Aphrodite's Charms

Aphrodite's Charms

"I lost myself in this entrancing story, set in an exotic and lush background, it sweeps you up from the first page. The relationship was realistic and developed at a nice pace. The secondary characters are as well developed as the primary characters The sex scenes are hot and the emotions run high. Kate Burns is a very gifted storyteller. If you want a romance that will touch your heart, I suggest you read Aphrodite’s Charms." - Missy, Coffee Time Romance

It can be purchased here.

Happy Holiday Weekend!

Wishing everyone a happy holiday weekend! The start of the summer season is here!! YAY!!

Wednesday adventure

Living on Martha's Vineyard gives me plenty of opportunity to have some outdoor adventures that some people just don't get to have very often. Today I'm doing something that I am very excited about. I'm going out on a friend's boat, a waterman. His livelihood depends on his catch from the sea and he's usually got his work boat out.

But today he's giving in to the call of the sun, the lure of a sea breeze and is taking his pleasure craft out for an afternoon sail. I love sailing, so when he called and asked if I'd like to join him, I dumped all my plans for the day.

I'm off to go sailing!

Canyon's Call excerpt

Thought I'd post a bit of Canyon's Call, my new release with Phaze.

Jake leaned down closer, lessening the gap between their faces
slightly. His arms were on either side of her body and she felt encircled
by the full, masculine form. It was a good feeling, one she hadn't
experienced in so long that she nearly didn't recall how wonderful it was
to be this close to a man.

When his lips touched hers a flash of white-hot heat shot up her
spine. With only a fraction of a second's hesitation, her lips responded to
the gentle touch of his and within moments they were pressed together in
the doorway. Their arms were around each other and their bodies already
lost to the desires neither of them knew were so close to the surface.

Carrie pulled Jake into her room and he kicked the door closed
behind them. While they were at dinner some thoughtful hotel employee
had lit a fire. It crackled warmly in the small brick fireplace as their
bodies moved toward it, like moths to a flame. When Carrie's back
settled onto the plush hearth rug and his body covered hers it felt as
natural as anything ever had.

"Carrie," moaned Jake, pulling his lips from hers. He looked down
at her, saw her flushed face and wide green eyes and moaned a second
time. "I want you, Carrie. You feel so damn good—so damn—oh!"
His eyebrows lifted in surprise at the touch of her hand on his ass,
pulling his hardness against her hip. Her firm grip left no doubt about
what she wanted to feel pressed to her body.

"Ah," he said, dropping his mouth to hers.

No talking, Jake. If we talk about it, I won't do it and God knows I
need it. I want it and I'll have it. Time to let my vibrator—and my
fingers—have a break. Time for the real thing. And baby, I can feel your
real thing—your real big thing—pressing against my hip.

Let's let the damn thing out before it strangles inside your pants.

Canyon's Call Released!!

Canyon's Call released today!! I couldn't be more thrilled about this. I love this book, love the way the heroine is intelligent as well as sexy and love the hot, handsome hunky cowboy hero. This book was a hoot to write and I'm hoping my readers enjoy it.

It can be purchased here.

Friday Food

Two recipes from last night's Friday Food Fest. I had three friends over and we talked and laughed until the wee hours. Too much fun, too much food, too much wine! What more could a woman ask for?! Enjoy!!

Zucchini Frittata

6 beaten eggs
1 ounce Pecarino-Romano, freshly grated
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup thinly sliced zucchini
1 cup cubed red potatoes
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves

Whisk together eggs, cheese, pepper and salt.

Heat 12-inch non-stick, oven safe saute pan over medium high heat. Add 1 tsp olive to pan. Add potatoes to pan and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove potatoes from pan. Set aside.

Using remaining oil, saute zucchini for 3 minutes.

Return the potoatoes to the pan.

Pour the egg mixture into the pan and mix together.

Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, the egg mixture should be set on the bottom and begin to set up on top.

Sprinkle with parsley.

Place pan into oven and broil for 5 to 6 minutes, until golden brown and fluffy.

