Granted, soup is not what everyone is making at this time of year when the sun is shining. Personally, at home we’re big on bbq and fresh salads and fruit right now. But when I think of my book, FAR FROM BROKEN, I think of cold, snow, and comfort food, so here goes:

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French Onion Soup

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

4 large onions sliced
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp chili flakes
¼ cup unsalted butter
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
8 cups beef broth
3 tbsp brandy

6 (1/2-inch-thick) diagonal slices of baguette

1/2-lb Gruyère, Comte, or Emmental Cheese (or hey, why not a little of them all?)

2 tablespoons finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Cook onions in oil and butter on medium heat until soft and starting to brown. Add thyme, bay leaves, chili and salt over moderate heat, uncovered, stirring frequently, until onions are well browned, about 25 minutes. Add flour to coat onions. Stir in wine and stock, bring to the boil. Skim off foam from the top and lower heat. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, 45 minutes. (This is what my mother’s recipe says, but I find it doesn’t usually take that long. Maybe 25-30 mins—Then again, I could be doing it wrong.)

While soup simmers, put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange bread in 1 layer on a large baking sheet and toast, turning over once, until completely dry, about 15 minutes. Remove bread from oven and preheat broiler. Put French onion soup dishes in a shallow baking pan.
Ladle soup into bowls, then float a crust of bread in each. Grate enough Gruyère/ Comte/ Emmental to cover tops of soup and bread, allowing ends of cheese to hang over rims of the bowls, then sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Broil 4 to 5 inches from heat until cheese is melted and bubbly, 1 to 2 minutes.

FAR FROM BROKEN

Soldier. Spymaster. Husband.

Colonel Jasper Carlisle was defined by his work until he met his wife. When the prima ballerina swept into his life with her affection, bright laughter and graceful movements, he knew that she was the reason for his existence, and that their love would be forever.

But their world is shattered when Callie is kidnapped and brutally tortured by the foes Jasper has been hunting. Mechanical parts have replaced her legs, her hand, her eye...and possibly her heart. Though she survived, her anger at Jasper consumes her, while Jasper's guilt drives him from the woman he loves. He longs for the chance to show her their love can withstand anything...including her new clockwork parts.

As the holiday season approaches, Jasper realizes he must fight not just for his wife's love and forgiveness...but also her life, as his enemy once again attempts to tear them apart.

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Website: www.jkcoi.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/jkcoi

(Also writing Dark Fantasy for young adults as Chloe Jacobs www.chloejacobs.com)

I’m no chef, but a friend of mine gave me this recipe years ago, and I’ve made it more times than I can count. It’s fresh-baked bread for any occasion…just add a touch of whatever the occasion calls for. Add a little garlic to the bread, dill or some chocolate chips!

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And now, the fast, easy bread I call 3-2-1 Bread:

3 cups self-rising flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 beer

Mix it all together, and put the dough in a greased bread pan (I use my meatloaf pan). Bake at 350 for an hour. Pull it out, eat it.

(I’ve never had any leftovers when I make this.)

Rent-A-Husband, Inc.

Crete Gannon witnesses his brother’s murder and finds himself next on the hit list of a killer notorious for eliminating witnesses under police protection. He discovers the perfect place to hide, a location no one would think to look for him -- Rent A Husband, Inc. His plan is simple: he’ll work under a false identity, cloistered safely away inside some anonymous, lonely, old lady’s house then put his brother’s killer away when he testifies at the trial.

But Tasha Henslow, a bed and breakfast owner whose building faces foreclosure, is not lonely and she’s not old. Nor, unfortunately, is she anonymous. He can get the work done while avoiding the killer, but not if she recognizes him. How long until she remembers the perfect night they spent together before she left him in a cold bed alone?

