May Flowers Monday- Lavender #Irises #beauty #flowers #Spring

As promised, here are the lavender irises that were starting to catch up with the others. I caught these pictures back around the 10th, when it was raining. I just love flowers covered in raindrops! So pretty!

Hope you have a

WONDERFUL
MEMORIAL DAY

Monday!

Taryn's Snippit Sundays~ She was a beauty all right. CASTAWAY HEARTS #historical #excerpt

Twice orphaned, Catherine Barrett arrives in Virginia a stranger to her closest kin and secretly engaged to the one man her family would disapprove of—her seafaring grandfather’s apprentice. Add to her troubles, the rich and intriguing older brother of her secret betrothed, Dawson Randolph, a plantation owner who is as heartless as he is handsome. Heartbroken when her intended sets sail for his maiden voyage, Catherine finds it difficult to adjust to her new life, hoping to befriend the one man who is, undoubtedly, the match her grandparents wish for her. Dawson’s distaste for her secret engagement to his brother makes it clear he has no designs for marriage to anyone. Especially her.

Ten years since the tragic loss of his young wife and infant son, Dawson Randolph is convinced love and marriage is a fool’s game and resents being pardon to his brother’s hidden engagement. Damned by his instant attraction and his own growing desire, Dawson vows to befriend her against his better judgment. Determined to bring her happiness in a time of fear and uncertainty, Dawson puts aside his animosity to become her confidant, only to realize Catherine holds the key to his heart. When tragedy strikes at sea, Catherine’s guilt pushes Dawson to the fringes of her life as madness consumes her.

Can his love save her before she drowns in her own grief? Or is he doomed to love her from a distance, always in the shadow of her love for his dead brother?

Picking up where we left off last Sunday-

     At eighteen, she was a beauty all right, just as Nathaniel said. Young and filled with the glow of purity, she could easily break a heart without knowing she had done so.

      Catherine’s soft auburn hair, though done in pinned up ringlets, had obvious length and he wondered how far it fell when let loose from its restraints. Her eyes were pristine blue, the color of jewels, and her days on the ship for those few months gave her a brilliant glow.

      Yes, Catherine Barrett was something else, but his brother would be better off to forget this one. She carried herself with propriety, much as her grandmother did, and he could not fathom what his brother found intriguing about her. She was stiff and prim and seemed snobbish. What had drawn Nathaniel to her to begin with?

      Without a doubt, Mrs. Barrett would never stand for her granddaughter to marry a lowly ship captain, though she herself married one. In his opinion, the older woman held herself higher than her station in life for as long as he knew the couple. If Catherine was as proper as her grandmother was, he could neither fathom what had drawn her to his brother, unless she believed he would make a wealthy living as a sea captain. Perhaps Miss Barrett was wiser of the world than he suspected. Perhaps she hoped to align herself with a man who could provide her with the lifestyle to which she seemed accustomed.

The Way to a Man's Heart~ Broccoli & Cauliflower Slaw #recipe

The Way to a Man's Heart ♥

Broccoli & Cauliflower Slaw

Ingredients-

1 head of Cauliflower

1 head of Broccoli

½ red onion

Five Bacon slices (or you can use a few Tablespoons of Bacon Bits)

1 Cup Shredded Cheddar

1 Cup Miracle Whip

½ cup Sugar

2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

Directions-

Chop up cauliflower, broccoli florets and onion, set aside in large bowl

Mix together Miracle Whip, Sugar and Red Wine Vinegar and then combine all ingredients until well blended and chill in covered container in fridge for a few hours before serving to let the flavors marry.

May Flowers Monday- More #Irises #beauty #flowers #Spring

Yellows have come to join the dark purple and white irises now and the lavender ones aren't far behind (I'll share pictures of them next week).

These yellow ones are some that I transplanted on either side of my front porch not long after I moved here. I honestly didn't know what colors any of them were when I transplanted them, as they had already bloomed earlier in the spring. Imagine my surprise when I realized I somehow managed to plant ONLY yellow ones beside the porch.







They had once been at the end of a trailer that had occupied a space on our property, but once the old trailer was hauled out, it left behind a rectangle of space, encircled by flowers that my husband's great aunt had once planted around her home.





Along with the yellow and the lavender irises, I also rescued a couple of red rose bushes as well. (My wild white roses are trying to suffocate them out  unfortunately- need to do some serious cutting back.)

 Have a WONDERFUL

Monday!

