by Mlissa | Jan 11, 2018 | Kindle Select, re-releases, Simple Need, Vinter
Vinter: A Simple Need Story
Available as an ebook:
Vinter is not your typical businessman. Tattoos, piercings and not a suit and tie in sight. One-third owner of a bar and a tattoo parlor along with being the bassist in a garage band, Vinter comes and goes as he pleases. He likes his beer cold, his music hard and his women scorching hot. Until he’s knocked off his game by a suburban doll he can’t stop wanting.
Elise needs a change. In men. The buttoned-up businessmen she’s been dating leave a lot to be desired—in romance, in respect and most definitely in sex. A recent text message from her now ex-lover drives Elise into a bar on the outside of town, where she meets Tattoo Guy. He’s just the kind of man she’s never had and definitely the kind she’s always fantasized about. Big, bad and oh so naughty.
Unexpected tenderness. Unimaginable lust. Being dumped has never felt so damn good.
*Vinter was previously published as Simple Need with Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.
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by Mlissa | Sep 16, 2016 | Coming Soon, Ellora's Cave, Vinter
I can’t give a lot of details, mainly because I don’t have any really, but I wanted to let all of you know that I received an email today from Ellora’s Cave regarding the rights of the 7 books I have with them. Effective October 7th, 2016, all the rights to those 7 titles will revert back to me. This means several things…
- I will no longer be an Ellora’s Cave author.
- I will be able to revise, re-cover, and republish these titles on my own with more reasonable prices.
- I will once again be able to ask: Do You Know Vinter? 😉
I have waited a long time for these books to come back to me and we’re so close, y’all. So. Close.
I will keep you updated with the progress and the re-release schedule.
The titles I am getting back are as follows:
Trouble In The Making
Slide Down On Me
The Swing
The Demon is an Angel
Ink Spots
Carnal Ecstasy
Simple Need
Thank you for keeping the faith!
~lissa
by Mlissa | Mar 4, 2012 | Vinter
Yesterday was the start of our Blind Speed Dating Event. This will see some of my favorite authors make their characters battle it out to win your votes and be crowned the perfect Blind Date..There are 6 rounds, each with 3 authors competing. The winners of these rounds will go onto to compete against each other in two Semi Final’s. Then there is one overall final showdown between the top two voted characters! As this is a speed dating event, there will be a time limit of 48 hrs for each voting round. There are many many prizes up for grabs which you will be entered for when you cast your vote! 🙂 If you want to know more about any character, click on the link next to their name.
So, who will be your perfect date?
Round One – 3rd March-5th March
Round Two – 4th March – 6th March
Round Three – 5th March – 7th March
Round Four – 6th March – 8th March
Round Five – 7th March – 9th March
Round Six – 8th March – 10th March
Semi Final One (Winner of groups 1,2 and 3) 9th March – 11th March
Semi Final Two (Winner of groups 4,5 and 6) 10th March – 12th March
Final – 12th March – 14th March
(Reposted with permission)
Round one begins
here! This looks to be a fun event. You should go play…
~lissa
by Mlissa | Feb 9, 2012 | Food, Simple Need, Vinter
Welcome y’all! Pull up a seat.
One of my favorite things to do is cook. I love being in the kitchen most of the time. It’s not always and not every day that I want to make a mess and then have to clean it up, but for the most part, I’m in love with cooking and baking and all things kitchen. Because of that, it makes sense for me to have characters in my books who cook.
Today’s character is Vinter. In Simple Need, the morning after with Elise, he made her breakfast…waffles and bacon. Now, of course, Vinter being Vinter, he couldn’t help but be a little naughty with the syrup. Luckily, Elise was all too happy to oblige him. He wanted to make her feel that she was welcome, that he wanted her company for more than the hot sex they were almost constantly having. And well, there was also that need for sustenance 😉 . After all, they did work up a bit of an appetite.
I have a love affair with breakfast foods, especially sweet breakfast foods. Waffles, pancakes, sweet breads, muffins, doughnuts, etc… I don’t have these things often, but when I do, it’s like a party. I love going out for pancakes or pastries, but more than that, I love making them. Nothing better sometimes than the smell of cooking waffles and bacon and warm maple syrup. It has to be real maple syrup, too. Not the flavored syrup, but the real thing, usually in the glass bottles and more expensive than the stuff at eye level. Real syrup can be used sparingly too since it’s sweeter.
Since I cook so much, I try to do it in a healthy way. I love food blogs and am always perusing them, spending hours reading through them for new and interesting takes on recipes. I use a lot of natural sweeteners instead of white sugar. Whole wheat and whole grain flours instead of white unless necessary, like for cakes and such.
So, because our bad boy hero, Vinter, made Elise waffles, I thought I’d share with you one of my favorite waffle recipes from one of my most favorite food sites, Deliciously Organic.