Serve immediately. Enjoy!!

Apple Coffee Cake

One 13 x 9 inch cake pan is used for this recipe.

Cake:
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks of unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 cup sugar
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup of buttermilk or you can use plain yogurt, thinned with some milk to give it the consistency of milk
2 cups cored and diced baking apples

Topping:
½ cup sugar
3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 Tablespoons of cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
¾ cup coarsely chopped pecans or almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the baking dish and set aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

Beat the butter until it is creamy. Add the white and brown sugars. Beat until the mixture is light and well blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until the mixture is smooth. Then add the dry ingredients in batches, alternating with the wet milk mixture. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. Do not over mix. Stir in the apples.

Pour the mixture into prepared pan.

Mix together the ingredients for the topping. Sprinkle topping over batter.

Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Cool before serving with ice cream. Enjoy!!

Canyon's Call

My first full-length novel with Phaze Publishing is coming out in a few days. Canyon's Call is a story I loved writing, filled with romance and cowboys, an intelligent woman and lots of surprises.

A blurb:

Carrie Reed, a highly respected genetic veterinary specialist, has it all: a successful practice, fame in her chosen field, money and a body that most women would give their eye teeth for. She's also got no male prospects in sight and a mother that loves to remind Carrie that her biological clock isn't only ticking--it's groaning. So when Jake Canyon phones he commands her attention. His voice is sexy, his tone is hot and he insists there is a new species of animal roaming around on his River View Canyon Ranch. Would she come and identify it for him?

The idea leaves Carrie gasping for air. After all, it is every geneticist's dream to find a unique species. She's got a few weeks' vacation looming and all she's got planned for it is cleaning the garage. So why not? When Jake mentions his ranch is in Alaska Carrie's heart skips another beat. It sounds like a wonderful change from Maine and although her mother insists there are no men to be found in the Alaskan wilderness Carrie decides to go to Jake's ranch. What has she got to lose? She just may find a new animal on her trip. And even if there is no new species, she figures just seeing the man that belongs to the hotter-than-fire voice will be worth the journey.

Writing, writing, writing

I've spent the past two days writing non-stop. No, really. Non. Stop.

I've had an idea brewing in my head for a while now, a story of love and deceit and it's finally screamed its way out. Yay! There's no way to describe the feeling of finally committing a story to paper (screen) and getting it out of your head. Now I'll let it rest for a while before I go back and give it a few tweaks. Then, who knows? Maybe it'll be off, let loose into the world.

Straight from my head to the world...now, isn't that a thought to be afraid of?? LOL!!

Monday already?

How does it happen? Monday comes so quickly, while Friday comes so sloooooooowly. What do you think? Time warp or something? Hmm....an idea for a book, maybe? Hmm...

This Monday I have my day planned to the minute, almost. It should be great, because I'll get heaps of stuff done. But by the time tonight rolls around, I'll be ready to fall face down onto the carpet--after I have a glass of wine, that is. What have I got to do? Oh, mostly I've got to take care of cleaning the rafting and camping equipment. My girlfriends left late last night, heading back to their realities, and since I host these little trips I'm the one who owns the equipment, so I'm the one who gets the job of cleaning it after we're done with it. Do I mind? Not really, since I love these trips and I know that once I get everything shipshape and squared away, we're ready for the next big rafting adventure.

And really, a trip with the gals is worth scrubbing down some camping gear. And that's any day of the week, not just Monday!

Hope your Monday is a good one!!

Rafting Fun

Ah, I've been rafting with the girlfriends. We've known each other for so long, it's like going away with a group of sisters. We all have gone our own ways and do different things but when we come together again, leaving the fams behind, we're all just a group of young, carefree friends again and it is great!!! We've got a bank manager, schoolteacher, minister's wife, divorced single mom, business owner and then there's me, writer. But when we're all together, we're just giggling, fun-loving women and the hours fly by for us.

We rode the waves, camped in lean-tos and showered in cold, cold, COLD water! We've been drinking too much, laughing until it hurts and catching up. Last night we stayed up all night long, watching the sun rise this morning.