Taryn's Snippit Sundays~ CASTAWAY HEARTS #historical #romance #excerpt

I'm going to be taking a break from sharing snippits from Love By Design, as I need to rethink and probably do more editing on it, and any other unpublished stories I have for the time being. I've been attempting to do some reassessing and taking note of what does or does not work for my novels.

Also- with summer vacation beginning for my kids, I'm certain to lose track and forget to post every Sunday, but I will try to remember when I can. It might not always be every Sunday and it will most likely be from my published debut historical romance- Castaway Hearts, which is available where most books are sold, in print or ebook.(follow link on image to Amazon or the buy links in the lefthand column here on my blog)

Here is the Blurb for CASTAWAY HEARTS-
Twice orphaned, Catherine Barrett arrives in Virginia a stranger to her closest kin and secretly engaged to the one man her family would disapprove of—her seafaring grandfather’s apprentice. Add to her troubles, the rich and intriguing older brother of her secret betrothed, Dawson Randolph, a plantation owner who is as heartless as he is handsome. Heartbroken when her intended sets sail for his maiden voyage, Catherine finds it difficult to adjust to her new life, hoping to befriend the one man who is, undoubtedly, the match her grandparents wish for her. Dawson’s distaste for her secret engagement to his brother makes it clear he has no designs for marriage to anyone. Especially her.

Ten years since the tragic loss of his young wife and infant son, Dawson Randolph is convinced love and marriage is a fool’s game and resents being pardon to his brother’s hidden engagement. Damned by his instant attraction and his own growing desire, Dawson vows to befriend her against his better judgment. Determined to bring her happiness in a time of fear and uncertainty, Dawson puts aside his animosity to become her confidant, only to realize Catherine holds the key to his heart. When tragedy strikes at sea, Catherine’s guilt pushes Dawson to the fringes of her life as madness consumes her.

Can his love save her before she drowns in her own grief? Or is he doomed to love her from a distance, always in the shadow of her love for his dead brother?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Today I'll leave you with a snippit from Dawson Randolph's POV after he discovers that his seafaring brother, Nathaniel, is secretly engaged to the young Catherine Barrett, the granddaughter of one of his closest companions. 

Marriage was an institute for tenderhearted fools. He might have been one himself years ago, but he would never be a fool again. Dawson stood and crossed to the windows and stared out across the fields full of tobacco.

At thirty, Dawson had his home and his crops and the occasional visits with friends. He had no mind to think of marriage and believed his younger brother would find it in his best interest not to think about it either. He would do what he could to dissuade Nathaniel from it. It would breed only heartache and sadness.

Dawson knew this fact very well.

Nevertheless, much as he believed it, the moment Catherine Barrett rounded the corner into the parlor of her grandparents’ house, Dawson could not take his eyes from her.

The Way to a Man's Heart~ Brown Sugar Pork Chops #recipe

The Way to a Man's Heart

Brown Sugar Pork Chops

Ingredients-

6 pork chops

6 Tablespoons of brown sugar

6 Tablespoons of butter or margarine

1 Tablespoon of soy sauce

Directions-

Preheat oven to 350º

Place chops in a foil lined 9X13 baking pan

Place 1 Tablespoon of brown sugar on top of each chop

Place 1 Tablespoon of butter on top of the brown sugar

Sprinkle chops with soy sauce

Cover pan with foil and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes

Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until browned.

Thursdays with Taryn Welcome @LaramieBriscoe NEW #RELEASE #KYAUTHOR #Indie #BowlingGreen

(Click image above to check it out on Amazon!)

Please check out MEANT TO BE- the debut Book One in fellow Kentucky author Laramie Briscoe's new Heaven Hill Series!

Blurb:
Single mother.
Laid off factory worker.
Drug runner for the Heaven Hill Motorcycle Club.

When Denise Cunningham is served with foreclosure papers on her birthday it’s the last straw in a long line of bad luck. Sitting and crying about things has never been how she solved her problems, but this time she decides to do just that. A phone call interrupts her pity party and changes the course of her life forever.

Loyal brother.
Grease monkey mechanic.
Vice President of the Heaven Hill Motorcycle Club.

William Walker Jr., known as Liam to his club, needs a new recruit that is just naïve enough and desperate enough to do what he asks without question. When Denise Cunningham lands in his lap, he decides to hire her - not because he wants to, because he has to.

Neither are comfortable in their new roles, but he needs help and she can’t stand to lose anything else.