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www.readmoore.com

Whether you a football fan or not, you’ll be a fan of this recipe I found on www.bakerella.com

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Oreo Football Truffles

1 package Oreo cookies (use cookie including the cream center)

1 8oz. package cream cheese (softened) chocolate bark (for dipping)

 

1. Finely crush cookies in a food processor or place them in a ziploc bag and crush into a fine consistency. 2.Stir in softened cream cheese.Use the back of a large spoon to help mash the two together (I used my hands). 3. Roll the mixture into football shaped balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. 4. Melt chocolate as directed on the package and then dip footballs into chocolate, tap off extra and set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry. 5.) Once dry, pipe icing rings on the edges and laces on the top. 6.) Refrigerate.

Makes about 36 truffles.

And now that I got you in the mood for some football why not read Playing For Keeps?

Journalist Samantha Jameson always wanted to be one of the boys, but Ryan Terell won’t let her join the club. Fresh from the battlegrounds of Iraq, reporting on a bunch of overgrown boys playing pro football is just the change of scenery she needs. If trying to be taken seriously in the world of sports writing wasn’t hard enough, Ryan, her college crush, is only making it harder. As a tight-end for the team she’s covering, he is strictly off limits.

Ryan Terell is a playmaker on and off the field, but when Samantha uncovers his moves, he throws out the playbook. Just as he claims his sweetest victory, Samantha’s investigation into a steroid scandal involving his team forces him to call a time-out to their off the record trysts. But then a life threatening injury on the field will force them both to decide just how far they’ll go to win the game.

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http://www.taoofliz.blogspot.com

For a change of pace and for the cooking-challenged (like me) here's a great non-cook recipe just in time for the July 4th holiday. It's a fun, easy, tasty and fairly low-calorie dessert option.

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1 quart fresh strawberries

1 quart fresh blueberries

1 Large tub of Cool Whip Lite

1 fresh Angel Food Cake from bakery section of supermarket

The trifle looks best when assembled in a trifle dish or large glass bowl.

Preparation: Cube Angel Food Cake and cut the tops off of strawberries then cut into quarters (cut a few in half only for garnish).

Assemble: Line the bottom of bowl with cake cubes; spoon a layer of cool whip on top of cake; add 1/2 of the strawberries and blueberries; repeat. Finish with a layer of Cool Whip then garnish with berries.

There are endless variations to this dish. You can try different fruits, do an all chocolate trifle, add a layer of pudding and even sprinkle in your favorite liquor.

Lusted in Las Vegas picks up where Marooned in Miami left off. Now, Stephanie and Jason’s sexy tryst continues in Sin City! Their chemistry is undeniable and lust is taking a turn toward love when they return to each other’s arms. However, all is not perfect in paradise when Jason’s ex comes to town and wants what she believes is rightfully hers.

Stephanie has a secret of her own. Can she spend a carefree weekend with Jason without risking a broken heart?

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http://sandrabunino.com/

Fruitcakes get bad rap. Most people think of them as overly sweet and heavy enough to sink a boat. I can assure you, dear reader, this recipe is nothing like that.

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Ingredients

6 oz butter

4 eggs

1 1/2 cup of flour

1 cup of brown sugar, packed

1 tablespoon dark molasses

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup dried fruit, chopped (I like cranberries, apricots, mangoes, but whatever floats your boat is fine.)

1/2 cup chopped nuts (Again, whatever you prefer.)

2 tablespoon orange liquor 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/4 cup crystallized brown sugar

 

Macerate the dried fruit with the liquor for at least an hour, possibly overnight.

Preheat oven to 350º F

Butter a loaf pan and dust it with crystallized brown sugar. Shake out the excess. This will keep the cake from sticking and also creates a sweet and crunchy crust.

Cream the butter with the brown sugar.

Mix in molasses.

Add eggs one by one.

Mix the flour and baking powder together, add to the egg mixture. Combine well.

Fold in the fruits and nuts, add vanilla.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan.

Bake for 50 minutes, or till toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let it cool.

This fruitcake is great with coffee, tea, with jam spread over it, or just by itself.

