Wednesday, 19 May 2021

Word Search Competition no.2 - Mina's Children: The Legacy of Dracula #WSComp2

Word Search Competition #2

Mina's Children: The Legacy of Dracula

Welcome back to my blog for #WordSearchWednesday and this week is competition week. Thank you to everyone who entered my last competition and congratulations to the 2 winners. I very much hope they enjoy their book choices.

Prize

This month I am celebrating my new book Mina's Children: The Legacy of Dracula, and so this month's competition is to win an eBook copy of the book (or one of my other titles if you already have Mina's Children 😉). Click here to see all the prize options - it's a Google sheet sorted by date, but you can resort to your heart's content.

Mina's Children is exclusive to Amazon at the moment, so if you choose that as your prize it will be delivered as a single shot email in your choice of mobi, ePub or PDF. Other titles also have the option of being given as a Smashwords coupon.

Closing Date: Wed 16th June 2021

The Word Search

Cross shaped word search with a blurred out word list.

How to Enter:

Share this post to social media using one of the buttons at the bottom.
Online:
a. Click the link below
b. Password = Mina
c. Solve and submit the word search.
or Offline:
a. Download the PDF
b. Follow the instructions inside.

Winners will be notified via email next month once the competition has closed. Details collected will only be used to contact you about this competition.

New Book

Mina's Children: The Legacy of Dracula

Dracula's Heritage Book 1

Regina Harker, immortal, vampire tainted, descendant of the famous Mina, has spent her whole life preparing for one mission: destroy Dracula.

Mina Harker (nee Murry) was changed by Dracula's attentions and so were her descendants. Reggie comes from this line of vampire hunters, nature's definitive balance to the darkness. Her whole life has been building up to this one mission in Romania, to face the evil that started everything for her family. Unfortunately there are others with their eyes on Dracula too, and Reggie has run right into them. She must make them allies or remove them from the game before she can face the ultimate foe.

Currently free to read on Kindle Unlimited

Solution

This is the solution to last month's puzzle.

Heart shaped word search with the words ringed in red.

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Two books covers - one with a woman firing guns above the title "Assassin's Blood" the other with a woman screaming and glowing with the title "Curse of a Banshee"

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Tuesday, 18 May 2021

Recipe: Dillegrout - more like Dille-icious - Wonderful Chicken & Almond Stew in the Instant Pot

Recipe: Dillegrout - Chicken & Almond Stew in the Instant Pot

Dillegrout - more like Dille-icious

Wonderful Chicken & Almond Stew

So this is a recipe from Tasting History with Max Miller. If you have not seen his channel on Youtube, run, do not walk, to check it out, because it is utterly fabulous, as is Max (he really used to be a Disney Prince). 💜 Some wonderful recipes, some not so wonderful too (Kykeon - just nope), but always packed full of fantastic historical information, brilliantly presented and 100% entertaining.

This is Max's video all about Dillegrout:

Make sure to like the video and subscribe to Max's channel - you will not regret it.

Now, I have used Max's recipe, but I have adjusted the method to use my Instant Pot (probably sacrilegious, but I love my Instant Pot), and I reduced it so it will feed 2, since Max's recipe would do for at least 4 I should think. It is very yummy and like nothing else I have had before. It is very nice served with Jersey Royal new potatoes and I think it would also be good with some in season runner beans.

Ingredients

Main stew

1/2 cup / 60g blanched almonds - I used flaked almonds for speed
1.5 cup / 355ml white wine - something on the sweeter side, I used a Pino Grigio
1.5 lb / 750g chicken - I used 2 chicken breasts and 3 thighs (UK sized, US tend to be much bigger than ours)
1/8 cup / 25g sugar
1/8 tsp ground clove
1/4 tsp ground mace
1/8 cup / 20g (ish) pine nuts (I added a little bit more because I love pine nuts 😉)
1/4 tsp dried ginger (I could not find dried ginger for love nor money, so used crystallised ginger which seemed to work really well - I added a pinch of ground ginger as well to make up the flavour)
1/2 tsp salt

Added at the end

1 tbsp / 15ml white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp rose water
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Instructions

Put almonds in cool water to soak for min 1 hr - preferably for several (I know 1hr works because I forgot and had to rush, but more would be better).
When almonds have soaked long enough, chop the dark meat and give it a good pounding - I did this between cling film to stop me flinging bit of meat across the room 😂. Keep the breasts whole.
Drain the almonds and place in a blender (or a bowl if using a stick blender like I did) with the wine and blitz until you can blitz no more to make the almond milk. It smelled amazing - almost like pear drops.
Sieve the almond milk through cheese cloth lying in a fine sieve, allowing to drain and then giving the cheese cloth a squeeze when most of the liquid is through. (I have kept the almond paste that was left over and intend to make frangipane with it).
Add the almond milk to the Instant Pot, then add the chicken breasts with the beaten dark meat on top (thigh meat is more likely to stick, so best to make sure it is not under the breasts to begin with), then the spices, seasoning and pine nuts from the first part of the list above.
Close the Instant Pot, set to sealing, then pressure cook (also known as manual) for 20 mins.
Allow natural pressure release for 10 mins.
Open the pot and take out the chicken breasts, hit cancel, then the sauté option on high.
Chop the chicken breast and return to the pot as it comes to a boil. Allow to bubble and reduce for another 10 mins or so.
Turn off the sauté option.
Add the vinegar, rose water and ground ginger, and stir in.
Serve in bowls with the sides of your choice. It was really good with the new potatoes and would probably be awesome with some artisanal bread of some description and/or lighter flavoured veggies like green beans or peas. Not sure it would go with a brassica though.

