Hey, there, Delilah fans! I’m so happy to be a guest on the blog today. Two days ago, my debut book was released by Samhain.  It’s an erotic romance called Cowboy Valentine. Cora is an 18-year-old honor student with a full ride scholarship to an Ivy League university. Caleb is her longtime cowboy crush, a local rancher’s son. The book is about the ultra-sexy fling they share the summer before Cora moves away.

Cowboy Valentine is set in a small town in the Central Valley, California’s rural heartland, home to many farms and orchards. One of the hottest love scenes in my book takes place in Caleb’s truck while he and Cora are parked in his family’s almond orchard! (Ooh la-la!)

Here’s what an almond orchard looks like when it’s in bloom.

I love to bake almost as much as I love to write. To celebrate the release of Cowboy Valentine, I’d like to share a recipe with you. This is a variation of old-fashioned peanut butter cookies but made with almonds and almond butter.  The cookies are soft and not too sweet. You can find the recipe below.

But wait! There’s more!

How about a contest? I’d like to offer a free e-book download of Cowboy Valentine and a $10 Amazon gift card to one randomly-chosen reader who answers this question in the comments below: What is your absolute favorite go-to dessert?

Please include an email address where I can reach you. Contest ends at midnight, PST, on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015. I’ll announce the winner by special newsletter first thing on Monday morning.

Thanks, everyone!

Wishing you good reads (and good eats),

Mia

XOXO

Cowboy Valentines
a.k.a. Almond Butter Cookies

Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Makes about 16 cookies

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
¾ cup brown sugar (light or dark)
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup almond butter
1 cup almond slivers

1. Whisk the first four ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, using a handheld mixer or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat butter and both sugars on medium speed until creamy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add egg and vanilla extract to sugar mixture and beat for 1 minute, scraping down sides as necessary. Add the almond butter and beat for 1 minute. Slowly add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. Using a large spoon or spatula, gently fold in the almond slivers.
4. Roll the dough into balls, about 3 tbsp of dough each. (I use my ice cream scoop.) Put the balls on a tray or large plate, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze until firm, two hours or overnight.
5. Preheat the oven to 350. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place the balls on the cookie sheet about 3 in apart.
6. Bake each batch for 12-13 minutes until very lightly browned. The cookies will look soft—that’s okay! Let cool on cookie sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Share with your favorite cowboy or cowgirl. Or don’t share. I won’t tell.

About Cowboy Valentine

Forget chocolate and flowers. This homegrown honey is all the sweetness he craves.

Small-town life is nothing but a waiting room for eighteen-year-old honor student Corazón Gomez. Work and school leave little time for love, but with a full-ride Ivy League scholarship and a one-way ticket out of the boondocks, who needs it?

The answer appears on Valentine’s Day when her old cowboy crush ambles into the ice cream parlor where she works, inviting her to go on a late-night ride in his truck. For the first time she wavers between staying on the straight and narrow, and going off-road with the handsome heartbreaker.

After four years working on ranches all over the country, Caleb MacKinnon is back on the family farm helping out his mom and brothers while his father fights cancer. The one bright spot: smart, funny, and wickedly sexy Cora.

From the start, they both know this blazing-hot love affair can’t last. But when autumn comes and Cora has to leave for the East Coast, Caleb must find a solution to keep himself—and his heart—from falling apart.

Reviews:

“Mia Hopkins’ sexy cowboy hero and sassy bookish heroine burn up the pages from the moment they lock eyes.” — Cat Johnson

“Beautifully descriptive…hot, sexy and full of yearning!” — Delilah Devlin

Buy the book!
Kindle
Nook
Samhain
Books-A-Million
Kobo
iTunes
Google Play

About the Author

Mia Hopkins writes lush romances starring fun, sexy characters who love to get down and dirty. She’s a sucker for working class heroes, brainy heroines and wisecracking best friends.

When she’s not lost in a story, Mia spends her time cooking, gardening, traveling, volunteering and looking for her keys. In a past life, she was a classroom teacher and still has a pretty good “teacher voice” and “teacher stare.” She lives in the heart of Los Angeles with her roguish husband and two waggish dogs.

