I’ve picked up a novel entitled Scentsual by prolific author Victoria Blisse.  For those of you that haven’t had the opportunity to read some of her spicy novels (and do I mean SPICY!), hears a little insight into her.

Passion, love and laughter fill her works, just as they fill her busy life.

Find out more about Victoria at: http://www.victoriablisse.co.uk

Scentsual is a femdom story written by leading erotic author Victoria Blisse and set in the seaside town of Scarborough… Kelly is dominant and has a heightened sense of smell, so many of her memories, thoughts and feelings revolve around scents. She meets Rob on a trip to Scarborough and seduces him; their lust is instant but is Rob the submissive man Kelly really needs to fall in love with?

Stay tuned for my review and pick  up your copy (and read an exclusive excerpt) at:

http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thevictoriablissecollection-517432-144.html

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Image by andy castro via Flickr

The cold weather brings on dreams of summer, where I long for sparkling water, sandy beaches, and my favorite place on earth (next to my Momma’s house).  This cold chill made me whip together my all time favorite, and the hell with what the doctor says about my cholesterol.

There’s many of you out there that know I’m a big Disney fan. Whenever possible, I make it a point to spend an extended vacation at Disneyland, savoring the warmth of the California sun.  While there, the family and I  dash on over to the enchanting Blue Bayou Restaurant. The cost for meals is astronomical, but the atmosphere is worth every moment and penny! The Blue Bayou is a moonlit restaurant with fireflies lighting the faux night sky and the elegant sounds of the Deep South filling my ears. My favorite meal in that delightful little place is their signature Monte Cristo sandwich.

How does one describe a Monte Cristo?

To put it simply, imagine French toast stuffed with cheese and meat, and topped with snowy powdered sugar. There’s a wonderful currant jelly sauce to dip each decadent wedge into, sending the diner further spiraling into a world that is indescribable.

Don’t be watching your calories if you plan to eat this, and there’s enough cholesterol in the entire thing to send your heart into a tizzy. Never mind, the sandwich is definitely worth it, especially if you crave an item so decadent it’s renowned the world over!

INGREDIENTS:

4 slices of white bread

2 slices of deli turkey

2 slices of Swiss cheese

2 slices of deli ham

Vegetable oil for frying

Batter:

1 egg

¼ cup water or milk

Pinch of salt

½-cup all-purpose flour

¾ tsp. baking powder

Currant Jelly Sauce

6 oz. red currant jelly

½-tablespoon water

Garnish

Powdered sugar for dusting

Currant Jelly sauce

Directions

Make 2 sandwiches, placing cheese between ham and turkey. Cut into fourths and place a toothpick in each quarter.

Mix water, egg, and salt in a bowl and mix well. Add flour and baking powder and mix until batter is smooth. Chill.

Jelly sauce: Mix jelly and water well. Chill.

Heat approximately ¼ inch of oil in a skillet. Dip sandwiches in batter. Deep fry until golden brown, turning as needed, until sandwiches are crispy and brown.

Remove from oil. Drain on paper towel to remove excess oil. Remove toothpicks. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with currant jelly.

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The author, Mr. Zoltai, describes himself as:

I’m a writer with roaring flames in my heart… ~ I’ve written a novel, Notes from An Alien, and that title was perfect for this blog, since I’ve felt like I’m from SomeWhereElse for most of my life. ~ In this blog I explore Reading, Writing, and Publishing; some days in a general way, with interesting links to other sites; some days focusing on the journey the book is taking.

You can find Mr. Zoltai’s fascinating blog at: https://nfaa.wordpress.com/about/

Notes from An Alien:

Start with a 500-year Inter-World War.

Continue through ecological disaster and the decimation of populations.

Follow the institution of a Worlds’ government that helps bring a glimmer of hope.

Discover the challenges and failures of unifying three very different Worlds.

Explore what it takes to give birth to a lasting peace.

This is what reading “Notes from An Alien” promises.

And, this story could help Earth…

Pick up your copy at:

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Notes-Alien-Message-Sena-Quaren/dp/1607468220

MY REVIEW:

Zoltai’s Notes from an Alien is a thought-provoking trip into alien worlds that makes the reader shudder with the close similarities that are often reflected on our own planet.  The inhabitants of Zoltai’s worlds are bent on destruction of other worlds, over such things as greed, religion, and politics.  Worlds are being lost, and civilizations are declining, all because one civilization assumes they are better than the other.

