Happy Almost Halloween, campers!
AWHOOOOOO-HOOOOOO! Let's Howl!
Giveaways galore at the
HOWLOWEEN Blog Hop this year! More than 300 participating authors, giving away great stuff and great swag, now through October 29th.
Join in the tricks, the treats, the goodies, the fun. One very special grand prize winner will win a very tasty electronic prize! Click on the button to the right.
And scroll down for everyone's favorite -- candy and caramel apples!
I'm pleased to have two light-hearted but super HOT and sexy paranormals to howl about, both set in mystical, eerie Sleepy Hollow (also know as Halloween Central), home of the Headless Horseman.
THUNDER released yesterday from Decadent Publishing's mad sexy popular 1Night Stand series. And
LIGHTNING, my first 1Night Stand story, released from Decadent last week!
Both in time for all the spooky festivities! I'll give away one book from my backlist and lots of swag to one commenter who tells me why
LIGHTNING's Lily is a reluctant succubus and in what newstand items
THUNDER's sexy Sean Campbell can sometimes be found.
Here are the covers, blurbs and excerpts, where the clues can be found.
BLURB:
In mystic Sleepy Hollow, succubus Lily Night put her prom date, Campbell Jones, into a coma after a night of wild, unbridled sex. She has steered clear of mortals ever since, afraid of damaging them or worse, not to mention the inconvenience of knocking out the power every time they have sex.
Successful architect Campbell Jones has lived with strange powers and a sexy secret since that prom night. He’s buried himself in work to forget the woman who’d dumped him at the ER then vanished from his life without a trace.
Neither Lily nor Campbell have forgotten that night or the love they’d shared. Will a 1Night Stand help them bury their past?
EXCERPT:
“A little higher and more to the left.”
Lily Night narrowed her eyes as the building maintenance man shifted her framed diploma on the freshly-painted wall opposite her desk. She tried not to ogle the firm ass encased in a pair of tight jeans or the way the man’s shoulder muscles rippled beneath his T-shirt.
Maybe if I pop an Altoid, I’ll have an excuse to wipe away the drool.
She refrained from jumping the handsome worker dude’s bones. The last time she’d dallied with a human, the encounter had not gone well. Vivid images of that long ago prom night bombarded her. Campbell Jones had been a young, strapping, hunk-and-a-half football player and they’d started their date full of hope and expectation and lust. When he’d adjusted the fragrant gardenia corsage on her wrist, she’d inhaled his crisp, citrus scent and thought she might swoon at the sight of him in his tux. The black material stretched across broad shoulders that mirrored the promise of the bruising man he’d be in his prime. But she’d all but sucked him dry as flashes of lightning crackled over their heads. By the time dawn painted the sky, she’d turned him into a mere shadow of his former self. Literally.
And briefly knocked out cell phone service in the lower Hudson Valley, as well.
She’d sworn off humans ever since. Instead, she pulled all-nighter after all-nighter to evade the dreams in which men called to her—and to avoid the university dating scene that inevitably led to frequent and addicting sex.
BLURB:
Lonely young witch, Veronica Hardwicke, has struggled to get on with her life after the death of the elderly husband who’d left her a fortune and a sprawling estate in mystical Sleepy Hollow. When frightening things go bump in the night on a stormy Fourth of July, who better to call than the sexy developer and contractor, Sean Jones, who's been renovating her mansion for months?
Sean may grace the tabloid pages with a different supermodel on his arm every night, but it's Veronica who drives him nuts. Ignoring his instinct to stay away, he answers her summons.
Will the thundering passion of their 1Night Stand tear down the barriers between them?
EXCERPT:
Veronica paced back and forth in the grand entry foyer of the Belmont mansion, the kitten heels of her Prada mules clacking on the marble floors.
The rest of the place might not be finished, but she’d insisted on having a few rooms completed, so at least she felt like she was living in a home, rather than a massive, never-ending construction project. Well, her contractorhad insisted, even though working around the main entrance and central hallway created more work for him and his crew. But she was forced to admit he was right.
Her cell phone chimed on top of the antique credenza shoved flush against one wall. She leaped for it. Probably Geneviève, to regale her with all the fun she was having in Paris. Or Sean, to advise her he couldn’t make it after all. She sighed and read the text message on the small screen.
Congratulations, Veronica. 1Night Stand has found your date. Have a good time.
With both anxiety and mounting excitement, she stared at the screen and waited. No other info. Outside in the night, thunder boomed. She jumped then laughed at herself.
Ghosts are one thing, but freaking out at the weather now? Cripes, you really do need this date!
She let her imagination run wild, then texted back for more details:
When? Where? Who?
An insistent pounding at the front door jarred her out of her fantasy. She swung the door open on another explosive crack of thunder.
Sean stood on her doorstep, his soaked T-shirt molding sculpted pecs and abs, his drenched hair flattened over his brow. Rain poured down as he fiddled with his iPhone, a bemused expression on his face. Behind him, jagged arrows of lightning tore the dark sky. He glared at the screen, glanced at her in confusion, then back at the screen.
Veronica’s own phone pinged again. Thunder roared. She read the message in disbelief.
You’re looking at him.
There's no trick to this (well, maybe a small one at the end!)
None. So simple even I can do it.
CANDY APPLES
8-10 apples
1 c. sugar
1 c. light corn syrup
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. red cinnamon candies
Inserts sticks in apples. Boil everything else to hard crack stage. If you have a candy thermometer, that'd be to 300-310 degrees. If not, don't fuss yourself. You'll know. Swirl apples in candy (quickly) and place on wax paper.
Want even simpler?
CARAMEL APPLES
(Just take the cellophane off the candy!)
6 apples
1 package (14 oz.) individually wrapped caramels
2 tablespoons milk
Insert sticks in apples.
Butter baking sheet.
Microwave caramels and milk two minutes, stirring once.
Cool briefly.
Roll each apple in melted caramel.
Nuts and such optional
