Breaking the Rules Launch and Delicious Desserts

by Tawny

We’re coming up on Valentine’s Day and I’m celebrating the launch of my 10^th (OMGOMGOMG – TEN!!!) book release. So I do think it’s party time!

BREAKING THE RULES:

What do you get when you mix a military hero on a mission with an independent artist hell-bent on proving something? A battle that can only be won between the sheets.

Sophia Castillo is finally calling the shots in her life, and she’s determined to stay in charge. The last thing she needs is a babysitter. Not even a babysitter as sexy as US Army Sergeant First Class and EOD Squad Leader, Maximillian St. James. But when someone is sabotaging her art gallery, she turns to Max for help. When he proves to be a challenge to her independence, she lays down their relationship rules. Hot sex, good times and a lot of laughs are all good. Anything involving their hearts is strictly off limits. Before they catch the vandal, Max and Sophia both have to decide just which rules they are willing to break, and how high a price they are willing to pay.

So it’s time to party here in the Lair. And what better way to party than to have Sven man the bar, offering champagne, margaritas and chocolatinis. The cabana boys will be coming around with some special, romantic Valentines inspired desserts – because what better way to celebrate a February release than to tie it into the most romantic holiday of the year.

As our hunky boys make their rounds, here’s what they’ll be offering…

Tawny’s Top Ten Sexy Valentines Desserts

1. Four Layer chocolate mousse cake with ganache

2. Whipped cream. Just, you know, all fluffy and inviting there in a bowl.

3. Strawberries dipped in chocolate. They can visit the whipped cream bowl if you’d like.

4. Éclairs. I imagine eating an éclair like Lady and the Tramp ate spaghetti *g* Nibbling toward the middle together!

5. Tiramisu. Rich, decadent, delicious!

6. Brownie ala mode. Hot chocolate and cold ice cream. Oh my!

7. Flambe Cherries Jubilee. Ohhh, talk about inspiring flaming passion!

8. Caramel Rum Fondue. Dippable, lickable, pourable. So many possibilities.

9. Crème Brulee. Simply delicious, with its crispy sugary crust.

10. Gourmet Chocolate Truffles. Bite sized bits of sexy deliciousness.

Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is! I love dessert anytime, but sexy romantic desserts just have an extra layer of irresistibility.

Which dessert will you be indulging in (remember, all desserts served in the Lair are calorie free!) Is there a dessert you consider romantic, or think of for Valentine’s Day, that isn’t included here? Just mention it and one of our sexy servers will make it happen for you!!!

To celebrate the release of BREAKING THE RULES, I’m giving away some Valentine’s treats to one lucky commenter today! A hand-crafted (by me) heart-shaped tin filled with candy, and a book of the winner’s choice from my backlist!

Be sure and check out my upcoming party!

Valentines Party!

I’m so excited that my tenth release, BREAKING THE RULES, is on shelves now! I loved writing this story, because it focuses on something near and dear to my heart – a Military Hero (my own hero-hubby was in the Army). Even more fun was making this a Valentine’s story, complete with hearts and flowers.

To celebrate, I’m having an invitation-only Valentine’s Day Party! Including:

* A downloadable short story written just for this party as a door prize for everyone who attends

* A sexy Top Ten to wind up my Top Ten tour: Ten Tips for a Hot Valentine’s Night

* One lucky person will win a Valentine’s Basket!

All you have to do to join the fun is go to the Breaking the Rules Valentines Party page on my website, and let me know you’d like an invitation!

Are You a Man or a Mousse?

by Anna Campbell

Warning! Warning! Danger, Will Robinson!

This post contains at least 3,000 calories!

Ah, I love it when I get my just desserts! I mean the sort of meal where I just have dessert! Sigh. Swoon.

Whoops, there goes another 10,000 calores. Or perhaps I should say HERE COME another 10,000 calores!

But what a way to go!

Do you love desserts? Hmm, wonder if anyone will say no to that!

That burst of delicious sweetness that ends a perfect meal! The good bit with the chocolate or the lemon meringue or the cherries marinated in brandy.

For me, never strawberries.