This tale is an interesting and provocative leap into the realm of Sci-Fi.  Using ties that reflect back on much of our own world history, the story is told by the view of a descendant of the first expedition to a new world.  History unfolds rapidly, and the search for everlasting peace in the galaxy is profoundly written.  The characters are finely crafted and the story unfolds with magnificent clarity, worthy of a movie.  These characters, as they live and die, as they walk through time, leave a palpable change in their world.

Notes from an Alien is a must read for fans of the Sci-Fi genre.  In-depth, detailed, narrated by the fabulous Sena, the reader struggles along with each character, slipping into a world that mirrors our own.  Well crafted and, if Sci-Fi novels are among the genres you like to read, definitely add this to your own TBR list.

 4 STARS!

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The latest novel at my fingertips is THE SECRET OF LIES by Barbara Forte Abate.

For those of you out there, Ms. Abate tells me that :

I grew up in a small town in Dutchess County, New York, the third of five children. Although I started my first novel in 4th grade, I didn’t recognize what would eventually become a lifelong passion until several years later as I found my thoughts routinely wandering off to inhabit imagined places — spinning elaborate tales curiously populated by ever-changing collections of strange and unique characters that seemed to arrive from nowhere, yet remained, incredibly content to live within my fictitious worlds.

It would be impossible to determine or otherwise explain where the intense obsession to draw pictures and unreal emotion with words on paper originates from, just as it would be unfathomable to ever abandon. It is simply there – deep, unquenchable, eternal.

Influences are everywhere and in abundance – people I’ve known over a lifetime, as well as those who have merely crossed my path and gone, yet touched in such a way as to remain memorable. Places I’ve been or merely absorbed – fallen into through the pull of a photograph. Experiences of love, loss, injury, joy, and impossible tragedy. Events in our everyday world that sink so deeply they cannot be discarded from thought or memory. And more than any single thing, my Divine Creator who inspires me in all things – not simply with the desire to create, but the faith to pursue and persevere for as long as it takes.  Days later, lost and floundering in a dreary motel room without plan or destination, it is a long ago song playing on the radio that gently tugs Stevie back through the dust of remembrance. 1957 – The last summer spent at the ancient house overlooking the North Atlantic. A season which had unfolded with abundant promise, but then spiraled horribly out of control – torn apart by a shattering tragedy that remains splintered in fragments upon her soul. And it is only now, when Stevie at last lifts her eyes to stare deep into the heart of her long sequestered memories, that the long held secrets of past and future are at last unveiled.

Find out more about Barbara at: http://www.barbaraforteabate.com

The Secret of Lies

Blurb:

Propelled by an insurmountable sense of desperation, Stevie Burke is recklessly abandoning home, husband, and outwardly contented life under cover of night; at last resigned to defeat in her long battle against the tortured memories of her past.

Days later, lost and floundering in a dreary motel room without plan or destination, it is a long ago song playing on the radio that gently tugs Stevie back through the dust of remembrance. 1957 – The last summer spent at the ancient house overlooking the North Atlantic. A season which had unfolded with abundant promise, but then spiraled horribly out of control – torn apart by a shattering tragedy that remains splintered in fragments upon her soul. And it is only now, when Stevie at last lifts her eyes to stare deep into the heart of her long sequestered memories, that the long held secrets of past and future are at last unveiled.

My Review:

I have to say I love that I never ‘shelf’ my reading choices by strictly one genre.  The Secret of Lies is one such book that, any person that says they won’t read it, doesn’t realize what they are missing.

The Secret of Lies is emotional fiction with a plot that will rock a reader to the core.  Skillfully set in the late 50s and early 60s, the author has brought the entire sense of that era magnificently into the pages of this book.  The tale is wrapped around several years in the main character’s life, gut-wrenchingly dark and intense.  As it is so often said, a single lie can spin a web so intense; a person’s soul can become lost in the lie itself.  Barbara Forte Abate brings that concept into full view in her tale of lies, betrayal, the coming of age, and acceptance. 

