We’re pleased to present another delicious recipe on our Valentine’s Day Recipe Roundup from the historical romance writing team, May McGoldrick!  *** In Highland Sword, Aidan Grant and Morrigan Drummond are both proud and principled. He is a barrister. She is a trained fighter in search of revenge. They each know their own mind and are certain about what they want. And they end up spending a lot of time together, be it fighting in Inverness alleyways or the training yard at Dalmigavie Castle or duel each other in a battle of wits. But it is during the night of the Samhain celebration that their romance blooms. Many of our readers already know that May McGoldrick is actually two people – Nikoo and Jim McGoldrick. We write together, live together, love endlessly, and enjoy cooking together. In our household, Nikoo loves the everyday and holiday cooking, and Jim is great at baking. In this Highland competition, players are banned from using their hands. This game challenges participants to take bites out of treacle scones dangling from string. How can you lose?! Ingredients: 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 cup white sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 5 tablespoons…

The Fresh Fiction Valentine’s Day Recipe Roundup continues with Mimi Matthews! We hope you’ll enjoy this sweet treat. . .  *** Neville Cross is one of the four Victorian orphans of my Parish Orphans of Devon series. He suffered a traumatic brain injury in his youth that impacts his speech, his ability to recall words, and also causes him to occasionally lose time. He’s a gentle giant of a man who generally prefers the company of animals to people. Enter Clara Hartwright, a lady’s companion and aspiring academic who has recently rescued an elderly dog. She’s come to stay for the winter, and at once enlists Neville’s help with her problematic pug. Soon, the two of them are bonding over their mutual love of animals. They’re also sharing several cups of tea. During a cold winter, nothing goes better with hot tea than freshly baked molasses cookies. You can dip them and then let them dissolve on your tongue. As an added bonus, baking molasses cookies makes your entire house smell fantastic. The following recipe is one I’ve used often. Note: For a better dipping experience, I generally skip the part where you roll the cookies in sugar before baking…

What’s the name of your latest release? My latest release is HOUSE RULES. It’s the 3rd book in my Uptown series about love, real estate, and adulting. What is it about? HOUSE RULES is about exes who end up living together because the rent in New York City is too darn high. It also features meddling relatives, some sexy wrist-brace stripping, and an asshole cat. What word best describes your heroine? Evolving. Lana is in her 40s, but in a lot of ways she’s still finding her place in the world. When she divorced the hero Simon, she was an aspiring music teacher, but her own career aspirations seemed to take second place behind Simon’s. Now she’s moved back to New York and is trying to make it as a chef. What makes your hero irresistible? When Lana is sick, Simon puts her to bed, runs out to the all-night pharmacy to get her all the medicine she could possibly need, arranges it all on tray, makes her food. He’s also a runner and, in my head at least, looks a little like Matthew Goode.  It’s a pretty great combination. Who are the people your main characters turn to when…

Being part of the second season of the 425 Madison Series has been an honor. It is the first time I’ve been involved in something like this and the experience has been wonderful! In HIS LAST RIDE we meet Cody and Payton, childhood friends, as they connect after years apart and explore if they can be more. Now to my favorites of 425 Madison. . . My Favorite local nightspot in the 425 Madison I have to agree with Allie York on Monterrey’s. It is the perfect spot for everyone from 425 Madison to unwind. Welcoming to all with food, alcohol, and music. It doesn’t get much better than that! My favorite 425 Madison neighbor is: Harley Wagner. Who doesn’t love a handsome cop that is loyal and protective?! You see it in ‘Love Under Construction’ with the fact that he opens his apartment to his friend Jamison Phoenix and again while he stands up to Olivia for how she treats his friend. Harley also shows his protective side with Payton and helps her when she least expects it. The 425 Madison favorite mode of transport: Walking, definitely. Everything, well almost everything anyway, is within a short distance of the…

Here’s another great addition to our Valentine’s Day Recipe Roundup from TIF MARCELO! Don’t forget, we’re here all week with more fun – keep following along!  *** It’s never too late. Not for seventy-six-year-old Margo Gallagher-Cary, and neither for her thirty-nine-year-old daughter Diana. Both single, and at a fork in their lives, they’re ready to make change, to do something different. But when they come upon old letters that speak to a family history that they cannot deny, they must go after the truth, only to find themselves in the Philippines where both opportunity and love await. ONCE UPON A SUNSET is that story of found family and new love for all generations. But the Filipino-American experience isn’t complete without the introduction of specific food, food that speaks to families near and far and symbolizes celebration and good luck. Pancit Bihon, a noodle dish, is common in Filipino-American celebration menus. Below is my own recipe. Vegetable Pancit Bihon 1 package glass (clear) noodles of choice, like vermicelli or rice noodles 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 onion, chopped 2 medium carrots, julienned ½ medium cabbage, chopped 2 cups of green beans, chopped into about ½ inch. 1 tsp fish sauce Pepper,…

