Shhh. We, those of us who celebrate Thanksgiving, have snuck away for a quiet moment.  

I hope you have secured a piece of pie or two for yourself because Thanksgiving is all about the pie.

Cupcakes, donuts, bunt cakes all have their charms but the next big thing should be pie. 

Here are some lovely Romance Novels featuring Pie. Try to drag your mind out of the gutter please if it went there. :) This is a family holiday. 

1.  Howl For It by Shelly Laurenston  Pie baking wolf shifters. The best.  

2.  Delectable by Adrianne Lee 

3. Inn at Last Chance by Hope Ramsay

4. Amish White Christmas Pie  by Wanda E. Brunstetter

5. The Angel Of Devil's Camp by Lynna Banning

6. Miracle Pie by Edie Ramer

7. Christmas at the Gingerbread Café by Rebecca Raisin

8. The Apple Pie Knights by Deborah Smith

9. THE ATA BITA PIE CAFE by Bonnie Drury

10. How to Bake the Perfect Pecan Pie by Gina Henning

Do you have anymore? Gimme!

To vote for the best of the best visit my Goodreads list: Pie: Romance Novels featuring Pie

Happy Thanksgiving! 

It is a week from Thanksgiving around here.  The season of eating begins. :)

Please enjoy these Thanksgiving Theme Romances. 

My lists are never in any particular order. 

And since Thanksgiving brings out the bargain hunter in many folks, I will let you know which ones are under $3.

1. How to Bake the Perfect Pecan Pie by Gina Henning $1.99

Lauren Hauser is home for the holidays, and she’s been given a challenge: preparing her grandmother’s pecan pie. The problem? Lauren’s not famed for her baking skills. In fact, while her sister would win Star Baker every week, and her mom at least knows a sieve from a spatula, Lauren’s bakes have always been more dangerous than delicious!

Still, no Thanksgiving would be complete without dessert…which is why Lauren finds herself searching for pecans on Thanksgiving Eve. Stumbling into a gorgeous stranger laden down with bags of pecans seems like a holiday miracle…but despite Jack’s kissable lips he’s frostier than a snow cone…and out of sight before she can say ‘Macy’s Parade’!

As the clock counts down to Thanksgiving dinner, Lauren is running out of time. And without her grandmother’s perfect pecan pie it won’t be a very Happy Thanksgiving! What Lauren needs is a knight in shining armour. And it might just be that the magic of Thanksgiving will find her one after all…

2. Early Bird Special by Tracy Krimmer  99 cents

Francie excels at her job as a party planner, but can't say the same about love. When an obnoxious, but handsome, man approaches her in line at a Thanksgiving sale, she pushes him away like she always does. Can Francie put her fears aside and nab an early bird special, or is she destined to plan every wedding but her own?

3. Apples Should Be Red by Penny Watson 99 cents

Recipe for Thanksgiving Dinner:

Start with 62-year old politically incorrect, chain-smoking, hard-cussing curmudgeon.

Add 59-year old sexually-repressed know-it-all in pearls.

Throw in a beer can-turkey, a battle for horticultural supremacy, and nudist next-door neighbor.

Serve on paper plates, garnished with garden gnome.

4. Love And All The Trimmings  by Barbara McMahon 99 cents

An unexpected reunion at Thanksgiving changes a growing relationship when an old flame shows up just when Juliana has hopes for a future with Matt.

5. A Marine of Plenty by Heather Long $2.99

Serving overseas is a lonely duty…

Captain Charlie Sparks faces an impossible task—assigned to a security detail for the sister of a fallen Marine. The last thing Charlie wants is this beautiful woman in the middle of a base in Afghanistan no matter what holiday she plans to help them celebrate. But no one asked for his opinion, and worse, she’s everything he adores in a woman and more…

Mourning what might have been is a terrible burden…

Jana Grimaldi had a plan—a plan to help her brother when he came home, but his death in Afghanistan left a hole in her heart and a desperate desire to do something. With the help of Congressman Sparks, she heads to Afghanistan to bring Thanksgiving to the men and women who served with her brother. Nervous and uneasy, she finds an unexpected—and familiar ally in Captain Sparks…

Not all wounds heal…

Charlie was one of the first people to reach out to Jana, communicating via email when her brother died—but coming face to face in the lonely desolation of the holiday connects these two wounded souls…

Can Charlie and Jana find hope amidst the heartbreak this Thanksgiving?

6. Cranberry Kisses  by Susan Stovall 99 cents

JayLiana is all set for wedding bells but instead receives the heartbreaking shock of her life from the man she's about to marry----right before their wedding day. Feeling a strong need to get away from it all, she packs away her engagement ring and decides to move away for a while. When she accepts a seasonal job as the office manager at a cranberry farm on the East Coast, little does she know she may be in for an even bigger heartbreak. As Thanksgiving approaches and the cranberry harvest is winding down, she must face making a heart-wrenching decision about her job, her future, and her boss at the cranberry farm.

7.  Road Signs by M.J. Fredrick $2.99

Briefly captivated by the idea of romance and pretty, shiny weddings, Willow Hawkins agreed to meet her potential boyfriend's family and quickly realized she'd made a mistake. Stranded in small-town Nowhere, Willow calls her best friend, Cameron Trask, for an escape.

