Do you love the sound of a Scottish accent? Can you feel those r-r-r-r-r’s rolling off the tongue and across your skin? Especially if the speaker is hot, male and wearing a kilt?
Burns Night Blog Hop
Love, Lust and Lipstick Stains has joined forces with Kilts, Cravats and Chivalry to host a fun Scottish-themed blog hop for Burns’ Night on the 25th.
January is a cold dreich month in Scotland. The strains of Auld Lang Syne have long since drifted over the heather. We need to keep ourselves cheerful somehow. So on the 25th of January we celebrate the poetry of our bard, Robert Burns.We pipe in the haggis, toast it with a dram (whisky), eat it and then we consider the life of the man behind the poems. He was a bit of a ladies man for sure and so that is why the speech, known as “The Immortal Memory” is followed with a toast to the lassies and a reply from the lassies. There is poetry and singing and dancing to follow and we all stagger home with our bellies full, our hearts renewed and the knowledge that we only have another 11 months of rain to go this year.
Hop from blog to blog to read our posts and have several chances to win some great prizes. First and foremost, join the RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY for chances to win a $50 Amazon gift card and one of five $10 Amazon gift cards! Next, follow me on Twitter and ‘like’ my Amazon Author Page today to be entered to win a $15 Amazon gift card directly from me. Once you’ve done that, use the form on the Contact tab, above, to report back and send me your email, or you won’t be entered.
Burns is so venerated in Scotland and around the world that his birthday, January 25, is a holiday in many areas and is celebrated with a special dinner. With Haggis. More about that in a minute.
His most famous poem in the United States is certainly Auld Lang Syne, sung every New Year’s Eve just at midnight.
But his next most famous might be Address to a Haggis, recited during the Robert Burns birthday celebration dinner. I won’t quote it here (it’s quite lengthy). The haggis is then slit open with a very sharp ceremonial dirk – or a kitchen knife – and dinner is served.
After dinner, more singing, quoting Burn’s works, and of course, consuming ale and whisky, the evening ends with Burns’s Toast to the Lasses, Reply from the Lasses, a recitation of Burns’s Tam o’Shanter and singing – you guessed it – Auld Lang Syne.
If that sounds like fun, you’re in the right place!
Now if you’ve taken advantage of my prize opportunities here, hop on over to the other authors participating tonight. There are more prizes up for grabs at each of their websites.
| 1. | Love, Lust and Lipstick Stains | 9. | Inner Goddess | 17. | Nina Mason |
| 2. | Samantha Holt | 10. | Hunter S. Jones | 18. | Kate Robbins |
| 3. | A Dirty Book Affair | 11. | Christina Phillips | 19. | Scenes from a Chaotic Mind |
| 4. | Anne Conley | 12. | Andrea Bellmont | 20. | Sarah Bella |
| 5. | Em Taylor | 13. | Isobelle Cate | 21. | Joanne Wadsworth |
| 6. | Kirsten S. Blacketer | 14. | Storm Chase | 22. | Anne Stenhouse |
| 7. | Willa Blair | 15. | Ceci Giltenan | 23. | BJ Scott |
| 8. | Nicole Hurley- Moore | 16. | Tarah Scott |
Cover Reveal: BATTLE CRY
I’m thrilled to welcome my friend and fellow Wild Rose Press author, Melissa Snark, to my blog today to share her gorgeous new cover for her upcoming release. Take it away, Melissa!
BATTLE CRY by Melissa Snark
A Victoria Storm novel
#3 Loki’s Wolves series
Genre: Paranormal/urban fantasy
Coming in June 2014 * * * Add to your Goodreads Shelf
“We meet Valkyrie Victoria Storm in the middle of a blood bath, and we did continue on from there. I must say Melissa Snark has all the makings of an awesome story teller.”
Gloria Lakritz, Sr. Reviewer and Review Chair for the Paranormal Romance Guild
“A definite must read for anyone who enjoys urban fantasy.”
Lisa Lester, Fight For Your Write Blog
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better…
War with human hunters has devastated the werewolf pack of Sierra Pines. Only Valkyrie Victoria Storm and a handful of female wolves still live. With her mate dead, there is no one to protect her or her unborn child. An unwelcome attraction to a hunter complicates her life even further. She reluctantly agrees to attend peace talks with Jake Barrett, the notorious Hunter King, a man who believes she murdered his son.