Sam Mayne’s life is as dull as the dishwater in his small-town Montana diner, and that’s just how he wants it. Quiet, uneventful, safe from his shadowy past. The breezy young drifter who answers his help-wanted ad makes him uneasy in ways he dare not examine too closely. Except he can’t help but be pulled in by Jay Colby’s spunky attitude, endless stories, and undeniable sex appeal.

Fresh off yet another romantic disaster, Jay doesn’t understand his attraction to the taciturn line cook, but there’s no fighting the chemistry that lands them in bed together. Where Sam’s subtly dominant streak takes command, and Jay delights in discovering the pleasures of his submissive side.

Safe in the assumption their relationship is temporary, neither lover holds back when the heat is on. Until Sam’s deadly past catches up with them with a vengeance, forcing him to drop the life he’s built, pick up his lover, and run. As danger cuts closer to the bone, Sam and Jay are forced to face the truth. About themselves, about the depth of their love—and the newly forged bonds that are about to be tested to the limit.

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http://louharper.blogspot.com

http://louharper.com

I tend to want to snack as I write, and when I face down a deadline I usually buy a box of Pizza Rolls and tear through them. This is bad - a box of 15 can total about 12-14 points on the new Weight Watchers plan. This recipe I modified yielded 10 rolls at 7 points!

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Ingredient List

Phyllo sheets, thawed

Pizza sauce

Low-fat mozzarella cheese sticks

No-fat cooking spray

If you've never worked with phyllo before, be warned it is very delicate and you don't want it to dry out. If your pack is frozen, make sure you set it out to thaw completely before unrolling, otherwise it will crack.

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Spray a muffin tin with the cooking spray. I have a mini-muffin tin - you can use a cookie sheet, but I find this is better in case the dough cracks while baking and the filling leaks.

3) Grate the mozzarella and set aside. You can use any type of cheese for this - I use the prepackage sticks to keep track of points.

4) Carefully lay one sheet of phyllo on a cutting board and spray. Set another sheet on top. (keep the rest of the dough wrapped so it doesn't dry out.)

5) Cut the dough into quarters. In the middle of each rectangle, spoon some pizza sauce and add some of the grated cheese. You may want to experiment with other "toppings" like chopped up pepperoni or bacon.

6) Fold the long ends of each rectangle over the sauce mixture, then fold back the ends over the bottom of the pouch so the wrap resembles a pizza roll. Set gently in a sprayed muffin cup.

7) Repeat until you have made as many as you plan to eat/share. I used five sheets, one cheese stick, and about 1/2 cup of sauce to make ten rolls.

8) Bake about 8-10 minutes. Enjoy!

Award-winning author Leigh Ellwood offers four delightfully sinful tales of passionate paranormal activity. From amorous fairies to sleek and sensual were-creatures, these stories have bite.

The following titles have been made available individually in digital format. First time in print!

Leading Lady – a cult TV star hooks up with two out of this world fans at a convention, and ends up auditioning for a role that will change her life.

Excitable – A werewolf, cursed and cast from his pack, must find true love in order to reverse the spell. Can he find the right girl before the full moon?

Sweet Surprise – A delivery driver making a stop in an eerie town becomes hostage to an irate, amorous fae seeking vengeance on her employer. Both end up taking the standoff lying down, literally!

