Loving up 'The Amazing Race,' bread pudding and Homer
Today's featured authors: Jenna Byrnes, author of Kansas City Heat: Cameron's Code; Meta Mathews, author of Defying the Duke; and West Thornhill, author of Apple Brew. They're sharing their favorite reality shows and desserts and keeper books.
Jenna Byrnes, author of Kansas City Heat: Cameron's Code
My favorite three reality shows:
• The Amazing Race. Love the teamwork and the camaraderie on this show, but don't love teams that lie and cheat to gain advantage. I always wonder how they feel watching the show with their families afterwards. I also think my husband and I would kill each other if we had to complete some of those challenges together.
• Hell's Kitchen. Gordon Ramsay makes this one entertaining. If I was chosen as a contestant, I'd be studying past seasons and practicing making risotto until I could do it in my sleep. I think it'd be fun to eat there, too. I wonder what percentage of diners actually gets food? The season a guest ordered in pizza and Ramsay told them to "bleep off" was priceless.
• Ink Master. I've enjoyed the series from the beginning, but this season the "rivals" theme has turned me off. I don't watch for the bickering. I like to see creative, imaginative tattoos and the artists come up with some incredible ones. They make my two small arm tats seem pretty tame. Tattoos are addictive, but I promised my son I wouldn't get any more!
Here's the blurb for Cameron's Code:
Interstate transportation of stolen property calls for FBI intervention. Can the KCPD detective and the bureau agent break up the crime ring before anyone else is killed?
Detective Dean Cameron with the KCPD Property Crimes Department is investigating a rash of local business thefts. When the cases cross state lines, the FBI is brought into action. Dean welcomes sexy agent Matt Anderson's help on the job, and before he's decided if it's a good idea, they wind up in bed. Sharing a desire that's too hard to resist, the men fall into an intense physical relationship that both of them know can never last.
Impossible Relationships. Matt's life is in Chicago and Dean's in Kansas City. Neither of them wants a long distance love affair, but Dean can't imagine not pursuing one. He's head over heels, but Matt isn't quite as convinced. When their most recent case takes a turn toward the deadly, what they want doesn't seem to matter anymore. Racing against the clock, Dean is desperate to save Matt and see what can be salvaged of their relationship.
Find out more at www.jennabyrnes.com.
Meta Mathews, author of Defying the Duke
Three of my favorite desserts:
• My mother's butterscotch cream pie. In my experience, not many people can make good butterscotch pies. Not many people even try. But my mother could stir up a luscious filling the color of light brown sugar and top it with a beautiful meringue that would tantalize your taste buds.
• My husband's bread pudding with bourbon sauce. We first tasted this delectable dessert in New Orleans many years ago, and since then, my husband has tried various recipes combining bread, milk, sugar, raisins and spices for a wonderful cake-like pudding. The sauce, of course, is the perfect finishing touch.
• My husband's banana pudding cheesecake. Cheesecakes are one of my favorite desserts if they're done properly, and my husband (who does most of the baking around our house) is becoming an expert. I have to say, though, that his cheesecake incorporating bananas and vanilla wafers is a winner in my book.
Here's the blurb for Defying the Duke:
Having discovered that there's no demand in Atlanta, Georgia, for college graduates with a PhD in history, Amelia Comstock accepts a job from her former professor to research the mysterious disappearance of the Duke of Durbane almost two hundred years ago. Unfortunately, her research stirs up the duke's spirit, which—convinced she's a courtesan—visits her during the night intent on pleasuring her sexually. When Amelia tries to quit her job in the hopes of ridding herself of the spirit, her boss tricks her into meeting his nephew, Jack, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the duke and who is struggling with his own unwanted visitor from the past.
When Jack Durban, a computer programmer, accepted a transfer to Atlanta, he didn't expect his uncle Ben, a professor and historian, to recruit him to help research the disappearance of the Regency-era Duke of Durbane. Nor did he expect to start getting ghostly visits from a woman wearing a ball gown who insists on pleasuring him against his will. Determined to end his research, Jack agrees to do one last favor for his uncle, which results in his meeting Amelia Comstock, a beautiful historian who strongly resembles his pesky visitor from the past. Jack soon realizes that he and Amelia share a unique connection, meaning that they must combine their efforts to defy the duke so they can enjoy their future together.
Find out more at www.metamathews.com.
West Thornhill, author of Apple Brew
Three books my keeper shelves:
• The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. I have been a fan of Poe since middle school. The thrill and anticipation that builds as you read stories like "The Tell-Tale Heart" or "The Fall of the House of Usher" keeps you captivated. Always a good read late at night.
• Homer's The Odyssey. I've always been a fan of classical mythology and studying the classics in college gave me more of a love of all things Greek and Latin. But what I love about The Odyssey is Odysseus. He is not your typical hero. He has flaws, makes mistakes, and manipulates things, but he never loses his focus on returning home to Ithaca and his wife and son.
• Magic's Pawn by Mercedes Lackey. This was the first book I read that featured a gay main character. I fell in love with Vanyel and the world of Valdemar. Ms. Lackey created a world that you could get lost in, but with themes that were, and are, still relevant.
Here's the blurb about Apple Brew:
Xeno discovers something surprising about Jude, one of his lovers.
Gethin has sent his most trusted and valued assassin on a mission to bring back his son. While Eirwyn is searching for a way to get Xeno alone, she finds an ally in Xeno's ex Andy. She also discovers one of the Guardians is the Oracle. If she can find a way to get both Xeno and Jude, she will have an untouchable position in Gethin's court.
Jude has been having sleep-stealing visions. He also discovers that he'd predicted Xeno's birth. All Jude wants to do is protect his lovers. He thinks the best way is to give himself back to Gethin, even knowing his life will be much worse than the last time he was in the Annwn court.
Xeno is still reeling from finding out about his Fae heritage. During an angry outburst, he feels the power of his Cimmerian heritage. He's also worried about Jude. More questions and secrets arise as Xeno tries to figure out what it all means to be Fae.
Find out more at wthornhillauthor.blogspot.com.