US Marshal Meadow Ames is working hard on a case with team when she receives a text for help from Outsider, code name for Ian Carpenter who’d been in hiding from men trying to kill him. They’d nearly been successful two years before. She drops everything to help and takes her K-9 dog, Grace, to rush to Ian’s aid.
Ian Carpenter regrets asking for Meadow’s aid because he’s now placed her in danger. He wouldn’t have risked returning except that his niece has asked for his help. But before he can talk to his niece, she is kidnapped.
This author is a master at building suspense. I can barely turn pages fast enough. I couldn’t put the book down!
The characters were likeable and their emotional past trauma is believable. I was drawn into their plight from the first page. The story gripped me and didn’t let go.
Baker owner Charlie Bussey loves dogs and a portion of her baked goods cater to pets. She often donates cookies to the local animal shelter that is struggling to stay afloat.
Blake Bryant has returned to his hometown after several years of absence for two reasons—to purchase a shop to expand his boss’s coffee shops and to adopt the niece whom he’s just learned about. And maybe to see if Charlie, his former best friend who had rejected his heart, could return his love.
Charlie was devastated when Blake left nine years before. She’s filled the empty years by starting a bakery and becoming a child advocate for foster children. When she learns that Blake’s company wants the animal shelter’s building, she is determined to fight to save it.
The characters were likeable. The plight of the foster children enhanced the story for me, but the heroine’s continued anger toward the hero bothered me. Fundraisers and Christmas events kept the story rooted in the holiday season, which I enjoyed.
I love happy endings and this was a nice story set at Christmas.
My daughter requested that I bake a pecan pie for Thanksgiving dinner this year. It’s a favorite for my son-in-law. Because he rarely eats dessert, I hoped this meant he’d allow himself to splurge at the meal. I’ve made the pie using this recipe before and it’s always been a hit.
Ingredients
3 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup butter, melted
1 cup dark corn syrup
1 cup pecan halves
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Prepare pie crust for 9” pie. Line the pie plate with the pastry.
Blend together the sugar, salt, and butter. Stir in the beaten eggs. Add the corn syrup and stir until blended.
Beat with an electric mixture for one minute. Pour mixture onto prepared pie crust.
Lay the pecans in a circle on top of the filling. Don’t press the nuts into the pie filling. Then add another circle inside the outer ring. I placed 1 pecan in the center that submerged during baking.
Bake at 375 degrees until set, about 40-45 minutes.
Refrigerate until serving.
This deliciously sweet and nutty pie was a hit with the adults. The children were happy with Jello.
The pie filling only takes about 5 minutes to prepare. The longest part is arranging the pecans on top and that doesn’t take long either.
Enjoy!
Sources
Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book, Macmillan and General Mills, Inc, 1950.
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 Sunsetis 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.
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.
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.
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
¼ cup water
2 cups sifted bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ 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, ¼ 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 ¼ 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.
As an author of several Civil War novels, I’ve read many soldiers’ diaries and daily journals. It’s a fascinating glimpse into army camps, battles, attitudes, beliefs, and even the weather.
One tidbit I learned in a soldier’s diary is that the annual celebration of Thanksgiving in his state took place in October. That made me curious about those early celebrations.
On October 3, 1789, President Washington issued a proclamation declaring Thursday, November 26, 1789, a national day of thanks to God. He reminded Americans that the Almighty’s care and provision had led them through the Revolution and helped them establish a new government and Constitution.
There were public celebrations and church services. Washington attended St. Paul’s Chapel in New York City. Those who were imprisoned for debts in the city weren’t forgotten—Washington gave them food and beer.
The proclamation did not establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. Presidents John Adams and James Madison issued their own proclamations but none of these established a yearly celebration.
Some states began to choose days for an annual Thanksgiving, with New York as the first in 1817. There was no uniformity of the date selected and not every state participated.
Beginning in 1827, Sarah Josepha Hale, writer of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and editor of Godey’s Lady Book, wrote letters to presidents and other politicians in hopes they’d establish a national day of Thanksgiving. Those letters continued for 36 years. As the unrest between the North and South escalated, Sarah hoped that declaring the holiday would unite people. She urged President Lincoln to make it a permanent custom and became known as the “Mother of Thanksgiving” for her efforts.
President Lincoln was the one to set aside the last Thursday in November as an annual observance of the day in 1863—during the middle of the Civil War.
In 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt moved the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November to allow for an extra week of Christmas shopping.
Today we celebrate the holiday with family and friends. Turkey is the traditional main dish with a variety of side dishes and pumpkin pie for dessert. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and watching sports are also a mainstay. I enjoy watching Christmas movies after the dishes are done.
Lulu Boyd is famous for her bakery’s donuts. It’s the one thing she knows she does well, and she enjoys that teenagers from the area visit several times a week. Lulu’s luck with men is another story. When the high school teacher, Preston Green, starts buying donuts once a week, she looks forward to talking with him.
Preston Green plans to teach at the small town’s high school for one year before switching jobs to teach at a college in another state. He’s not looking to begin a short-term relationship. His family is pressuring him to date.
Lulu’s high-school customers convince her to enter a contest to bid on a date. It’s for charity and Lulu reluctantly agrees. It’s one date, after all. Preston bids to have a date for a family holiday dinner. What could go wrong?
I love reading books set during the Christmas season every year. This one didn’t disappoint. It actually reads very much like a holiday movie.
I enjoyed the story. The characters had believable hurdles.
Recommended for readers who also enjoy holiday movies.
Today’s post is by talented editor, fellow author, and dear friend, Pegg Thomas. She shares her delicious seasonal recipe and tells us about her newest release. Welcome back to Historical Nibbles, Pegg!
This is a special date for me. November 25 was my grandfathers’ birthday. That’s right. Both grandfathers were born on this day 8 years apart. It’s also firearm deer season here in Michigan, and I spent many years on this date in a cabin in the woods near Pinestump Junction with my father’s father. It was a rustic cabin with a hand pump for water, a wood stove to cook on, and a little building out back for… well… you know. So many happy memories of baking cakes in that wood stove with the help of my great aunt and singing “Happy Birthday” when everyone returned to the cabin after a full day hunting in the woods. Memories of family, love, and all the best things of Fall.
But this year, I’m celebrating a different way, with the release of Freedom’s Promise, book three in my Path to Freedom series. With this series, it’s best to read the books in order, but each is its own complete story. Here’s a back cover copy of Freedom’s Promise:
Zachary Brown has a prosperous dairy farm, good friends, and the respect of his neighbors and fellow Quakers in Mount Pleasant, Ohio. But something is lacking.
Someone to share his life with.
Daniel Whiteford lost everything that meant the most to him. It has brought him to a hard truth. He gave away his grandson four years ago to save the reputation of his family and business, but it wasn’t enough.
He wants the boy back.
When a fugitive slave shows up at the farm, Zachary recognizes the need to help others outside of his sheltered community. But there are dangers due to the laws that uphold slave owners’ rights. And then Daniel arrives—with a young slave girl.
A clash is coming to Mount Pleasant.
And as an extra for the release celebration, here is a yummy fall recipe!
Taste of Fall Pumpkin Cake
2 large eggs
¾ cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin
1/3 cup oil
2 teas. pumpkin spice
1 teas. vanilla
1 cup flour (or 1/3 cup whole wheat and 2/3 cups white)
1 teas. baking powder
½ teas. baking soda
½ teas. salt
Mix in order given, bake in greased 9” square pan at 350 for 35 minutes. Frost with cream cheese frosting.
Sandra Merville Hart 