You’re invited! – Summer Solstice Recipes and Reads

(RECIPE FOR EASY STUFFED MUSHROOMS LISTED BELOW)

How about a menu of summer food and fabulous summer reads? Some author friends and I are sharing our favorite dishes, and we’ve posted the recipes on our individual blogs so you can give them a try. As an added bonus, while the food is simmering, you can lose yourself in a great book.

We offer a variety of flavors to satisfy your taste buds and your reading tastes (with a few non-fiction reads in addition to romance in sub-genres from historical to erotica to paranormal to young adult)

Check out the menu below and click on each book title to be taken to the authors’ websites so you can see what we  all have cooking…both in the kitchen and on your Kindle, Nook, or whatever reading device you favor.

For an entire list of ingredients and an entire list of our books, you can visit:

Linda Joyce Contemplates

MENU

Cocktails

Blackberry Gin and Tonic by J.K. O’Hanlon ~ Three Ingredient Cocktails

Pomegranate Martini by Kathy L Wheeler ~ Quotable

Appetizers

Japanese Chicken Wings by Jan Morrill ~ The Red Kimono

Sweet & Sour Hawaiian Meatballs by Vonnie Davis ~ Rain Is A Love Song

Easy Stuffed Mushrooms by Alicia Dean ~  Liberty Awakened (Isle of Fangs, Book 1) (SEE RECIPE BELOW)

Salads

7 Layer Salad by AJ Nuest ~ She’s Got Dibs

Mandarin orange & spinach salad by Barbara Barrett ~ And He Cooks Too

Entrées

Pesto Chicken by Nancy Parra ~ Gluten for Punishment

Taquitos by Calisa Rhose ~ Risk Factors

Linda’s Summer Shrimp Boil by Linda Joyce ~ Bayou Born

Oven Fried peach chicken Juli D. Revezzo ~ The Artist’s Inheritance

Betty’s Nutty Pork Chops by Betty Bolte ~ Hometown Heroines

Desserts

Kolaches by Gina Hooten Popp ~ The Storm After

Chocolate-Cherry-Coconut Cupcakes by Luna Zega ~ Tokyo Tease

Fruit Compote by Brenda Sparks ~ A Midsummer Night’s Demon

After Dinner Drinks

After Dinner Iced Coffee by Sandra Sookoo – Winging It ~

My Recipe:

Easy Stuffed Mushrooms

1/2 pound breakfast sausage

1 8 oz package cream cheese (softened)

8 to 10 jumbo mushrooms

Garlic salt, butter

Pre-heat oven to 350°.  Crumble sausage into a skillet and brown. Drain. Rinse and de-stem the mushrooms. In a bowl, combine cream cheese and sausage. Add garlic salt to taste. Stir until well mixed. Place mushrooms upside down in a 9×12 pan. Brush with butter. Spoon mixture into the opening of each mushroom. You can push the stems into the stuffing or discard them, whatever is your preference. Bake for approximately 30 minutes.

Liberty Awakened Isle of Fangs Book 1 – A YA Vampire Novella

Buy it on Kindle

Blurb:

Evil lurks beneath the surface in the beauty of the tropics…

After graduation from her small, Oklahoma high school, Liberty Delacort is looking forward to a fun-filled summer before college. But when the people she trusts the most betray her, and a letter arrives claiming her deceased father is still alive, she jumps at the chance to travel to an exotic island to meet him.

But her excitement is short-lived. Her father is dying, and he doesn’t want her around. And, in spite of its outward tranquility, the island is filled with danger and ominous secrets. The secrets soon begin to unravel, and she discovers she is a descendant of Van Helsing, the vampire hunter.

The one up side is her budding romance with the sweet and sexy Ryan Kelly. But even that is threatened when—in spite of her fear of him—she finds herself attracted to an insolent, formidable vampire. Her plan to stay away from him fails when she learns he is the only one with the ability to train her to fulfill her destiny—to save humans from a faction of vicious vampires.

Will her inexperience lead to her death—and the death of others—or will she rise to the challenge and realize her full potential as a Hunter?

Excerpt:

Eli moved closer until only a hint of space separated their bodies. “Liberty?” His raspy voice was like a caress over her flesh. A breeze wafted over her bare back, and she shivered. She waited breathlessly for his next words, his next move. “You find me irresistible,” he whispered, his gaze never leaving hers. “You’re helpless to deny me anything. Your knees are weak.” He stroked his finger over her shoulder, letting them trail down to the center of her chest, just above her breasts. “Your heart is pounding for me right now. All you can think about is what it would feel like to kiss me.”

She licked her lips, wishing her glass wasn’t empty. Her mouth was so dry, she couldn’t speak. But oh wow…was he ever right. She didn’t even mind his aggressive, unusual approach. Something about the atmosphere, about leaving behind the trappings of home. The memories of what Cam and Alyssa had done made her reckless. She took his glass from his hand without breaking eye contact. His eyebrows rose as he watched her take a sip of the strong liquor, whatever it was. It burned her throat and eyes, but she resisted the urge to cough. It had done the trick, and she was able to whisper, “Yes.”

The corner of his mouth quirked. He moved closer, brushed his lips along hers, just a tease. That was it? That was the kiss? She bit back a groan of frustration. Her body ached with disappointment. But he moved toward her again, his eyes searching, his lips a hairsbreadth from hers. He stroked a hand down the side of her neck. His touch sent a flash of fire through her veins. She nearly moaned in anticipation, in yearning to feel his mouth, firm and hot against hers. She braced herself. Something primitive deep within told her this would be the kiss to rival any other. She swayed, her lids drifting shut, every nerve in her body tingling…

A scream tore through the night, breaking the spell. Liberty’s eyes flew open, and she gasped.

Eli stepped back. “Dammit,” he bit out. He cupped her cheek in his hand. “Don’t forget where we were.”

Then he was gone. She could barely feel her legs. Were they still supporting her? What the hell had just happened?

She shook her head, then followed the sound of excited voices where the scream had originated.

A group of people had gathered around a gazebo at the back of the house.  Liberty pushed her way through the crowd. Ryan knelt in the center of the gazebo next to a bench where a girl lay still. Her skin was as white as the moon, blank eyes staring at the midnight sky.

Liberty was afraid to look, but somehow couldn’t help herself. She scanned the girl’s body from head to toe. No blood. Good, that was a good sign, right? But the girl looked so…dead.

“Son of a bitch,” a male voice shouted. “She’s been drained.”