Even though he'll miss an important job interview, Cam comes to her rescue. When Willow starts to see Cam with new eyes, she wonders how she's never made the connection from best friend to best lover. Willow has one chance to help the man she loves—join him on a cross-country road trip to get to the interview on time. On the way they'll face a jealous puppy, an unreliable automobile and weather that threatens to trap them alone...together.

The biggest roadblock she'll come up against? If Cam gets his dream job, Willow may lose him for good.

8. Seven Day Fiancé by Rachel Harris

Angelle Prejean is in a pickle. Her family is expecting her to come home with a fiancé--a fiancé who doesn't exist. Well, he exists, but he definitely has no idea Angelle told her mama they were engaged. Tattooed, muscled, and hotter than sin, Cane can reduce Angelle to a hot mess with one look--and leave her heart a mess if she falls for him. But when she ends up winning him at a charity bachelor auction, she knows just how to solve her fiancé problem.

Cane Robicheaux is no one's prince. He doesn't do relationships and he doesn't fall in love. When sweet, sultry-voiced Angelle propositions him, he hopes their little fiancé game can finally get her out of his head. He doesn't expect her to break through all his barriers. But even as Angelle burrows deeper into his heart, he knows once their seven days are up, so is their ruse.

9. Walking On Air by Catherine Anderson

Random, Colorado, is just another stop on the road for solitary gunslinger Gabriel Valance. Known for his drinking, gambling, and womanizing, he prefers to remain a stranger to anyone who crosses his path. But when an upstart gunslinger catches Gabe off guard and shoots him down, he regrets his empty, lonely life with his dying breath....

Golden-haired beauty Nancy Hoffman settled in Random after fleeing an abusive past. Caring for her younger sister and working in a hat shop help her to forge ahead, though she remains fearful and mistrustful of men—and marriage....

Their paths will cross when Gabe gets a second chance at life and a divine mission: to sweep Nancy off her feet, gain her trust, and convince her to believe in his love. And in doing so, the once-hardened cowboy may save himself....

10. The Rancher's Family Thanksgiving by Cathy Gillen Thacker

When her family decides to play matchmaker, Susie can think of only one man to help her run interference. Rancher and caring vet Tyler McCabe has always been there for her anytime she needed a broad shoulder to lean on…or a warm kiss to heat up a cold Texas night. But will pretending to be a couple ruin their friendship?

Tyler isn't sure about the idea either, but he can't let Susie marry somebody else. Not when there's a man right here in Laramie who loves her and plans to show her a Thanksgiving neither of them will forget….

Happy Reading! 

To vote for the best of the best of Thanksgiving Romance, go to my Goodreads list: Thanksgiving Romances.

How to Bake the Perfect Pecan Pie



Home for the Holidays, #1
Gina Henning



Genre: Contemporary Holiday Romance
Publisher: Carina
Date of Publication: November 7, 2014
Word Count: ~54,000

A warm pie. A tasty guy. Happy Thanksgiving indeed.

Lauren Hauser is home for the holidays, and she’s been given a challenge: preparing her grandmother’s pecan pie. The problem? Lauren’s not famed for her baking skills. In fact, while her sister would win Star Baker every week, and her mom at least knows a sieve from a spatula, Lauren’s bakes have always been more dangerous than delicious!

Still, no Thanksgiving would be complete without dessert…which is why Lauren finds herself searching for pecans on Thanksgiving Eve. Stumbling into a gorgeous stranger laden down with bags of pecans seems like a holiday miracle…but despite Jack’s kissable lips he’s frostier than a snow cone…and out of sight before she can say ‘Macy’s Parade’!

As the clock counts down to Thanksgiving dinner, Lauren is running out of time. And without her grandmother’s perfect pecan pie it won’t be a very Happy Thanksgiving! What Lauren needs is a knight in shining armour. And it might just be that the magic of Thanksgiving will find her one after all…

Review (Almost): 

Back in August I received a request from the author to see if I was interested in reviewing her book. Now as I am sure all the other bloggers out there know, we can get inundated with requests. Requests that are lengthy, full of verbose bragging about how awesome their book is and why it would be perfect for us even though it's not even in a genre we read.

That was not the case with Ms. Henning. I got this short, but sweet little email asking if I was interested in reading her book with a link to get more information. Simple, yet effective. The book at the time was titled Going Pecans and looked right up my alley. So she sent it to me and I read it and enjoyed it.  My biggest complaint... it wasn't long enough, I wanted more.  So we set a date to do the review and we set up a Guest Post to go with it.  Then something completely awesome happened for her.... The book was picked up by Carina UK, retitled and almost 20k worth of words was added. Yeah!!!

However this meant that the date we had agreed on got pushed back until November to fall more in line with the release date.  And that my good friends is when things on my end, went a bit off track. I kept waiting for the book to show up on Netgalley, but ummm... yeah. I don't know if I missed it, or they didn't post it, but I haven't actually gotten to read the new updated version.

