My buddy Rachael Johns received the best Christmas present this week. ONE PERFECT NIGHT, her debut novel, released on Monday from Carina Press and has been earning rave reviews. With good reason!

I loved this book. It’s a wonderfully emotional read with likeable characters you can’t help but barrack for. And, very apt for this time of year, it has a Christmas theme. So if you’re looking for a gift for the reader in your life, or perhaps for yourself, you’ll be on a winner with ONE PERFECT NIGHT.

Here’s the blurb for you.

Peppa Grant’s fellow employees may call their new CEO Mr. McSexy, but she’s also heard that he’s aloof and distant. Cameron McCormac certainly seems cold toward Christmas when she meets him at the company’s annual party…but he’s also the sexiest man Peppa has ever seen. And when he offers to forgive the damage she accidentally caused to his expensive car in exchange for accompanying him to his family’s holiday get-together, she agrees.

Cameron needs a date to the family party to get his matchmaking relatives off his back. Their chemistry is instant and undeniable, leading to an incredible one-night stand. But Peppa wants love and family, while Cameron’s only interested in temporary pleasure. When their relationship takes an unexpectedly serious turn, will he run the other way—or will he give love a second chance?

Hooked and want more? Of course you do. Well, either rush on over to Carina Press and hit that “Buy” button or read an extract here and THEN rush over to Carina Press and hit the “Buy” button. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Rachael has plenty of other books in the works, but I’m super excited about her rural set romance JILTED, which is coming out mid 2012 from Harlequin, and is one you’ll definitely want to keep an eye out for. JILTED features the sexiest sheep farming hero – the sort of man to give you warm fuzzy daydreams and Farmer Wants A Wife fantasies. You can keep up with all the news about Jilted and Rachael’s other books on her website, blog, Facebook page and Twitter.

As this is the final Friday Feast for the year, I want to take the opportunity to wish you a joy-filled festive season and say thanks for following the blog. The Friday Feast series has been enormous fun and I hope you’ve enjoyed the posts as much as I have. Friday Feast will back in the New Year even bigger and better with a delicious line-up of authors and recipes. So stay tuned for January 20^th when Brightwater Blood and The Goblin King author Shona Husk shares her completely decadent recipe for Toblerone Brownies. Oh, I cannot wait for that one. My mouth waters just thinking about it!

And now I hand you over to Rachael…

The Glamorous Life of a Newly Published Author

Last Monday my debut novel One Perfect Night released with Carina Press. To say I’m ecstatic and that this is a dream come true is probably an UNDERSTATEMENT!!

And the best part of being a real-life novelist? I get to swan around in my pajamas all day (feather boa wrapped around my neck and diamante slippers at my feet), sipping cold champagne brought to me by a topless waiter that looks a lot like Ryan Gosling (oh hell, maybe he IS Ryan Gosling), while I type the odd word on my computer occasionally and block out the noise of my housekeepers tidying up and doing the washing outside my office!!

Have you clicked that this is all some wicked fantasy yet?

Let me tell you what I was really doing on the day of my debut…

For starters I was making THREE KILOGRAMS of meatballs for the local daycare fundraiser. I also worked on checkout in our shop, was woken far too early by my exuberant three year old, broke up fights between him and his two older brothers, did four loads of washing (much of which is still waiting to be folded and put away), took kids to swimming lessons and then made THEM dinner of meatballs (I was on a roll) before going out and acting as a waitress (not topless) to serve this gourmet fare to eight local shire workers for their Christmas dinner. Glamorous? Not exactly.

But one thing that really made me smile that day (apart from the debut book and my beautiful boys) was the meatballs. I’m a bit of a throw a bit of this in here and a bit of something else in there cook and I did the same with these meatballs and they were a HIT. Everyone commented how delicious they were at the Christmas dinner and the kids didn’t make a face and actually ate them. So today on Cathryn’s last Friday Feast of the year, I thought I’d share with you, my simple but delicious meatball recipe. Well, what I can remember of it!

SUPERMUM MEATBALLS

Ingredients:

1kg of mince

2 eggs

a handful of breadcrumbs

1 large grated onion

a small handful of grated cheese (whatever type takes your fancy)

1 clove of crushed garlic

a few splashes of soy sauce

a few splashes of tomato sauce

Method:

Whisk eggs, then mix all other ingredients together with the eggs. Shape into small balls, place on baking tray (probably two, this recipe makes a lot) and cook in the oven until… well, until they’re done!!

Serve with pasta and whatever sauce you like. Because I’m all about the easy, i just bought a stir-through sauce and mixed the meatballs, pasta and sauce together. Delish! For the shire dinner, they ate them on their own or dipped into tomato sauce!

Merry Christmas all!

Thanks, Rachael. These meatballs sound delicious and easy. An ideal match for the lazy holiday season, just like ONE PERFECT NIGHT.

Have a safe,  laughter and love-filled Christmas, everyone, and I’ll catch you in 2012.