Monday, November 30, 2020

Celia's Edible and Audible Holiday Cheer

Hello my dear Decadent Diva Readers,

 I hope you had a lovely November. The December holidays are upon us, and I'm busy prepping A Demon's Embrace, my second Cupid Dating Agency book for release! My hero, Stryker, owns a year-round holiday store, and he loves Christmas so thought I better launch his story around the time of his favorite holiday, LOL.

Now, let's get this holiday party started with songs and sugar! I shared these last year, but in case you missed them, here they are again: Cookies and musical holiday cheer...

Celia's Holiday Spritz Cookies “our

Cookies are one of my favorite, sweet indulgences for the holidays. My family makes spritz cookies every December. Delicious! Here’s my mother’s recipe (that I love to post every year around this time). Requires cookie press.

3/4 cup regular sugar (some recipes call for “powdered”, but mom swears by regular!)
1 cup margarine, or butter, or shortening (mom uses shortening; I use butter. Both are delish.)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a bowl, mix together margarine (or butter or shortening), sugar, vanilla, egg until fairly fluffy.
3. Stir in flour, salt, baking powder.
4. Optional: separate dough into bowls, add food dye of your choosing (see photo).
5. Fill cookie press; press dough onto ungreased cookie sheets.
6. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes.
7. Remove from sheet and cool on cookie rack.
8. Eat. All. The. Cookies!

  Celia’s Holiday Playlist
Music is a big part of our holiday celebrations. Here’s one of our playlists for the December holidays. Happy listening!

“Another Christmas Song,” Stephen Colbert
“Not Tonight Santa,” Girls Aloud
“Frosty the Snowman,” Cocteau Twins
“Christmas Time Is Here Again,” Ringo Starr
“Sleigh Ride,” The Ronettes
“The Lonely Jew On Christmas,” Kyle Broflofski with Special Celebrity
Guest “Santa’s Beard,” They Might Be Giants
“Winter Wonderland,” Cocteau Twins
“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” Darlene Love
“Thanks for Christmas,” XTC
“December Will Be Magic Again,” Kate Bush

 

Have a great December, Dear Readers, and I'll see you back here on December 30th with more info on A Demon's Embrace!.

xo,
Celia


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Friday, November 20, 2020

New Release

 

Here's an excerpt from my latest release IVAR’S ESCAPE, book 2 of the Assassins of Gravas series. Hope you enjoy it!

 

If you’ve read the Marks Mercenaries series, you might remember that Vaden el Gravaso, the hero from Salvaging Abby is from Gravas, a highly secretive world with advanced technology and a kickass military. Oh, and their assassins are the best in the known universe. They’re also all male. This time it’s impossible for a Gravasian assassin to infiltrate and rescue Ivar, a prince of Gravas. When a man can’t do the job, they send a woman who can.

 

 

Sometimes the best man for the job is a woman.

 


Ivar’s Escape

Assassins of Gravas, Book 2

 

Ivar el Gravaso—a prince of Gravas—wakes in a prison cell with no idea how he got there or even who he is. If his captor can’t get answers from Ivar, his days are numbered. When a strange woman sneaks into the prison and promises to get him out, he’s suspicious. Is this nothing more than another trick by his captor or is she truly there to help?

Delphi is an assassin sent by the Gravasian government to infiltrate the space pirate stronghold of Tortuga in search of the missing prince. She finds a prisoner who is well-spoken, knowledgeable, and ready to fight, even though he has no idea who he is. He might be her target. It’s difficult to tell due to his ragged appearance. But no way can she leave him behind, no matter who he is.

 

 

TEASER:

 

The man wasn’t moving.

 

Delphi glanced at the door at the far end of the corridor. It was solid wood. She should be safe enough. Taking a risk, she eased a candle stub and matches from her pants pocket. Primitive but effective.

 

She struck the match and touched the flame to the wick.

 

He exploded from the pallet and lunged. She scrambled away, her back hitting the cell door behind her. Shit, he was fast. If it hadn’t been for her training, he’d have his hands around her neck right now.

 

Miraculously, the light hadn’t gone out. The candle was on its side. The large male grabbed it and pulled it inside, giving her a good look at him.

 

His hair was long and dark and matted. An unkempt beard covered the lower half of his face. His clothes were in tatters, his feet bare. His eyes were golden brown, like a coywolf she’d seen a picture of once, and just as feral. A barely healed scar ran down the left side of his face, starting at his temple and disappearing into his beard.

 

She held up her hands to show him she was unarmed. “I’m not here to hurt you.” It was only dumb luck that she hadn’t rattled the steel doors when she’d hit them and possibly woken the guard. He’d been drinking, but it might not be enough for him to pass out.

 

Still in a crouch, the prisoner studied her. He’d see the image she wanted to project—a teenage boy with a pockmarked face. Disguises were part of an assassin’s bag of tricks, and this was her specialty.

 

“What’s your name?” Given his appearance, it was hard to tell if it was her target. He’d lost weight and was totally disheveled and dirty. It was doubtful his own mother would recognize him in a fully lit room, let alone by dim candlelight.

 

He swallowed heavily, his throat rippling. His fingers tightened around the stub of candle. He opened his mouth, closed it, and tried again. “I don’t know.” His breath hit the flame directly, blowing it out and plunging them into darkness.

 

 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MDXY2PP/

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1052405

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/ivar-s-escape

Evernight Publishing: https://www.evernightpublishing.com/ivars-escape-by-n-j-walters/

 


 


N.J. Walters is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

                   

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Website: http://www.njwalters.com

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