Merry Christmas

To one and all.

Friday Recipe: Roast Leg of Lamb with Rosemary

In my family this is usually an Easter meal but this year we switched it up a bit. And it's always so delicious I wonder why we don't have it all the time! So this is the recipe I'm making this year for Christmas dinner. You?

Prep Time:15 Min
Cook Time:1 Hr 20 Min
Ready In:1 Day 1 Hr 35 Min

Ingredients
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons prepared Dijon-style mustard
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 pounds whole leg of lamb
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Directions
In a small bowl, combine the honey, mustard, rosemary, ground black pepper, lemon zest and garlic. Mix well and apply to the lamb. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
Place lamb on a rack in a roasting pan and sprinkle with salt to taste.
Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and roast for 55 to 60 more minutes for medium rare. The internal temperature should be at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C) when taken with a meat thermometer. Let the roast rest for about 10 minutes before carving.

Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 790 Total Fat: 55.4g Cholesterol: 224mg

Excerpt: The Masque: A Hellfire Club Erotique

This is an excerpt from the start of chapter 2 for The Masque, the first in my Hellfire Club Erotique series.

“Comtesse.”

The short man held a ledger and greeted her with a cordial nod and a slight bow. He held himself as if he owned these catacombs, the tilt of his head, the sharp look in his eye. Still, Olivia detected a hint of relief in his voice, as if he worried about her. Or Louise in this case. It had been hours since Olivia returned to the apartment, she’d long missed the final ball. Clearly he had expected her long before now.

“Good evening,” he said warmly. Your usual accommodations are ready for you. If you require anything else please do not hesitate to ask, Madame.”

The dichotomy of it all jarred her. One moment Olivia made her way through cold, dark alleyways and down ancient steps as the race of her heart echoed in her ears. Fear of discovery combined with the scuffling of rats and whatever other unknown creatures lurked in such places had her all but sprinting away. Then this massive door opened and the whole world changed.
Before her lay a world of the King’s court in manner and dress.

“Merci, Bernard.” Olivia’s words stumbled out as she placed him. Her aunt’s description had been most detailed, down to the mole near Bernard’s left ear.

With masque securely in place, Olivia walked by Bernard and his baroque desk, which would have been better suited in a Marquis’s estate rather than this dark and dank stone chamber. She held her head high as she sidestepped several members, wearing intricately painted masques also firmly in place, and walked through the arch of the entrance room into the main corridor.

People walked by her and nodded, some as formally dressed as if they did, indeed, attend the king’s court; others, Olivia noted, ate sumptuous pastries and meats the likes of which she hadn’t enjoyed in far too long. Tapestries covered stone walls and tall wrought iron candelabra illuminated the many passages leading in every direction.

Olivia tentatively walked down the corridor then stopped and took a moment to study the tapestries. Shocked, she blinked and leaned closer. Each beautifully weaved tapestry, well-preserved and still vibrant even in the candlelight, depicted a variety of sexual acts that left her awestruck. Heart racing anew, not with fear but with scandalous fascination, Olivia stared.
It took her several minutes to tear her eyes from the images, and even when she did they stayed with her, causing her breath to shorten.

As she made her way further down the path, careful not to look at any more tapestries, she heard unusual sounds from several antechambers. Her curiosity bade her to investigate. At a juncture, Olivia paused, glancing down the corridor she was supposed to take then in the direction of the anteroom. If she diverted from this path she might lose her way. Louise had only told her how to find her room from the entrance and had warned of the labyrinthine and endless corridors of Paris’s Hellfire Club.

Now available at Amazon and All Romance eBooks

New Release! The Masque: A Hellfire Club Erotique

And here it is! I'm pretty excited it's available before Christmas (eek--Christmas is next week!) Here's the blurb and cover, I'll post an excerpt later today.


Olivia Reynard must leave Paris tonight. It's the height of the French Revolution's Reign of Terror and as a nobleman's daughter, she knows it's a matter of time before she's sent to the guillotine. Fleeing to the notorious Hellfire Club, she soon finds a world of sexual pleasure she's never imagined.


Comte Sebastian de Courville has promised to help Olivia get out of Paris, but he didn't expect such instant attraction to the beautiful maiden. He wants to show her every pleasure known, but time is short and their lives are in ever increasing danger. And then there's his lover...


Julien Laruent has survived the treacherous streets of a Paris in turmoil. Now permanently ensconced in the Hellfire Club, he hasn't look back on that time. A dangerous man to have in one's bed, he took one look at Olivia and vowed to keep her safe.


But when old enemies exact vengeance and Madame Guillotine an ever present threat, will the three of them survive long enough to find love?

Amazon

All Romance eBooks

Wednesday Sexy Regency

Or why writing menage stories in the Regency era is so much fun. I'm not the only one. I once heard a comment that went something like The lack of the death of the Regency. It's too true. Even big mystery writer P.D. James has a new release (at 91 years of age!) called Death Comes to Pemberley.



But what attracts readers and writers to this time? And if it has so many more social restrictions, why is the Regency sexy? Amelia Grey, author of An Earl to Enchant, did a post on this for Love Romance Passion. In it she states in #7:

The love scene in a Regency is like silk and satin, a falling of clothes
so gentle and grand, it's like the reader is a part of the fabric that ties the scene together. There is a definite feeling in a Regency when the hero and heroine succumb to the moment they know they must be together. There is no greater element of sensuality and romance. Now, that moment we've been waiting for as our hero finally touches our heroine, we let out our breath and savor the feelings we get as we read onward.



