Giveaway, FREE Online Read, and Yuletide Redemption!

by Jill Kemerer

You know that giddy feeling when you just want to jump up and down and clap your hands and spin a few times? I'm there! My first Christmas book, Yuletide Redemption, releases today! Hooray! This is the fourth book in the Lake Endwell series. Can you get over that cover? *swooning*

A Mother's Christmas Wish 

After an accident leaves Celeste Monroe to raise her baby nephew, all she wants is to provide one-year-old Parker with a happy life. She hopes taking a job caring for injured Sam Sheffield will help fulfill that goal. But Sam's determination to avoid the world throws a wrench in her plans. Despite his best efforts, Sam can't take his eyes off the pretty caretaker. Her strength and her loving nature has him falling for her—and her baby. But he refuses to burden them with a man who's not whole. Can Celeste convince Sam he's daddy—and husband—material in time for them to celebrate Christmas together?

Purchase links for Yuletide Redemption HERE!

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And in other zippity-skippity news, I have a FREE Christmas novella featured on Harlequin.com's Online Reads for Love Inspired! A new chapter releases every Monday from 11/07/2016 through 12/26/2016. The first three chapters are live! I add the chapter links to my HOME page each week as they go live, and you can always find them at Harlequin.com, Online Reads tab, Love Inspired.

Here's the scoop on A Cradle for Christmas!

A Cradle for Christmas

With just days to go until Christmas, Heather Springfield is nine months pregnant and all alone. So she escapes to her family’s old cabin in Michigan. The happiest summers of her life were spent there…all until that last one that ruined everything. But she’ll have to do her best to focus on her baby and avoid Mason Aldridge, the boy next door and the one who got away

Mason’s never forgotten the sweet girl who once held his heart. So when Heather arrives one snowy night, her very pregnant belly triggers a fresh round of regrets. If things had been different, he might have been the man fortunate enough to call her and the baby his. But in the spirit of the season, forgiveness is in the air, and two old friends may just find their way to the best Christmas gift of all—a brand-new family.

Go to Harlequin.com's Online Reads tab (linked) and select Love Inspired. A new chapter goes live each Monday. The chapters can be read on your phone or tablet, or you can print them out!

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Well, I love to celebrate, so I'm hosting two giveaways for Yuletide Redemption. The first is a November giveaway with lots of Christmas goodies (US only, 18+), and the second is a Goodreads giveaway of (2) copies of Yuletide Redemption (US only). The entry forms are below if you'd like to enter!

Entry-Form

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Goodreads Giveaway

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Yuletide Redemption

by Jill Kemerer

Giveaway ends December 01, 2016.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Thanks for celebrating with me!

What are you looking forward to the most this Christmas?

Have a terrific week, and to all our American friends, Happy Thanksgiving!!

Jill Kemerer writes Christian romance novels with love, humor and faith for Harlequin Love Inspired. Jill loves coffee, M&Ms, fluffy animals, magazines and her hilarious family. Visit her website, jillkemerer.com, and connect with Jill on Facebook, Twitter and sign up for her Newsletter.

Give Away!! Win Prizes!!

Let's just give some stuff away! I'm excited to present Book Two of Special Delivery Baby, and to celebrate, I just want to give stuff away. Leave a comment below for a book and $10 Amazon gift

card. 

Instant Daddy


An abandoned baby is the last thing town founder Will Canfield expects on his doorstep. He's not the father—and the mother's unknown. But the precious little girl needs a protector. And Will never backs down from a challenge, even if it means caring for a newborn…or dealing with spitfire cattle driver Tomasina Stone.


With her father gone, Tomasina's trail life has ended. Yet becoming a polished city lady feels far out of her reach. All she wants is a place where she'll be appreciated, respected…maybe loved. And the more time she spends helping Will care for the baby, the more she wonders if she's found it. She's never wanted to settle down…but Cowboy Creek—by Will's side—might finally give her heart a lasting home.


Cowboy Creek: Bringing mail-order brides, and new beginnings, to a Kansas boomtown

Happy Blonde Brownie Day!

Hi, Winnie Griggs here.  I just found out that Jan 22 is National Blonde Brownie Day.  Who knew?  So, being an historical author, I had to do a little research into the history of the blonde brownie and found a few little interesting tidbits.

The most interesting was the fact that Blondies predate the currently more popular chocolate brownie by a number of years.  According to The Food Timeline site, the first recorded Brownie recipe, ca 1896, had no chocolate in it and would produce a treat very like today’s blonde brownies.

One of the most popular candies of the mid nineteenth century was butterscotch, and many of the ingredients in this early version of blondies were the same, only combined with other ingredients so that it could be baked into a cake-like product rather than candy treat.

As for as where blondies got their names, while no one knows for certain, The Food Timeline reports 3 possibilities
It might have been in honor of a woman named Mildred Brown Schrumpf, who was, among other things, a Nutritionist, Newspaper Columnist, Food Judge, Author and Cook (born 1903)
It might have been named after Palmer Cox’s cartoon elves, dubbed Brownies, ca 1887
It might borrowed its name from a Scottish confection called a broonie

And in honor of this sweet-themed day, I thought I’d share that early first recipe with you

Brownies
The Boston Cooking School Cook Book (1896) by Fannie Merritt Farmer

1/3  cup butter 1/3  cup powdered sugar
1/3  cup Porto Rico molasses
1     egg well beaten
7/8  cup bread flour
1     cup pecan meat cut in pieces

Mix ingredients in order given
Bake in small, shallow fancy cake tins, garnishing top of each cake with one-half pecan.