It always shocks people but I can't stand strawberries. Kind of ironic as I grew up in Australia's strawberry-growing capital. We even had a strawberry festival every year which had contests like who could eat the most strawberries.
NOOOOOOOO! I'll tell you just where I hid the secret map with the microfilm if you don't make me eat the strawberries! Don't torture me anymore, you fruit Nazi! I don't care how big your banana is!

My family never really ate desserts although my mum could put together a great apple pie. My grandmother on the other hand used to be a dessert fiend, most of them the really old-fashioned varieties that hardly anybody makes anymore. Her baked rice pudding was nirvana and she used to tart up her apple pie (oh, no, that's a terrible pun) with rhubarb which was lovely.

Desserts are on my mind right now because I've recently had a wonderful weekend with my writing friends Denise Rossetti and fantastic Bandita Christine Wells. I love hosting the girls - I'm always sad when they go home!

One of the many things I love about these visits is that I get to play hostess with the mostess and put together some fancy meals. We always have a seafood feast with oysters and prawns and smoked salmon and Moreton Bay bugs (which are considerably yummier than they sound - a bit like a mini lobster). I do roast chicken and my roast potatoes which I have to say are a masterpiece of nature. Seriously worth visiting Australia to try!

And this time round, I did dessert. Last time Denise and Christine came, I took the easy route and just pulled out a big box of chocolates after dinner. Something that certainly happened recently. But I also went all out and made chocolate mousse - lots and lots and lots of it.

I have a couple of failsafe desserts that I tend to make until my guests are screaming with horror at the idea of yet another tiramisu.

Actually to be 100% honest, I've never actually had that happen but I'm sure it could.

Well, maybe not...

Anyway, chocolate mousse is one of those desserts. Easy, yummy, rich, and the perfect ending to any meal. And everybody loves it!

So let's talk about the sweet stuff! Do you have a favorite dessert? Do you have a dessert you always cook up when you get visitors? Are there any favorite family desserts? What's the best dessert you've ever eaten? And tell me, is chocolate mousse EVER the wrong choice?

Food Fight Day Two: The Sweeter Side

By Cassondra Murray and Jeanne Adams

Call the neighbors. Call the relatives. Even the ones you don’t like and haven’t seen for ten years. Rally EVERYONE. We need numbers people!
NUMBERS to vote for CAKE!!!!!

Yes, that’s right. Day two of the food fight is Cake vs. Pie for Christmas. And I fear I shall be in the minority. Jeanne, my Evil Twin, will call for numbers in favor of PIE, no doubt.

Jeanne (hollering from the Lair Kitchen): YES!! YES!!! All for Pie, stand up and say AYE!!!

Cassondra: I think, for purposes of fairness, that we should exclude Pumpkin Pie. I love Pumpkin Pie, but it’s not like any other pie really. Add another half cup of flour, and you’ve got a Pumpkin Roll, which is…..drum roll please…CAKE!!! BuAhahahahahaha.

Jeanne: Yeah, yeah and that’s cheating.

Cassondra: Whatever...

Jeanne: Okay, ground – or pie plate – rules. For the purposes of the food fight, pumpkin pie is rendered an “Ultimate Food” rather than be sullied by the cake/pie fight. Snork. (This should be fun)

Cassondra: Okay, fine, I'm good with that.

I also like other fruit pies. Apple, cherry, peach (cobbler is my fav treatment for these fruity concoctions),even Rhubarb. But there the interest in pie hits a hard holiday wall.

The normal seasonal pie-type desserts for the holidays……I don’t like those.

Jeanne: Yes, fruit pies are divine, but they’re more summery, I agree. Now, a good strawberry rhubarb? Oh, that’s Summer! :> However, you make them the dread CAKE when you add cobbler, you know. Hot pie w/ extra crust is waaaay too akin to cake for my taste, missy.



Cassondra (ignoring her Evil Twin): Lessee…for the holidays there’s usually Chess Pie, Pecan Pie, Chocolate and Coconut and Derby Pie.

Nope. Don’t like any of ‘em.

Don’t much like dessert bar thingies either.

