Welcome! My friend, romance author Linda Joyce, got together with some of the romance authors she knows, and decided to cook up–erm, post–a little virtual dinner party. And she invited me *smiles*  Linda chose the theme of  the Summer Solstice to offer you a sumptuous supper and a buffet of books to satisfy your reading hunger. A good meal and a great book—summer doesn’t get any better than that.

Each author is sharing a favorite dish, and the menu is chock-full of mouthwatering delights. The buffet of books offers a flavor for everyone: Romance of many genres, historical stories, cocktails made simple, and secrets to an enriched life. Also, the menu contains the title of one of the author’s books and a web link.

Keep scrolling down for the eye-candy book covers and some insights about each author.

I invite you to visit each author, make a new friend or two, and celebrate the summer with us.

Happy Reading!

***

My contribution to this little summer dinner party is an old favorite around our house: Peach baked chicken.

In in my series, Antique Magic, my heroine Caitlin lives in Florida so, even despite the heat of the oven *gasp* she would likely make variations of this tasty summer dish from time to time.
Ingredients are on Linda’s blog here.

And now for the preparation:

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Instructions.

1) Defrost your chicken.

2. Cut off the fat and those bits of tendons the store sometimes leaves in (eww), dip the chicken in some egg beaters will keep it moist, believe it or not.

Once you’ve done that, put tin foil in your pan, Crisco the bottom so (hopefully) the chicken won’t all stick.

3. Put the chicken breasts/pieces in and pour over the peaches.

You can either pour the juice with the peaches or save it to marinate with*

4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to your taste.

This time out we also added some cinnamon–which made it very tasty indeed!

5. Cover with foil and  bake for one hour, flipping the chicken a few times, and marinating with the juice.

*I cover mine with foil to make sure the juice doesn’t spit all over the oven.

When the chicken’s finished (I always check it with a knife just to make sure the middle is “white and cooked”) like so

serve with whatever your favorite sides are. I usually serve  potatoes, mashed or, baked with some sea salt as well would be tasty, if you have the time or are lucky enough to have one of those dual ovens, and of course veggies of some sort. Mmmm….I think it’s lunch time!

Now on to the books!

THE ARTIST’S INHERITANCE.

The balance between good and evil can be an art… or a curse.

Trevor and Caitlin were once happy newlyweds, profiting from Trevor’s art. Until Trevor inherits his brother’s house, and with it, his part of a family curse. Now, Caitlin will stop at nothing to save her beloved husband from insanity and suicide, even if it means she must embrace her destiny and become a witch.

If you’d like to check out the novel it’s available at:

Amazon, Barnes and Noble. Createspace, and Smashwords

The follow up story to The Artist’s Inheritance, called Caitlin’s Book of Shadows, takes place a little later in the year, but Caitlin would no doubt make the chicken then too…and the heat of the oven in the winter is particularly useful, towards fall and winter, isn’t it? That story goes something like this:

Something terrifying stalks Caitlin and her beloved Trevor. Something the bits and pieces she left claimed she had to make sense of–or so legend says. When the curator of their collection finds Caitlin’s long forgotten diary, she wonders will it tell the whole tale? Will it tell why Caitlin seemed so determined to tell the difference between reality and nightmare even as she continued the fight to defend her family from evil? Will it explain why she thought her world twisted? If she really became a witch?

Perhaps the answer lies between the lines of her story, one of lessons, struggles, and the hopes she carried like a warrior’s shield.

**This is a side (or supplemental, if you will) short story in the Antique Magic series, a companion to The Artist’s Inheritance (Antique Magic, Book One).

It too is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords

Check out more authors and tasty dishes:

Cocktails

Blackberry Gin and Tonic by J.K. O’Hanlon –Three Ingredient Cocktails ~ www.thirstyjane.com

Pomegranate Martini by Kathy L Wheeler – Quotable ~ http://kathylwheeler.com

Appetizer

Japanese Chicken Wings by Jan Morrill –The Red Kimono ~ www.TheRedKimono.com

Sweet & Sour Hawaiian Meatballs               by Vonnie Davis – Rain Is A Love Song ~ ttp://www.vintagevonnie.blogspot.com

Easy Stuffed Mushrooms by Alicia Dean – Liberty Awakened (Isle of Fangs, Book 1) ~http://aliciadean.com/alicias-blog/

Salad

7 Layer Salad by    AJ Nuest –  She’s Got Dibs ~ http://ajbooks.blogspot.com/

Mandarin orange & spinach salad by Barbara Barrett – And He Cooks Too ~www.barbarabarrettbooks.com

Entrée

Pesto Chicken by Nancy Parra – Gluten for Punishment ~ www.nancyjparra.blogspot.com

Taquitos    by Calisa Rhose – Risk Factors ~ http://calisarhose.com/chit-chat/

Linda’s Summer Shrimp Boil by Linda Joyce – Bayou Born ~ http://lindajoycecontemplates.wordpress.com/

Oven Fried peach chicken by  Juli D. Revezzo – The Artist’s Inheritance ~ https://julidrevezzo.com/blog/

Betty’s Nutty Pork Chops by Betty Bolte – Hometown Heroines ~ www.bettybolte.com/blog.htm

Dessert

Kolaches by Gina Hooten Popp – The Storm After ~ https://www.facebook.com/ginahootenpoppauthor

                Chocolate-Cherry-Coconut Cupcakes by Luna Zega –author of Tokyo Tease

Fruit Compote by Brenda Sparks – A Midsummer Night’s Demon ~http://www.brenda-sparks.com/blog.html

After Dinner Drinks

After Dinner Iced Coffee by Sandra Sookoo – Winging It ~ http://sandrasookoo.wordpress.com/