So let’s hear it for the blonde brownie on its special day.  (But I must confess to still preferring chocolate!)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And, since the heroine of my Dec 2013 release, A Family For Christmas, runs a sweet shop and very likely baked some of these very confections for her customers, I thought I'd just go ahead and give away a copy of this book to one person who leaves a comment here today!

An Unexpected Gift 

Eve Pickering knows what it's like to be judged for your past. So she's not about to leave the orphaned boy she's befriended alone in this unfamiliar Texas town. Since Chance Dawson's offer of shelter is the only way to look after Leo, Eve is determined they'll have a warm, welcoming home for the holidays.

Chance came from the big city to make it on his own despite a painful secret. But Eve's strength is giving him a confidence he never expected—and a new direction for his dream. With a little Christmas blessing, he'll dare to win her heart—and make their family one for a lifetime.

Trick or Treat!!

Okay, no tricks! But we do have some treats for you. Danica Favorite here, and I was going through some old photos from college, and I found a picture of my favorite costume ever. Yup, that's me (and someone else- but I have no idea who it was) dressed as a pig. Throughout high school and college, pigs were my favorite animals. Now I'm more of a chicken lover, thanks to my pet chickens. But I don't think I'll be dressing up as a chicken anytime soon. It's been a long time since I dressed up for Halloween.

How about you? Do you dress up for Halloween? Do you have a favorite costume you've worn over the years?

Now for the treats...
As you know, we've been giving away books on Thursdays, so comment on the post for your chance to win. Here are the details on our Thursday giveaways in case you missed them: http://craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/2013/10/announcing-our-october-reader-contest.html

Last week's winner was Jackie Smith!!

And, since I don't yet have a release date for my book, I don't have a book to give away. But don't despair, I've got a special treat for you. If you're entering the giveaway, just let me know which current release from our authors you'd like to win, and I'll make sure you get a copy! This week's winner will also get a book from Lenora Worth, Rhonda Gibson, and Margaret Daley.

Autumn recipe: White Bean Chicken Chili

courtesy of www.sxc.hu

Lacy Williams here with a cool weather recipe you can curl up with--and maybe win a good book, too!

We live in Oklahoma Sooner country and now that the weather has cooled off, we've gone from hamburgers and hot dogs for our watch parties to foods that favor the autumn temps.

I tried this chicken chili a couple weeks ago to rave reviews. Hope you like it too!

Don't forget that anyone who comments during the month of October is entered for a chance to win books. See details here.

Hearty White-Bean Chicken Chili

 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
 1 small onion, chopped
 2 cloves garlic, minced
 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
 1 can Rotel green chile flavor
 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian spices (can substitute oregano)
 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
 2 cups frozen corn
 1-1.5 pound chicken breasts
 2 (15 ounce) cans white beans
 1 pinch salt & pepper to taste

Warm a skillet on medium. Heat the olive oil and then carmelize the onions and garlic. Dice the chicken and add it to skillet. Cook until it starts to turn white, then shred (I use two forks to pull the meat apart).

Add the chicken broth, Rotel, beans and spices and simmer for about twenty minutes. Alternately, once you cook the chicken, onions and garlic you can throw it all in a crockpot on high for an hour and then serve.

In a house like mine, with little kids and lots of chaos, easy is better, and this recipe worked for me. What's your favorite chili or soup recipe? Don't forget to leave a comment.

In honor of her sixth full-length book releasing, Lacy will do an additional giveaway. Anyone who joins her newsletter list by clicking here before Sunday, October 27, will be entered to win one of three copies of RETURN OF THE COWBOY DOCTOR. Good luck!

 

Announcing our October reader contest

Lacy Williams here with a big announcement! Drumroll please...

If you are an ACFW member or attended the 2013 conference in Indianapolis, you might've seen this ad in the conference booklet:

That's right. A bunch of the CRAFTIE Ladies are giving away books.

How do you win? Post a comment on any Thursday in October and you will be entered to win a book from each participating author.

Tell your friends, your neighbors, your Facebook followers. We want to make sure everyone knows about this giveaway for 18 books!

Stop by every Thursday for special posts and don't forget to comment!

Word Search Puzzle and a Giveaway

Hi.  Winnie Griggs here.  I thought we'd take a break from our normal type of post here and do a fun word search puzzle instead.  In the puzzle below, you can find the names of our 15 Love Inspired Historical authors who post regularly here at the Craftie Ladies site.  And just to make it more interesting, to all of  those who post a comment indicating you've found at least 12 of them (we'll go on the honor system) I'll put your name in the hat for a chance to win an advance copy of my upcoming June release, The Bride Next Door.

Have fun!

More Book giveaways today!!

Linda Goodnight here. Good morning.

 Happy Labor Day to all those in U.S. and a lovely day to everyone around the world. We're still rockin' and rollin' here at the Craftie Ladies. I'm having a giant cup of coffee after awaking to 60 degree weather! We've been having 100 plus, so this feels chilly--chilly but wonderful.

I've also brought along a platter of nice fresh melon and strawberries to share with you AND some books to give away later today.  I'll be drawing from the comments at noon and again at 6 pm central time. The winner will receive her (his?) choice of  three books-- THE NANNY'S HOMECOMING,  THE LAWMAN'S CHRISTMAS WISH, or THE WEDDING GARDEN.

So, what are you bringing to the party this morning?

Lyn Cote--A Question for You: Why Do Authors and Publishers

giveaway books on blogs? I've posed this question and 5 others on my personal blog. Drop by my blog today or tomorrow and reply to the questions in my survey and be entered in a mysterious drawing. Deadline Sunday night. Drop by my blog. Strong Women Brave Stories!