Hunter Sawyer Barrett has been trying to kill Victoria Storm for so long, he doesn’t know whether he loves her or hates her. Desperate to end the war he started, he’s willing to take chances with everything but his heart, but he harbors a deadly secret he’s determined to keep.
When peace talks fail, Victoria does the only reasonable thing an angry Valkyrie can do: she kidnaps her worst enemy and makes her escape in a fire engine red convertible muscle car. All along an ancient evil plots the destruction of wolves and hunters alike.
Add BATTLE CRY to your Goodreads Shelf
THE CHILD THIEF (LOKI’S WOLVES #1) is free on Amazon and Goodreads.
Melissa Snark is a paranormal and romance author with a particular interest in werewolf and Norse mythology. Her Loki’s Wolves series combines elements of both in a contemporary fantasy setting. She lives in Northern California with her husband, three children and glaring of cats.
Connect with Melissa
Email: melissasnark at gmail dot com
Twitter: @MelissaSnark
Just in Time for the Weekend: Uisge Beatha
We’re back to the Highlands of Scotland today. Want to add a bit of Scottish flavor to your plans for a romantic weekend? How about a single-malt tasting party?
Uisge beatha is Gaelic for water of life. Committed single-malt drinkers consider it to be nothing less than that. According to the Scotch Whisky Association:
“The earliest documented record of distillation in Scotland occurred as long ago as 1494, as documented in the Exchequer Rolls, which were tax records of this time, The quote above records “Eight bolls of malt to Friar John Cor wherewith to make aqua vitae”. This was equivalent to about 1,500 bottles, which suggests that distillation was well-established by the late fifteenth century.“
The Scotch Whisky Regulations of 2009 control the production, labelling, packaging, and advertising standards for Scotch whisky in the United Kingdom. Among many detailed and specific regulations for the process, strength, color and so forth, it defines “Scotch whisky” as whisky that is distilled in Scotland of water and malted barley and other whole grains. It must mature in oak barrels a minimum of three years.
If you’re just getting started with single-malts, the chart below, from Malts.com, is a fabulous visual aid to help you choose a whisky to taste and to find your favorites. It is not a complete list of all the single-malts available from Scotland, but it’s a good place to start.
My husband’s long-time favorite is Bunnahabhain, but lately, perhaps because the weather has turned chilly, he’s taken a liking to Old Pultney. He says that one is especially fine on a cold golf day as “swing oil” to warm and loosen up the golfers tight muscles – or maybe he means just to loosen up the golfers.
My taste runs to Drambuie – a liqueur made from malt whisky, honey, herbs and spices, or just a wee sip of a single malt, but a friend of ours favors Laphroaig, which smells and tastes like iodine bandages to me.
That just proves that everyone’s palate is different. Like wines, single malts express different nuances of flavor that may appeal to one person and not another. One way to discover your favorite is to host a single-malt tasting party. An excellent event is Burns’ Night on January 25th. Much like a wine-tasting, have everyone bring a different bottle (and designated drivers!). To find the best pairings for the different single-malts, serve a variety of food, whether that includes a noble Haggis or not. If you’re lucky enough to have plenty of friends in the neighborhood, do a neighborhood single-malt tasting. Then everyone can simply walk home.
Slàinte mhath!
Cover Reveal: Cowboys & Kisses
We’re going a long way from the Highlands again today, but another author friend of mine has a gorgeous cover to reveal and a new book coming out soon. I’m tickled to show off Cowboys & Kisses by fellow San Antonio Romance Author, Sasha Summers!
Allie had big plans for the future. Falling for a cowboy wasn’t part of it.
1. Get out of Black Falls Texas – aka Redneck Hell
(Graduation was eight months away. After that, she was out of there.)
2. Avoid Wyatt Holcomb at all costs.
(Except he was everywhere and kind of hard to ignore since he was hot—and a really nice guy.)
3. Avoid her parents.
(Shouldn’t be too hard to do since her father hated her and her mother pretended nothing was wrong.)
4. Stop thinking about Wyatt.
(Which would be a lot easier if he wasn’t so sweet… and he’d keep his shirt on.)
5. Decide what she really wants.
(Instead of holding onto the past and the guilt.)
Maybe falling for a cowboy could work after all?