Mine didn't look stunning, as you can see, since it's all one colour and the lighting in our kitchen washed it out, but it could easily be spruced up with some veggies on the side. This is my husband's bowl when he had already started eating, because I forgot to take piccies at the beginning. 😁

This is my bowl - somewhat smaller - but I somehow managed to get lots of pine nuts 😉.

It might work with jack fruit, for my vegetarian friends - something I may try in the future. Might need a wee bit of veggie stock to bulk out the flavour though, since the chicken does add some.

And there you have it, Dillegrout a la Instant pot. Remember - go check out Tasting History, it's wonderful - one of my go to channels for feel good content. Try out Max's recipe for Sally Lunn Buns too, if you get the chance - so good!

New Book

Mina's Children: The Legacy of Dracula

Dracula's Heritage Book 1

Currently free to read on Kindle Unlimited

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Receive 2 FREE eBooks just for signing up and a free short story on the first Friday of every month on Free Fiction Friday.

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Friday, 14 May 2021

NEW Book - Mina's Children: The Legacy of Dracula #Paranormal #Vampires

New Book
Mina's Children

The Legacy of Dracula

Kindle Unlimited, eBook & Paperback

I have a new book out! I know, you're shocked, nothing about this post gave that away before this point did it 😉🤣. Admittedly there has been no build up to this, but that's because I have to admit that I moved the schedule up on this one pretty sharpish.

Regina Harker, immortal, vampire tainted, descendant of the famous Mina, has spent her whole life preparing for one mission: destroy Dracula.
Mina Harker (nee Murry) was changed by Dracula's attentions and so were her descendants. Reggie comes from this line of vampire hunters, nature's definitive balance to the darkness. Her whole life has been building up to this one mission in Romania, to face the evil that started everything for her family. Unfortunately there are others with their eyes on Dracula too, and Reggie has run right into them. She must make them allies or remove them from the game before she can face the ultimate foe.

Mina's Children is entered into Amazon UK's Kindle Storyteller literary prize, which I didn't know about until an email came through this month, and the entry period is 1st May - 31 Aug. All entries have to be new books, so I went full speed on editing Mina's Children, which I have been meaning to do for a little while.

Now some of you may recognise the title as one I published on Wattpad in 2018 as part of their Open Novella Contest, where it came in the top 5, and it is based on the same novella. However, this is a new version which has been edited to be the beginning of my series Dracula's Heritage, as well as having three completely new chapters at the end.

Dracula, the greatest vampire to have ever lived, is like no other undead before or since. Always returning from death no matter his adversaries, it will take a coming together of remarkable individuals, each one themselves the result of a ripple left by Dracula in the world, to bring an end to his latest dreadful plot.

Mina's Children is a contemporary paranormal action adventure, inspired by Bram Stoker's classic Dracula. I have always loved Dracula, being a vampire fan, how could I not, and some of the film adaptations of the story are easily in my top 10 vampire films of all time. I will admit this series takes as many liberties with the source material as most adaptations, but I hope it will appeal to fans of the Count.

My apologies to those who prefer to use sources other than Amazon, but to be in the running for the Kindle Storyteller prize, the title has to be in KDP select and exclusive to the platform. However, this does mean I can offer it to read for free via Kindle Unlimited.

It is also available to purchase for the introductory price of $0.99, £0.77 for the eBook & $6.99, £4.95 for the paperback.

It would be wonderful if you were to pick up a copy, or if you could even just visit the book on Amazon - because both will help Mina's Children's rankings and how much it will be seen. This in turn will help it in the competition. Thank you so much for your support.💖

Of course, as always, while vampires survive on blood, reviews are the lifeblood for authors. If you enjoy the book, I would be eternally grateful if you would leave a review at Amazon.

💜Thank you so much for dropping by.💜

Q. Do you have a book in Amazon's Kindle Storyteller prize? Let us know about it in the comments so we can check it out.

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Receive 2 FREE eBooks just for signing up and a free short story on the first Friday of every month on Free Fiction Friday.

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Wednesday, 12 May 2021

Soul Reader - #WordSearch Fun no.5 #ParanormalRomance

Soul Reader - Word Search

Hello, Lovely Visitors. I hope today finds you happy and well.💖

It is Word Search Wednesday once again and so I have another fun puzzle to all to enjoy. This week we once again have vampires, but no werewolves this time. The word search today is based on my gay paranormal romance series Soul Reader.

It has angst, it has action, it has love, and the short stories are free, while the novella is 1.99, so do please check them out after you've enjoyed the puzzle. The series is also available in one volume in eBook and paperback for those who appreciate ease of access.

Paranormal romance is a very popular genre these days, encompassing so many wonderful options. My favourite are still vampires (I can hear your gasps of shock at this revelation 😂), but there are very few combinations that I actively avoid. From fae to dragons to werewolves, it is wonderful IMHO. The fact that it is an ever expanding genre that we can all dive into and find just what we are after, fills me with joy.

Q. Do you have any paranormal romance/adventure recommendations? Please LMK in the comments since I am always looking for good new reads.

Q. What is your favourite sub-genre for paranormal romance?

The Puzzle

Options for Solving

Click the button below and start solving online. If you create a free account with MyWordSearch.com (you only have to pay to create word searches) you can save your progress and come back later.

Create account - top left of pop-up.
For those who prefer the old school pen and paper, click here to download the PDF so you can print it.

Solution

For those who would like to check their answers or who can't find that last word, here is the solution:

Click to open the puzzle solution in a new window.

Book of the Week

Soul Reader Books 1-3

by Natasha Duncan-Drake

John knows that at best he can be described as a male escort and at worst as a whore, but it's what he does and he's good at it. He sells his body and his clients come with fangs so it's more about blood than sex. Hiding behind a false smile and his acting skills is the only way he survives, but when he meets one of his latest clients, Michael, his professional detachment is severely threatened, leading him into very dangerous territory.