I survived the wilds of Alaska by Kristin Wallace

Hello! I made it back from the wilds of Alaska with my entire family! We were gone for nearly 2 weeks. We started with a flight from Tampa, Florida to Anchorage, Alaska (with a stop in Houston). It was a looooooooooooong flight. We stayed overnight in Anchorage and then took the train to Denali. We spent 3 days in a lodge there, including touring Denali National Park and a place that raises & trains huskies for the Iditarod race. 

From Denali we took a bus to Seward where we got on a cruise ship for a 7-day voyage. We saw Glacier National Park, and stopped at ports in Haines, Juneau and Ketchikan, ending in Vancouver. There was glacier watching, whale watching, bear watching, and more! What an amazing time. There is nowhere you can look that doesn’t offer the most incredible view. It truly does still feel like a frontier, with many touches of the Old West.

I promised to take Matilda the Pig from my Heiress Games series along on the journey. She loved everything and especially enjoyed the wildlife. I wanted to share a few of her fun pics with you.

You can see many more amazing images from my trip as well as some of the best shots of Matilda living the high life my Facebook Author Page. 

Kristin Wallaceis a USA Today bestselling author of inspirational and sweet contemporary romance filled with “Love, Laughter and a Leap of Faith”. She is the author of 3 popular series, Covington Falls Chronicles, Shellwater Key Tales and The Heiress Games (Palm Cove Tales). Look for new Palm Cove Tales this fall, SECOND CHANCE HERO and SECOND CHANCE CHRISTMAS, part of the Sweet Christmas Kisses 5 box set. 

  

Christmas Pizza Anyone? — Jean C. Gordon

Have you ever had/heard of Christmas pizza? The idea popped into my head when I was brainstorming ideas for my novella in the Sweet Romance Reads authors' Sweet Christmas Kisses 5 bundle.

I typed Christmas pizza into Google and found out it's a thing. From there, it was full steam ahead for Samantha, Royce, and me.

Sweet Christmas Kisses 5

Fill your holiday stocking with love and 9 sweet romance novellas, from USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly, and award-winning authors.

 

Sweet Christmas Kisses 5 brings you contemporary romances that celebrate the joy of the season around the world, including snowy Maine and the sun-kissed skies of Florida, the mountains of Colorado to small-town Illinois and Virginia, New York to San Francisco, and even the glittering lights of Paris and the old-world charm of Florence. The Sweet Christmas Kisses 5 bundle features 9 all-new, standalone novellas that will make you smile and warm your heart with the Christmas spirit.

Christmas Pizza to the Rescue

When a freak winter storm strands them alone at the Team Macachek barracks in Central New York, champion motocross racer, Royce Evans, and out-of-work investigative reporter turned pizza deliverer, Samantha Linder, strike a bargain that benefits them both. But when it appears Sam has broken the agreement, will the spirit of Christmas be strong enough to save their blossoming holiday love? 

PREORDER Sweet Christmas Kisses 5

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La Petite Rose des Sables..and the grandma I'd never met -- Roxanne Rustand

While my daughter Emily and I visited  Paris in May, I took way over 1,000 photos on my cell phone, thinking I would share all of the best ones here.  Obviously, that would be a deluge, so I've just been using them in blog posts here and there.  :)  

Today I have just one photo...but what an experience this  was! Since this was our first trip to Paris, Emily researched things to do and restaurants to try for months beforehand.  I'm so glad she did!

We approached the door of this tiny restaurant and it looked closed....then a sweet elderly woman popped out the door and in rapid French urged us to come in. We still can't believe we got in, because it has excellent reviews but doesn't take reservations. It's a very small--just four or five tables in a tight space, very charming and homelike, run by just one woman (she referred to herself as Mami) and her husband, though he wasn't there that night.  

She was the hostess, the server, and the cook. Mami doesn't speak English but was so sweet, attentive and charming!  She kept coming back, offering more wine or her homemade liqueur, or her sangria, or little treats, and gave us each little gifts-- mementos of Paris. The food was excellent, the experience was unique and fun. And what an adventure, having a complete language barrier and yet enjoying every moment.

I left feeling like I had been at a beloved grandmother's house, because she hovered with such great concern for our happiness. Through her, I could almost imagine what it might have been like to be blessed to have a living, loving grandmother while growing up.   I still feel like I was a guest in this lovely woman's home and should write her a thank you note. I will never forget this wonderful evening!   

And it also made me think.  We are blessed with five young grandchildren, and I now hope that each time they leave a meal at our house, they feel just as cared for as I did that evening in Paris.

What are some of your favorite memories with relatives and special meals while growing up?

Roxanne Rustand

USA Today Bestselling Author

Montana Mistletoe, Love Inspired      12/2018Falling for the Rancher, Love Inspired  6/2017 

  follow me at:  

https://bookbub.com/authors/roxanne-rustand 

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www.roxannerustand.com 

Rich Decadent Cocoa Brownies by @DonnaFaz #SweetRomance

I somehow ended up with 3 open containers of cocoa in my pantry and I was looking for a recipe to use up some of it. I found a brownie recipe at Epecurious.com that looked interesting and I did a little fiddling. (I’ll bet you’re not surprised.) The result is rich, decadent cocoa brownies that will satisfy anyone’s chocolate craving.

Rich, Decadent Cocoa Brownies

10 tablespoons butter, melted

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1.      Preheat oven to 325° F. Spray an 8 inch square pan with cooking spray and set aside.

2.    In a bowl, stir together the melted butter, the white and brown sugars, and the cocoa. Add eggs one at a time and beat after each addition until eggs are well incorporated. Stir in the vanilla and salt.

