‘Tis The Season for Holiday Romances ..... ..... ..... by Debora (Deb) Noone w/a Delsora Lowe

     I think I have been doing more reading than writing lately. It didn’t help the writing cause to have my computer in the shop for almost three weeks. Now trying to get back in writing mode with only a week before my daughter and her family arrive for the holidays and “camp out” at my son’s house, about a forty-minute drive away. Presents, menu planning, and reserving time to see family will be priority for the next few weeks. Plus, getting to a few varsity hockey games for my in-state grandson.

Having said that, my Kindle will be my respite.

As usual, I have purchased more holiday books than I can read before 2025 roars in. But I am one to read holiday books all year round – especially in the colder, darker months of January and February. And I love reading holiday books for other holidays through the year.

I also love writing holiday short romances. I was privileged to sell both an Easter and a Thanksgiving story to Woman’s World this year – one of my BIG writing goals for 2024. Fingers crossed... I hope to release a book with short romances (around an 8-minute read for each,) sometime in 2025!

Here’s to Happy Holidays to all! And don’t forget to start thinking about personal and professional goals for 2025.

Books I have read so far:

  
December 2, 2024

  

November 25, 2024

November 11, 2024

November 14, 2024

December 16, 2019

November 18, 2024

November 4, 2024

November 1, 2024

Books I plan to read ASAP:
And… I am sure I may spot a few more that I want to send to my e-reader before 2024 ends. As I said, a sucker for holiday romances.

November 5, 2019

 

November 8, 2022

September 11, 2024

 

And to help with holiday prep - the 2nd edition cookie cookbook for the Dicken's series - ENJOY!

 

October 31, 2024

 

 

Do you love reading holiday books?

Do you set personal goals at the beginning of each new year? And do you try to stick to them? Or run out of paying attention to goals before the year is out?

 

In case you are interested in another holiday book or three…

Holiday Hitchhiker

Amazon

Books 2 Read

The Inn on Gooseneck Lane
also in print

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Apple

 

Come Dance with Me

Amazon

Books2Read

~ cottages to cabins ~ keep the home fires burning ~

Delsora Lowe writes small town sweet and spicy romances and contemporary westerns, from the mountains of Colorado to the shores of Maine.

Author of the Starlight Grille series, Serenity Harbor Maine novellas, and the Cowboys of Mineral Springs series, Lowe has also authored short romances for Woman’s World magazine (most recently, an Easter romance in the April 1, 2024 edition.) The Love Left Behind is a Hartford Estates, R.I. wedding novella with Book 2 on the way. A Christmas novel (The Inn at Gooseneck Lane) and novella (Holiday Hitchhiker – the youngest brother of the Mineral Spring’s ranching family) were the most recent releases. Look for book 3 of the cowboy’s series, as well as book 2 of the Hartford Estates series, to be released in 2025.

The Joy of Autumn

Autumn. A time of soups, pumpkins, Halloween and leaves changing. A beautiful and welcomed time of year.

Enjoy these pictures and I'm wishing you all a joyful autumn.

I make soups all winter long out of our pumpkins.

Fun and games at Halloween time!

Get out and enjoy the fall weather and the gorgeous changing leaves! It's good for the soul.

My front porch. I love decorating for Halloween, even though we don't get trick or treaters.

The contrast of yellow leaves and blue sky is so pretty.

My mums.

The other side of my porch with my witches broom hung up.

Always fun to go to the farm for pumkins too. Love the animals there.

Our deck off the bedroom. Enjoying a mocktail with the vampire pig.

Have a wonderful autumn and Happy Halloween everyone!

The season for cookies...

It wouldn't be a December blog post from me without a recipe for a festive treat. The house smells delicious while these cookies are baking, and the tiny bits of crystallized ginger will warm you on even the chilliest of days. I’ve been baking these cookies for years and they are even mentioned in my newest book when my heroine, Jill, tells her friend of her holiday plans.

Soft Ginger Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1/4 cup molasses

3/4 finely chopped crystallized ginger

Place one oven rack in top third of oven, and one rack in bottom third. Preheat oven to 350 F. 

In large bowl, combine flour, soda, salt & spices.

In another large bowl, or bowl of stand mixer, beat butter for 2 minutes, beat in brown sugar until creamy, additional 3 minutes. Add egg, molasses & chopped crystallized ginger & beat to blend.

On low speed, add flour mixture in two batches to combine.

Scoop 1 tablespoon size portions onto parchment lined baking sheets, spaced 2 inches apart.

Bake 15 minutes, until edges are firm but centre is soft.

Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool completely.

Note:  For even more ginger flavour and heat, add 1 ½ teaspoons grated fresh ginger to the butter mixture before stirring in the flour mixture. 