Whole Wheat Waffles
Adapted from Christopher Kimball’s The Cook’s Bible 
Serves 6
2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tablespoons cornmeal
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs, separated
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Preheat waffle iron.Whisk flour, cornmeal, sea salt and baking soda in a mixing bowl. Whisk egg yolks with buttermilk and melted butter. Beat egg whites until they hold a stiff peak. Add egg yolk mixture slowly to dry ingredients while stirring with a spatula until just mixed together (there will still be lumps and maybe a few patches of flour). Gently fold in the egg whites until just mixed together. (It’s important not to over mix).
Using a ladle, spoon batter onto waffle iron and cook until deep brown. Serve immediately.
If you are cooking for a crowd, simply preheat the oven to 200°F and place a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet. When the waffles are cooked place them on the cooling rack/baking sheet and place in the oven to keep warm.
Now, this following bacon recipe is an indulgent recipe and I make it once in a blue moon and not to serve with waffles or pancakes since it’s so sweet already. It’s taken from the blog, Mommy’s Kitchen.
Brown Sugar Bacon
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
1/2 pound thick-cut bacon, 8 slices
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Mix brown sugar, cayenne, and black pepper together in a medium bowl. Add bacon and toss. Line a baking sheet with a wire rack and lay bacon on the rack. Pat any remanding spice mixture on the bacon. Put the baking sheet on the top rack of the oven and bake until crisp, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven to a serving dish and let cool slightly before serving.
*Note: If using thick cut peppered bacon, omit the pepper in this recipe.
When I was looking for a waffle iron, I had the hardest time finding one that wasn’t for Belgian waffles. I wanted a regular thickness for waffles and I finally found one by Cuisinart for about $30. I love it.
Have you read about Vinter? If not, here’s the cover and blurb:
Vinter is not your typical businessman. Tattoos, piercings and not a suit and tie in sight. One-third owner of a bar and a tattoo parlor along with being a bassist in a band, Vinter comes and goes as he pleases. He likes his beer cold, his music hard and his women scorching hot. Until he’s knocked off his game by a suburban doll he can’t stop wanting.
Elise needs a change. In men. The buttoned-up businessmen she’s been dating leave a lot to be desired—in romance, in respect and most definitely in sex. A recent text message from her now ex-lover drives Elise into a popular bar on the outside of town, where she meets one of its owners. He’s just the kind of man she’s never had and definitely the kind she’s always fantasized about. Big, bad and oh so naughty.
Unexpected tenderness. Unimaginable lust. Being dumped has never felt so damn good.
Available as an ebook from: Ellora’s Cave, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance eBooks, Sony Reader, Kobo, Powell’s
I hope you’ve enjoyed this first installment of In the kitchen with… and that you’ll come back each Thursday to find out what and who is cooking…
~lissa
by Mlissa | Jun 25, 2011 | Coffee, Vinter
If you have one and love it, convince me that I need one. Y’all know I’m a coffee whore. It’s a plain and simple fact. I am told more often than not in this online community when people think of me they think of three things … Coffee, cupcakes, and Vinter.
It’s more than just drinking of coffee for me. It’s the whole process. Hell, I even created a coffee station in my house with my drip maker (which I never use anymore), my espresso machine (which I need a new one), my two French presses (different sizes), and my coffee grinder (awesome).
So, it’s not that I don’t have enough coffee making paraphernalia. It’s not that I think I need one. I don’t need the hot water for hot chocolate cause I generally make it with milk, in a pot, with cocoa, and sugar, and vanilla on the stove. It doesn’t take any extra effort to heat up water for soup or oatmeal or mac and cheese cups. And because the coffee grinder has a timer, I can multi-task with coffee making. I make cold brewed coffee crack for iced coffee, so, I wouldn’t need to brew any for iced. My favorite iced coffee drink at the moment is an iced Caramel Macchiato which requires espresso. I’ve seen espresso K-cups, but I’m not sure of the strength or quality of such.
Honestly, too, the French press makes just amazingly delicious coffee…smooth, rich coffee that’s got a whole different taste than drip. I’m not really even sure that it’s cost effective with regards to the K-cups, but in a general sense, at the moment, that’s neither here nor there.
I’ve never had coffee from the Keurig and I don’t know anyone local that has one. The only people I hear talking about them are well… other authors and readers and editors and publishers, etc… Everyone is always going on and on and on about how much they LOVE their Keurig, how they can’t live without their Keurig, how their life has been transformed by their Keurig.
So, if you have one, tell me why you love it, why it’s the best thing since…well, the invention of coffee makers, and why a coffee whore such as myself should have one. Of course, if you don’t have a Keurig, tell me if you want one and why.
Oh, and yes, there is a giveaway for the person with the best, most convincing answer, I’ll give a $25 Amazon.com gift card or if you have a Keurig, a package of K-cups (we can discuss your fave, etc… upon winning if you have one).
I’ll give y’all until Monday morning, 8am EST to respond and by noon I’ll have chosen a winner.
Now, dish…!
~lissa
Oh and as more incentive to play along… I will gift a copy of Simple Need to one friend of the winner who hasn’t read it yet, but that you know wants to read it! Or to you, the winner, if you haven’t read it! But I mean, c’mon…it’s Vinter!