So.  This is my 'almost' review.  The original story was good. I liked it. I would have given it 3 stars. Like I said, my biggest complaint was that I thought it wasn't long enough. It needed just a bit more, even keeping in mind that this is a series with another book coming out for Christmas.  With the additional 20k words, I have a feeling that has been taken care of. If you are looking for a Thanksgiving story to fill in with all those Christmas ones... Grab this one. I know I will be.

Guest Post: 

Music is such a magical thing. Hearing a song or lyric can evoke a strong emotion, a memory, a thought, and even cause movement. I like to dance and though most people would probably prefer I didn’t, I also enjoy singing karaoke.

My first music concert was to see…wait for it…New Kids on the Block! Yes, that’s right, I was singing Step by Step ooh baby. My bangs were teased and in the form of a wave, sprayed together by gobs of aerosol. I had on some stonewashed jeans and a neon-esque shirt to match. The concert was in Frankfurt, Germany, and I was in middle school, it was definitely a coming of age experience. My next concert didn’t happen until I was in high school and was on a date with my now husband. He took me to see Pearl Jam. I wore a Bazooka Joe shirt that I had ordered from the gum wrappers and a pair of shorts, and thought I was pretty awesome in my retro assemble. My husband wore a t-shirt advertising another band and I found this to be odd, but he informed me this is what “the cool concert goers do”. What did I know? It was only my second concert. We recently saw Pearl Jam at ACL(Austin City Limits Festival), this time my husband and I both were fashioned much like Johnny Cash. I tiptoed thorough the crowds of young and old faces as the ground was muddy and I had not planned accordingly, pro-tip don’t wear sandals to a concert. But alas the music was great.

Writing while listening to music helps me escape into the story, especially, when I can plug in my earphones. I dive deeper into the zone and am unaware of the happenings around me. When I’m writing a scene, I can hear the melody of different tunes in the background around the characters or what they are hearing in their own head. Throughout How to Bake the Perfect Pecan Pie, Lauren references different songs. Lauren’s musical tastes cross over various different genres depending upon her mood or how she perceives a certain situation. Sometimes it’s just a lyric other times the tempo is playing in her mind.

Given this I have created a playlist for How to Bake the Perfect Pecan Pie. Some of these songs have actual references in the story and some are songs I could hear playing as I wrote. Less than half of these songs are songs I actually listened to as I was writing, if this gives you any insight as to how I write.

How does music make you feel? What song would be playing in the background during a montage scene of your life? Tell me in the comments!

Author Bio:

Gina Henning currently resides where bluebonnets line the highways in the spring, but she prefers the rock flower anemone from under the sea. Above the ocean’s surface Gina likes to dance with her three boys and travel to exotic places like the grocery store with her husband. Her pooch Schatzi is a mix between German Shepherd and possibly pig. One of Gina’s favorite pastimes is running. She recently completed her one-and-done marathon. At the end of the day her glass of wine is always half-full.

To connect with the author online:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Google+ | Instagram | Goodreads

Lauren has been entrusted with her grandmother’s highly secret pecan pie recipe and has been tasked to bake this pie for the upcoming family Thanksgiving meal.  Looking at the ingredient list, everything looks pretty standard – except the pecans.  They MUST come from a certain pecan farm – no exceptions, or the pie will not be the same. These pecans absolutely make the pie taste so good and grandma will know if inferior pecans are used.  You know the saying – if grandma ain’t happy, ain’t no one happy!

Of course, once Lauren gets to the pecan farm, only one small eight ounce bag is left and she needs ten ounces to make the pie.  As she is in line to check out, the sexy business man in front of her has thirteen bags of the desired pecans.  What the heck does he need all those for?  Surly he can spare one small bag.  But nope, the pecan hoarder is not parting with the pecans, no matter the price Lauren offers him.

Anyway, the situation goes from bad to worse as she starts her two hour trip home and she gets a flat tire.  Of course, there is no spare tire in the trunk thanks to her not so handy brother-in -law.  Then she discovers her cell phone has died.  So with that, she starts walking home.  Being in Texas, the weather changes by the minute (truth….I live there!) and her sunny and warm forecasted day turns to a freezing sleet storm.

Lucky for her, a passing vehicle stops to help and it is none other than the pecan hoarder.  His name is Jack by the way.  They really do click and since they both have pies to make, Jack invites Lauren to his place of business because he has an awesome commercial kitchen and they can whip those pies up in no time.  Once she gets there though and looks over his recipe, she discovers that her grandmother’s secret family recipe is not so special at all because Jack has the same exact one.  Lauren is devastated because she thought her grandma’s recipe was extra special, but spending the time with Jack make her forget all about that.

Oh, my gosh!  This story was an absolute delight to read!  Humor and funny antics are abundant in this fast paced, loveable story and I could not help but laugh out loud as I was reading.  Even figuring out that Grandma might be playing match maker did not take away from the story at all – matter of fact, it made it all that much funnier.  Going Pecans is truly fantastic and well worth the time.  Ms. Henning’s writing style flows so effortlessly, the reader can’t help but be swept away in this sweet story.  I highly recommend Going Pecans if you love a light-hearted romance that is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.

*I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.