At this time of year, thoughts turn naturally to holiday celebrations. In addition to office parties and family gatherings, many of us book enthusiasts celebrate with our book groups. For those of you who don’t know the Readaholics, they are a book group of five women–Amy-Faye, Lola, Kerry, Brooke and Maud– who read classic mysteries in Heaven, Colorado. Lately, it seems that they’ve been solving mysteries almost as often as reading them. Their second outing is THE READAHOLICS AND THE POIROT PUZZLE and they find that Agatha Christie’s MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS helps them get on the right track when they investigate a murder at a brew pub’s grand opening (which event organizer Amy-Faye put together). So, in honor of the holidays, I’m passing along some of the Readaholics’ best ideas for celebrating the holidays with your treasured book club friends. If you read historicals, have everyone bring a cocktail from the time periods of the books you read this year (Sidecars for books set in the 1930s, Mai Tais for the 1940s, Sloe Gin Fizzes for the 1950s–you get the idea). If you read books from pre-cocktail days, mulled wine might be just the ticket. If you read…

Does your family have a favorite they’ve grown to love year after year? Here’s one for Christmas morning and it’s easy to make the night before. Less stress on all! Here’s another favorite holiday recipe that my family expects on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas for Breakfast. A good friend gave this recipe to me over 45 years ago, and it’s been standard fare at our house for years. ~ Viki Ferrell Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole 1 lb Sausage (can use Italian Sausage) 8 oz Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese 6 Large Eggs 1 pint Half n Half Salt & Pepper 6 Slices of White Bread Butter Trim crust off of the bread and layer them in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Spread a thin layer of butter over each slice. Brown the Sausage, drain and sprinkle evenly over the bread. Sprinkle the Cheese evenly over the Sausage. Beat the Eggs and Half n Half together until frothy – maybe 3 – 4 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour Egg mixture over the Sausage and Cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate over night. Bake the next morning at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Makes 12 decent sized…

From Miranda Owen “Ok, I lost the original recipe in my great grandmother’s church cookie cookbook, but luckily found this one online a few years ago. The only difference is that when I make them – I don’t use nuts or chocolate. Just the dough and the cherries. The important thing is getting the butter soft enough. If you don’t, it won’t yield much and is a pain in the butt to make (even though I secretly suspect my aunt prefers them that way because they come out crispier). I found a rhythm after a bit – I roll into a ball, put a little flour on my one palm, use the heel of other hand as a rolling pin to roll out a bit then plop cherry in and fold dough over and roll so cherry is inside dough ball. (Also make sure cherries have been drained. Def have to wait and watch. This year, I’m thinking of adding a little drizzle of icing by taking a little of cherry “juice” from jar, melted butter (the real stuff), and powdered sugar.” (with modifications) Ingredients 1 cup butter or margarine (unsalted butter is best) 1/2 cup powdered sugar 2 cups…

In Ireland it is usual for a family to eat roast turkey on Christmas Day and to bake a ham on Christmas Eve. The rind of the ham is cut off prior to cooking and this goes on top of the turkey as it is placed in the oven. To bake the ham, we steep it in water overnight to remove the worst of the salt. Then we remove the rind, score the fat into a grid with squares about an inch across. Each corner of the squares would be studded with a clove. Then we spoon honey over the whole ham, before placing it in the oven. Halfway through cooking the honey could be repeated if a sweeter ham is desired. This makes a beautiful clove and honey scent as the ham bakes. The ham is eaten on its own on Christmas Eve, usually with potatoes roasted in the same dish, then sliced to accompany the turkey on Christmas Day. About Clare O’Beara Clare O’Beara is a tree surgeon and expert witness, and a former national standard showjumper. She has qualified in ecology and includes environmental issues in some of her stories. She serves on the Royal Dublin Society…

On the day of my wedding, I worried about getting crying and ruining my mascara the second the service started. I didn’t and thought I was home free. That was until the singer we hired stood with the string quartet and opened her mouth. My lower lip trembled and tears spilled in a matter of seconds. That is the power of music. Somehow I managed to get through it without the puffy eyes that usually accompany my tears. Writers often have playlists for their novels. For me such a thing kind of happens by accident. Driving in the car, for example, I heard Imagine Dragon’s song “Demon,” and instantly knew it belonged to the main character in HARVEST MOON, Trent Jamieson. Trent has hoped his addiction issues are behind him, but it isn’t easy. He has a history that follows him into his attempt at a new life. The song “Blue Skies,” written by Irving Berlin also played into my novel (I love the version by Willie Nelson). Trent is a musician who plays the guitar and performs. In his past, this was the song he selected to sing to his first wife at their wedding—only their life together wasn’t…

