Wonderful Christmas Collection ~ Hope For The Holidays

Six heart-warming romances from award-winning, best-selling and multi-published authors will make you smile your way through the holiday season... and beyond! In today's busy, commercial world these sweet stories remind us of the true spirit of Christmas: faith, hope and love... and the greatest of these is love! Merry Christmas! 

"Hope for Christmas" by Mary Connealy 
Kelsey is alone, lost, pregnant, stuck in a blizzard and surrounded by wolves.
And then things get worse. Tanner Harden finds her but with trouble coming and a baby at risk, can they stay alive long enough to fall in love?

Audra Harders

“Her Christmas Cowboy” by Audra Harders 
Can a single mother looking for forgiveness and a reclusive cowboy convinced he’s beyond redemption find hope and love in a simple Christmas pageant?

"Longing for a Miracle" by Ruth Logan Herne 
Christmas dimmed when an automobile accident claimed Tasha Sorkos’s little girl… could saving Rafe Karralis’s sick daughter bring the light of faith, hope and love back into her eyes?

"A Heart Full of Hope" by Sandra Leesmith 
Elena Delgado loves her father’s new business partner, Stephen Edwards. As they work together to find funding for the project that will bring jobs and hope to their small community in time for Christmas, will Stephen notice her? Or is he still in love with the fiancée who left him?

“I’ll be Home for Christmas” by Tina Radcliffe 
Dr. Matthew Christopher doesn't believe in happily ever after. Can wedding planner Patience McCord melt the heart of the last bachelor in time for Christmas?

"One Perfect Gift" by Missy Tippens 
In this sweet Cinderella story with a country music twist, a homeless single mother with a secret may get more than she expected for Christmas, including hope, love and home, sweet home. 

You’re invite to join Mary, Audra, Ruth, Sandra, Tina and Missy along with the other Seekers on our blog, Seekerville, where we discuss the details of writing, celebrate achievements, offer encouragement to everyone on the path to publication and enjoy all the gifts of food, fun and laughter each day. There are no strangers in Seekerville!

BUY:  Hope For The Holidays Contemporary Collection

Easy Bake Cheesecake From Author Audra Harders ~ Yum...I've Had Some

Let me tell you, I've had this cheesecake (she made one for my Birthday) and it was beyond good.  Better than the Cheesecake Factory, honest.  And you'll see, this recipe practically comes with a video. You'll see what I mean...keep reading.

Thanks for having me back for your last Friday Of The Month Recipe series, Leslie! I’ve printed off some great recipes from some of your fascinating guest authors. I’m honored to be able to share my family favorite cheesecake with your audience. Baking a cheesecake from scratch sounds daunting, but really, it isn’t. It takes time to cool and chill, so allow yourself some leeway before taking this tasty treat to a party or serving it to your family.

Easy Bake Cheesecake

(that tastes like you brought home from the bakery!)

You’ll need:

CRUST:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

¼ cup granulated white sugar

½ cup unsalted butter, melted

FILLING:

32 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (use full fat, not reduced or fat free cream cheese)

1 cup granulated white sugar

3 Tbs all-purpose flour

5 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 Tbs lemon zest

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

TOPPING:

1 cup sour cream

2 Tbs granulated white sugar

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

The process begins…

Spray with a non-stick pastry spray, a 9-inch springform pan (I use two 6-inch spring form pans so my family gets to keep one cheesecake and I can give the other one away). Place the springform pan on a larger cookie sheet to catch any leakage while the cheesecake is baking.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with the rack in the center of the oven.

For the crust:

In a medium sized bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter.

Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For the filling:

In the bowl of your electric mixer place the cream cheese (make sure the cream cheese is room temperature or else it will stick to your beaters and you’ll be fighting it constantly), sugar, and flour. Beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes), scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the eggs - one at a time – beating well (about 30 seconds) between each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the whipping cream, lemon zest, vanilla extract and beat until well blended. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the filling. Place the cheesecake pan(s) in the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees F and continue to bake for about another 60-90 minutes or until firm and only the center of the cheesecake looks a little wet and wobbly. (The baking time can vary due to the differences in ovens and how many cakes you’re baking at one time. It’s very important to check that the cheesecake is firm with only the center being a little wet and wobbly.) Remove from oven and place the pans on a wire rack.

