‘These Are A Few of My Favorite Things’

Please help me welcome Donna Marie Rogers to Killer Fiction. She's new friend I've come across on the world wide web. Take it away Donna!!!

To celebrate the release of Meant To Be, second book in my Jamison series, I decided to make a list of some of my favorite things, since everybody has favorite things. My heroine, Jessica, loves a perfectly cooked burger. And Garrett loves his family. He also loves being a cop, even thought he’s not sure he deserves to keep his badge, but more on that later. I’ve also included one of my favorite recipes for using up the oodles of zucchini I end up with every year.

Favorite Ice Cream – Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food...Chocolate ice cream, gooey marshmallow, swirls of caramel, yummy little chocolate fishies....ahhhh, it doesn’t get much better than that! I also recommend Chocolate Macadamia, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Chubby Hubby & S’mores.

Favorite Fruit – Strawberries ‘n’ Cream...Okay, the cream isn’t technically ‘fruit’, but I can’t eat strawberries without it.

**Mix well one 8 ounce cream cheese with one 7 -7 ½ ounce jar Marshmallow fluff and chill.

Favorite Vegetable – Zucchini...I love it baked with a savory mix of bread crumbs, mushrooms, tomatoes, fresh basil, and parmesan cheese. But nothing beats chocolate-chocolate chip zucchini bread. Here’s the recipe – enjoy!

Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Mix together: 3 cups flour1 ½ teaspoons baking powder½ cup sugar1 teaspoon baking soda2/3 cup brown sugar1 teaspoon salt1/3 to ½ unsweetened cocoa powder Then add: 3 beaten eggs2 cups shredded zucchini¾ cup vegetable oil2 teaspoons vanilla1 cup chocolate chips

Mix well, divide between two greased bread pans, and bake at 325 for about an hour.

Favorite Soups – Croation & Cream of Potato...Nothing makes my family happier than a bowl of homemade Cream of Potato Soup. The key is the leeks. ;-) But our all-time favorite soup is Croation, which my husband’s aunt used to make for special occasions when he was a kid. His mother got the recipe years later, and I’ve even been known to make it (though it never tastes as good as his mom’s...LOL). Chicken wings & gizzards, dumplings, and a rich tomato broth full of green peppers & onions. I know, I know, gizzards? But honest to God, it’s one yummy soup! The only problem is, now I have to fight my daughters for the gizzards.

Favorite Meal – Swedish Meatballs, and not the Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup kind! I like them over white rice, I like them over noodles, but nothing is yummier than Swedish Meatballs over mashed potatoes, baby!

Favorite Take-Out Food – I love Chinese food! Sesame Chicken, Beef Chop Suey, Shrimp & Lobster Sauce, Fried Dumplings, Egg Rolls, Spring Rolls...sigh...Great, now I’m hungry!

Favorite Beverage – Iced Tea! I swear, I drink it by the gallon. It’s weird, I seriously can’t get enough of it....LOL And now my older daughter likes it to, so I have to share. *pout*

Favorite Dessert – Chocolate Dreams...Which is exactly what they are, literally, since Piggly Wiggly’s bakery no longer carries them...:::sniff:::... Moist Chocolate cake, a huge dollop of real whipped cream, covered in a thick blanket of chocolate ganache. I miss you, my little darlings!

Favorite TV Series (past) – Little House on the Prairie...No one tugged at the heartstrings like Michael Landon in Little House on the Prairie. *sigh* And those episodes were written with such emotion...something I try to incorporate in my own stories. I’ve seen each episode numerous times, yet if I’m flipping through the channels and I come across one, I can’t help but stop and watch.

Favorite TV Series (present) – Bones & House

The only thing I’d ever seen Hugh Laurie in before House was the Stuart Little movies, so I wasn’t sure if this series would interest me. Boy, was I wrong! Hugh Laurie is not only funnier than I ever imagined he could be, but each episode manages to grab & hold my interest until the very end. I sure hope House has several more seasons in its future! I hate saying goodbye!

Bones is another favorite of mine. Yes, I love me some David Boreanaz (Buffy the Vampire Slayer was second to Little House On the Prairie), but the whole cast is awesome. And the chemistry between Booth and Bones is undeniably hot!

Favorite Soap Operas – All My Children & One Life To Live.

Favorite Sitcom – Two & A Half Men...LOL Funny! I swear, some episodes I have to sit with my legs crossed I laugh so hard!

Favorite Season – Fall! Perfect weather, gorgeous foliage, pumpkin pie, and Halloween!

Favorite Holiday – *See Favorite Season*

Favorite Way To Relax – Reading a great book in a steaming hot bubble bath!

Favorite Movie Genres – Horror & Comedy...some of my all-time favorites, just to name a few:

Horror: The Changeling, Dracula (1979), The Amityville Horror (1979), Phantasm (1979), Salem’s Lot (1979—what can I say, it was a good year), The Ring, The Exorcist, The Shining, The Omen, Christine, Carrie, My Bloody Valentine, Evilspeaks....wow, I could go on forever!

