My characters are very real to me and they do all of the normal things that humans do — like cooking. In this excerpt Paige Andrews has cooked one of Lon Bartlett’s favorite dishes, the recipe is below.
It’s been a while since she walked out on him and didn’t look back so Paige is hoping that a comfortable meal together will help soften the awkwardness a little.
I hope you enjoy! ~ Chelle
Paige prepared one of his favorite dishes, Tortellini Alfredo. There was a tossed salad and warm garlic bread to go with it. The aroma of the Italian cooking mingled with the sweet flavors of the Caribbean restaurant downstairs cast an appetizing smell to her apartment. She hadn’t spent much time cooking since moving to Delaware. Cooking for one never seemed so inviting.
She had just finished setting the small card table she had opened in the living room when he knocked on the door. Taking the time to light candles on their dinner table, Paige called out that the door was open.
Lon came through the doorway and suddenly her small living room just seemed to get a little smaller. He carried a bottle of wine in one hand and a delicate bouquet of flowers in the other.
Paige pivoted to face him. She felt a nervous twinge in her stomach. “Hi.” She motioned to the table. “Dinner is just about ready. Thank you for coming.”
CHEESE TORTELLINI ALFREDO
1 lb. cheese tortellini 1 pkg. frozen peas 1/4 lb. softened butter 1/2 cup grated Pecorino and/or Parmesan cheese (blend to taste) 3/4 cup heavy cream
Place peas in colander and run warm water to break them up. Cook tortellini in boiling water until firm; drain to the colander over the peas. In a pot on low heat, melt butter and mix with cream. Return the tortellini and peas to pot. On low heat, mix well with butter/cream, add cheese, salt, and pepper; mix well. Serves 4; best served with a side salad and hot garlic bread.
Bartlett’s Ruleby Chelle Cordero shares the story of Lon and Paige’s love affair; a romance filled with hardship, emotion, danger and triumph. Falling in love was never the challenge; being there for each other, knowing just what to say and making it work is the real test. Paige and Lon are real; they are human, they cry and they laugh. Paige has to learn to trust. Lon has to learn to be patient.
Bartlett’s Rule was named one of Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s Top Ten Reads for 2009.
At first glance, Paige Andrews’ approach to celebrity writer and celebrated womanizer Lon Bartlett is reminiscent of a child’s first day at the beach, a child who runs down to the incoming waves only to run back to the safety of the dunes beyond the water’s reach, and then again, and then again. Indeed, she desperately wants her evolving relationship to be as spontaneous and carefree as first love.
But in looking closer, as both lovers and mad men are apt to do, Lon sees that behind Paige’s engaging smile lie painful memories of man named Hal who raped her and all but took away her ability to get close to anyone again. Lon’s best intentions trigger Paige’s worst fears.
“Bartlett’s Rule” is an easy-to-read novel about difficult-to-resolve issues for rape survivors and the prospective significant others in their lives. For Paige and Lon, sorting out the boundaries of trust and the limits of patience is a treacherous undertaking because they are very much in the public eye and because Hal’s arrogant needs are not yet satisfied.
Unfortunately, Paige’s dysfunctional family is also not out of sight and out of mind, providing additional twists and turns in the plot to keep readers guessing about choices and outcomes until the last page.
When the Vietnam War pull pacifist David Ward away from Montana, mountain climbing and magic, he leaves for Navy boot camp with a suitcase of regrets. His fiancé ignores him, a close friend callously tells him to kill bad guys and have sex in every port, and an old flame sends devastating news, wrenching his life from its foundations.
Sweet Victory by Angela Kay Austin is now available as an AUDIOBOOK on Audible, iTunes, and on Amazon! Also in All Ebook Formats and Print Editions.
Sweet Victory tells the story of Victoria James… ‘Victory’ to her high school sweetheart, Chad.
For her employees’ sake, Victoria James quits her job to save theirs. That decision loses her the man she thought she loved, and sends her back to Memphis, TN with everything she owns to face a neglected and forgotten relationship with her grandfather.
Everything she has is stolen. Chad Kirkpatrick, her childhood love, the first man to break her heart, now a police officer, comes to her aid.
Can she move forward, and put her past behind her? Will Chad forgive her?
Narrated and Produced by Diana Birdsall, 12 Time Telly Award Winning Voice Talent, an experienced voice in ‘the Biz’ for over 25 years.
To Celebrate the upcoming release of Book 2 in Malcolm R. Campbell’s Garden of Heaven Trilogy, for a limited time we’re holding a price reduction on Book 1, The Seeker! Yes, it is a trick. A trick to get you hooked on Malcolm’s trilogy!
The Seeker by Malcolm R. Campbell
Book 1 of the Garden of Heaven Trilogy
David Ward grows up on a Montana ranch where he develops an enduring love of mountains and the magic of the high country secrets he learns from his medicine woman grandmother. A vision quest at the summit of a sacred mountain opens his eyes to his future while blinding him to the details.
As a seasonal employee at a mountain hotel, David meets Anne Hill during the summer of Glacier National Park’s worst flood. Out of the ravages of water, they spend an idyllic summer in the beautiful Garden of Heaven.
When Anne is confronted by a stalker on a dark street in her Florida college town, the magic David uses in an attempt to save her changes her and leads them into the dark territory of misunderstandings and the blood of Tate’s Hell Swamp.