While the cheesecake is baking, in a small bowl combine the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Spread the topping over the warm cheesecake(s) and return to oven for about 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and carefully run a knife or spatula around the inside edge of pan to loosen the cheesecake (this is supposed to help the surface from cracking as it cools, but my cheesecakes tend to crack while they’re baking. The cracks don’t hurt the taste at all. I think they make the cheesecake look homemade.)

Let cool completely before covering with plastic wrap. Refrigerate several hours, preferably overnight. Serve with fresh fruit or fruit sauce.

Makes one 9 inch cheesecake or two 6 inch cheesecakes.

To freeze: Place the cooled cheesecake on a baking pan and freeze, uncovered, until firm. Then wrap in aluminum foil and place in a freezer bag. Seal and return to freezer. Can be frozen for several months. Thaw uncovered cheesecake in the refrigerator overnight.

Enjoy while reading Second Chance Ranch on your Kindle App or, now available, in paperback!!

Buy Links:

Amazon

AmazonAuthor Page

Blurb:

Pediatric oncology nurse, Jennifer O’Reilly returns home to Hawk Ridge, Colorado to establish a mountain recreation camp as a safe adventure for children battling cancer. Her path to ownership depends on developing a profitable business plan to convince the bank she can manage not only the camping facility, but the entire Trails’ End Ranch operation.

Generations earlier, one misplayed hand of poker lost part of the family ranch, and Zac Davidson, youngest son and financial genius of the Circle D, wants it back. Intrigued since childhood by the legend of his great grandfather, Zac is the only family member who holds out hope that one day the ranch would become Davidson property again. When the ranch goes on the market, money is no object, only Jennifer O’Reilly stands between him and his dream.

High school sweethearts, Jennifer and Zac have wounded each other, and the scars run deep. Jennifer is forced to reveal a secret she’s protected for twelve years. Will past mistakes jeopardize the future of both of their dreams or give them a second chance?

Bio:

 Award-winning author, Audra Harders, writes "rugged stories with heart" featuring cowboys who haven't a clue about relationships rescued by ladies who think they have all the answers. In real life, she's married to her own patient hero, has two adult children, and is surrounded by everything conducive to writing about farming, ranching and cowboys at her day job in the county Extension office. She began writing right after her son was born and sold her first book to Steeple Hill Love Inspired mere months before that same son graduated from high school. Surviving those years in-between reminds her God does have her plan for her life...and that He has a tremendous sense of humor.

You can visit her at www.AudraHarders.com. Readers and writers alike are invited to visit Seekerville, a group blog where Audra, along with twelve other inspirational authors, share wisdom and ideas about writing, life, and of course, food!

Find Audra:

Facebook

Second Chance Ranch Excerpt from Author Audra Harders

Today as promised, I bring you an excerpt from Audra Harders' Second Chance Ranch.

And if you leave a comment she's giving away a book to a randomly chosen name, 

so leave contact info.
And the WINNER is Lisa Potocar.  Congrats Lisa.

Blurb:

Pediatric oncology nurse, Jennifer O’Reilly returns home to Hawk Ridge, Colorado to establish a mountain recreation camp as a safe adventure for children battling cancer. Her path to ownership depends on developing a profitable business plan to convince the bank she can manage not only the camping facility, but the entire Trails’ End Ranch operation.

Generations earlier, one misplayed hand of poker lost part of the family ranch, and Zac Davidson, youngest son and financial genius of the Circle D, wants it back. Intrigued since childhood by the legend of his great grandfather, Zac is the only family member who holds out hope that one day the ranch would become Davidson property again. When the ranch goes on the market, money is no object, only Jennifer O’Reilly stands between him and his dream. 

