Okay, today on the blog I’ve invited my group blog mates from Kiss and Tell Girls to post. This is gonna be a long one because each individual has included a little birthday story and a bit about one of their books…
I am not posting with them, however, we’ve had an author join us from time to time on the blog, Chloe Harris.
So, here we go…
From Noelle (one half of author duo Chloe Harris)
My birthday is on Christmas Eve so my best memories are of how hard my parents worked to make sure my birthday was special and separate from Christmas. They did everything they could to make sure I never felt cheated and I’ve done the same thing with my December baby.
In Deep – Nominated for Romantic Times Best Erotic Romance of 2010
1745. Betrayed, kidnapped, and stranded in the Caribbean, Irish beauty Jaidyn Donelly realizes her only hope for making money—and gaining a passage north—is with her luscious body. Irresistible client Connor O’Driscoll has other plans for Jaidyn, though, offering her passage to the Carolinas—in exchange for a voyage filled with sizzling pleasures and growing affection. But their intoxicating passion forces Connor to hide a dangerous truth—that his arrival in Georgetown puts his life on the line.
While the ship nears its destination, so too does the treachery of their secrets. Riding the waves of fierce desire, Jaidyn and Connor resolve to right the wrongs of their past—and risk all for a future together…
Visit Chloe Harris at www.authorchloeharris.com
Birthday Present?
On my 16th birthday my mom gave me an antique, white gold wedding band that had been in the family for years. I have worn it constantly ever since that day.
Favorite Birthday Cake, meal, or some other dessert?
Hmm, well now I like to have chocolate wafer cake. It’s very simple to make. Take those thin, crispy chocolate wafer cookies you usually find near the ice cream at your grocery store, and make a log of them with real whipped cream as the glue. Then frost the cake with the rest of the whipped cream. Put it in the refrigerator for several hours so the whipped cream soaks into the wafers. Cut on the bias. It’s fabulous. Tip: make the whipped cream slightly sweeter than you normally would.
Best birthday cake ever? I still remember a butterfly birthday cake my mom made me when I was about 7 or 8. It was beautiful.
How you like to spend your birthday?
At home with family. I like quiet birthdays. Since my birthday is 5 days after Christmas and the day before New Year’s Eve, I enjoy a lull between frantic holiday celebrating.
I don’t have a cover yet for my April release, Cherry Pie, from Loose Id, but I’ll give you the blurb:
John Ford packed up his life a year ago and moved from LA to small Mercury, North Carolina after the death of his long-term partner. He’s been living in a kind of suspended animation, fixing up the old house he bought there, reclusive and alone. Until the day Connor Meecham appears.
Conn Meecham has returned home, only to find it isn’t his anymore. Someone else owns his mother’s house now. But Conn needs that house to find the man he left behind more than eight years ago—before the drugs, before prison, before his life derailed. Lonely, desperate, lost, Conn finds in John a kindred soul.
Mercury is a dying town. But John sets out to change that when he learns what it means to Conn. Through home improvements, sex, old friends, sex, misunderstandings, sex, and homemade cherry pie, John and Conn may finally discover that where they are now can be heaven on earth if they want it to be.
So, since we don’t have a cover yet for this one and it won’t be out until after the birthday bash, I’ll be giving one book from my backlist at the end of the party.
From Mari Freeman:
I think birthdays are great for kids. We had a big party for our 10-year-old girl this summer at the lake. It was an all day outing that included her friends and their parents and our friends. It was a good excuse for us all to get together at the lake talk, watch the kids have a ball, and enjoy a nice August day. And maybe a beer or two.
I’ve come to the point in my life where I don’t think so much of my birthdays. LOL. Hey, I’m not old. It’s just that when I was a kid, birthdays were so low key. That may be why I don’t practically want a big party as an adult.
A typical birthday more as a kid was my parenst and my brother at my pick of restaurants. And it was always the same place. I loved this nutty place called the Tiki Hut. Crazy décor that included huge rattan chairs and drinks that came in a coconut shell may have been an unusual pick for a kid, but my brother and I were nuts about it. They served Pu Pu platters. We giggled at the name, but what’s not to love about flaming food as a 10 year old?
Dad liked it because the waitress wore grass skirts! LOL Mom liked it because the staff didn’t care how much noise or how much of a mess we made. Her not having to clean up after us was all bonus. I think that was why we went for the small, family restaurant parties.
Once we got home from dinner we would do the traditional homemade chocolate cake and a few presents. My brother’s favorite thing to do for presents was to wrap up an old album and pass it along to me. I learned my love of rock music this way.
One year, we got home to find my chocolate cake was moving. Literally. Ants had found their way into our house and onto the table while we were happily dancing around the Tiki Hut. Needless to say, no cake that year!
You can now find me at the nearest Sullivan’s steakhouse for dinner and dessert on my birthday.
Lissa – May all your cakes be ant free for your birthday celebration.
Happy birthday, Baby!