Today we’re joined by Synithia Williams with a delicious recipe and more information about her new contemporary romance, FORBIDDEN PROMISES.  *** Forbidden Promises is a story of family secrets, lies and forbidden love. The main character, India Robidoux, is a violinist whose spent years traveling with an orchestra to escape her family’s drama. She returns home for a quick visit and is roped into helping with her brother’s political campaign. Staying longer wouldn’t be a problem if she weren’t still in love with her sister’s ex-husband, Travis Strickland. Travis owes everything to the Robidoux family and, he’d do anything for the family—his divorce could never change that. India always understood him better than anyone else. And the longer they work together on the campaign, the more torn he is. Coming between her and her sister is out of the question. But how can he let love pass him by a second time? India and Travis grew up in the south, and though they enjoy big breakfast with all the fixings, neither of them are big on spending a lot of time in the kitchen. They would start a weekend morning with a quick and easy staple of salmon patties and…

What does the phrase “do no harm but take no crap” mean to you? Some people interpret it to mean living your life on your terms but being sensitive to the needs, wants, and expectations of others. Or being empathetic, but not at the expense of your soul. Staying in your lane and minding your business but helping when and how you can. Being a good citizen but also taking care of yourself. No matter what you decide, it’s a philosophy that is impacting a lot of people in many different ways. Self-care comes to mind for me when I think about how I apply this to my life…setting aside time to take care of myself and do the things that feed and inspire my soul. And yes, that means cutting out the toxic elements that pop into my world here and there. I’m the kind of person who likes to help others but I’ve learned over the years that there are people who will take advantage of that and will, without hesitation, drain you dry. So having a philosophy like this one makes it easier to draw the line when a situation is getting out of control. I still…

In this scene Nicholas has let Zelda’s down and she knows that he’s a professional illusionist, it’s the show that matters not the people around him, but he proves there is more to him than the showman. *** Nicholas stood in Zelda’s kitchen, wondering what the hell he was doing. He’d come out here not because of the kid… Well, maybe a little bit, because Stetson reminded him of himself in some ways. But also for her. Her house felt homey, comfortable—the kind of place he imagined normal families lived. He’d grown up in a brick and stone 12 bedroom mansion with a kitchen that had been meant for a large staff of workers, and he and his grandfather had always eaten in the master suite to be near his grandmother. He’d grown up believing that his parents had died when he was a baby. His grandparents had raised him in their big mansion, treating him like he was a special gift in their lives. It had only been after they’d died that he’d realized everything he’d known had been an illusion. He’d been an adopted baby they’d used to replace the son they’d lost as an adult. He shook…

The Valentine’s Day celebrations continue with SUSAN STOKER! Don’t forget to follow our recipe roundup all week long!  *** I watched a show on television about a missing little girl. She was three when she disappeared. But it got me to thinking about what happened if that little girl was found years later? What had she gone through? What was her life like? I wrote Defending Zara with that in mind. When Zara was in elementary school, she was on vacation with her parents in Peru. They were killed and she was dumped in a barrio. She grew up there, eventually learning Spanish and how to survive in the poorest sections of the city. Fast forward years and years, she’s now an adult and runs across Meat, a Mountain Mercenary in the country to try to save children from a human trafficker. It’s a story of despair, hope, luck…and love. One of the first meals Zara shares with Meat is a simple fare of Chicken soup. It had been so long since she’d had such a wonderful meal without having to beg or steal for it. I imagine her and Meat sitting down in their house back in Colorado Springs…

Welcome to the Valentine’s Day Recipe Roundup! Follow along all week for great authors, delicious food, awesome books, and fun book giveaways. Each day, two authors will share a recipe they think their main characters would enjoy together. We hope you enjoy, add some meals to your recipe collections, and learn about some fabulous books along the way!  *** Piper J. Drake’s Butter Mochi In FOREVER STRONG, just released January 28, Ying Yue, has been kidnapped and subsequently rescued by Zu, leader of the Search and Protect team. She’s made welcome by Pua with snacks and refreshing drinks. Later, Kalea cooks for the team and the food she provides represents safety and a sense of home. As the chemistry between Ying Yue and Zu grows stronger, Zu finds himself wishing he could cook some of his favorite dishes for her. Food, the sharing of it, and the heart that might go into the cooking of it is a key element in the way I build my characters and their relationships. It can bring together a team and give you the sense of family, either born or found. Butter mochi is a Hawaiian treat made with sweet rice flour, resulting in…