Christmas is two weeks from today! I'm not entirely sure how that happened - I feel as if I blinked and missed weeks, and I had promised myself I would take the time to enjoy the season too. *Sigh* And if Christmas is two weeks away, The Artist's Masquerade will be out in the world in less than two weeks! I'm very excited for you to get to know Cathal and Flavian. If you'd like to preorder from Dreamspinner (or buy The Prince's Consort), they're having a 25% off sale, but it ends today, so hurry! You can find my books at Dreamspinner here. Also I'll be doing a blog tour for The Artist's Masquerade which will begin on Sunday the 13th. I'll post soon to give you the schedule of where I'll be when and information about the giveaway, so stay tuned for that.

And for even more exciting news, I've signed a contract with Dreamspinner for the third book of the Chronicles of Tournai, The Scholar's Heart, which is Etan and Tristan's story. If you read The Prince's Consort, you probably knew this story was coming, Some of you assumed it would be coming sooner, but Etan and Tristan had to wait a while, and Cathal and Flavian demanded their story first. I hope you'll find it worth the wait.

​So since over the next couple of weeks I'll be bombarding you with promo for The Artist's Masquerade, how about something unrelated first? You know by now that I enjoy baking very much, and the holidays are a great time for baking sweet treats to share. Even Santa gets into the act, or at least my Santa baker tree ornament does. (He's not the only food-related ornament on my tree either. I have a little copper colander and a bundt pan and a toaster, among others. They are also not the strangest ornaments on my tree!) So I thought I would share a favorite holiday cookie recipe with you. I shared another one for struffoli on the Dreamspinner blog in early November, when no one was thinking of the holidays, but you can find it here if you'd like to check it out now. Struffoli are a traditional Southern Italian dessert at the holidays, and they're delicious and easy to make. 

Today I'm going to share another Italian cookie recipe for cranberry chocolate biscotti, though this one isn't a family recipe. I'm actually not sure where I got the recipe originally, but I've been making it for years. I always make them at the holidays because the cranberry/chocolate combination seems holiday festive to me, but you can make them other times of the year too.

Here's the recipe:

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine flour and the next five ingredients in a large bowl.  Combine oil, extracts and eggs.  Add to the four mixture, stirring until well-blended (dough will be dry and crumbly).  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 7 to 8 times.  Divide the dough in half.  Shape each portion into an 8 inch long roll.  Place rolls 6 inches apart on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; flatten each roll to 1 inch thickness.

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.  Remove rolls from baking sheet, cool 10 minutes on a wire rack.  Cut each roll diagonally into 15 (1/2 inch) slices.  Place the slices cut sides down on a baking sheet.  Reduce oven temperature to 325 and bake for 10 minutes.  Turn the cookies over, bake for an additional 10 minutes (cookies will be slightly soft in the center but will harden as they cool).  Remove from baking sheet and cool completely on a wire rack.

The recipe makes about 36 cookies. It's a bit of a process, but the results are delicious, and they make great dessert or snacks or something to dunk in your hot beverage of choice.

Now that you have a cookie and a hot beverage, how about a few more holiday reads? Just so you have something to curl up with while you eat your cookies. Because what's better than hot chocolate, Christmas cookies, and a holiday romance while you sit by the tree?

What Happens at Christmas by Jay Northcote - A sweet, fun friends to lovers romance with snowed in trope and fake boyfriends. Her novella Cold Feet is a good holiday read too.

When Love Flue In by Lillian Francis - A sweet, sexy holiday romance between a newly divorced man and the chimney sweep he's had a crush on for years. Definitely has the warm fuzzy holiday feel.

A Fortunate Blizzard by LC Chase - Another snowed in story (such a great trope!). I really enjoyed this, though it made me cry before it got to the wonderful HEA.

Do you bake around the holidays? Even if you don't, what are your favorite holiday treats?