As bullets fly and a local Bowling Green, KY reporter works to bring the club down, Liam and Denise find themselves getting closer to one another. When the stakes get high and outside forces try to keep them away from each other, they have to decide if they really are meant to be.

Find out more about Laramie here-

BLOG

FACEBOOK PAGE

Tuesdays with Taryn~ @AuthorAJewell DEBUT #release SHINE ON! #Indie #KentuckyAuthor

Please help me welcome to Tuesdays with Taryn
Allison Jewell,
Kentucky Author of  
SHINE ON
(NOW AVAILABLE, click link above) 

Allison Jewell lives in southern Kentucky with her husband, two sons, and dog. When she isn't hard at work on her next novel, she can be found doing one of her favorite things: watching her older son chase the puck at the local hockey rink, secretly eating her mother's homemade brownies, hanging out at home listening to records with her husband, or making up silly songs with her younger son. Before becoming a stay-at-home mom and writer, Allison worked as an elementary school teacher and education consultant.

Shine On is Allison Jewell's debut novel. She is currently editing the second book in this series, Rise and Shine. Rise and Shine is set to release in July 2013.

Emmie Talbot is a quintessential good girl.

Smart, Southern, Kind
Church Goer
Small Town Seamstress
Aspiring Teacher
And
A Misguided Moonshiner

Emmie's sole purpose in life was taking care of her moonshine loving step-father. When he is killed in a fiery crash on their farm, she is left alone and frustrated with a mountain of debt. Working as a seamstress for a crazy-old-coot shopkeeper is not the kind of life she had imagined for herself.

The curious events that surround her step-father’s death send Emmie on a quest for answers. Answers that lead to a dangerous secret tucked away on her property. Stumbling on a moonshine still was an unfortunate event for most folks in the hills of Kentucky. She was lucky not to have been shot on the spot. Emmie saw hope in the steam escaping the curved copper pipe of "Ole Maizy". However, a series of mishaps put her front and center in a local moonshine war.

In the midst of chaos, Emmie is befriended by an attorney recently transported from Chicago. Silas McDowell is a man seeking some answers of his own. In an attempt to find a little roaring twenties glamour in the small town, he introduces Emmie to the underground world of Speakeasies and Blind Pigs. Loyalty, lies, and murder conspire to push Silas and Emmie together or rip them apart. Cloaked in secrets and unsure whom to trust, Emmie must decide to drown in darkness or find a way to Shine On.

Feeling Grumpy? How about some May Flowers Monday? #beauty #flowers #spring

Mondays aren't exactly most people's favorite day- what with the reminder that the busy work week must begin anew and they must leave the carefree wonderful days of freedom (to lay around doing nothing) behind until TGIF comes to call again.







This spring has been bitter cold and even now, it seems to rain more than anything else, so with the days being quite drab and gloomy, I thought I'd share some brightness from my yard to yours, even if its only in a cyber garden. Enjoy!

Earlier, in the coldest part of the spring, I had a few small hyacinths attempt to brave the weather to bring a smile to my face, but they petered out when the snows struck again. Then my lilac bloomed and it smelled LOVELY! I already miss the heavenly aroma of the blossoms.






Now my yard is coming alive with one of my favorite perennials- Irises. These I'm sharing today are mostly just from a small bunch my grandmother dug up and shared with me. Aren't they beautiful? And they make me smile. I'm not sure what it is about them...blooms that remind me of a regal majestic lion's head, or the happy headdress of a magical fairy queen.

It does quite remind me of some of the old cartoons as a child where the garden flowers come to life with human expressions and characteristics and dance and sing. I think that's what makes me smile the most!

 Hope you have a WONDERFUL MONDAY!

Taryn's Snippit Sundays~ You don't think THAT'S bad? #excerpt

They settled into the bed with thick plump pillows behind them and Juniper grabbed her remote from the bedside table.

Jasmine munched on the popcorn and nibbled her chocolate mints, caught between reality and fantasy. The blood rushed to her cheeks when Juniper showed her the video the paparazzi had gotten at KFC of her and Derrek at the restaurant. There was no audio, but the paparazzi made up it up as they went along, claiming Derrek’s new girlfriend had a case of social anxiety.

Jasmine’s mouth fell open.

“That’s the worst of it, though Jazzy. It’s not that bad.”

“You don’t think that’s bad?” Jasmine motioned frantically toward the television screen, her heart thumping panic through her veins.

“Not as bad as it could have been.” Juniper raised her eyebrows and smirked. She turned her attention back to the television and pointed. “They could have recognized you as Liam’s ex.”