Comedy: Arthur, Just One of the Guys, Easy Money, Stir Crazy, Back To School, Porky’s, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Bachelor Party, National Lampoon’s Vacation (Okay, so I’m stuck in the 80s. LOL)

Favorite Gangster Movies – Goodfellas & Scarface (I can’t decide!)

Favorite Song – All Right Now by Free (Yep, I’m a rocker!)

Favorite Sports – Football & Figure Skating...Yeah, I know, weird, right? LOL

Favorite Stooge – Curly! It’s not even a competition!

Favorite Vampires – The Black Dagger Brotherhood! What a sexy bunch of ass-kickin’ blood suckers...Thank you, J.R. Ward!

Favorite Authors (past & present, in no particular order) – Lori Foster, J.R. Ward, Lara Adrian, Janet Evanovich, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Linda Howard, Jayne Ann Krentz, Judith McNaught, Dorothy Garlock, Rebecca Paisley, Julie Garwood, Christie Craig, Catherine Hart, Johanna Lindsey, Karen Robards, Mary Jo Putney, Norah Hess, Catherine Coulter, Katherine Sutcliffe, Elizabeth Lowell...I could go on and on and on....

Favorite (or just plain memorable) Books – A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught, Shanna by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, Dearly Beloved by Mary Jo Putney, A Fire in the Heart by Katherine Sutcliffe, Island Flame by Karen Robards, Honor’s Splendour by Julie Garwood, Cry No More by Linda Howard, Say No To Joe? by Lori Foster, Hawke’s Pride by Norah Hess, Angel by Johanna Lindsey, Angel In Scarlet by Jennifer Wilde, Nightrose, Wild, Sweet Wilderness, Annie Lash, Midnight Blue, and the River and Wind Trilogies by Dorothy Garlock, and anything written by Rebecca Paisley.

Favorite Anthology – Welcome To Redemption by Donna Marie Rogers & Stacey Joy NetzelJ

Favorite Stephanie Plum Book – Hard Eight, and all you Ranger fans will know why...LOL

Favorite Heroes – Joe Winston (Say No To Joe? by Lori Foster), Royce Westmoreland/The Wolf (A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught), Ricardo Carlos Manoso aka Ranger (Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich).

Favorite Heroines – Lady Madelyne (Honor’s Splendour by Julie Garwood), Jennifer Merrick (A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught), Stephanie Plum (Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich), Peachy McGee (Midnight & Magnolias by Rebecca Paisley).

Favorite Excerpt (and a blurb) from my newest release, Meant To Be –
She's running from her past, he's unsure about his future. Maybe together they can figure out what was Meant To Be.Officer Garrett Jamison is at the lowest point in his life. He's lost faith in his ability as a police officer after unwittingly setting his sister up with a dirty cop. Garrett ended up getting shot, and his sister's son kidnapped right out of his own bed. He takes a leave from the force, in need of some time to make a decision about his future. Too bad he can't get a decent night's sleep thanks to his sexy new neighbor and her howling cat. Jessica McGovern moves halfway across the country to start a new life in Green Bay, Wisconsin after her ex-husband is convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of their young son. Her new neighbor is as infuriating as he is handsome, but when her ex is released from prison early and shows up in town, Jessica discovers she's never needed anyone more...

* * *

"Come here, Miss Crabbypants."

Jessica resisted, but it was no use. The big oaf outweighed her by a ton. "Look, I just want to finish my tea and relax. Today's my last day off for almost two weeks."

He leaned back and frowned down at her. "Why are you working so many hours?"

She rolled her eyes. "Um, I have bills to pay...?"

His gaze became pensive as he massaged the back of her neck. Slowly, she relaxed until she was leaning into his broad chest, eyes closed, inhaling his spicy masculine scent. He always smelled so good...Damn, the man was a magician; she'd already forgotten why she was mad at him...Wait, oh yeah. "So what's with all that hammering?"

"We're building a doghouse."

His busy fingers moved to her shoulders wringing a groan of ecstasy from her. Oh, God, was she drooling on his shirt? Then his words registered. Jessica leaned back and swiped her mouth with the back of her wrist. "A doghouse? But you don't have a dog...do you?"

"No, but Ethan's been begging for a puppy for a couple years now. I guess he finally wore Sara down. And Mike's still in the ‘buy-Ethan-anything-he-wants' phase." Garrett glanced down at his T-shirt and chuckled. He reached out and recaptured the back of her neck. "Liked that, did you? You do seem a little tense—"

"Oh, no you don't." She ducked out of his reach and took a few steps back. He started to follow but she held up both hands. "You stay right where you are."

He propped his hands on his hips. "So do I have a date tonight or what?"

"Or what."

He grinned. "Wear something sexy," he said with a wink before strolling out the back door. The jackass even had the nerve to whistle.

Jessica walked over and slammed the door with a muttered, "Nutjob." Then she headed into the bedroom to search through her closet.

~*~*~

So now I'd like to hear about some of your favorite things. And I plan to draw a winner of a signed copy of my latest release, Meant To Be, from everyone who comments, so please leave your email addy as well. J