3.    Add flour and stir just until the flour is incorporated. Do not over beat. Stir in walnuts. Batter will thick.

4.    Spread batter evenly in prepared 8 inch square baking pan and bake for approximately 30 to 35 minutes.

These brownies have an intense chocolate flavor. As you can see in the picture, I’ve drizzled my brownies with store bought caramel sauce, but these brownies would also be great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. (They’re also delicious all on their own. Just ask my husband, who got up in the middle of the night for several more chocolaty, delectable squares.) 

I’m having an August 99¢ Sale!

Click here to buy FALLING FOR A SINGLE MOM Bundle!

New Release and a Giveaway

It's my birthday, and this is my first post on Sweet Romance Reads. I'm thrilled to be a part of this great group of writers. 

In honor of my birthday, I'm giving away a copy of one of my ebooks--winner's choice of my two Texas Trails books, but first I want to tell you about an exciting new release.

Out of Their Element is now available! This collection features stories by four popular, best-selling Christian fiction authors: Robin Lee Hatcher, Angela Breidenbach, Deborah Raney and me.

Here's a peek at what my story is about:

A Wagonload of Trouble

A computer geek is completely out of his element in the wilds of Wyoming. While his sister stays home with her sick son, Evan reluctantly accompanies his niece on a two-week wagon train tour with her history class, despite a pressing business deadline. The pretty gal heading up the tour thinks he's a total greenhorn, but he can't help being attracted to the competent woman who seems to have it all together. When the tour is sabotaged, will Evan's unique skills help solve the mystery?


Purchase here

Note: this book is not included in the giveaway.

And now for my give away books!

 

Both of these books originally appeared in a six-book series called the Texas Trail series. Three authors, Susan Page Davis, Darlene Franklin, and I each wrote two books in the series. The books feature the fictional Morgan family. The first book was set in the 1830s, with each following book set in the next decade, ending in the 1880s. Each book was a stand-alone story, although frequent visits from other Morgan family members happened quite often.

I have now gotten the rights back on my two books, so I have self-published them with new covers. Let me tell you what they're about.

Long Trail Home

A weary soldier returns from the War Between the States to discover his parents are dead, his family farm is in shambles, and his fiancée is married. A pretty, blind woman reaches through his scarred walls, but will the secret she holds ruin all chances for a future filled with love, faith, and family?

Purchase here

End of the Trail

Brooks Morgan is quick on the draw, but his weapon of choice is his smile. He’s smart and witty and has charmed his way through much of life, but now he’s growing older—and a bit wiser. He wants to stop drifting and settle down. He finally gets his chance when he wins Raven Creek Ranch in a poker game, but when he goes to claim his prize, a pretty woman with a shotgun claims the ranch belongs to her. He's not leaving, but neither is she.

Purchase here

Which of these books sounds more exciting to you? I am giving away an ebook version of one of my Texas Trail books. Leave a comment and let me know which you'd prefer to read and why to be entered in the drawing.

Vickie McDonough is an award-winning author of nearly 50 published books and novellas, with over 1.5 million copies sold. A bestselling author, Vickie grew up wanting to marry a rancher, but instead, she married a computer geek who is scared of horses. She now lives out her dreams penning romance stories about ranchers, cowboys, lawmen, and others living in the Old West. Her novels include End of the Trail, winner of the OWFI 2013 Booksellers Best Fiction Novel Award. Whispers on the Prairie was a Romantic Times Recommended Inspirational Book for July 2013. Song of the Prairie won the 2015 Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Gabriel’s Atonement, book 1 in the Land Rush Dreams series, placed second in the 2016 Will Rogers Medallion Award. Vickie has recently stepped into independent publishing.

Vickie has been married over forty years to Robert. They have four grown sons, one daughter-in-law, and a precocious granddaughter. When she’s not writing, Vickie enjoys reading, doing stained glass, watching movies, and traveling. To learn more about Vickie’s books or to sign up for her newsletter, visit her website: www.vickiemcdonough.com

Lyn Cote-Do You Like to Play Make Believe?

I belong to the Love Inspired Historical Group on Goodreads. If you are a member of Goodreads, you have a great opportunity to play MAKE BELIEVE. 

This is an active group of readers who love sweet and inspirational historical fiction and they love to throw themselves into group activities where they become part of the story. Would you like to join us for

A TRIP DOWN THE OREGON TRAIL?

ANNOUNCING the first ever LIH Goodreads Oregon Trail Trip!

The year is 1859. The wagon train will be comprised of women (and their children if any) who are going west to join their husband, betrothed or father who have gone on before them. No man will accept the position of guide and wagon master. We ladies are on our own. Are you up for the challenge? 

August 6th – 10th. JOINING. This first week you must bring your teams and wagon, gear and supplies to Independence Missouri to be approved. (A list sufficient to meet your needs for the entire trip that you must meet per person will be posted.) You will register by providing the guide with written assurance of your compliance on your arrival. And by giving your reason for wanting to join the wagon train.

If you cannot harness or handle and drive your teams, or load and shoot a rifle or pistol with reasonable accuracy, you must learn during this first week. There will be cowboys on hand to teach you what you need to know. You can sign up to join their classes. Also, as I will have to serve as advance scout, we will need four volunteer wagon masters to lead the train. (Lyn will serve as wagon master for one of the days.) On Friday the volunteer wagon masters will be assigned their days, wagons will be assigned their positions in the train, and in the evening there will be a farewell hoe down dance with local cowboys. 

August 13th – 17th. The journey begins. We leave first thing Monday morning. Be prepared, ladies! Who knows what may happen… 

If you are already on Goodreads, you just need to go to the group and click Join. You will be approved and then you can join us. Here is the link

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/24770-love-inspired-historicals

Some call in half-breed and all call her a lady. Few in 1825 would judge them equals~

BTW, my latest historical is on sale for 99 cents now. Click here to purchase.

So are you up for the challennge?--Lyn Cote