Desiree Holt Launch Party Giveaway #5 ~ Jennifer Lyon

Lemon Cupcake Seduction

 

Hi Everyone!  First I would just like to say thank you to Desiree for having me here on her blog today and congratulations on your new release!

 

The heroines of my books get to have my dream careers. Baking is my hobby when I have the time (and can afford the calories!)I’m never going to own my own bakery, but I get to live the life of a baker though Kat Thayne, the heroine in THE PROPOSITION, Book One of The Plus One Chronicles. In the book, Kat walks away from her job as a chemist in her family’s pharmaceutical company to follow her dream of owning her own bakery.

Kat has no interest in romance. But when the sizzling hot Sloane Michaels, an ex-Ultimate Fighter and a self-made billionaire makes her a proposition, she can’t refuse.

Now maybe you’re wondering what could possibly attract Sloane to Kat?

Lemon cupcakes!

Okay it’s a lot more than lemon cupcakes, but the cupcakes do play a part as you can see from this scene clip where Kat brings Sloane some cupcakes as a gift:

Kat lost her breath at his demand. Felt her body soften and a languid need spread. His confidence, his words…it was so sexy. The way he savored the cupcake hit her lust center too. He licked the fork, long leisurely swipes of his tongue as he relished every crumb… She had to drop her gaze. Tried to focus on eating a bite of her cupcake.

            “Damn, woman, that is good. There’s a pop of creamy lemon.”

            Warmth flooded her, and she looked up. “It’s lemon curd. Mine has a fudge filling.”

            He reached his fork across the table and sank it into her chocolate dessert. Slowly put it in his mouth, closed his eyes in evident delight. “Nice.” He dipped his fork back into his. “But I like lemon better.”

See? Sloane takes his cupcakes very seriously!

 

Making Kat a baker gave me an excuse to bake. I took a week off from writing right before Christmas and went on a baking marathon. I tested a couple lemon cupcake recipes, because I wanted only the best for Sloane. The one I liked best is this one, although it is fairly complicated: (source for cupcake recipe here http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2009/08/30/lemon-limoncello-cupcakes/)

 

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

2 tablespoons lemoncello liqueur

½ cup buttermilk

¼ cup lemon juice

Zest of one lemon

 

For the lemon curd:

Zest of 2 lemons

½ cup lemon juice

¼ cup granulated sugar, or more if lemons are very tart

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

 

For the cream cheese lemoncello frosting:

2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 tablespoon lemoncello

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

 

Directions:

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in center of oven.

 

For the cupcakes:

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In a larger bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together the butter, cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until light and creamy—about 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the lemoncello and beat another minute. On low speed, alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Finish by adding the lemon juice and zest on low speed until just incorporated. Divide evenly between 12 muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Note that the cupcakes will have a flat top done (at least mine did).

 

The lemon curd:

In a heavy medium sauce pan, stir together the lemon zest, juice and sugar and bring to a simmer over medium heat. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and egg yolk. Slowly whisk the lemon mixture into them to temper the eggs. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and place over medium heat, whisking until it thickens, about five minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

 

Prepare the frosting:

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until light and creamy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the lemoncello and beat for an additional minute. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

 

Assemble the cupcakes:

Remove cupcakes from pan, and place a flat surface. I used a melon baller to scoop out a hole in the top-center of each cupcake. Fill the cavity with lemon curd. Then fit a pastry bag with a star tip, fill it with the frosting and pipe it onto each cupcake.

 

Or you could go to a bakery and buy cupcakes, or even better, get the book THE PROPOSITION and live the life of a baker seduced by a sexy-hot billionaire through Kat!

THE PROPOSITION, Book 1 and POSSESSION, Book 2 in The Plus One Chronicles

 Blurb:

The Plus One Chronicles

A wicked proposition…

A sensual possession…

A dark obsession…

The Plus One Chronicles: Searing passion and fiery vengeance collide in three explosive books.

THE PROPOSITION:

Rich, sexy and volatile, Sloane Michaels has a dark agenda that keeps his heart on ice. His extreme wealth gives him the control he craves and his skills as an ex UFC fighter the tools he’ll need to extract his ultimate revenge. But when the woman he never believed he’d see again crosses his path, Sloane is caught between the vengeance he needs and a sexual conquest he craves.