Connect with Mia!
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest |Google+

Okay, I’m up way too early. Must have been the dream I had about having to go back into the Army but none of my uniforms fit, and I didn’t have time to even TRY to get into shape… Nightmare!

So, I’ve been up since 4 AM, mostly reading all the trash talk on Twitter about Fear The Walking Dead. Did you see the first episode? Of course, some folks are saying it was way too slow, but I had another experience. I had this slow-building sense of dread and true fear as I watched. I think they nailed it. AND we get to see what happened while Rick Grimes slept!

My sis has been working on new covers for the Uncharted SEALs. I loved the Through Her Eyes cover so much, I asked her to redo the first two. They aren’t set in stone just yet. What do you think? I really wasn’t that fond of the sweet covers before. And now I’m hearing the theme song to Two and a Half Men: “Men, men, men, men…”

Folks are signing up for the month-long plotting workshop that starts September 7th. If you’d like more information, head here: Rose’s Plotting Bootcamp

Sis and I are working on another project, too. We co-wrote a time travel novel that Ellora’s Cave released as Jacq’s Warlord. We’re refurbing it and thinking about adding some sequels. What do you think? Are you ready for some time-traveling fun? If so, what time frames would you like to see? We started with a modern-day girl heading back to 1100’s Britain. But the way we worked the actual traveling, we could go forward or back…

Answer the three highlighted questions, and you’ll be entered to win your choice of any of the Uncharted stories—with the new covers! Which means, this contest will continue until I get the reformatted books back!

Have I rambled enough? Jumped around enough? That’s me without enough sleep. 🙂

UPDATE: The winner of the free download is…Judith!

* * * * *

Readers, skip to the question below for a chance to win a copy of any of my self-published titles.

Rose’s Plotting Bootcamp — Sep. 7 thru Oct. 2

For you authors and aspiring authors, it’s that time again! The ROSE’S PLOTTING BOOTCAMP will kick off September 7th! Yes, I’ve posted the notice everywhere I could think, so sorry if this is the hundredth time you’ve seen this. We usually start advertising a month in advance, but sis had some server issues… Anyways, what is the plotting bootcamp?

It’s a class my sister and I have taught, in person and online, since 2004, I think. Forever, anyway. And we’ve had tons of authors, newbies and multi-pubs, who’ve been through it, many returning again and again, simply because it’s a very methodical process for pulling together a richly detailed plot. There are lessons and exercises, and the bootcampers get feedback and brainstorming support every step of the way. Oh! And it’s self-paced, so don’t worry if you have something in September that you think will interfere.

It’s a month of support, covering topics like theme and premise, characterization and character roles, CONFLICT, setting, story arc, and plotting. I won’t tell you it’s not hard work, but you can do it bits at a time over the month. And besides feedback you’ll get directly from me via email, I’ll set up chats for anyone with issues to join me and talk through it—live brainstorming.

Are you a pantser and think you don’t need a plotting bootcamp? I’m a pantster. My sister’s the plotter, but when I get stuck (usually at chapter three when I’m heading into the saggy middle), I pull out tools and go to work. I guarantee, that if you do the work, you will take away something from this workshop. Probably a lot of somethings.

That’s my pitch. I hope you’ll join me. I’ll be doing this one solo in September. Sis is buried in deadlines, so won’t be able to pop in, but hey, we’ll have fun anyway!

If you’re interested, here’s the link: Rose’s Plotting Bootcamp

The Question

My daughter, son-in-law and I have these late evening conversations where we talk trash. The other night we got into a debate about who we thought was our greatest living male actor. My answer was Russell Crow. My dd’s was Geoffrey Rush, Matthew McC (I’m not even trying to spell it!), and several others, because she couldn’t make up her mind. And my SIL’s was so silly I can’t even remember what he said.

So for a chance to win one of my self-published titles, my question to you is…
Who do you think our greatest living male actor is?

It’s true. NY is my favorite place. I’ve visited LOTS of times and it’s one of those places that is endless to me. And timeless.

Endless because in NYC there are so many places to see and visit. Touristy places – yes. Here’s a few pics from my first time there several years ago and all the locations we got to see!

