Nancy Lee Badger: Maple & Butterscotch Scones

With Every Kiss, an Opportunity Falls novel, was released November 3^rd. The idea for this contemporary romance grew from my personal experience growing up on Long Island in the shadow of New York City, then moving to the mountains of New Hampshire. I set the story in both Manhattan and fictional Fairfield, New Hampshire, and send the main characters on a wild chase. Abby, an artist, is bored with the city and its uptight men, while Mitch, the lawyer, hates working in his father’s company. Abby needs someplace where she can paint flowers and waterfalls. Mitch needs to bed the pretty blond artist. While waiting for her to fall for the hints he left, so that she ends up at his aunt and uncle’s campground, Mitch enjoys his Aunt Thalia’s delicious Scottish foods. One of his favorites are her sweet Scottish scones. I want to share this easy, quick recipe with my readers.

Recipe for Nancy’s Maple & Butterscotch Scones

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 stick (½ cup) chilled unsalted butter

1 cup (8 oz.) butterscotch chips

½ cup chilled whipping cream

Real New Hampshire Maple Syrup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400℉/200℃/GasMark #6. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Dice the butter and mix in with either your fingers or a pastry blender until small peas forms. Mix in chips with a fork. Measure the ½ cream, add the egg, and mix. Add slowly into the dry mixture, stirring with a fork. The dough should be lumpy and stick together. If dry, add a little more cream. Drop the dough on a baking sheet (I always line mine with parchment paper) in balls. Bake until golden brown and a tester inserted comes out clean, about 10-14 minutes, depending on size. Don’t overbake or they will be dry! Remove to a rack, cool slightly. Brush tops with maple syrup. Makes about 14-16 scones. Enjoy! *

*p.s. I shared a plate of these with fellow members of my local writer group, the Triangle Association of Freelancers 

Excerpt from With Every Kiss: an Opportunity Falls novel

“It’s near dinner time. Most of our guests are settled in, so let’s get back to the office. We can take my golf cart. You drive,” Uncle Jim said, instructing Mitch to park out front.

“Fridays get a bit noisy. I drive around about ten o’clock and ask the rambunctious ones to tone it down.”

They joined his Aunt Thalia in the kitchen. The mouth-watering aroma of baked lasagna hit him in the stomach, which growled accordingly. He headed toward a pot of fresh coffee, but another aroma, strangely reminiscent of past summers, tickled his nose.

“Do I smell Scottish scones?” He hugged his Aunt the way he could no longer do with his own dead mother. She closed her eyes and he laughed at her obvious enjoyment within his embrace.

“If you two wash up, I’ll serve your dinner then maybe, if you are good and clean your plates, I’ll let you try my scones. I also made some apple fritters for breakfast. I sleep in Saturday, remember, so breakfast isn’t until eight.” She turned and cut squares of reheated lasagna and placed them on plates.

Mitchell grabbed two bottles of beer and sank into a chair at the kitchen table. A thumping from the dark recesses made him reach down to pet Frik.

“I’ll take Frik with me, and we can walk around the grounds at dusk.” Maybe he’d find the slim blonde in the blue bathing suit. Or, the woman in the baseball cap. Weary from another day of hard labor, his plan sounded better than hitting the new tavern, even on a Friday night.

“Sounds like a plan, son.”

Damn right.

Retail: Ebook-$5.99   Print-$12.99   300 pages

Release Date: November 3, 2017

Genre: Contemporary Romance/Action    

Ebook ISBN: 9781386561064

Print ISBN-13: 978-1974641352

Buy Links:

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Author Bio

Nancy Lee Badger, formerly of Huntington, New York, has fond memories of growing up on Long Island. Her life changed when she attended college in New Hampshire. After meeting her husband at Plymouth State, and raising two handsome sons, Nancy moved to North Carolina where she writes full-time. Nancy is a member of Romance Writers of America, Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, Fantasy-Futuristic & Paranormal Romance Writers, and the Triangle Association of Freelancers.

                                       

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Nancy Lee Badger Presents Author Beverley Bateman

All the way from Alberta, Canada, Beverley Bateman stopped by to share some news about her book, Targeted.

Targeted is the third book in the Hawkins Ranch Series. The series was born when I was staying at an elegant hotel in Victoria, BC. I was looking down into the lobby from the mezzanine and imagined a cowboy in boots with spurs striding across the marble floor. I came up with the first brother in the Hawkins family. Kye is the third brother, an adopted member of the Blackfoot tribe.