High school sweethearts, Jennifer and Zac have wounded each other, and the scars run deep. Jennifer is forced to reveal a secret she’s protected for twelve years. Will past mistakes jeopardize the future of both of their dreams or give them a second chance?

Excerpt:

Jen hesitated as Zac tugged her toward the door, his warm fingers tangled with hers. Patrick and a couple of the house parents were gathering the chairs and sweeping the floor. Tina stood beside the stereo speakers, grinning at her. When she opened her mouth, Tina frowned and waved her away before catching Patrick and handing him a stack of electronics cords.

She bumped into Zac’s shoulder. He pressed close, his arm settling around her waist. “Are you okay?”

She’d been dismissed by Tina which was better than asking permission to leave. “Of course. I just had a great night of dancing and the kids are all happy about it. Life couldn’t be better.”

“Doesn’t take much to make you happy, does it?” He held the door open as they stepped out into the cool night air.

Jen waved to the campers as they ran around under the glow of the yard lights. She spotted a couple of counselors standing along the corral fence watching the kids and Jen relaxed. “It never has.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I remember a gal all bent on getting into the right school years ago. Had to have a good pre-med program. Had to be DU. You can’t tell me your little world wouldn’t have caved if the University of Denver hadn’t accepted you.”

She rubbed her face against the hoodie jacket he wore, releasing the woodsy scent of his aftershave and taking her back years. “Getting that scholarship was sweet. Made my dad happy, too.”

“I was proud of you.” He hugged her closely as they followed the trail to her house. “Academic, full-ride. Everything you’d always wanted.”

He grew quiet. Jen basked in his praise. “I was proud of you, too. Rodeo, full-ride.I’ll never understand how you coupled team roping and math.”

“The same way I did it all through high school, a little luck and a whole lot of praying.” Their steps crunched along the dirt path in time. “It wasn’t just me, remember? If you hadn’t tutored me when I had pneumonia, I probably never would have understood the way numbers worked together.”

She leaned into him as she kept time with his stride. “What else was I supposed to do? Your family took us in when my mom died, and then you had to go and get sick. I was just trying to keep you from driving your mom nuts.”

“You and Kade could’ve ignored me and watched TV.”

“Yeah, I guess we could have, but then Kade wouldn’t have figured out you knew your way around the end of the steer he couldn’t quite figure out.”

“See? Hooking up with Kade for team roping got me the rodeo scholarship, and hooking up with you to help me with my math homework flicked the I got it switch in my brain.” He hugged her closer. “I came up with the hooking-up-with-you-as-my-girlfriend all by myself.”

Her throat burned at his tone of longing. High school had been a great time. Too bad all good things came to an end. She laughed with half a heart. “I made you sit down and study, and you made me close the books and have some fun.”

“Guess we were quite a pair.” They slowed as the yard light behind her house shone through the trees in the distance. There were times she thought the distance from her house to the barn was too far…tonight, it wasn’t far enough. “Probably a good thing we didn’t go to the same college after high school. We wouldn’t have gotten any studying done. Or at least, I know I wouldn’t have gotten any studying done.”

A fleeting image of his dorm came to mind, but she pushed it away. Not tonight. All she wanted was one good night with Zac. “God knew what He was doing, no matter how much I pouted.”

They got to her porch, the light of the crescent moon behind the towering pine almost picturesque. Zac loosened his hold of her, but didn’t let go. Jen turned in his arm so she could see his face, relish the moment. His brown eyes blended with the shadows making it impossible to read his thoughts, but shifted in all the right places making him look like a cowboy legend. Zac had always been larger than life to her. Even now, her heart thumped in her chest just like it used to whenever she saw him.

“I’m sorry you pouted.” He drew her closer until his breath warmed her cheek. “I would’ve fixed that.”