Kat Thayne has been in survival mode for six years, hiding behind the sweet creations for her bakery. But when a random carjacking brings her face-to-face with her darkest fears and hottest fantasy, Kat is forced out of hiding and offered a dangerously passionate proposition. One she knows she isn’t strong enough to refuse.

 

POSSESSION (Coming May 28, 2013):

Savagely sexy billionaire Sloane Michaels ruthlessly controls his life and everything in it. Even his sex partners are carefully negotiated plus-one arrangements, including his latest, the fiery bakery owner, Kat Thayne. But Sloane’s control is challenged when his mentor becomes seriously ill, and his need for Kat, his need to possess her at all costs, rivals only his single-minded goal of vengeance for the murder of his sister.

After surviving an attack six years ago, Kat Thayne escaped her fears in the protective world of her beloved bakery. Then Sloane Michaels storms into her life, making her feel beautiful, strong and sexy. Yet as Kat pushes her boundaries and uncovers a dangerous secret in her past, Sloane’s controlling side emerges. Worried that Sloane will possess her mind, body and soul, Kat fights to keep her hard won independence. But just as Sloane demands her complete surrender, she discovers he has a dark side that could destroy them both.

Excerpt:

He wanted to have sex with her. For a second, she pictured him over her, all bare skin and hard muscles as he thrust into her. The image was erotically seductive, until she remembered why sex was a bad idea. Frustrated that her libido so easily forgot, she pitched her voice low for only his ears. “How can a man who made eating cake look like he’s going down on a woman he’s starved to taste manage to turn sex into a business proposition?” She took a sip of her coffee.

            His eyes flared with fire. “Once we have the expectations and obligations clear, then we can discuss me going down on you.”

            Kat nearly choked. Setting the cup down, she pushed that image out of her head. His dark head bent… No. “Not interested.”

            He sat back, studying her. “I Googled you, Kat.”

            All her interest and wanton excitement chilled into a lump of dread and anger. “You’re just full of mad skills.” What was she to him, a curiosity? Did he get off on freak shows?

“It was a fairly vague newspaper account of the attack you went through years ago. Cops found you unconscious. Never found your attackers. Since your limp didn’t come from the carjacking attempt, I’m assuming it’s from that attack.” He shifted and went on, “As well as the panic attacks. The reason you were afraid of me.”

She disconnected, pulled away. It was one of her techniques to cope and protect herself. She focused over his shoulder at the painting of a dancer’s form done in bright yellow. “As impressive as all your research is, this isn’t going to work, Sloane.” She laid her hands flat on the table.

He covered one with his warm fingers. “I have something, besides sex, that I can give you.”

His touch seared her, not with the sexual vibrations of earlier, but with some need she couldn’t name. She yanked her hand away, clutching it in her lap. Keeping focus on the picture over his shoulder, she said, “And what would that be?”

“I can teach you to fight and defend yourself.”

 

 

Book buy links for THE PROPOSTION:

  Amazon / BN / Kobo / Smashwords / iTunes

Bio:  Jennifer Lyon grew up under the shadow of the Matterhorn at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. She attended Walt Disney elementary school and her very first playmate was her beloved dog, Duke, who was cast in the role of hero in all their adventures.

Clearly Jen was born to daydream. But it took her years to figure out how to turn her imagination into a career as an author. After marrying and becoming a full time mom to three sons, Jen launched her career with the award winning Samantha Shaw Mystery Series and other romantic mysteries under the name Jennifer Apodaca. Later, she took the name Jennifer Lyon, combined her love of witches, alpha males and sizzling romance into another award winning series, the Wing Slayer Hunters.

Jennifer has several new releases coming out this year.  THE PROPOSITION, the first book in her new Plus One Chronicles was just released on February 24 and following later in the year will be Book Two: POSSESSION – Coming 5/28/13 and Book Three: OBSESSION – Coming 9/24/13.

Writing under Jennifer Apodaca she will be releasing the first book in her Once A Marine series, titled THE BABY BARGAIN which will be out in March 2013 from Entangled Publishing in their Indulgence line.

 

Author social / website links

 

Blog – http://jenniferlyonbooks.com/blog/

Website –  http://jenniferlyonbooks.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/jenniferlyonbooks?fref=ts

Twitter –  https://twitter.com/Jenniferlyon

 

Contest Information:

Grand Prize Winner will receive a $10.00 gift card to Amazon and an eNook of THE PROPOSITION.

TWO Runners-up will also receive an eBook of THE PROPOSITION

Just comment and fill out the rafflecopter below to enter

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