Blurb

After an eleven year absence Janna Kincaid inherits a ranch and is forced to return to a town she only remembers with unhappiness, a man to whom she was briefly married and never wants to see again, and someone is trying to kill her.

Kye Hawkins has loved Janna since he first met her. They were married but a few weeks later she ran away, without an explanation. He still hasn’t figured out why. Now she’s coming back. Does she still love him? Can he rekindle the romance and also prevent her from being killed.

Janna doesn’t want Kye’s help in anyway, yet he always seems to be there when she’s in trouble. Can they work together to find a killer, save the Native burial ground and home of the spirits, and find romance again?

Excerpt

Someone had shot her back tire. Janna gripped the wheel to keep the vehicle on the road. She debated whether to try and outrun the shooter, wherever he was, or find cover. The windshield shattered as a third bullet entered the passenger side.

So much for outrunning the shooter.

She scanned the area and spotted an outcropping of rocks a few feet ahead on her right. She aimed the vehicle in that direction.

Two more shots, and both the back tires went down.

Definitely find cover.

Janna ducked low behind the steering wheel until the vehicle reached the rocks. When the car stopped, she grabbed the keys from the ignition and her purse and dove out the door. Bullets bounced off the rocks behind her as she scrambled for cover. Whoever was doing the shooting was serous. Anyone of the shots could have hit her.

She reached the rocks, keeping low until she got to the middle where she curled up as tightly as possible, her back against a rock. Her heart pounded in her ears, her breathing came in gasps. This was getting to be a habit. First someone tried to kill her in Seattle, and now, out in this god-forsaken country.

What the hell is going on? Why are they shooting at me? Was it the same person who shot at me in Seattle? That doesn’t seem likely, but who even knew I was coming here? Maybe it’s someone just trying to rob a stranger.

Yeah right, be honest, Janna, does this road look like many strangers came this way? And if they did, would they have a lot to steal? You really think this person selected a spot in the rocks where he would have a good shot at my vehicle. Coincidence? Not damn likely.

At least she’d worn boots and jeans—even if they were designer jeans. Now they were filthy, and so was her red sweater and jean jacket.

Another shot hit the rock behind her. She rolled over onto her stomach, shaded her eyes, and squinted into the sun. He must be up on the cliffs straight ahead. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she might have glimpsed a light, maybe a reflection off his scope.

Terrific! Now what? My gun is in my purse. I could fire back, but that would be a waste of bullets at this distance. 

She yanked out her cell and punched in 9-1-1.

Damn—no reception.

A pounding pulsed through the ground. It felt like horses. A hand appeared in front of her face.

“Grab it and jump on.”

The deep, rumbling voice was not asking. It was an order.

  

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Author Bio

Beverley Bateman now lives in Medicine Hat, Alberta, exchanging the Okanagan vineyards and orchards for ranches and farms. She lives there with her husband and Shiba Inu dogs. Winters she heads south. She writes her latest romantic suspense in both places. Hunted, Missing and the newest – Targeted are part of her Montana, Hawkins Ranch series. She also has her Holly Devine series; A Cruise to Remember, and A Murder to Forget. Don’t Go is her darker romantic suspense.

Finding Forever by Featured Author Nika Rhone

Finding Forever is the second book in the Boulder Bodyguards series, although it can be read as a standalone story. A contemporary romance with suspense elements, it follows Amelia, the quietest of the trio of friends dubbed the “Royal Court.” If you haven’t read the first book, What the Lady Wants, yet, it’s on sale for only .99 through Nov 16^th.

Book Blurb:

Amelia Westlake is about to marry the wrong man. The only thing to do when her rich and powerful fiancé refuses to accept her change of heart is hide out until the dreaded day is long past. If only the bodyguard chosen to go with her wasn’t so intriguing. And thoughtful. And sexy. Daryl Raintree is starting to see a whole new side to the Westlake Princess while they’re forced together on his parent’s remote horse ranch. No longer the timid mouse, she’s becoming a woman learning her own worth. Even knowing it can only end badly, neither of them seems able to stop the attraction they feel. But not everyone is content to let Amelia ruin their plans. With the clock ticking, she’ll have to decide if she’s willing to give up everything she has in order to gain everything she’s ever wanted.

