hair spiked in every direction, a bit longer
than in my memory. It’s not a dream, baby. You’re here. You’re home.
hear you. I swiped some willful bits of hair away from his forehead, touched
his full lips, ran my fingers along his strong jaw, taking in the whole
handsome, bad-boy package. You’re back in my head. I’d never been happier to
have someone inside my mind. Silence was seriously overrated.
arms.
It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Tranquilli Bloodline Series!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Celia Beslin, Destiny, Haven, origins, Paranormal Romance, Tranquilli Bloodline Series, Urban Fantasy by Tena Stetler with 10 comments.
NaNoWriMo – A Tale of 50,000 Words in Thirty Days – WOW!
Along with millions of writers around the world, (okay maybe not millions, but close) I’m participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWrimo).
UPDATE – Day twenty-five and I’ve logged 50,520 words. Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner. Even better only two chapters left to write! Yippee!
A challenge to
write fifty-thousand words in thirty days. For weeks, our minds have worked out the logistics of the story, our fingers are twitching to tap that keyboard and kick off the race to our latest novel. The National Novel Writing Month challenge is a great confidence builder and something we writers look forward to November 1st every year.
NaNoWriMo as it’s fondly referred to has become somewhat of a tradition for me starting in 2010. I’ve made my goal of at least 50,000 words every year since with the exception of 2013. That year I failed miserably at only 17000 words. My day job was a monster, the hours were long,and by the time I arrived home, I was the monster. Anyone know what I mean? But I digress, at 17,000 I still had a working story, plot and characters. Yeah! Finished it up in the months that followed, polished the manuscript and submitted it. Since that time, I left the monster of a day job and writing is now my full-time job, and I love it. CHARM ME AGAIN is my 10th novel since 2015.
Breaking the curse is only the first step to forever.
Click on the cover to read more or purchase.
Ten novels that NaNoWriMo helped me to create have been published by The Wild Rose Press. Last year’s NaNo project, CHARM ME AGAIN is available for pre-order right now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble. and itunes Yippee! CHARM ME AGAIN releases December 9, 2019, just in time for Holiday shopping! Psssst…. to help you with your holiday shopping, my e-book of A WITCH’S HOLIDAY WEDDING is on sale beginning November 15th for 99 cents for a limited time at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and itunes. Download a copy today and join the magical, romantic fantasy adventure, you’ll never want to leave!
This year for NaNoWriMo I’ll be working on GYPSY MAGIC the third book in A Witch’s Journey Series. I’m so excited to share Brock and Gwen’s story and return to the world of Pepper and Lathen and wildlife rescue!
Along with the Romance Writers of America and Pikes Peak Writers group, who gave me the tools, NaNoWriMo gave me the confidence needed to stick my toe in the murky waters of the publishing industry. The 50,000 words, approximately 1,667 per day, usually is three-quarters of a pretty darn good novel. Each year I build on what I’ve learned throughout the year and use it to complete the NaNoWriMo challenge. The camaraderie among participants is phenomenal making the challenge a fun way to kick off the holidays!
Wish me luck! Keep checking back for updates on my progress this year. Will I make the 50,000 words? Only time will tell, but you can bet I’ll do my best! I know you’ll be cheering me on! If you have a chance, I’d love you to leave me comments of encouragement.
Have a fun and safe Thanksgiving! Eat lots of turkey and enjoy family and friends. After all that’s what its all about!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged 30 days, 50000, A Witch's Holiday Wedding, Charm Me Again, Novel Contest, Novel Writing Month, November, Paranormal Romance, Tena Stetler, Worldwide, Writers by Tena Stetler with 2 comments.