About The Author:
Sasha is part gypsy. Her passions have always been storytelling, history, romance, and travel. She writes lyrical romantic fantasy, steamy contemporary romance, sci-fi romance, and young adult romance. Her first play was written for her Girl Scout troupe. She’s been writing ever since. She loves getting lost in the worlds and characters she creates; even if she frequently forgets to run the dishwasher or wash socks when she’s doing so. Luckily, her family is super understanding and supportive.
www.sashasummers.com
Twitter – @sashawrites
Cover Reveal: Blood Reunited
I’m so excited to show you the cover for my friend Amber Belldene’s next book in her Blood Vine Series! I love these stories and I’m sure you will, too! Check them out!
Blood Reunited
Blood Vine Series
Book Three
Amber Belldene
Genre: paranormal romance
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Date of Publication: January 28, 2014
ISBN:9781623420956
Book Three in the Blood Vine Series.
Brooding vampire halfling and biologist Bel Maras is determined to create a cure for the wasting disease that plagues his vampire family. His work becomes essential as the Hunters intensify their global and bloody campaign. When Bel’s cure fails, only his ancient and estranged godmother Uta Ilirije can help. But seeing the ice-cold Uta reveals something shocking–she is his bonded mate.
She may be a dangerous warrior, but Uta feels her failures acutely. She has been unable to protect her kind from Hunters, and vampires are dying out. Worse, she tied Bel to her long ago in an accident of blood, then abandoned him for his own good–a choice he has never forgiven. Many days, she is convinced Bel and the vampires would be better off if she just walked into the sun.
Biology has fated them to be mates. Now these old enemies must overcome their past to save the vampires and come to peace with the bond they never chose.
In case you missed them, here are the first two books in this fabulous series:
Blood Entangled
Blood Vine Series
Book Two
Amber Belldene
Genre: paranormal romance
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
ISBN: 9781623420437
ASIN:B00E3ER9KI
Number of pages: 318
Book Description:
KOS MARAS’s orderly life is in shambles—he must distribute Blood Vine to a population of ailing vampires, but Hunters block him at every turn. To make matters worse, each night he watches over a temptingly beautiful woman sleeping in his bed. He is convinced love cannot last a vampire-long lifetime and an entanglement will only cause them grief, but he doesn’t have the heart to send her away.
From a long line of blood servants, LENA ISAAKSON is destined to serve a vampire, but a string of humiliating rejections thwarts her pleasure. When Kos shows her kindness, she hopes he will claim her. Instead he proves himself a coward in the face of love and sends her to serve another.
Will the dark seduction of a rakish new vampire finally bring Lena the pleasure she desires or deliver her into the hands of Hunters who want to destroy everything the Maras family has worked for?
Blood Vine
Blood Vine Series
Book One
Amber Belldene
Genre: paranormal romance
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Date of Publication: January 6, 2013
ISBN:9781623420048
ASIN: B00AXREPM4
Number of pages: 206
Book Description:
In Blood Vine, bites are an inconvenient bliss, exiled vampires are wasting away, and the fate of their kind depends on the perfect PR campaign.
When public relations pro Zoey Porter arrives at an enchanting California winery, she discovers her sexy new client is the almost one-night stand she can’t forget. After her husband’s suicide, Zoey has vowed never to risk her heart again. But can she walk away from the intriguing winemaker a second time?
Driven from Croatia by his ancient foes, vampire Andre Maras has finally made a blood-like wine to cure his fellow refugees. Now he needs Zoey’s PR expertise to reach them. After his wife’s death, Andre has a vow of his own—never to risk another painful blood bond. And one taste of the tempting Zoey would bind him to her eternally.
His secrets stall her PR plans. Her jealousy is stoked by the blissed-out beauties leaving his bedroom. At every turn, he utterly fails to resist her. When she discovers he is a vampire, will she be lost to the golden-eyed Hunters, or lose herself to the emptiness in her heart, before she can help him save his kind?
About the Author:
Amber Belldene grew up on the Florida panhandle, swimming with alligators, climbing oak trees and diving for scallops…when she could pull herself away from a book. As a child, she hid her Nancy Drew novels inside the church bulletin and read mysteries during sermons—an irony that is not lost on her when she preaches these days.
Amber is an Episcopal Priest and student of religion. She believes stories are the best way to explore human truths. Some people think it is strange for a minister to write romance, but it is perfectly natural to her, because the human desire for love is at the heart of every romance novel and God made people with that desire. She lives with her husband and two children in San Francisco.
twitter: @amberbelldene
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amber.belldene
goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/Amber_Belldene
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