I love the holidays. Even with the stress of everything that has to get done before Christmas, I still love this time of year. I even love the hustle and bustle sometimes (yes, you think I'm crazy, it's fine) - I like braving the stores for Christmas shopping, though sometimes I have to remind myself of that when the crowds get too big and people get a little rude. Decorating the house, baking Christmas cookies, wrapping gifts, sending cards, Christmas music - I enjoy all of it. Here's my tree, decorated the Saturday after Thanksgiving:

​I also read a lot of holiday romances. In fact most of what I read from Thanksgiving through New Years are holiday romances (sometimes I'll pull one out at another time of year, when I need a dose of really happy). It's my own little tradition, and if I can read them sitting my the Christmas tree with a mug of peppermint hot chocolate, that's even better. Holiday romances are wonderful. They take everything about romances - the hope, the joy, the happy ever after - and magnify them like crazy. There's a special warm, happy, fuzzy feeling you get at the end of a holiday romance when everyone is happy and together. I thought I'd list some of my favorites (even though you've probably been inundated with holiday romance recs already). So in random order:

Turkey in the Snow by Amy Lane - I love this novella. It makes me smile every time and it's probably my favorite Amy Lane Christmas story, though Christmas Kitsch was wonderful and made me laugh and cry and smile too.

The Winter Spirit by Indra Vaughn - I just read this one. It's now a new favorite. I adored Gabriel the ghost and Nate from the beginning and was hoping for a magical HEA (it's a Christmas story and I loved it so you can bet there was one).

The Minnesota Christmas series by Heidi Cullinan - This series is wonderful, sexy and sweet and so very Christmas. I just read the third book, Winter Wonderland, and they just keep getting better.

North Pole City Tales by Charlie Cochet - This is a fantastic fantasy series set at the North Pole among Santa's elves. It's a brilliant magical world filled with sweet treats and Christmas joy and lovely romance. I'm looking forward to Loving Blitz which comes out this month.

Holiday Outing by Astrid Amara - This is a fun Hanukah romance with a blizzard, a zany family, and a little mystery. It's probably my favorite holiday romance by this author but I really enjoyed her Bellskis series too.

Winter Knights by Harper Fox - Beautiful writing and a hint of the paranormal and a lovely holiday romance. I also love her Nine Lights Over Edinburgh. 

Lone Star by Josh Lanyon - A romance between a ballet dancer returning home after many years away and a Texas Ranger he loved as a teenager. I also love Icecapade, a Christmas romance between a former jewel thief turned writer and the FBI agent who pursued him, and The Dickens with Love which involved an unknown Dickens Christmas tale and an ocelot.

A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas - Kleypas's Wallflower series is one of my favorite historical series, and this Christmas story lets us visit with old friends while meeting a new couple.

The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig - With a hero called Turnip, could this be anything other than a fun story?

Mistletoe at Midnight by LB Gregg - A sweet second chance romance in the midst of a family Christmas at an inn in Vermont.

My True Love Gave to Me by Ava March - This historical novella broke me apart at the beginning, but it was lovely to see these two men come back together again.

Secret Light by ZA Maxfield - A historical set in the 1950s. It was subdued and emotional but lovely.

Blame It on the Mistletoe by Eli Easton - Sweet holiday romance between a super smart, adorable nerd and his athlete roommate.

Comfort and Joy Anthology - A Christmas anthology with stories from Joanna Chambers, Harper Fox, LB Gregg, and Josh Lanyon. Joanna Chambers's Rest and Be Thankful might be my favorite story of them, but they were all good.

I'll stop there, but I add so many more. I keep thinking of them! And they all need to be reread, and there are still so many new ones to read this year.

​What about you? Do you read holiday romances? What are your favorites?

For the month of November (and wow, it's already November!), Dreamspinner Press asked their authors to share favorite holiday recipes on the DSP blog. Today, it's my turn, and I'm sharing a favorite family dessert recipe that we make every year at Christmastime. I know it might be a little early to think about the holidays (or maybe not - Thanksgiving is in a few weeks! How did that happen?), but it's never too early for delicious dessert recipes, right? Find my recipe at the DSP blog here.