Excerpt from Finding Forever

The kiss he brushed over her cheek was soft and chaste, and still it made her heart zing. She stared up at him, uncertain if he was going to kiss her again, praying he would, knowing he shouldn’t. So she surprised them both when she went up on her toes and pressed her mouth to his instead. At first he did nothing. Then, just as the doubts wormed their way in and she was about to pull away, he put his hand on the back of her head and took over the kiss.

Oh. My. God.

That was Amelia’s last coherent thought as Daryl’s mouth plundered hers. His lips were soft and firm and definitely knew their way around a kiss. When his tongue delved into her mouth to brush against hers, she moaned, and when his arms came around her body and pulled her flush against him, she was pretty sure she whimpered. He felt so good. Better than the pillow she’d hugged all night long, that was for sure. Far from being soft and lumpy, he was hard and strong and giving off enough heat to keep her warm forever.

Not satisfied to play a passive role in the kiss, Amelia slid her arms around his neck and angled her head a touch more, allowing her to deepen the kiss and draw a sound of either pleasure or surprise from Daryl. He broke from her mouth and rained a flurry of kisses over her cheek and down her throat while his hands roamed restlessly down her back. His mouth had just reached the upper curve of her breast when Kim’s voice calling from the living room froze them both like a dash of cold water.

Amelia and Daryl stared at each other, breathing hard. Slowly, as though he had to convince himself to do it, Daryl released his hold on her and took a step back, then another. She was glad he still had enough functioning brain cells to act because everything she had was mush at the moment, totally destroyed by that kiss.

Oh, God, that kiss!

Daryl shook his head. “That will not happen again,” he rasped. Retreating to the door, he turned back to add, “And you’re not leaving.” He shut the door with a definitive snap.

Amelia stared at where he’d been for a long second before collapsing back onto the bed, her legs feeling like they’d turned to pudding. “Wow.”

As for Daryl’s assertions, well, he was dead wrong on them both. She was going to find a way to get to Texas and keep everyone safe doing it. And that kiss would definitely happen again before she left.

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AUTHOR BIO:

Nika Rhone spent her childhood wearing out library cards as she read her way through the extraordinary worlds far beyond her small hometown on Long Island, NY. By her teens, her imagination was taking her places all on its own, forcing her to learn how to type (badly) so she could get all the stories down on paper. After a long love affair with science fiction and fantasy, she finally discovered romance, fell head-over-heels, and now spends her days crafting happily-ever-afters for the characters who still tell their stories faster (and better) than she can type them. Connect with Nika here:

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A New Release! WITH EVERY KISS

I released my latest novel on November 3rd, 

With Every Kiss, an Opportunity Falls novel is available in ebook & print.

Fall in love amid the New England countryside with Abby and Mitch.

An artist bored with the city life and a Manhattan lawyer itching to escape his father’s control wind up in a New Hampshire campground. A coincidence? Not likely!

Excerpt:

Heat swept across Abby’s cheeks as Mitch’s words sunk in, words she’d heard many times, from many men. But, the location was quite different. Nothing like a soft bed surrounded by privacy. Although she trembled with anticipation for more than his kisses, she couldn’t make love out in the open.

Without responding to his statement, she glanced at the river valley. She forced her breathing to slow, and slipped sideways until she had a view of the entire valley, a view unobstructed by a dark, towering male body.

“Did you hear me?” Mitch said, his voice as dark and ominous as his gaze.

“I did, but this isn’t the place.” That sounded better than a definite no. She wanted to say no. Don’t I?

“I should have brought a sleeping bag. We could sleep under the stars,” he said, and stepped closer. He kept one palm flat against the rock beside her head, and the other on his hip. As if he dare not touch her.

She chuckled.

“What’s so funny? Star gazing is awesome, in these mountains.”

As if I’d waste time watching points of light in the sky when he could be beside me, over me, inside me.

She gasped at her crude thought, but when he stepped farther away, she immediately missed his heat.

“Better yet, I want you in my bed where our lovemaking will be comfortable and endless. This outcropping isn’t private enough or I’d take you up against this granite wall right now.”

Abby stared at him, and forced a sly smile. “You’re a gentleman.”

“Why? Because I don’t want an audience when I make love to you? People on the beach can see us.”

“Oh?” He’d rather take her in private than against a wall out in the open?

Too bad. A gasp escaped from between her swollen lips at the image. How could she change his mind?

Am I crazy to try?

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