Hello Readers,
Happy Valentine's! This newsletter is pretty jam-packed. As is my life! Hope you can spare a few minutes. I have a giveaway below so check that out. I also have book recommendations. A delicious chocolate banana brownie recipe. New grandbaby news. And more.
First, I want to share with you a giveaway on Supernatural Sleuths, where, for the month of February, three authors and I are sharing about ourselves, sharing links to free books written by a number of authors, doing a couple of gift card giveaways, and more. My novella, featuring a home baker and an elf, is one of the FREEBIES. Take advantage. There are stories with witches, ghosts, elves, and more. FYI, my elf story isn't scary, which you can tell by the darling cover.
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As always, I am giving you a heads up of which of my books came out recently.
My standalone suspense, THE SON'S SECRET is the most recent.
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What if you're the only one who believes your son is missing? A chilling, twisty psychological suspense novel, perfect for fans of Laura Dave and Gillian Flynn.
Maggie Lawson is the smart, capable dean of a boutique college, but even the most confident mother has a weakness - her child. When Maggie can't reach her college senior son, Aiden, to tell him that his father has been shot, she starts to panic. She texts. She calls.
Is Aiden ghosting her, or have the dangerous stories Aiden's father, her investigative journalist ex-husband, pursues finally brought trouble to her door? Maggie is sure that something is very wrong, but no one believes her. As dark events unfold, she must rely on her own investigative instincts to find Aiden. But when Maggie uncovers a devastating secret, she faces a race against time to save him.
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Will they find their happily ever after? It’ll take a holiday miracle.
Hope Lyon’s husband ran through all their money and split Portland, forcing Hope to sell her beloved bakery and move with her two children back to Hope Valley, her hometown. She has been working as a waitress, pinching pennies to get their lives on track. However, when her children win KPRL’s Spirit of Christmas vacation contest, Hope worries about the extra expenses she will incur on such a trip and turns it down.
KPRL sports anchor Steve Waldren can’t afford to have a gap on his resume. His confidence is shaky, ever since his fiancée dumped him, claiming Steve would never reach his potential. So when Steve’s boss dubs him Giveaway Santa, must accept. Steve, as Santa, travels to Hope Valley to award the prize. When Hope refuses it, he’s at a loss. He’ll lose his job if he can’t convince Hope to take it. But Hope can be stubborn, life can be a challenge, and Hope’s children can be unpredictable. Not to mention, the truth isn’t always what it seems.
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A TWINKLE OF TROUBLE is the 5th in the Fairy Garden Mysteries. It's available for pre-order. For those who are not familiar with the series, it features a fairy garden shop owner and a sleuth fairy sidekick. It's a magical mystery set in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
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Carmel-by-the-Sea garden shop owner Courtney Kelly sees things others can’t—like fairies, and hidden motives for murder . . .
Courtney is delighted when her tiny friend Fiona returns from the fairy realm, appearing at the base of a Cypress tree. When her Ragdoll cat, Pixie, emerges from her own portal—aka the cat door—the three set off for a busy day. Busier than usual, since Courtney has rented a small plot of land at the Flower Farm, where she hopes to grow her own supplies for her fairy-garden business. Plus, the annual Summer Blooms Festival is coming up, and Courtney has booked a booth . . .
But the murder of Courtney’s friend, Genevieve, casts a pall over the festival. Ever since Genevieve sold her floral business, she’d been building a career as an influencer. She was perennially opinionated—but in her new role she’d become surprisingly vicious, dissing local entrepreneurs with nasty posts and unwarranted bad reviews. That’s landed a couple of Courtney’s other friends on the suspect list—including Flower Farm owner Daphne Flores. And when a second victim is discovered, seeds of doubt about Daphne’s innocence sprout in Courtney’s mind. Working with only a germ of a clue, Courtney will have to overturn every rock to get the dirt on the real killer . . .
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To go to my website to see what other books you might have missed.
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You bet! Today I'm giving away a copy of my new romance,
HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS.
Ebook or paperback, winner's choice.
Also, because you LOVE books, don't miss the giveaways I'm doing on Facebook and on Fresh Fiction in the month of February. Like I said above, it's a busy month!
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And the winner of this giveaway is:
VICKI with email carso**om@sbcglobal.net
(the ** are to protect the email)
You have until February 21 to contact me at daryl at darylwoodgerber dot com. Congrats, and tell a friend!
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I just finished Krista Davis's latest Paws and Claws Mystery, The Dog Across the Lake. As always, it was fun and entertaining. I love Holly and her furry friends. Don't miss it. Next up, another Agatha Christie that somehow missed.
And after that, I'll be reading Ginger Bolton's Double Grudge Donuts from the Deputy Donut mysteries. This series is tasty fun.
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These are a delicious treat. The recipe comes from the 12th Cookbook Nook Mystery, Poaching is Puzzling. My grandkids call them monkey brownies.
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CHOCOLATE BANANA BROWNIES
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(Yield: 9—16)
- 1 ¾ milk chocolate OR dark chocolate morsels, divided
- 1 cup gluten-free flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 ½ teaspoons whey powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ stick unsalted butter, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 medium-sized ripe bananas, quartered lengthwise and chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or use parchment paper on a 9-inch-square baking pan.
In a small bowl, microwave 1 cup of the morsels on medium for about 45 seconds. Stir. If necessary, zap again 10–15 seconds, stirring just until smooth. If using dark chocolate, you might need to add a teaspoon or two of water. Cool to room temperature.
In a large bowl, combine gluten-free flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, whey powder, and salt in small bowl.
In a medium bowl, beat the light brown sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract until creamy. Beat in the melted chocolate. Gradually beat in the gluten-free flour mixture. Stir in the bananas and remaining ¾ cup morsels. Spread mixture into the prepared baking pan.
Bake for 40–45 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into 9–16 squares. Store in an airtight container. I like to wrap the individual squares in plastic wrap so that they stay moister. This really helps with gluten-free baked goods.
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BIG NEWS! We have a new addition to our family, baby Hannah. Sparky loves to sniff her, but he's not sure what else to do with her. She doesn't do much yet except look ADORABLE! My son and family are over the moon with her arrival. So am I !!!!
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That's it. That's all that is fit to print. May your joy come from reading. May your lives be filled with love. Until next time . . . all my best,
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