I loved this story because it pulls at the heart…it makes a reader wonder how they would react in a similar situation and whether their own past would tear them apart. 

Wonderful characters, a compelling tale, and well written drama!

4 Stars!

This week, from today until Friday, slip into the world of  the mysterious Demetri Daskova and the tough talking detective on a mission.  Let Book 1 of the Blood Chronicles lead you into a world of revenge, murder, lust, and blood…

Drop on in and pick up a copy of my vampire romance, BLOOD OF THE BEAST,  without spending a single penny~~

Remember, you don’t have to own a KINDLE to get your hands on this tale of murder, mystery, and revenge.  Amazon offers downloads for the IPhone, PC, Mac, Blackberry, IPad, Android, and Windows Phone 7!  If you have any of those apps, there are literally hundreds of wonderful free reads out there for you

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to be joining up with AMAZON in this exciting offer and do hope you stop on by!

Pick up your copy at:http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Beast-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B002GP7YMY

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A Distant Battlefield

by George L. Lopez

 It begins with a coup attempt on the planet Garian. The renegade officer Jerrah has amassed an army of followers, a fleet of star cruisers and his ultimate acquisition, the Time Displacement Cannon, a weapon that can beam enemy forces backwards or forwards through time itself.

Garian however has its own defenders. The veteran Admiral Levin leads a fleet of starcraft into battle in the skies above Garian and are prepared to defend their homeworld from the ursurper.

Jerrah’s targets in view, the anxious officer activates the fantastic Displacement Cannon … which suddenly erupts in a fury of unseen energies!! A massive wormhole yawns into view and covers both opposing fleets of starcraft and tosses them trillions of light years across countless galaxies…

To reappear in the skies over New York City!! With sudden ferocity, the two time lost fleets resume their deadly struggle, forcing the terrified citizens below to seek safety. Among them, two paramedics, four urban vigilantes, a Wall Street financier, a lawyer, and a Middle Eastern cab driver are forced to put aside their suspicions and misconceptions of each other when their city and their world suddenly becomes… A Distant Battlefield

Find out more at http://www.adistantbattlefield.com/blog/

Pick up your copy at:

http://www.amazon.com/Distant-Battlefield-George-L-Lopez/dp/1604944714

My Review:

Suspense, drama, a future filled with aliens, and unstoppable action leaps from the pages of this sci-fi thriller! 

George L. Lopez’s A Distant Battlefield is a well thought out read with believable characters that leap from the pages with undeniable life, sucking the reader into a realm where aliens and humans abound.  New York City has more than a few new immigrants on its shoreline—and our world has become the stomping ground for the worst.  Trust, endurance, and intense soul-searching bursts from the pages of this novel with more vibrancy than any sci-fi, futuristic, alien film I’ve ever seen on TV!

5 explosive stars!

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NAUGHTY DELIVERY was a short that I had picked up from prolific author Lucy Felthouse and I really think the title should have been Steaming Hot Delivery!

Let me tease you with a little blurb before I get on to my review

NAUGHTY DELIVERY

by Lucy Felthouse

BLURB:

Sonia and Ben have decided to bring some more spice into their bedroom by ordering some sex toys off the Internet. The anticipation of their new gadgets’ arrival ramps up their passion tenfold, and by the time their naughty delivery turns up the couple are at fever pitch!

But a mix-up with the package leaves Sonia and Ben with some toys they didn’t expect. Reluctant to let it spoil their sexy fun, the pair experiment and end up discovering a world of kinky sex play that they’ve never even considered!

Find out more about this prolific author at: http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk/

Pick up  your copy at:

AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/Naughty-Delivery-ebook/dp/B005KD9N1Y

and other fine Internet retailers!

MY REVIEW:

First of all, don’t expect a full-length book.  Again, this is a short story–9 pages by my count. 

You might wonder what an author can do with nine pages.  Let me assure you, when you’re Lucy Felthouse, all sorts of things can happen in those few pages, enough to make a reader’s mind envision a tale that will make them blush!

Naughty Delivery is more than naughty.  This story is outright HOT, STEAMY, and filled with the imagination of an author that made me go red in the face and curl my toes.

Want something wicked to read with the honey tonight?  Pick up your copy, it’s a guaranteed spicy 4 stars!

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