Sin on Skin
Wild women do…
Available from Ellora’s CaveAnd last but certainly not least, Eliza Gayle:
My favorite birthday memories come from my kids younger birthdays. Mostly because my husband and I had so much fun together making their cakes. When birthdays came around the kids would choose their theme. I’m not sure there is an old Disney movie we haven’t done a cake for. lol I’d bake and frost the cake and the husband would use his artist skills to design the scene. We’ve done everything from Snow White and the seven dwarfs complete with cave and railroad tracks to a Mulan battlefield scene and a Little Mermaid under the sea extravaganza. We may be past the Disney years but we’ve definitely created memories that I hope we’ll never forget.
These days the birthday parties are a bit more subdued. One of my daughters just celebrated her birthday a couple of weeks ago. We went out for a nice meal and ate the birthday cupcakes my daughter wanted to make herself. They were almost too pretty too eat.
Speaking of sweet…
My new valentine’s story is now available for preorder at All Romance. In addition to the hot story I have included my favorite recipe for Red Velvet Cupcakes at the end of the story.
Blurb:
Who knew a rose could hurt so good?
Valentine’s Day is the busiest day of the year for Harper Allison and her cupcake bakery. She’s not personally interested in the trumped up holiday until she receives an anonymous gift with explicit instructions that include a rendezvous at the most upscale BDSM club in the city.
From the moment Alex lays eyes on Harper at the Glass Kat Club he wants her. And what Alex wants Alex gets. He formulates a plan with his best friend, one guaranteed to fulfill Harper’s unspoken desires and hidden fantasies.
Unfortunately for Alex, one night is all Harper is prepared to give. Her life is complicated enough without having two Doms pushing her to submit, no matter how incredibly sexy they are. Until the familiar voice of a stranger reminds her…Maybe she doesn’t know Alex at all.
Available for pre-order at All Romance eBooks
Visit Eliza at www.elizagayle.net
I didn’t have huge parties when I was a kid so with my three
girls I go all out. Last year I did huge Pirate themed party
for two of my girls (they are two years apart and their bdays
are exactly three weeks apart)and it was the best fun I ever
had. But this year will be low key lol
Happy birthday, Baby!! Isn’t it funny how, as we get older, our birthdays become less important and our kids more? I guess it’s not that odd. For each of my three last year I think I ended up making at least two cakes or sets of cupcakes, and in one case three for three different celebrations: birthday party with friends, school, and family celebration. I told my husband you’d have thought it was the second coming.
All these books sound yummy! Can’t wait to read the new ones. I hope you have a great birthday, sweetie.
My husband and I don’t have kids but still find lots of excuses to make luscious cakes. If you are friend of ours you can be sure to have a decadent treat for your birthday!
Eliza, the team work going into the cakes is awesome! I can just imagine the fun!
mdwartistry at yahoo dot com
Wow! These books look good.
For my younger birthdays, it was all about the party (whether it was a party or a slumber party). My birthday dinner has always been the meal of my choice & a cake.
Nowadays, it’s usually dinner out @ a restaurant & a cake.
aunt_cori@yahoo(dot)com
This was definitely a long post, but I enjoyed it very much. The description of the wafer cake sounds beyond yummy and if I wasn’t heading out on a business trip in a few hours, I’d be running to the store!
and then I forgot to put in my email address. sigh. Today is definitely Monday.
itmfiddler at gmail dot com
My mom would make our birthday cakes when we were little. She did some pretty amazing cakes. This weekend, we are throwing a on the birthday party for my niece. She will be 17 on the 15th.
All those books sound so good.
Thanks ladies for sharing all your birthday memories.I agree with Ms. Freeman birthdays are not a big deal to me but I have my nieces son first birthday coming up in two weeks and we’re trying to decide what kind of cake to get him and theme etc. So it should be fun.
When I was a kid, we always went to Jan’s Ice Cream Parlor for my birthday. I was allowed to bring a friend.
They had a dessert called The Kitchen Sink that was one scoop of each ice cream Flavor they had, along with all the toppings! We always joked we would get it, but never did. But I did always get my hot fudge sundae – YUM!!
Susanmik@gmail.com
Follower
Birthdays when I was a kid always meant some kind of cake and ice cream and gifts but no parties….but when my youngest sister came along (she’s 14 years younger) we did start to have some small parties and I’ll never forget the year she insisted on a
“E.T.” cake- the bakery ladies had a fit having to come up with grey icing and doing ET for a little girls cake but she absolutely loved it and it was the best party ever!
Thanks for the excerpts for the books…they sound great and will be going on my tbb list:)_
Hmmm..Birthdays weren’t really celebrated when I was younger. Instead Mom and Dad packed us kids in the car and we went off picnicking and discovering new places to explore. That personified great outings!
My biggest thrill was a Shetland pony named starlight that bucked all the kids off..
Thanks for the post and the wonderful contests!
Happy Birthday!!
Crap, it’s still a Monday..ROFL!
I’m a follower
nblack@twcny.rr.com
In my family there were 4 of us that celebrated out birthday within a few days. So growing up we always had joint birthday cakes and parties. It never really bothered me because as a kid I hated cake.
