Update: The winner of Midnight’s Seduction is…Glittergirl. Congrats!

Are you starting to get in the spirit of things?  Maybe humming a little holiday tune beneath your breath?

You’re a mean one, Mister Grinch
You really are a heel,
You’re as cuddly as a cactus, you’re as charming as an eel, Mister Grinch…

Well, our next guest is definitely not a Grinch. In fact, she’s one of the nicest ladies that I’ve ever met–DONNA GRANT. Today is also the release day of Donna’s new book, MIDNIGHT’S WARRIOR (Congrats, Donna!).

Thanks to Cynthia for offering a spot on her blog.  I love when I have a release the same time as a friend, and Cynthia and I had a blast yesterday with the Twitter party!

When Cynthia told me the theme for the blog was going to be Christmas I knew I was going to talk about how my Highlanders and Druids would spend Christmas.

My Warriors – immortal Highlanders with a primeval god inside them – have lived centuries.  Many of those shut away from the world.  A few were leapfrogged through time by Druid magic to wind up in modern day Scotland.

You can picture the time they have with cars, planes, mobile phones, razors, and a plethora of things we take for granted.  When my Warriors time traveled, I had to put myself in their shoes and think about how they would react to something they didn’t understand.

With most of my heroines Americans, they bring in different set of traditions and thinking to these medieval Warriors. In MIDNIGHT’S MASTER that released in May of this year, the story is set around Christmas.

Read the rest of this entry–>

Update: The winner of the $25 Amazon.com gift card is Minna! Congratulations, Minna!

Did Katie’s post make you hungry? It’s got me craving all kinds of holiday treats. I’m afraid those cravings are about to get worse! Our next fabulous guest has another treat for you (and she’s also offering up a $25.com Amazon gift card–awesome!).  Please welcome Diana Miller to the blog!

I’m thrilled to be participating in the launch party for Cynthia’s newest soon-to-be bestseller. Thanks so much for having me! I’ll be giving away a $25 Amazon gift card to a commentator.

I doubt my heroine Abby Langford’s dysfunctional parents made any special foods for Christmas when she was growing up. However, Abby’s now moved back to her home state of Minnesota, where a large percentage of the residents are of Scandinavian descent and take pride in dozens of traditional Christmas foods and beverages. As a Minnesotan who’s three-quarters Norwegian and married to a Norwegian native, I’d like to suggest a couple recipes Abby should try:

SPRITZ COOKIES
Supermom Abby would enjoy making these with her daughter Maddie, who could be in charge of decorating and, at age nine, may be old enough handle the cookie press herself.

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Colored sugar and decorating candies

Read the rest of this entry–>

The winner of MIAMI,  MISTLETOE, AND MURDER is…Kai W, and the winner of the Mating Instinct ARC is Savannah Miller.  Congratulations, ladies!

Ready for more holiday fun? Cause best-selling author KATIE REUS (and all-around awesome person) is here with a delicious holiday treat for you…and she has giveaways, too. Welcome, Katie!

Happy release day to Cynthia! I’m so excited about her release of Angel in Chains! Since she’s invited me here for her release day party I’m going to share some holiday awesomeness with you guys. Every year my mom bakes a bunch of to-die-for pies and cakes, but my favorite is her bourbon chocolate pecan pie. Pecan pie by itself is amazing and practically a must for the holidays if you live in the South, but add in chocolate and bourbon…omg, my mouth is watering right now. So how do you make this goodness, you ask?

What you’ll need:

1 pie shell

1 cup white sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup butter (one stick)

1/4 cup bourbon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chip morsels

1 cup chopped pecans

Read the rest of this entry–>

Update: The winner of the e-reader is Julie Kornhausl!

Do you have a favorite way to kick-off the holiday season?  Is there a special tradition that really gets you in the mood for holiday magic?

At my house, it’s all about the ornaments for me. When the ornaments come out of the boxes, when I get to oooh and ahhhhh over them, well, that’s when the magic starts.

My ornaments aren’t a perfectly matched set. They aren’t fancy glass balls that shimmer and shine in the light –instead, my ornaments are a totally mis-matched set.  A Santa made with popsicle sticks, a snowman painted by the hand of a two-year-old boy.  Each ornament has meaning for me, and it’s the memories that matter most.

Every year, I get my son to spend time making a new ornament with me.  A new ornament=a new memory.  I don’t need to have expensive ornaments lining my tree (my son would have smashed those long ago!), but I do need the memories to hang from those branches.

What about you?  Please share your special tradition for starting the holidays with me! One commenter will be randomly selected to win a Kindle Paperwhite e-reader (and if the winner already has an e-reader, I can send a gift card for the e-reader’s price, instead–a value of $119).

And here are a few of my ornaments…hanging proudly from my tree… 😉

See? I told you I had a popsicle Santa.

Snowman fun! Painted by my son, back when he was 2.

She's not exactly a dark angel, but I bet she'd still like Az...

Upate: The gift card winners are:

$50 gift card – Grace S

$25 gift card – Karen Robinson

$15  gift card – Latisha D

It’s the release day for ANGEL IN CHAINS, and, to celebrate, I’m hosting a party!

Beginning at 8 AM,  a new post (and giveaway) will be added to the blog.  Some truly fabulous authors will be dropping by to participate in the fun–and it will be fun, holiday fun. Because every post will be about the holidays (favorite traditions, recipes, etc.). You can get in the spirit with the dark angel party. 😉  Each post will have at least one giveaway associated with it.  All giveaways will remain open until noon, Central Time, on 11/28/12, so that people in all time zones will have a chance to participate.  In addition to the giveaways that are attached with the hourly posts, I’m also going to be giving away the following prizes:

$50 Amazon.com or B&N.com gift card (winner’s choice)

$25 Amazon.com or B&N.com gift card (winner’s choice)

$15 Amazon.com or B&N.com gift card (winner’s choice)

Each time you comment–on any post–you will also be entered in the giveaways for the above-listed 3 prizes.

Thank you for coming to my party! I hope you have a great time decking the halls!

(Check below for the new posts! Enjoy!)