Hope you're having as much fun as I am today! And wherever you are, whatever you're doing, I wish you lots of laughter and good friends to share it with.

Friday Food

Hey all, it's Friday. Don't you just love Fridays? I know I do--a lot. I have plans for this weekend but a lot of times on Friday night I have family and/or friends over for dinner. I know, I know, it's real homey and all, something that maybe you wouldn't expect from someone who writes racy romances but hey, romance writers eat too!! So in honor of my love of cooking and dinner parties and all that, I've decided that every Friday I'll share one of my fave recipes with you. Who knows? Maybe someday I'll compile a book of Burns' Recipes! Or maybe I'll call it Friday Food.

Anyhow, here's the first recipe. I love this. It's fast and easy to make and tastes great. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Fiesta Fajitas

10 flour tortillas
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 yellow squash, halved and thinly sliced
1 zucchini, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 cup salsa
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Wrap tortillas in aluminum foil and place in preheated 350-degree oven for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. When oil is hot, stir in onions, red and green peppers, and garlic. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook for 5 minutes. Add zucchini and yellow squash, salsa, cumin, pepper and salt and stir. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Spoon vegetable mixture evenly down the centers of warm tortillas, and sprinkle with cheese. Roll and place in oven for additional five minutes. Serve hot, with rice.

Enjoy!

All right, all right, I give in...here's a second recipe. You twisted my arm, ha ha ha!

Chocolate Banana Bread

3 mashed bananas
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
2 eggs
1/4 cup softened salted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups Chocolate Chips
1 cup chopped walnuts or almonds, optional

Beat bananas, sugar, orange juice, eggs, butter and vanilla together in a large bowl.

Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix well. Add chocolate chips and nuts, if desired and mix.

Divide batter evenly between 2 greased loaf pans. Bake at 350F degrees for 45-55 minutes. Allow loaves to cool slightly before cutting.

Now really enjoy!!

Quotes

I'm a quote hound. Read 'em, love 'em, save 'em. Funny quotes, serious quotes, life-altering quotes. Yep, I love 'em all.

Here are a few I saw recently floating around in cyberspace. If you haven't seen 'em yet, I hope you enjoy them. And if you have seen them already, well...I hope you enjoy 'em again!

:) Kate

Inside every older person is a younger person -- wondering what the hell happened. -Cora Harvey Armstrong

Inside me lives a skinny woman crying to get out. But I can usually shut the bitch up with cookies. -Unknown

I refuse to think of them as chin hairs. I think of them as stray eyebrows.-Janette Barber

My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first one being--hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint. -Erma Bombeck

Old age ain't no place for sissies. -Bette Davis

Thirty-five is when you finally get your head together and your body starts falling apart. -Caryn Leschen

If you can't be a good example -- then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.

I'm not going to vacuum 'til Sears makes one you can ride on. -Roseanne Barr

Behind every successful man is a surprised woman. -Maryon Pearson

Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission. -Eleanor Roosevelt

When life hands you lemons, ask for tequila and salt and call me over!!

Catching Up

Oh, friends, I'm so sorry I've been absent for so long. Truly, I have been writing and rewriting and just generally catching up. The winter months, they do drag on sometimes. But now I'm ready to jump right into...

Spring! And all the fun it brings!!

First on my list is going white water rafting this weekend with some friends. We're psyched to shoot the suds, something we do every spring to sort of initiate ourselves again, open the warm weather seasons with a bang! Or at the very least, with a good, cold soaking. Have I mentioned that my rafting friends are all women? We leave families behind a few times each year to get together, hang around a campfire and pretend we're all back in college. Pretend we're young and wild and crazy and unencumbered by responsibilities...pretend we've got no more serious dilemmas than choosing what kind of beer to drink or where we'll shove off from the next morning. Girl bonding, I like it. Oh yeah, we talk about guys, too. A lot.

So I'm set for spring to officially begin in my world this weekend. What about you? What have you been doing?