When a minor health scare dampens Jillian Sinclair’s Christmas glee, she retreats to a beach cottage with the goal of fixing her life. Owning a car dealership is no longer exciting and she wants a change. But to what?

 

While the snow collects and the wind blows, Jill makes big plans that don’t include the handsome-as-sin recluse with the charming smile. She’d tried the love thing before, but flings are more fun and less prone to heartache. Too bad the holiday romance didn’t get the memo. Now the L word keeps popping into her head and crowding out common sense.

Patrick Evans has his own reasons for hiding in a big empty house with a killer view of the ocean, number one being to write his next book by deadline. Still not recovered from a tragedy and the secrets it uncovered, the last thing he needs is to be enticed by the beautiful woman next door. But there’s no avoiding her, and after one kiss, he stops trying. 

Their days together are numbered. Jill will head off on her adventure and Patrick will resume his lonely existence. 

Exactly what they both want – right?

https://books2read.com/ifsnowflakeswereforever 

Luanna Stewart has been creating adventures for her imaginary friends since childhood. She spends her days writing spicy contemporary romance, paranormal romance, and historical romance. When not torturing her heroes and heroines, she’s in her kitchen baking something delicious. She lives in Nova Scotia with her patient husband, one spoiled cat, and five hens. 

Website ~ Bookbub ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads

A Bite of British Culture by Alice Rosewell

Hello again from a rain-swept South-West of England, and many congratulations to all at Romancing the Genres on your 10th Anniversary.

As always I write in British English so spellings may be unfamiliar to some. 

If you say the words “number 10” to most people in the UK, they would immediately think of Number 10 Downing St, the home of the British Prime Minister. Don’t worry! I’m not going to talk about politics, I’m going to talk about something much more contentious. Biscuits!

I’m talking about what Brits call biscuits, not the American kind which we would call a cross between a scone and a dumpling.

Usually round, sometimes rectangular, sometimes two sandwiched together with a cream filling (like Oreos), we Brits are obsessed with biscuits and life without them would just be miserable.

Biscuit culture varies around the UK, but you can guarantee that any supermarket will have many linear yards of aisle devoted to them. 

Here are my top 10, in no particular order.

1. The ginger nut

Small and very hard, these are my number 1 biscuit for dunking in a cup of tea. Dunking etiquette is another hotly contested subject here. Personally I would never dream of dunking a cream biscuit or one covered in chocolate. It’s just plain wrong.

2 and 3. Custard creams and Bourbon Creams

A hark back to my childhood, when these were considered a great luxury. They’re still my go-to if I need something comforting.

4, 5 and 6. Party rings, Pink Wafers, and Chocolate Fingers

As the names suggest, these are usually associated with children’s parties. In my view any party where children are present or mentioned at all, qualifies as a children’s party. Some adults may sniff at “kid’s food” but you can guarantee they’ll surreptitiously try one. Even the sniffers are secret party biscuit fans. The important characteristic of these biscuits is the crunch. Absolutely no dunking!

7. Chocolate Biscuits

A proper chocolate biscuit is some sort of short bake (digestives are a favourite) coated on one side with milk or dark chocolate. Some manufacturers produces items which are thickly coated all over. Are these really biscuits? Not in my opinion. More like confectionery.

8. Flapjacks

Now I know I’m branching out a bit here, a flap jack isn’t, or shouldn’t be crunchy, but a flapjack has to be eaten with a cup of tea - or possible coffee. And a flap jack is usually home-baked. For a great flapjack recipe check out website EverydayCooks.co.uk (Note the UK address) here:

Flapjack Recipe

My son has suggested that flapjacks are also good to take on long-distance hikes, but as he also suggested that I only chose this topic in order to do some empirical research, I question his judgement!

9. Cafe Noir

These coffee iced biscuits are my absolute favourite treat. Unfortunately they're very hard to get hold of. I’ve searched my local supermarkets recently but couldn’t find them so have had to resort to a photo from the Internet.  You can buy them online but at an exorbitant price.

10. Rich Tea

If I was only allowed one type of biscuit this would be it. For dunkability it is 2nd only to the ginger nut. It’s also really good with cheese, or if you need extra sugar you can coat it with chocolate spread. A great all-rounder!

 

My name is Alice Rosewell and I live in the city of Bristol in the South West of England (UK), the city where I was born. 

The first story I remember writing was at primary school, about the age of 7. This was followed by a dry spell which latest about 50 years during which I got through University, brought up a couple of kids and had a successful, if stressful career in IT.