Sugar on Top – Spooky Sierra Glade’s top gossip columnist has her cake and eats it, too, when she attempts to crash a secret bachelor party inside the cake.

~~~

http://www.leighellwood.com

Pumpkin. It’s not just for fall anymore.

Sure, that’s when they’re ripe. Of course, that’s when you want to do lots of jack-o-lantern carving. But I say, why wait to have that deliciousness? My husband is a HUGE fan of pumpkin, and so I try to keep cans of It handy year-round. Because once you’ve tried these Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip cookies, you won’t want to wait another year for more!

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Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies

-1/2 cup shortening

-1 and 1/2 cups white sugar

-1 egg

-1 regular size can pure pumpkin (NOT pie mix!)

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-2 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour

-1 teaspoon baking powder

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-1 teaspoon salt

-1 HEAPING teaspoon ground cinnamon

-1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

-1 cup, (or, as I like to make them, 1 whole bag) of white chocolate chip morsels.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees in the US. If your oven has Celsius, erm, good luck. J Grease your cookie sheets. You’ll need two!

In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. (What. I said this was a GOOD recipe, not a healthy one!)

Beat in the egg, then stir in the pumpkin and vanilla. Combine all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually add them into the creamed mixture. Stir in the cinnamon chips, and if you’re feeling adventurous, toss in some macadamia nuts too. (YUM)

Drop the dough by teaspoonfulls onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake ‘em for 15 minutes in your preheated oven, or until they’re light brown. Cool on wire racks. As if you can wait that long to stuff them in your face. At least, me and hubs can’t!

The cool thing about this recipe is that you can switch it up. Use semisweet chocolate chips instead of white chocolate, if you like them. Add in some pecans, or other kind of nut if you feel like it. These are soft, cake-y cookies that are so moist and delicious you’ll beg for another batch almost instantly. I’ve got a feeling that Hammer, the hero in my coming soon release, INDELIBLY INTIMATE, would be a BIG fan of these. Check it out below! And don't forget to visit me on twitter @ReggiCole!

 

INDELIBLY INTIMATE - available on July 13th!

Quinn LaBrea got ditched. Her jerkwad ex-boyfriend trashed her credit and left behind a mountain of debt. Worse, his initials are tattooed on her thigh, an ugly-ass reminder of her utter failure at life. Not to mention her horrible taste in men.

Hamilton Dean—“Hammer” at his tattoo shop—may be an unlikely white knight, with his piercings and bad-boy persona, but he takes one look at Quinn and knows exactly what she needs. A new tattoo to cover the old one? Easy. A place to stay when her power’s cut? Done. A night filled with hot, sweaty sex and mind-blowing orgasms? Hell yeah.

Addicted to Quinn’s touch, Hammer brings her to the Inktastic Tattoo Convention. In his booth where anyone could see, in the hotel where it’s just them, anywhere and everywhere, Hammer has to have her. But he wants to give Quinn so much more than mindless pleasure and multiple orgasms. He offers her forever, if she has the courage to take it.

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http://reginacole.net

Though I love to bake, I often don’t do it because not only do I work at home, my husband (and fellow romance author) Nico Rosso also works at home. That means I have no office to take my baked goods to, and if I bake anything, Nico and I wind up eating it all. Delicious, but not particularly healthy. So I adapted a brownie recipe from Nancy Baggett’s The All-American Dessert Book to create a perfect little batch of brownies, just the right size for Nico and me.

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Ingredients

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter

½ cup sugar

1 tablespoon brewed coffee or water

3 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, broken up or coarsely chopped

½ ounce unsweetened chocolate

1 teaspoon vanilla (or use a favorite liqueur or extract)

1 egg

7 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

Optional add ins: ½ cup chopped nuts, ½ cup chocolate chips, ½ cup of your favorite candy bar chopped up, caramel sauce to drizzle on the batter before baking, or whatever you like! For this batch, I cut up Reese’s Mini Cups and stirred them into the completed batter.

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 350°. Line a 6-by6 inch baking pan (or the equivalent volume—you could even use muffin tins, just watch the baking time) with aluminum foil, (letting the foil overhang the ends of the pan by about 2 inches), and coat the foil with nonstick spray.

