Well, Feasters, I’m super excited today. Not only am I in Stawell, Victoria, talking at the local library’s Girl’s Night In (7-30pm, Stawell Library, Sloane Street in case you’re in the area and on the hunt for a faaaaabulous evening) but it’s the official release day of my good buddy Rachael Johns’ rural romance Jilted.

Now, call me biased (cos I am), but I can honestly say that Jilted is a wonderful book. It’s the sort of story that hooks you from page one and keeps you entranced until the final page. The characters are vividly drawn, the setting dynamic, the story emotional and don’t get me started on the hero, the super sexy farmer Flynn Quartermaine. He’d nearly give Lachie from Heart of the Valley a run. Nearly. A girl has to stand up for her man after all, even if he is fictional.

Here’s the cover and blurb to whet your literary appetite.

JILTED

She left him at the altar, but her heart was always his…

After more than ten years away, Australian soap star Ellie Hughes returns to the small country town of Hope Junction, determined to remain anonymous while caring for her injured godmother, Matilda.

But word spreads fast in the tight-knit community. It isn’t long before the people of Hope’s are gossiping about the real reason for Ellie’s visit and why she broke the heart of golden boy Flynn Quartermaine all those years ago.

Soon Ellie and Flynn are thrown back together again, forced to deal with the unresolved emotions between them. For Ellie is not the only one with secrets. Flynn has his own demons to battle, and Matilda is hiding something from her much-loved goddaughter.

When all is uncovered, can the ill-fated lovers overcome the wounds of their past? Or is Flynn destined to be jilted again?

Fantastic, isn’t it? Fortunately Jilted is now released and you can buy it right here, right now.  Just click!

And now here’s Rach…

Hiya Cathryn!! Am ecstatic to be back on your wonderful Friday Feast for a number of reasons:

1. It’s YOUR blog. Nuff said. For all Cathryn’s readers she’s not only an awesome writer, but an ace crit partner and fabulous friend. I certainly couldn’t do without her!!
2. We’re talking food and I am a MASSIVE food fan. I admit I bake/cook less and less lately (probably cos my kids whine too much about my cooking and it’s given me a complex) but I’m a VERY good eater.
3. Today is an extra special day for me – it’s the actual RELEASE date of my first print book – JILTED!

 The Way To A Heroine Is Through Her Stomach…

I thought as well as talk about food, I’d talk about fictional heroes! My ideal hero in a book is much the same as in real life – as well as being good looking, hard-working, intelligent, I like a man who can cook and happily does so for the woman in his life. Seriously, I think the saying should be ‘the way to a WOMAN’S heart is through her stomach’ because what woman doesn’t like a man to cook for her?

The hero of Jilted – Flynn – shares some traits with my hubby. When Ellie is at her absolute lowest, Flynn looks after her. He makes her tea, offers a shoulder to lean on and COOKS! Swoon. In one section of the book, he cooks her pancakes for breakfast and pancakes just happen to be one of my favourite foods.

When I was pregnant with my first son, my darling hubby would go into the kitchen at all hours of the night and whip me up some pancakes when I was hungry. Occasionally he’d use that ghastly stuff in a bottle but most of the time, he make them from scratch. How’s that for love!? Let’s not talk about the fact he didn’t make me even ONE pancake for the next two pregnancies.

Pancakes are important in our family. Whether it started with the pregnancy cravings, who knows, but every Sunday morning, we eat pancakes. 51 weeks of the year, I’m the pancake chef and on Mother’s Day my hubby and the boys will give it a whirl.

I’m a bit of a throw it all together and hope for the best cook, so rarely do my pancakes turn out the same. Sometimes they’re thick and fluffy, other times they’re almost crepes. But a few weeks back I saw a recipe in the Masterchef magazine for Coconut Pancakes with Orange Maple Plums. I didn’t do the plum bit but I did try the coconut and I’m hooked!! Delicious. Almost as scrumptious as the time I put choc-chips in the batter, actually maybe more so.

So today, I’d like to share with you a recipe I pretty much stole from Masterchef…

COCONUT PANCAKES

Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ cups SR flour
• ½ cup caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 tsp bi-carb soda
• 1 ½ cups milk
• 60g butter, melted
• 1tsp vanilla essence
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• ¼ tsp salt
• Extra butter

Method:

1. Line a baking tray with baking paper to keep made pancakes warm. Heat oven to 160 degrees.
2. Sift flour, bicarb, sugar and salt into a bowl.
3. Place eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and melted butter in another bowl and whisk to combine.
4. Pour wet mixture onto dry mixture and whisk until smooth.
5. Melt some butter in non-stick frying pan over low-medium heat. Spoon batter into the pan, and spread to desired size. Wait until bubbles appear, scatter coconut and then flip pancakes with a spatula.
6. Cooke until lightly browned underneath. Transfer pancake/s to oven to keep warm while you repeat the process until the mixture is finished.
7. EAT!

We prefer our pancakes the traditional way with maple syrup (must be the real stuff) or sugar and lemon. We also occasionally have strawberries and cream. These pancakes can be made without the coconut, but the coconut is what makes them stand out!!!

Mmm, now that’s a recipe to start your day with. Thanks, Rach. Love the piccies of your boys. They’re so cute!

Now, my lovelies, Rachael has very generously offered up a signed copy of Jilted as a giveaway. But to be in the running you have to share your ideal breakfast dish. Don’t have one? That’s okay. Rachael and I will compromise and accept a juicy description of your ideal hero instead. Better make him good though, between Rach’s Flynn and my Lachie that’s a whole lot of man to live up to!

Giveaway closes midnight Tuesday, 5^th June 2012 AEST. Australian addresses only, sorry.

If you’d like to know more about Rachael and her wonderful books please visit her website. You can also connect via her blog, Facebook and Twitter.

This giveaway has now closed. Congratulations to Gemma who is the lucky winner of a copy of Jilted. Thanks everyone for joining in the fun and for all those beeeoooootiful (and rather fattening) breakfast ideas!