All of these books look really good. Can’t wait to read.
iqb99@yahoo.com
We are enjoying the bdays for our boys while we can. There will come a day where they won’t want the big parties that they get now. My hubbies bday is on 7/4 so we always go camping for his. Mine is in a few weeks and it usually entails dinner with friends.
cbandy10(at)hotmail(dot)com
I love it when my birthday takes up the whole month. I didn’t have big parties as a kids because my birthday is too close to July 4 and everyone was at the beach for the holiday. I do however love the chocolate wafer cakes Samantha mentioned. I haven’t had one in a couple of years. Yummy!
jepeb@verizon.net
Didn’t do big parties when I was a kid, just invited my two or three closest friends. I’m like that as an adult too. And I’m a huge fan of cupcakes and would rather have them than a cake. More variety with cupcakes.
joderjo402 AT gmail DOT com
I think that we should celebrate our adult birthdays just as much as the childhood birthdays. We just need to put a different spin on them 🙂
lenikaye@yahoo.com
As a kid, I always got a birthday cake from one particular bakery. Then a hurricane wiped it out! Though they rebuilt, the cakes were never the same but that was ok because I always had loved ones around to celebrate.
Thanks,
booklover0226 at gmail dot com
I also like quiet birthdays. Mostly celebrate my birthdays at home with family.
canadianluck (at) gmail (dot) com
Those were fun to read and I love reading the excerpts on your books, they all sound great. I understand on the December Birthdays. Growing up, my sister’s is on December 8th. When we were kids it was a pain because she got extra presents and as I got older it was a pain to my wallet. She always hated it though and I never understood why. My youngest child was born on December 27th. Not quite on Christmas, but close enough. I’m always worried she doesn’t get enough for her birthday, with it being right after Christmas, money is tight, birthday parties are hard to plan and we are still exhausted from Christmas
What a wonderful post, it was great hearing from all the gals.
My Mom was big into ice cream cakes (she made her own), so I remember about a 5 year stretch when that was our special treat. We got to pick the cake flavor and ice cream flavor. Mine was always chocolate cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream.
a follower
caity_mack at yahoo dot com
I don’t remember ever having a birthday party until I was in my 40’s. My birthday falls around Thanksgiving, so is celebrated on Thanksgiving, when the family is all together.
Four awesome sounding books… All of them will go on my list, but may have to start with “Sin on Skin”….
All of the books sound very good. I love they way everyone celebrated their birthdays. Like I’ve said before when we were growing up we didn’t do much for our birthdays. We do a lot for my nieces and nephews birthdays though. We always have a party and get them whatever kind of cake that they want.
Great post. Thanks for sharing all the birthday fun. Each and every book sounds like a great read.
meingee@yahoo.com
Wow thanks for all the great comments today! And another birthday wish for the birthday girl and a big thanks for having us all on the blog.
Eliza
Thanks for sharing your memories, ladies.
Lea Ellen {night owl in IL}
borg_66@hotmail.com
Happy Birthday month, LISSA!
Thanks for all the great comments, ladies.
Happy early or belated Birthday to you all!
~Mari
Wow really great excerpts can’t wait to start reading them. Loved all the birthday memories.
Until my teen years, I was sick for my birthday every year-something to do with the cold weather in February. Never had a ‘big’ party, but a couple years ago, my kids and my mom surprised me with a family party, how they kept me from knowing about it, I do not know. Happy Birthday, Lissa, from another February ‘baby’.
All of the books sound great. I have had Sin on Skin on my tbb list for a while. I’ll have to add the others. The Tiki Hut sounds like a blast and my kind of place. I’ll have to try the wafer cake also.
lisagk@yahooDotCom
When I was in school my dad started a tradition that each year for my birthday he would take us to Six Flags and I got to bring two people. It is only now that I realize how generous that was. We def did not have the money that it was easy for him to do. I now know that he and my mom gave up a lot to be able to do that. I always loved it!!
forettarose@yahoo.com
wow thanks for all the blurbs. they all sound great. I might even have found some new authors from this bash.
donnasing777@yahoo.com
I forgot my email on yet another post.
sstrode@scrtc.com
Both books sound interesting. Thank for sharing.
evelynmoly@yahoo.com
Some great books in this post! Thanks!
beckerjo(at)verizon(dot)net
I loved Samantha Kanes story. how sweet that he thought she was the best birthday gift ever.
swkimbell@yahoo.com
all the books sounds great thanks
carol.byles@yahoo.com
my parents also made sure that my birthday was special because there are around 9 of us cousins born in the same month all within 2 years.
terrilee.byles@yahoo.com
I just went to the Caribbean for the first time and it was GREAT! I loved it and can not wait to go back.
prettyunicorn78@yahoo.com
Enjoyed all the birthday memories.
linze_e at hotmail.com
And for this post…I am a follower
jepeb@verizon.net
Those are some pretty fabulous birthday memories! Samantha, what a sweet brother you have! I doubt I’ll ever catch my children expressing such sentiments about each other (*sigh*)! Thanks for sharing those lovely thoughts!