I had the outline of a story which I’d dreamed up one evening in the pub, but that sat in a folder for about a decade until I got made redundant for the 2nd time in one year! This event coincided with the Kindle becoming mainstream, and Indie publishing an option. I dusted off my few pages of ideas and got to work. For the last few years, I have been writing contemporary women’s fiction, publishing three novels: Irrelevant Women, The Kite Makers, and my latest, An End to Dreaming.  A good friend described my writing as intriguing, uplifting, and will not give you nightmares!  

Another cookie recipe?!?!?!

As we enter the holiday season, many of us are coming to the realization that celebrations are going to look very different from previous years. Gatherings will be smaller, parties won’t happen at all, and relatives and friends won’t be coming home to visit. But even though much will be different – in a sucky way – one thing will remain very much the same in my house – in a yummy way. 

My fruitcake is baked and “curing” with periodic infusions of rum. The mincemeat (with real meat, apples, and lots of spices) is packed up and frozen for future pies, tarts, and cookies. And my freezer is full of butter for all the cookies I’ll be baking in the coming weeks. (I made sure to nab a large bag of flour this week in case our partial lockdown leads to a full lockdown and an interruption in the food supply chain.)

The cookie menu always includes traditional family recipes, plus one or two new-to-me confections that seem interesting. Grammy’s Shortbread Cookies take price of place, buttery and light and very more-ish. Soft Ginger Cookies, with bits of crystalized ginger, are perfect with an after dinner cup of tea. Pecan Fingers, similar to almond crescents, are packed with pecan flavour. About twenty years ago I added Swedish Christmas cookies to the line-up. An easy slice-&-bake buttery cookie, they’re flavoured with lemon peel and ground cardamom  – super yummy. Two years ago, I added Blueberry Streusel Thumbprint Cookies. Not strictly holiday cookies, they are nonetheless rich and special and a real treat.

I’m sharing the recipe for another cookie I bake every year at this time – Bea’s Sugar Cookies. They are an easy drop cookie that are then flattened with a drinking glass that’s been dipped in coloured sugar. They freeze well and are a hit with kids.

Sugar Cookies

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup powdered sugar

½ granulated sugar

1 egg, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

Using stand mixer or hand mixer, cream together butter, oil, sugars, egg and vanilla until light and fluffy. Mix in flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar until well combined. Chill for 2 hours. 

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place rack in centre of oven. 

Scoop a heaping tablespoon of dough (or use a cookie scoop), roll it into ball, and place on parchment lined cookie sheet, spacing a few inches apart. Flatten slightly with the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in coloured sugar. 

Bake for 10 minutes, or until barely starting to colour around the edges. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack and cool completely. 

Wishing everyone a holiday season filled with peace, joy, good health...and cookies.

Luanna Stewart has been creating adventures for her imaginary friends since childhood. She spends her days writing spicy romance ranging from contemporary to paranormal. When not torturing her heroes and heroines, she’s in her kitchen baking something delicious. She lives in Nova Scotia with her patient husband, two spoiled cats, and five hens.

Website ~ Bookbub ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads ~ Amazon Author Page

Her wish will be granted…

When a mysterious note directs Miss Miranda Large to a tiny village in Cornwall to find her heart’s desire, she’d be a fool to not go. The excitement mounts when she meets a strange shopkeeper who claims that a magical keepsake will make possible her dream of marriage to a man with a title. But a snowstorm forces her to accept the hospitality of a sullen earl and Miranda fears she’s made a horrible mistake.

 He’s given up hope…

Edward Penhallion, the 12th Earl of Claverlock, is not in the mood to search for yet another wife. He longs to be left alone with his books and his dreams of revenge. But the arrival of a headstrong, sharp-tongued spinster forces him to play the charming host. Not a difficult task, given her intelligence and beauty.

 

As the blizzard rages, Edward discovers there’s more to Miranda than a lively wit and a lovely face. And Miranda wonders if the trappings of wealth are enough for true happiness.

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Christmas Stress!!!

by Diana McCollum

I am reusing this old post because I'm feeling stressed again.

I have up dated it to reflect this year's stress!

Christmas is fun!

Ha!  I sit here at my computer with piles of presents sitting on the floor waiting to be wrapped.  There’s menu’s to plan, grocery lists to make, cookies to be baked, cards to be addressed and sent, and the house needs a thorough cleaning!

I thought I was ahead of the holidays this year.  I bought my Christmas cards in October, all the stamps in November, and now I ask you, where did the time go?

We bought our tree on Saturday and decorated it Monday and Tuesday.  I’m starting to get in the mood for Christmas.

Seems like I’ve just now recovered from Thanksgiving, we were lucky enough to have wonderful visits from family near and far.  So enjoyable!!  And as I said my last goodbyes to departing family, I remember thinking a few days to recover and rest and then I’ll start on Christmas.  Ha!  I let that thought fly right out of my head.

