Dish The Pie With Monique & guest...Linda Nightingale Pecan Pie & Gambler's Choice #RomSus #AuthorInterview

Dish The Pie With Monique & Linda Nightingale

Please welcome my guest Linda Nightingale to Dish The Pie. Today Linda and I are talking SouthernPecan Pie and her Romantic Suspense, Gambler's Choice. But before I ask Linda about her fab book, I need to know...

Do you like desserts, Linda? What is your favourite and would you share the recipe with us?

Linda: I’m not much of a dessert person, but I love ice cream. Since I can’t make my own ice cream, I’ll share the recipe for something my mom used to make…Southern Pecan Pie.

Monique: Oh yum! I love pecan anything. Bring it on!

Linda's Mom's handwritten recipe for Southern Pecan Pie.

Southern Pecan Pie

Recipe

Mix 1 cup sugar with 1 tablespoon flour

Add 3 unbeaten eggs, 1 cup white Karo syrup, 1 teaspoon vanilla, ¼ pound margarine or butter – Mix well (do not heat)

Place pecans in pie crust and pour mixture over pecans

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 325 degrees for 45-60 minutes (do not overcook)

Linda: And that’s how my mom made the most extraordinary pecan pies!

Monique: I'm totally making this pie, Linda! Have you ever eaten pie for breakfast? If so, what was it?

Linda: A guilty pleasure—yes—pecan pie (as in the recipe!)

Monique: Yummy! What’s your favourite food?

Linda: Lobster, hands down, no contest—but I love a good, medium rare steak prepared Pittsburgh style (charred on the outside, very rare on the inside).  I’ll also take snow crab, king crab or lamb chops with mint sauce.  Hum, I must be hungry as of this writing.

Monique: I think we can all agree that Lobster is pretty delish. How important is humour to you?

Linda: Very. That’s high on my list of priorities in finding the man of my dreams.    I had a British gentlemen once as a boyfriend and he constantly made me laugh. Such fun!

Monique: How often do you laugh, Linda?

Linda: A lot—most of the time at myself. I’m very clumsy.

Monique: Awww...maybe you’re one of my heroines . When was the last time you laughed?

Linda: This morning, but as to a fit of hilarity, my friend and I went to Galveston for my birthday. We started laughing and couldn’t stop, each feeding the other another line off the cuff until our sides hurt.

Monique: Happy belated birthday! When was the last time you cried?

Linda: I read a post on Facebook about how one missed her father. I miss mine to this day, and he died in 2006. I cried then.

Monique: I sympathise. I still shed a tear when I think of my loved ones who have gone home to be with the Lord. Would you tell us a bit about your book, Linda?

Gambler's Choice

A Romantic Suspense

by 

Linda Nightingale 

Becca McQuaid came to England to find the perfect horse but instead met a darkly mysterious challenge in Austen Heath, Baron of Hampton. She’s determined to buy Austen’s stallion Gambler’s Choice. He’s determined not to sell, but the rivals are thrown together by an accident that leaves Austen with a broken leg and the threat he’ll never ride again.


Austen Heath has the title, heritage and manor house…but not the fortune. Becca is wealthy. Her charms are irresistible, but he believes she’s shopping for a Ladyship to go with her money. He has another reason to hold the sexy blonde at arms’ length—the unexplained disappearance of an old friend everyone thinks was his lover. When her body is discovered on his property, he becomes a suspect in her murder. 

Rebecca McQuaid was in England for one reason.

To find the perfect match.

Size was important. Becca was a tall girl. Money was of no consequence whatsoever. Becca was a wealthy girl. Heart mattered most. He must have the heart to go the distance. She dreamed of a partnership that would last a lifetime. But looks did rank quite high on her list of priorities.

“I simply can’t ride an ugly horse. That would be like dating an ugly man.” Tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder, she laughed and winked at her friend.

Meg shot her a frown, her tone accusing Becca of being an uncivilized colonist. “Rebecca McQuaid, you say the damnedest things.”

An appreciative chuckle turned her around to squint into the sun. A tall, elegant, dark figure of a man on a magnificent horse caught her imagination mid-stride. She couldn’t see the rider’s face, but she knew he’d overheard the exchange with her friend. He saluted her with a tap of his whip to the brim of his hat as he rode past. Excitement capered over her, and she smiled. The horse’s muscled, blood bay rump glistened. The stallion was sixteen-two hands, fit and impeccably groomed.

“Nice buns. That one’s good-looking enough for me.” She elbowed her friend. “Who is it?”

Meg shaded her eyes. “Gambler’s Choice and Austen Heath. Both horse and rider satisfy your criteria, my dear girl.”

“The horse is handsome.” She wished she had gotten a better look at the bay, but he was a mahogany blaze in the morning sun. “Are you telling me the rider is?”

“That’s the general consensus, but Austen hides in that rambling, dark mansion of his.” Meg studied the pair picking up a trot along the arena. “Fierce competitors. Hard to beat at Intermediate. We’ll see how they handle Advanced.”

 “An Advanced horse?” Becca wriggled her shoulders. “I’m in the market.”

“Look elsewhere.” Meg’s finger jutted at Becca’s nose. 

“Austen won’t sell Gambler for love or money. Guaranteed. 

Not even for the kind of money you’re willing to spend.”

“Meggie.” She linked arms with her friend. “Everything has a price.”

Meg balked like a donkey. “You’re in a different world, princess.”

“Well, not everything. Love doesn’t have a price.” Pain wrenched her heart as a memory of the breakup with Daniel flashed through her mind. The hurt was too fresh to even think of another man. “But I’m not in the market for love.”

Becca had found that the best way to protect her heart was to play spoiled little rich girl. She had that part down pat, and, as Winston Churchill had said, There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man. She was looking for a horse to fall in love with and help mend her broken heart.

Trailer for Gambler's Choice

 In eBook. Paperback coming soon

Amazon

Born in South Carolina, Linda has lived in England, Canada, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Atlanta and Houston.  She’s seen a lot of this country from the windshield of a truck pulling a horse trailer, having bred, trained and showed Andalusian horses for many years.

Linda has won several writing awards, including the Georgia Romance Writers Magnolia Award.   She is the mother of two wonderful sons, a retired legal assistant, member of the Houston Symphony League, and enjoys events with her car club.  Among her favorite things are her snazzy black convertible and her parlor grand piano.  She loves to dress up and host formal dinner parties.

Twitter:  @LNightingale | Facebook |  Web Site |   Blog | 

Linda is giving away one of her backlist eBooks to a lucky commenter. You get to choose from these titles:  Sinners’ Opera, Sinners’ Obsession, Cardinal Desires, Gemini Rising, or Love For Sale.

Please leave a comment below for Linda, and your chance to win one of her books.