Statue of Liberty

Macy’s with Santa

The Rockettes

The Today Show

Empire State Building
These are my parents on their 40^th anniversary. Aren’t they adorable?!?

But also Niagara Falls in Buffalo. Love Buffalo even more than NYC!!

And timeless because I look at these pictures years later and I am positively giddy seeing them. I’m telling you all this because as you read this today I’m currently in NYC attending the BDSM Writers Con. Did I tell you how much I love NYC!!?!?! So awesome!!!

In honor of traveling and all things fantastic, let me give some stuff away!!

CONTEST – Tell me your favorite place you’ve ever visited / lived!! I have a big bag of swag for one lucky poster in the US ONLY!!! See how much awesome stuff you could win by sharing your awesomeness???

Need something to wet your whistle while you wait to see if you won goodies??

May I suggest a delicious bite out of the Members Only series…….. 😛

The books in the Members Only Series can be found here…

Together In Cyn
Haleigh’s Ink
A Very Ménage Christmas
Duke’s Valentine
Orgasm University
Accidental Voyeur
Roman’s To-Do List
Jenna’s Consent
Laila’s Lies

Stand Alone

Buried Permission
Beneath the Pages
Nico’s Curse
Elite Metal
Final Surrender
Violet’s Shadow in Romancing the Wolf Anthology

Jennifer Kacey is a writer, mother, and business owner living with her family in Texas. She sings in the shower, plays piano in her dreams, and has to have a different color of nail polish every week. The best advice she’s ever been given? Find the real you and never settle for anything less.

Website | Newsletter | Blog – The Decadent Divas |  Facebook | Facebook Author Page | Twitter | Amazon Page | Goodreads | Pinterest

I’ve been a very busy girl lately—writing, publishing, promoting. And then yesterday, I took a break to go back-to-school shopping with my daughter and her kids. And now you mothers, who know that was no break, are snickering.

Picture this: three adults, two eleven-year-olds, a six-year-old, a two year-old… I was the person poised at the shop door to watch for escapees. We went to a mall and dared the shoe sale at Footlockers. All I can say is the 6-year-old was fastest. The 11-year-old girl took only fifteen minutes of real searching to find a shoe she loves. The boy? Good lord, he wore us down trying on every ugly shoe imaginable until he found a reasonable-ish Air Jordan. I remember why I shop for my flip-flops on Amazon.

So today, I think I need a truly stressless day. A “me” day. Since one of my simple pleasures is flea market hunting—I don’t consider it shopping because you can’t find the Xena action figures on the action figure aisle!—I think that’s where I’m going. If I have energy after a long soak in the pool.

My question to you, for a chance to win a free download of any book from Samhain backlist, is…

What is a simple pleasure you indulged in recently?

UPDATE: The winner is…Jen B.!

* * * * *

So, here we are. Just one more day. I get nervous right about this time, wondering if readers will love my story. We writers are very insecure creatures when it comes to our work. Until the first reader sends me an email saying how much they loved it, or how it improved their married sex life, or how they were red-cheeked their entire train commute to work, I don’t know whether I succeeded.

So, when the clock strikes midnight tonight and my book is transmitted to your reading device, you know I’ll be sitting here, biting my nails. I can’t wait to hear what you think! In the meantime, enjoy a naughty excerpt. And, there’s still time to enter the last two days’ contests. I’ll award all prizes tomorrow!

For a chance to win one of the original five Delta Heat stories
or a copy of BURNIN’ UP MEMPHIS, tell me what piece
of a firefighter’s equipment you find sexiest?

When your heart is stuck in the wrong gear, a quick fix isn’t going to cut it.

Firehouse 69, Book 2

When Noah buys a classic ’68 Camaro from a fellow firefighter’s widow, he hopes it will ease some of the grief crushing his heart. But the grinding noise under the car’s hood sends him straight to a mechanic. Something about the burly, imposing Hoyt sparks Noah’s interest, and it’s not just Hoyt’s ice-blue eyes and bad-boy biker looks. It’s the mutual interest they have–Club LaForge.

After losing his partner to cancer a year ago, Hoyt never thought he’d feel the same kind of rush with another man. But his reaction to Noah throbs deep in his body like the rumble of his Harley.