Tomorrow I’ll get my Christmas cards addressed and sent.  (At least I don’t have to wait in the Post Office line, since I did already buy my stamps.  That’s terrific isn’t it?)  Then I can scratch one more thing off my to-do-list.  I’m feeling better already!

I want to wish you all a stress free, lovely Christmas! OR if you don't celebrate Christmas, the best Holiday of the season.

Okay, enough stress! I think I'll have a lovely cup of hot chocolate and start a new list . . . 

Now I’m thinking about what kinds of cookies I should make?

Watch out Christmas, here I come!

What is your favorite thing to do to get ready for Christmas?  My favorite thing is baking cookies!!

A ‘White’ Candy Christmas

By Linda Lovely

My husband has stopped eating chocolate, which he absolutely loves. His decision has nothing to do with calories (he’s thin) or some Lent-type sacrifice. His doctor suggested chocolate could be one of the triggers for his acid reflux, and some experimentation proved chocolate was indeed a culprit.

 

2015  Choc-0-Holic Selection. Most of the "white"
candies also had chocolate inside or swirled through.

This is one of the reasons we’re closing in on Christmas and I have yet to make candy, a family holiday tradition. I was in grade school when we first added chocolate-covered cherries to our repertoire. Marsha, who rented our apartment, joined in the fun and shared her recipe. Since then my candy selection has always starred chocolate-covered cherries. Other staples include toffee (chocolate/nut top layer), chocolate Oreo almond balls, fudge, chocolate-covered orange creams, chocolate-covered rum balls…See a trend here?

Sure, I made a few non-chocolate items for taste and visual variety. But they weren’t stars. So it’s a week before Christmas, and I have yet to make any candy. Unfortunately homemade candy has long been my go-to gift for friends and family—colorful Christmas tins filled with a selection of goodies. Each year a number of friends kindly return their tins in anticipation of refills. Will I disappoint them?

Having procrastinated so long, I don’t think I can deliver ahead of Santa. A lack of recipe inspiration hasn’t been my only stumbling block. I’ve also run up against a number of time sucks—some fun, some not so much. Will my friends care—or even notice—if they don’t get gifts? How do you stop a tradition and make sure people realize it has nothing to do with them—that you love them just as much as last year?

As I write this blog a few days before Christmas I have yet to plan a course of action. I may try for a “white” Christmas and attempt to find enough knock-out non-chocolate candy recipes (or doctored chocolate ones) to put together interesting selections in those waiting, empty Christmas tins. Or I could make chocolate goodies and send them all out of our house. But that somehow seems unfair (my husband and I would both inhale those chocolate smells). Then there's the cookie option--a lot less work.

One thing is certain.  I’m going to begin collecting recipes now for 2017. Since it’s the season for sharing, how about sharing some of your non-chocolate candy creations—or your best holiday cookie recipes? Other than chocolate everything goes!

Happy Holidays!  

Christmas Treats

Because it's coming up to Christmas, I thought I'd share a recipe for something sweet that you could even use as a decoration. I came up with these back in May and posted them as part of an event to celebrate the first book birthday for my debut novel Keir. Because my male MC was nicknamed the Blue Demon, the biscuits (cookies) were themed to match, but you could use any colour (say red and green for Christmas).

  
Blue Star Biscuits (Cookies)

The basic sweet biscuit recipefor  this has been in my family since before I was born, but I’ve added a twist to create the coloured centers. You will need:

4oz. butter
4oz. caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
8oz. plain flour
Boiled sweets

Oven temperature: 350°F

Lightly grease three baking trays. Cream the butter and sugar together, add the egg gradually and beat well. Sift the flour and fold into the creamed mixture. Knead lightly and roll out to the required thickness. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters – for mine I used two different sizes of star and kept the middles too, but you could use any shape. Place on the trays and put a boiled sweet in the hole in the middle – you can crush these to make them melt quicker in the oven so the biscuit part doesn’t overcook. Bake toward the top of the oven for 15-20 minutes until pale brown (the sweet should melt and spread out in the center of the biscuit). Allow to cool before removing from the trays to allow the melted sweet to reset.

You could also make different shapes and use different coloured sweets to vary the design, even using them to make edible Christmas tree decorations if you make a hole in the biscuit before cooking to thread ribbon. You can also flavor the biscuit (because of the sweets I didn’t add any flavoring to these) by using the following:

2 level tsps. grated lemon rind
2 level tsps. mixed spice or cinnamon
2 tsps. Vanilla essence
2oz. dried fruit
2oz. glace cherries, chopped
Grated rind of one orange.

Enjoy!

And if you fancy giving me a Christmas present, you can always pop over to my website and maybe buy a book here (or there's two free reads available if you've already spent all your pennies). Merry Christmas, and may you find everything you wished for under the tree.