You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a layered dessert bar thingy at Christmas. As desserts go, these newfangled dessert-esque thingies remind me of lunch at a fast food place….it PRETENDS to be food, but really isn’t. Fills up your belly and all, but the rest of the experience is, well, lacking. Dessert bars are just that way. Sweet, but lacking the soft yummy goodness and satisfying slice-of-something-on-a-plate of an old-fashioned handmade scratch cake.

Jeanne: Just a note here, no cats were harmed in the making of this blog. And for the record, nobody better be swingin’ one in MY kitchen! Hahahah!

Cassondra: With Pumpkin Pie out of the equation, I fall solidly on the side of CAKE for the holidays. I love homemade cake of all kinds, and if it’s a fruitcake from the Collin Street Bakery in Texas, I can even manage to like THAT. Which is saying something, as I’m not a fruitcake fan.

Jeanne: Awww, c’mon now, no lemon meringue? No--

Cassondra (interrupting): Hey, hey hey! Lemon is a fruit. You said that makes it a summer pie. *flutters eyelashes*

Jeanne (raising one eyebrow): No Pecan? Oh my goodness me! What would Christmas be without Pecan pie, or better yet, CHOCOLATE pecan pie?

I once won a $25 bet that I wouldn’t eat a mess of collards, which at the time I despised. Since I still had pecan pie on my plate, I took the bet and ate them along with the pie. It was pretty gross, but hey, I won the bet all because of that sweeeeeet pecan pie!

Cassondra: Hey, 25 bucks is 25 bucks. Good job. *High fives Jeanne*

Jeanne: Oh, and fruit tarts and slurpy mince pies

Cassondra: Mince pies? GRRRRROOOOOSSSSSS!

Jeanne: Yes, they DO take some getting used to, I admit, and oh yes, indeed, chocolate meringue pie. Then there’s Ice cream pie. Yuuuummmmm!

Cassondra: I call foul on that one!



Jeanne (Ignoring the claim of foul): And those cookie bar thingies? Very pie-like – dense, yummy, multiple layers. Yep. (Excluding pumpkin bars on the Ultimate Food Exclusion) There’s 7-layer cookie bars, and blondies and lemon squares. Oh, yeah, pie-like, but still, second best to REAL pie!

Cassondra: Fine, fine. My favorite cake is homemade German Chocolate from my grandmother’s recipe, which took (hold onto your cholesterol levels) 18 eggs.

I love Red Velvet Cake too, and that’s a traditional Southern Christmas cake. Luscious moist deep red cake. Three awesome layers of it, with incredible rich cream cheese icing. Yummmmm….

Jeanne: Okay, okay, I’ll admit to loving those cakes, but really, for the holidays? Seriously? No way, man. It’s PIE!!! Say it with me people: PIE!!!! (And really, 18 eggs??? Yikes!)

Cassondra: The thing that tips the scales hard for CAKE, in my opinion, is CHEESECAKE YAY!

Cheesecake is the cake of all cakes. There’s raspberry swirl, turtle, and dark chocolate. There’s strawberry, chocolate swirl and tiramisu-style cheesecake. Cheesecake is the ultimate dessert.

WHY, with all of this gorgeous cake available, would a person fall on the side of PIE in the food wars? Why?


Jeanne: Oh, now, that’s just low. Cheesecake is cake in pie form. Doesn’t that make it a wanna-be pie, masquerade pie? I mean, it’s low, its dense, it’s pie-like. Seriously.

Cassondra: CheeseCAKE CheeseCAKE CheeseCAKE.

Jeanne: (Points at clock) Ahem.....



Cassondra: Oh, and I suppose I should give a nod to cookies. My husband, Steve, loves cookies. But I think cookies wanted to be cake, but fell short, and flat, and hard. Cookies dream of being cake.

Jeanne: Now there, we agree, but cookies might want to be pie too. They can have dreams of utmost perfection can’t they? Why would they settle for being CAKE when they could dream of being PIE!!!???



Cassondra: AAAAAHHHHH!

Okay Banditas and friends. You must settle the food fight once and for all.

Cake or Pie?

What's your favorite kind?

No fence sitting allowed. Even if you like both, you gotta make a firm choice here. (So pick a side and let Day Two of the Food Fight begin!