2. In a medium saucepan, bring the butter, sugar and coffee (or water) just to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring. Remove from heat and stir in both chocolates until they are completely melted. Let cool to warm. (Don’t skip the cooling step, or else you’ll curdle your eggs in the hot mixture.) Stir the vanilla into the chocolate mixture, then add the egg and mix thoroughly. Stir the flour and salt into the mixture just until the batter is evenly blended. Stir in nuts or any other mix-ins, if using. Pour the batter into the pan and spread it evenly to the edges.

3. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until the center is barely firm when tapped, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean except for some wet crumbs clinging to the bottom of the toothpick. Don’t overbake. Better to have fudgy, moist brownies than dry ones. I think that’s written in the Constitution somewhere…

4. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Personally, I like my brownies cold, so I usually let them cool on the rack for a few minutes, then pop them in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

5. Using the overhanging foil as handles, transfer the brownie slab to a cutting board. Peel off and discard the foil. Use a large, sharp knife or bench scraper to cut the slab into bars.

6. As I said, I like them best really cold, so I store mine in a container in the refrigerator. You can also keep them stored airtight at room temperature for 2 or 3 days. Or even store airtight in the freezer for up to a month. But somehow, I doubt they’ll last that long.

Leo Bailey may have been born to poverty, but ruthless business sense and sparkling intelligence have made money worries a thing of his past. It doesn't hurt that the Devil himself has granted Leo the ability to read the future.

But even infallible predictions are a déclassé commoner's trick to some members of the ton. They'll never see Leo as their equal - one good reason to prove himself their better. And a noble marriage is an obvious start.

Bookish Anne Hartfield, daughter of a baron, is hardly the flashiest miss on the marriage market. But her thoughtful reserve complements Leo's brash boldness in an attraction neither can deny. A whirlwind courtship sweeps Anne and Leo into a smoldering marriage before either can believe their luck. But happiness built on Leo's dark powers can't last. Soon, Anne will have to save her husband...or lose her heart.

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Website, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr

One of my favorite cookies is a simple shortbread cookie recipe save from an old recipe book that fell apart long ago. I’d give credit to the book, but it was always just the “green recipe book.”  There are only a handful of ingredients in the recipe, so good butter is essential. Also, powdered or confectioner’s sugar, not granulated sugar. It makes for a lighter texture.

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2 sticks sweet, unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered (confectioners) sugar (not granulated sugar)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 and 1/2 cups flour

Just a pinch of salt

Extra flour for rolling out the dough

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

You must use real butter for this recipe. Unsalted works best, but if you use salted butter, skip adding the pinch of salt to the flour.

You need the butter softened for this so you can blend the butter, vanilla extract and powdered sugar until smooth.  Mix the salt in with the flour and then add that a little at a time to the butter mixture.

As you mix, the dough will become thicker and you’ll find it easier to work with your fingers. Just work it until all the flour is mixed but don’t overdo it. Now, put the cookie dough on a floured surface and pat it flat. You want it about a 1/4 an inch thick. You can use a rolling pin if you want a smoother top.

Now you can cut the dough into shapes. These can be as simple as rectangles or you can use a cookie cutter if you want shapes like stars. Place them on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 325 until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Makes 2 to 3 dozen cookies, depending on size a shape.

Variations: I love this recipe because it’s easy to make variations on. You can add a little almond extract if you want. Or stir some mini chocolate chips into the butter mixture before you add the flour for chocolate chip shortbread cookies. The cookies can also be decorated with sprinkles or a simple icing for holiday treats. (That’s when I use the cookie cutter instead of cutting them into rectangles.)

Angel in the Middle, book 1 of the Lucifer’s Boys series

Darius is the most naïve angel to be bounced out of heaven. His fall from grace lands him not in Hell but in Florida, where he is rescued by Chitlin Grits, the tastiest drag queen in Ybor City. But rescue is only temporary. A demon hunter is looking for Darius and there’s only one hope if Darius wants to change his mind. But can an angel, who has never experienced sex, seduce  a big bad demon hunter

Franco has been hunting demons for more centuries than he wants to count, but this latest assignment has him worried. Darius doesn’t look like a demon and he certainly doesn’t act like one. But if he believes this fallen angel’s tale of innocence, will he risk his soul to save him from Hell.

Explicit M/M and M/M/M sex

~~~

http://mariedees.com