Buy Links:

Amazon

Amazon Author Page

Bio:

Award-winning author, Audra Harders, writes "rugged stories with heart" featuring cowboys who haven't a clue about relationships rescued by ladies who think they have all the answers. In real life, she's married to her own patient hero, has two adult children, and is surrounded by everything conducive to writing about farming, ranching and cowboys at her day job in the county Extension office. She began writing right after her son was born and sold her first book to Steeple Hill Love Inspired mere months before that same son graduated from high school. Surviving those years in-between reminds her God does have her plan for her life...and that He has a tremendous sense of humor.

You can visit her at www.AudraHarders.com. Readers and writers alike are invited to visit Seekerville, a group blog where Audra, along with twelve other inspirational authors, share wisdom and ideas about writing, life, and of course, food!

Find Audra:

Facebook

Meet Multi-Published Author Audra Harders and A Working Woman's Hybrid Plan On Writing

It is my extreme pleasure to bring you talented and muli-published author 

Audra Harders.  And don't forget to come back Saturday for an excerpt from her latest book, Second Chance Ranch. 

NEWS FLASH, AUDRA IS GIVING AWAY A COPY OF HER BOOK, SO LEAVE A COMMENT AND YOUR EMAIL!

 Susan Anne Mason, you're the winner today!!

Don't forget Saturday's excerpt and another chance to win a copy of Audra's book.

Ha, ha. Leslie, you always make me laugh. Thanks for the awesome introduction.

Over the last year, I’ve been cleaning up rejected manuscripts and preparing them for what I call the Working Woman’s Hybrid Plan. It’s very easy; anyone can do it. Take all those manuscripts that have been rejected by the Big 5 (formerly the Big 6 consumer book publishers of note. As we know everything is shrinking…except maybe my waistline – but I’ll save that for another post) or by your own publishing house editor; review them with a critical eye; run them past a content editor, copy editor and impartial readers; and then, package them up and offer them through any number of digital and print venues.

Why call it Working Woman’s Hybrid Plan? Because, that’s what I am. I’m a published author with Love Inspired Books, Amazon, and I hold a full time job.  All three are important to me, but putting all of one’s eggs in the same basket, in this day and age, is just…lazy. Opportunities abound for those who dare to grab for it.

Now the concept of working full-time while writing for publication is not new, but it has evolved. There once was a time when authors would clock in their 8 to 5 at the office and then return home and log in another 5 or 6 hours at the computer writing towards a New York deadline or hoping one day to attain a New York deadline. The days and weeks would pass and manuscripts would pile up, and so would the rejection slips adding to the devastation of the hearts of really good writers whose work just didn’t fit into the slot of a commercial publishing house. Does that mean your writing is bad?

Well, maybe.

But chances are, if you’ve worked with a good critique group, joined national organizations for writers such as Romance Writers of America or American Christian Fiction Writers (the two I belong to), have been active in your local chapters, and entered contests for feedback, you have a pretty good estimation of the caliber of your work.

My situation is probably more common among published authors than you realize. You sell a book that is part of a series. If you have a really good agent, they might get a 3 or 4 book deal for you right away. That was not my case. Love Inspired Books bought the first book of my Circle D series, but then didn’t pick up the next one. Now remember, I work full-time on a – at times – erratic and unpredictable schedule. By the time I had the third one on their desk, they thought too much time had passed for readers to relate to the characters and setting.

I can understand that. Doesn’t mean I like it, but I understand it.

So, what do I do with the books that are finished and gathering virtual dust on my hard drive? Need I mention I love the setting and the characters? My heart swoons over the heroes and I’d love to live in a community like Hawk Ridge?

Well, FIRST, I had to obtain permission from Harlequin’s Legal Department to use the characters and setting. Very important you read the fine print in your contracts! I worked with their representative on my options, and concluded I can publish my other two books using the same characters and setting as long as I didn’t sign away exclusive rights to anyone else. Harlequin retains first dibs.