When I wrote all of the Hot & Nerdy novellas, I wrote my nerds the way I see them. They have nerdy pursuits and that is part of how they think, talk, and live. In the first trilogy, I used quotes from Star Wars (“Do or do not. There is no try.”) and Star Trek. I created an entire world for a fictional video game. The purpose of all of this was to create well-developed characters. However, it did require quite a bit of research. In HIS DREAM ROLE, the hero, Free, is an actor. He loves playing a role because he can pretend to be someone else. Because of his love of acting and his natural tendency to be extremely shy, he uses movie quotes as part of his everyday language. I’ve always envied people who can pull out movie quotes for any given situation. While I love movies and TV, I’ve never had a brain for memorizing lines. If I hear a quote, I’ll usually be able to recognize it as a quote and maybe even know what movie it’s from. But I’ve never quoted from a movie in my real life – except Yoda. I do use…

You’ve all met the children and Eleanora and Tom English but how exactly did down-on-her luck waitress, Eleanora Watters, meet trust fund hottie, Tom English? You won’t want to miss this Christmas novel that tells the story of how Eleanora met Tom, while he was visiting Vail in the 1980s. **This is the second of two novellas entitled MARRYING MR. ENGLISH. The first novella was included in the 12 CHRISTMAS ROMANCES TO MELT YOUR HEART anthology. This is not a standalone novella. You must read MARRYING MR. ENGLISH, Part 1 first!** Excerpt: Eleanora and Tom walked back up the driveway toward Tom’s car, their hands bound together as gleaming white gravel crunched under their feet. Eleanora’s mind was spinning from the decision they’d just made together: Tom had turned down fifteen million dollars—an almost unfathomable sum of money—so that he could give their two-day marriage a chance. It felt foolish and reckless, and his impetuousness frightened her. It also made her heart swell with tenderness and her body tremble with longing. Eleanora had never been anyone’s first choice for anything. How in the world did she find herself here—with a man who had, literally, chosen her over diamonds and gold?…

Merry Christmas from me, Patricia Davids. If you love pecans the way I do, you’ll want to enjoy this delicious holiday recipe all year round. They are called Kentucky Pecan Bars and they are YUM. Pair them with a cup of hot peppermint cocoa and you’ll have a real treat to savor while you enjoy my latest book, AN AMISH NOEL. Ingredients Crust: Nonstick cooking spray 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 2 tablespoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon fine salt 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small dice 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water Filling: 1 2/3 cups pecans 6 ounces white chocolate, chopped 1 cup honey 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar 3 large eggs 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons bourbon Zest of 1 orange 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Directions: For the crust: Adjust the oven rack to the bottom position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, salt and butter until the butter is pea-sized. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until the dough…

Nashville SEAL is a new addition to my SEAL Brotherhood Series. This novella was part of the Holding Out For A Hero Anthology, just released on Kindle Unlimited. The book is also available in print, as well as audio. I have had the great fortune to work closely with my narrator, J.D. Hart, who himself had a Nashville career as a Country-Western star, prior to his transition into acting and commercial narration. I’ve been honored with some of his colorful stories, and have gotten to meet legends of the industry in person on one of my Nashville trips. Although all my SEAL stories in the Brotherhood Series are based in part on real people and real situations (and greatly altered by my own vivid imagination), this is the first time I’ve done a story character involving someone from the music industry. In the audio version of Nashville SEAL, you get to hear J.D.’s singing voice, as well as his buttery narration voice. We had a lot of fun with it, even managed to write a couple of songs we used in the story. I was thrilled when J.D. allowed me to use a portion of a song he wrote and…

One happy-hour evening, I was having a conversation with a few other history geek friends, and the talk turned not to who was dating who at the moment, but which wife of Henry VIII was our favorite. (I was shocked to find out not everyone has a favorite wife of Henry VIII!!!) Anne Boleyn is my very favorite, though Queen Catherine Parr, number six on the roster, runs a close second in my affections. In college, I wrote a paper about the writings of royal ladies in the Renaissance, and was amazed to learn she was the first English queen to be a published author under her own name. She had an astonishing life. I was happy to bring her into MURDER AT WHITEHALL (even though by this time she had been dead for several years!), and use Kate Haywood’s memories of her own childhood at Queen Catherine’s court. (And Kate is her namesake, as well!) Catherine Parr was raised by a strong, intelligent widowed mother, Maud Parr, lady-in-waiting to wife number one Catherine of Aragon (who was possible Catherine Parr’s godmother). Maud had spirit, but not much money, and most of it went to securing a marriage for her…