This is very true, but on a deeper level, I think that it's also the eroticism of fooling society. The thumbing one's nose at the old gossiping biddies and having everything (and everyone!) you want without being ostracised from society. Or worse, put to death. Because same-sex sexual relations was punishable by death.



Photo from Regency Revisited header. I absolutely adore it! And it's so true. If you get the chance to take a peek around their site, please do so, they have gorgeous fabrics there.

Another Great Review

From Booked Up. 4 stars from RedHibiscus for Risqué: A Regency Ménage Tale:





I could feel the attraction between Alix and Kane from the first moment they met...While Brent and Kane's relationship became closer and more loving everyday, their relationship with Alix became more distance...When the three of them finally begin their relationship, I could feel the love they had for each other, even as they prepared for the consequences.

Gold Star Review!

A wonderful review from Just Erotic Romance Reviews for Risqué: A Regenc Menage Tale

Gold Star Review:

Holy smokes, Risqué: A Regency Ménage Tale is an incredible book! Not usually one for historical romance novels, I was immediately transfixed by the characters in Risqué....Ms. Reed has a real talent for seduction of the senses, making the reader feel both involved in the outcome and highly aroused at her erotic prose. For all these reasons Risqué: A Regency Ménage Tale gets the highest rating, a JERR Gold Star Award!

The Hellfire Club

Or as it was spelled in the day, The Hell-Fire Club. I like my way better. More 21st century than 18th.

What was the Hellfire Club? If you guessed a place for like-minded individuals to gather and indulge in all manner of sexual exploits, you'd be right. Half right. Because despite that, or because of it, the Club was also a place for political intrigue.

This is from The Victorian Web. No--I don't know why the Victorians have an article on the mid 1700s Hell-Fire Club, but their information condenses much of what I've found.

West Wycombe, a village in the Chiltern Hills, was where the Dashwood family owned its landed estate. Sir Francis Dashwood founded the "Order of the Knights of St. Francis of Wycombe" — better known as the Hellfire Club.

Below the mausoleum is the entrance to the West Wycombe caves, carved to look like the entrance to a Gothic church. The caves were enlarged by Sir Francis Dashwood in the 1750s in order to create work for the local men who were unemployed because of a succession of harvest failures. (As an aside, he couldn't have been all debauched if he willingly did this for his workers. He could have ignored their plight, after all.)

The chalk from the caves was used for building part of the road to London but Sir Francis also had the caves cut in intricate patterns. The caves crossed a stream of water known as the 'River Styx', a reference to the Greek mythological river of Hades, over which the souls of the dead were ferried by Charon.

Medmenham Abbey is situated on the River Thames between Hambleden and Hurley Locks. It was founded as a monastery by the Cistercians in 1200 but at the Dissolution of the Monasteries it passed into the hands of the Duffield Family. In the late eighteenth century, Francis Duffield granted a lease of Medmenham to Sir Francis Dashwood where he and his wealthy friends held the infamous 'Hell Fire Club' meetings and lived up to its motto Fay ce que voudres Do whatever you will.

The Hell Fire Club initially was based at Medmenham Abbey, which Sir Francis bought and converted into an erotic garden. The members of the Hell-Fire club took part in mock religious ceremonies and used masks and costumes to allow them to indulge in varying degrees of debauchery. Medmenham gained some notoriety so the Hell Fire club moved to a more secluded site at West Wycombe caves. Members of the club included Sir Francis Dashwood, the Earl of Sandwich, Thomas Potter (the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury), John Wilkes, William Hogarth, the Earl of Bute, the Marquis of Granby, the Prince of Wales, and possibly Benjamin Franklin and Horace Walpole.

It was alleged that the 'monks' took prostitutes down the Thames from London in barges to act as masked 'nuns'. The members of the Club also were accused of celebrating the Black Mass over the naked bodies of aristocratic ladies, one of whom was Lady Mary Montagu Wortley, the mother-in-law of the Earl of Bute.

Friday Recipe: Chocolate-Filled Crescents

Because who doesn't love chocolate-filled Crescent rolls?

Prep Time:5 Min
Ready In:25 Min

Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) can Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Powdered sugar, if desired

Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Separate dough into 8 triangles.
Place tablespoon of chocolate chips on wide end of each triangle. Roll up, starting at shortest side of triangle, rolling to opposite point. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees F. for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 164 Total Fat: 9.3g Cholesterol: 0mg

Thinking of others during Christmas

I'm not talking about buying gifts for friends and family, but in the true sense of it's better to give than receive. There's a photo going around on facebook about necessity. I think it speaks very well for itself.

During this time, when stores are mobbed and tempers are short and shelves are nearing empty, remember our unemployeed and underemployed. Remember all those who can't afford a Christmas dinner or gifts for their children.

There are lots of excellent charities in need of donations and there's Toys for Tots donation dropoff locations run by the US Marines. If you want something more local, try your neighborhood Boys & Girls Club. If you're not in America, the UK has lots of local organizations such as Miller Homes and Everyday Hero UK.