Not a problem. The rights belong to me and I’d be happy to continue the series for Love Inspired anytime they’d like : )

Then I moved on to evaluating content. After determining where tweaks in the plot were needed, I ran the version by several authors, looking for advice specific to each one of them. Then I ran it by my copy editor for line edits. Worked with a cover designer to give my stories a brand, and VOILA!  The culmination of my efforts is now alive and well and living on Amazon.

Remember that pesky day job I mentioned? Well, the time I have available for book marketing made publishing exclusively with Amazon my best bet. I don’t have the time right now to monitor all the outlets for distribution and manage it well. The print version will be out shortly, but in the meantime, I love stopping by my author page on Amazon and just looking at my pretty cover, and thanking Jeff Bezos for the having the foresight and vision to offer authors an opportunity to see all their publishing dreams come true.

Blurb: 

Pediatric oncology nurse, Jennifer O’Reilly returns home to Hawk Ridge, Colorado to establish a mountain recreation camp as a safe adventure for children battling cancer. Her path to ownership depends on developing a profitable business plan to convince the bank she can manage not only the camping facility, but the entire Trails’ End Ranch operation.

Generations earlier, one misplayed hand of poker lost part of the family ranch, and Zac Davidson, youngest son and financial genius of the Circle D, wants it back. Intrigued since childhood by the legend of his great grandfather, Zac is the only family member who holds out hope that one day the ranch would become Davidson property again. When the ranch goes on the market, money is no object, only Jennifer O’Reilly stands between him and his dream. 

High school sweethearts, Jennifer and Zac have wounded each other, and the scars run deep. Jennifer is forced to reveal a secret she’s protected for twelve years. Will past mistakes jeopardize the future of both of their dreams or give them a second chance?

Buy Links:

Amazon

Amazon Author Page

Bio:

Award-winning author, Audra Harders, writes "rugged stories with heart" featuring cowboys who haven't a clue about relationships rescued by ladies who think they have all the answers. In real life, she's married to her own patient hero, has two adult children, and is surrounded by everything conducive to writing about farming, ranching and cowboys at her day job in the county Extension office. She began writing right after her son was born and sold her first book to Steeple Hill Love Inspired mere months before that same son graduated from high school. Surviving those years in-between reminds her God does have her plan for her life...and that He has a tremendous sense of humor.

You can visit her at www.AudraHarders.com. Readers and writers alike are invited to visit Seekerville, a group blog where Audra, along with twelve other inspirational authors, share wisdom and ideas about writing, life, and of course, food!

Find Audra:
Facebook

Book Signing Fun and Lessons Learned

I was part of a group book signing at Barnes & Noble in Loveland CO, Nov 30th.  My first ever. I had a blast and even sold books.

I learned a couple of interesting lessons and I was totally broken-in by being asked the dreaded question; "Can you tell me where the bathroom is?"

Lesson #1.  Romance, oddly, doesn't appeal to everyone:)  And while my books have romance in them, I turned off a couple of people by stating they were "romances." Now I'm going for Adventure with Romantic Elements, or A Christmas Story with Romantic Elements, hoping that by saying that, it will continue the conversation.

Lesson #2.  I knew this, but got to put it in action.  Don't sit behind your table all the time.  Stand and greet people. Some will drop their gaze to avoid a conversation, but saying hi is better than not saying anything. Engage, you never know where it will take you.

Pictures from the signing.

 

Just about to get in the groove.  Really the only time I sat.

My set-up. Notice the candy :) and the sign-up book.

Looks serious.  Richard Lawrence and me.

Audra Harders, buddy and author extraordinaire



Richard, Audra and L.A. (me)



Marilyn Leach, Jill Haymaker & LeAnna Shields

Why I Decided To Go Indie

My first comment on my new blog asked why I decided to go Indie...the million dollar question these days.  Not just for me, but for any author who decides to take the adventure.

Well, I'm the guest blogger on http://www.seekerville.blogspot.com/2012/09/my-story-my-way.html today.  So, perhaps this will give you an idea. 

Jump on over and see.

~Ciao
LA