Summer at the Jersey Shore just got hotter… Take one widower grandfather, add two little grandkids, and widowed grandmother with a small granddaughter. Mix well. Stir in sun drenched beach days and moonlit nights. What have you got? A kite flying high with a new tail; an author writing a book to sort out emotions; a talented boy with his mother returned to claim the prize. Family complications and a happy beginning… not the end.
From the new Charmaine Gordon series The Beginning…Not the End.
In the middle of a rogue thunderstorm, two young men are mysteriously drawn to an old bridge in the middle of a Florida swamp. They discover the dead are waiting to speak, their lives are in jeopardy, and they must help an injured young woman they find beside the road.
Moonlight and Ghosts
On a moonlit night, Randy’s intuition is drawing him back to an abandoned psychiatric hospital where he once worked. He and his friend, Alice, have heard the ghost hunters’ claims the building is haunted, filled with strange lights, apparitions and the voices of former patients calling for help. The Forgotten point Randy and Alice to a crime in progress… and there’s not much time to save the victim.
Vanilla Heart Publishing is pleased to announce our most recent expansion! Audiobooks! In the coming weeks and months,professional narrators and producers will complete our long list of fabulous VHP works by our Core Group Authors, including our first audio catalog due out in mid-June and to be available on Amazon, Audible.com, and iTunes!
Can you hear it now? YOU BET!
Final Sin by Chelle Cordero is now available as an AUDIOBOOK on Audible, iTunes, and on Amazon!
Also in All Ebook Formats and Print Editions.
Deputy Sheriff Commander Jake Carson has his hands full with the investigation of a brutal multiple homicide, a troubled son and a vindictive ex-wife when he meets young, free-spirited paramedic Julie Jennings. He is immediately drawn to her and finds himself unexpectedly falling in love. Julie finds herself just as drawn to him. When Julie becomes the subject of an obsession, it puts both of their lives in extreme danger…Romance…danger…adventure…suspense…another great Chelle Cordero novel sure to grab readers from many genre!
Final SinReviewSuspense/Thriller, Romance; Reviewer: Lototy, Rating: 5 CupsThis story nearly vibrates with tension, and the impending doom will have you on the edge of your seat. The cast of characters is brilliantly depicted, each given both good and bad qualities that really enliven them to the reader. You actually get into the minds of several characters, and not just Jake’s and Julie’s. Final Sin is a real nail biter, and entirely too good to pass up, a true testament to Chelle Cordero’s talent…To read the entire Coffee Time Romance Review. http://coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/Finalsin.html
Final Sin audiobook is narrated by Gwendolyn Jensen-Woodard, a professional narrator and voice-over artist, residing in the Pacific Northwest.
and the FREE Book Club Discussion Packet with full color printable bookmarks, author bio and photo, discussion starters, and synopsis – http://store.payloadz.com/go?id=912009
Can you hear it now? YOU BET!
Hunting Heartbreak by Marie Hampton is now available in Print, All Ebook Formats and is our first live Vanilla Heart Publishing AUDIOBOOK on Audible, iTunes, and on Amazon!
Hunting Heartbreak by Marie Hampton is the Winner of the Vanilla Heart Publishing Author Contest and is Marie’s debut novel, the first in a series featuring Kasumi, a female assassin involved in the Las Vegas Yakuza.
Hunting Heartbreak tells the suspenseful tale of Kasumi, a young woman deeply involved in the Las Vegas Yakuza, as she runs headlong into danger, both to her profession as an assassin…and to her heart.
Emily’s Stories by Malcolm R. Campbell is now available in All Ebook Formats and as an AUDIOBOOK on Audible, iTunes, and on Amazon!
Emily’s Stories are three short stories that will delight and entertain readers (and listeners) of all ages, with the tales of the young girl, Emily Walters, as she explores her world and that of the world around her… both mundane and temporal.
Emily Walters is a sharp, inquisitive fourteen-year-old north Florida girl who loves maps, her rusty old bike, and the forest behind her house. Sometimes her dreams tell her the future and sometimes her waking hours bring wise birds and other spirits into her life. In these three short stories, join Emily in adventures and mysteries.
When her family vacations in the mountains in “High Country Painter,” a wise Pine Siskin tells her she must quickly learn how to paint dreams into reality to prevent an afternoon hike from becoming a tragedy.
In “Map Maker,” she’ll need her skills—and the help of a Chuck-will’s-widow—to fight a developer’s plans for from bulldozing the sacred forest behind her house and replacing it with a subdivision.
In “Sweetbay Magnolia,” she’ll learn the secrets of her grandmother’s favorite tree, the crumbling almost-forever house down on the river, and why some ghosts would rather visit than haunt.
Vanilla Heart Publishing is currently OPEN TO QUERIES. We accept queries in the following genre only: Romance, Romantic Suspense, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller (not gore), Fantasy, Adventure, and Historical Fiction. We have a full title lineup through Summer 2013 at this time, thanks to our terrific VHP Authors. We will be considering additional manuscripts after July 15, 2013. Please be aware that we do not publish poetry except as inclusions to specific anthologies. Nor do we publish children’s books, books that are epic in length, or erotica, which we define on a case by case basis.
A Potpourri of Promos, Book Talk, Entertainment & Articles of Interest from Chelle Cordero 