LaForge seems like the perfect place to meet and work off some sorrow, to feel alive again. But the flood of desire quickly gets hot enough to melt their emotional barriers into unexpected connections.

Connections Hoyt isn’t sure he’s ready for…especially since history has a scary way of repeating itself.

Warning: Get your motor running for a Harley-riding hunk of muscle who doesn’t give a damn about the rules of being a Dom, and a firefighter who can take the heat. Buy a case of your favorite coolant. You’re gonna need it.

“Take me into your mouth.”

Noah made a sound, something between a chuff and a whimper. A sound that shot a jolt of hunger through Hoyt. Noah crawled on his knees until he knelt directly in front of Hoyt and raised his chin.

Hoyt pointed his cock at the firefighter’s mouth and held his breath as Noah opened up, sliding his eyelids closed as he tentatively latched his lips around the crown. Then he flattened his tongue against the head and began to suction—gently at first, and then with gusto.

Hoyt put his hands on the top of Noah’s head, combing his thick, sun-streaked hair with his fingers. He dug his nails into Noah’s scalp to urge him to take him deeper into his mouth.

Noah needed no encouragement. He breathed noisily through his nostrils, wrapped one strong hand around his shaft and bobbed forward to slide his mouth down Hoyt’s cock.

Hoyt rocked on his heels, his head falling back as he let the sensations wash over him in a hot wave—moist heat, suction nearly as strong as a Hoover. Teeth scraped his shaft, and Hoyt pulled Noah’s hair hard. “Easy,” he muttered, because he was nearly coming out of his skin. “Take me to the back of your throat.”

Noah cupped Hoyt’s balls and tugged them, then burrowed against him, taking Hoyt deeper inside, the sounds he made more desperate, more animalistic as he pushed and pulled with his lips and slithered his tongue along the rigid shaft.

Hoyt would have liked to blow right then, but he wanted more. Wanted Noah every bit as delirious with pleasure as he was. He tugged Noah’s hair, moving him away, and pulled up his pants. “Strip, Noah. You said you don’t like being restrained, so I won’t latch the manacles around your wrists, but I would like you to grip the bar beneath the chains and hold tight while I play.”

Noah’s reddened face wore an expression Hoyt recognized all too well. His lips and eyes were glazed. His nostrils flared. He shoved up and walked to a bench where he quickly tossed his clothes while Hoyt removed the rest of his. Then Noah sauntered to the chains and reached high for the bar suspended from the ceiling.

With his tall body stretched, his cock prominent in front of him, Noah was beautiful. All shining swells and dark hollows, embellished here and there with puckered burn scars—symbols of his bravery. Hoyt circled Noah, letting his hands graze his hips, his belly, his hard ass. When he came in front of him, he gave Noah’s cock a firm stroke before meeting the other man’s gaze. “Tell me about the car.”

UPDATE: The winner is…Cynthia!

* * * * *

Are you a fan of m/m romance? I know there are a lot of you out there. While I’ve written several m/m/f romances where the man played with the other man as freely he did with the woman in their threesome, this is my first fully m/m romance. And I don’t know why I haven’t written more. Noah’s and Hoyt’s story came at me fast and so complete that I finished it quickly—much to my editor’s relief! Lately, I haven’t exactly been timely in my submissions…

I can’t say exactly what the appeal was for me. Though I do love men’s bodies. I’m very comfortable with how they think (years in the military where I was often one of maybe two women on an isolated site). And I do love everything about penises. Yeah, I said it. I love the diversity of sizes, shapes, colors, and orientation—straight, curved, kinked. And I love the fact they’re made to penetrate. Think about it. A man enters another person, male or female. It’s aggressive. Overwhelming. Okay, so now I need a dip in the pool to cool off, but you get what I’m saying right?

For a chance to win either a copy of the prequel book, Burnin’ Up Memphis,
or one of the Delta Heat series books that spawned Firehouse 69,
tell me what attracts you to m/m romance!

And if you don’t mind, I’m running a Thunderclap campaign to get the word out about Hotter With A Pole. It doesn’t take long, just a click here and a single click on the campaign page… I’d be forever grateful!