Month: December 2024

Several New Books in 2024!

/ sandramervillehart

by Sandra Merville Hart

My fellow ERASER admins and I have had a productive year for our books. We invite you to consider these books for the reader on your list or as a gift for yourself. 😊

Waiting for Sunset is a contemporary romance by Starr Ayers that released on September 28th.

When Olivia Houston’s need to let go collides with her reason to move on, she finds herself thrust into a tomorrow she didn’t see coming.

A Certain Man, Book 1 in A Certain Future, is a Biblical Fiction novel by Linda Dindzans that released on August 13th. This is Linda’s debut novel and we’re grateful it won’t be her last!

There was a certain man…He offered an outcast—a shunned, shamed woman—a new life.  

What would Happen? is a Children’s book written by KD Holmberg that will release on January 13, 2025. It’s geared to ages 3-8.

Imagine a world where every “What Would Happen?” becomes an adventure!

The Case of the Stolen Memories, Book 3 in A Mac & Sam Mystery, is a contemporary suspense novel by Deborah Sprinkle that released on August 20th. Death Under the Ice, Book 4 in Trouble in Pleasant Valley, is her newest book set to release on December 17th!

Here’s the hook for Death Under the Ice:

What happened to Homeland Security Analyst Claire Green’s brother, and why is someone coming after her now?

Three of my books—Sandra Merville Hart—released in 2024. Streams of Courage, Book 4 in Spies of the Civil War, released on March 26th.  A Spring at The Greenbrier, Book 6 in Romance at the Gilded Age Resorts, is a nostalgic inspirational story set at the beautiful The Greenbrier resort. River of Peril, Book 5 in Spies of the Civil War, released on October 15th. (Tides of Healing, Book 6 in Spies of the Civil War, is the last book in the series—that one will release on February 11, 2025.)

Here’s the hook for River of Peril:

Amnesia stole his memory, and now he’s fighting for the wrong side.

Announcing the Upcoming Civil War Book Release of Tides of Healing!

/ sandramervillehart

by Sandra Merville Hart

I’m thrilled to announce that  Tides of Healing , Book 6 of my Spies of the Civil War Series, will release on February 11, 2025!

Books 4 – 6 of the series are set in historic Vicksburg, Mississippi—a city the Union is as determined to capture as the Confederacy is to retain. Much happens here during the Civil War, not the least of which is spying.

I can hardly believe that the final book in the series will soon be releasing.

You might wonder if authors fall in love with their characters as much as readers. Speaking for myself, I do! It’s fun to spend time with the characters I’ve grown to love on the written page.

Savannah Adair is the last of our three heroines to get to tell her Vicksburg story and she’s been chomping at the bit to show readers what happened.

Savannah has long been friends of Julia and Felicity, whom we first met in Streams of Courage, Book 4, when all three strong women resided in Vicksburg at the beginning of the Civil War.

Here’s a bit about the book:

A Southern belle fights to reclaim her home, but will her spying destroy the Union officer she never meant to love? 

Savannah Adair has endured the unimaginable, hiding in a cave while her beloved Vicksburg was under siege. With the city now occupied by Union soldiers, Savannah cannot stand by and do nothing. So when one of the gaunt, half-starved Confederate prisoners asks her to spy for the South, she can’t refuse the chance to take back her home. 

First Lieutenant Travis Lawson takes pride in the Union army’s hard-fought victory, but he quickly realizes that the challenges of rebuilding and reconciliation are just beginning . . . and not everyone is appreciative of changes he’s making. Namely, the fiery and alluring Savannah Adair. Despite their differing loyalties and the societal divide between them, Travis cannot deny the growing feelings he has for her. When he is tasked with finding Southern spies in Vicksburg and he captures a female spy, Travis is forced to consider that the woman he’s beginning to love may be the enemy. 

Preorder your copy today on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, and Books2Read.

Christmas at the Jekyll Island Club by Blossom Turner

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Romance at the Gilded Age Resorts, Book 9

Savannah Ensworth has been given every material thing her heart desired her whole life. The wealth she’ll inherit isn’t the only reason so many men want to marry her. She’s unwilling to give control of her life and her fortune to a husband. The freedom to choose her future is what she most desires but she’ll try to enjoy the Christmas holidays with her parents at their annual stay at Jekyll Island.

Her boredom dissipates when she hears Joseph Bennett’s sermon. He’s at the resort for the Christmas season. She’s attracted to him even as the honesty in his sermons unsettles her.

Yet society has placed too many barriers between them for their friendship to blossom into marriage.

I love reading books set at Christmas as the season approaches. Believable characters and a mystery that surrounds the heroine’s past made this a page turner for me. Twists and turns kept me guessing. The characters had hurdles that seemed insurmountable.

I’m enjoying the settings in this series. Be prepared to be transported back in time to the Gilded Age resorts.

Amazon

Cranberry Orange Bread Recipe

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by Sandra Merville Hart

I go through seasonal cycles in cooking. This fall, I’ve been playing with a recipe for cranberry orange bread, two flavors that complement each other well.  

Ingredients

2 cups fresh cranberries

2/3 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar

1 large orange

Âź cup water

2 cups sifted bread flour (or all-purpose flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

Âź cup (4 tablespoons) butter

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon orange extract

1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a bread baking pan with cooking spray.

Sift the flour into a medium mixing bowl. Add baking powder, baking soda, and salt and stir. Set aside.

With a vegetable peeler, peel strips of the orange rind, using about half of the orange.

Rinse cranberries and put them in a small saucepan. Add the orange peel, Âź cup water, and 1 tablespoon of sugar to berries and stir. Cooking on medium low and stirring occasionally, heat the cranberry mixture about 8 minutes to soften the fruit and blend the flavors together.

Remove from heat. Drain the fruit mixture over a bowl or the pan. I find it easiest to drain it using a sifter. Remove all the orange peel strips and discard.

As the mixture cools, slice the orange in half. Squeeze the juice from ½ of the orange over the cranberries as they cool in the sifter. Allow the fruit to cool at least 10 minutes.

In a separate mixing bowl, thoroughly blend 2/3 cup sugar with the butter until all the sugar is incorporated into the butter. Pastry blenders work well for this. Beat 2 eggs and stir into the creamed mixture. Stir in the orange extract to further enhance the orange flavor.

Gently fold in the cooked cranberries to the batter. There will be juice left over in the saucepan. Measure Âź cup of this cranberry juice and add to the batter. Stir in 1 tablespoon of milk.  

Stir dry ingredients into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes. It usually bakes in my oven for about 53 minutes.

Many people prefer to eat a slice of this delicious bread with cream cheese. It’s also good without it.

I’m so pleased with the flavor of this bread! If you prefer less orangey flavor, omit either the juice or the extract.

This bread takes me about a half hour of preparation. There’s nearly an hour of baking time in addition.

It’s good for breakfast and brunch. I also served it as an addition to snacks at a recent game night. It was a hit.

Enjoy!