Welcome to Pucker Up Monday. It's not what you think, lol. Since Mondays do tend to suck, I though I'd try to start the week off right for y'all.

Finicky Friday - White Chicken Enchiladas

Yield: 4 people

Materials

• 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheddar cheese
• 8 flour tortillas soft shells
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 4 oz can of diced green chiles
• 2 cups shredded chicken about 1 big chicken breast
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups of chicken broth
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Cook/shred your chicken breast and mix it with 1 cup of shredded cheese.
• Lay 8 tortillas out and fill each one with the chicken mixture making sure they are all even. Roll them up tightly and put them in a greased 9×13 baking dish.
• In a saucepan, melt the butter and add in the 3 tbsp of flour. Mix and cook for about one minute.
• Add in the 2 cups of chicken broth, whisking until it’s a smooth consistency. Whisk over medium heat until it is thick and creamy (usually takes about 5-8 minutes).
• Mix in the sour cream, salt/pepper, and the can of chilies to the pan.
• Pour the creamy sauce over the rolled up tortillas evenly.
• Add 1 cup of the cheddar cheese over the top.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown. Add salsa or cilantro and you’re ready to eat!

Link: https://www.craftymorning.com/white-chicken-enchilada-sour-cream-sauce-recipe/

Welcome Jodi Payne and BA Tortuga!

Land of Enchantment 

By Jodi Payne and BA Tortuga 

Book Link (It's in KU right now): http://bit.ly/BuyLOE

Blurb:
East meets west. City meets country. Though there’s no denying opposites attract, can a college kid from New Jersey and a New Mexican cowboy learn to speak the same language, let alone trust each other?

When Mason Wild heads west to escape his past, he doesn’t have a plan or a penny to his name. Luckily he finds a job with a roofing company run by a rodeo cowboy who’s kind, easy to work for, and even with his jaw wired shut, hotter than July in the high desert.

Bull rider Levi Yost knows what it’s like to be down on his luck. He’s not much older than Mason, but he’s been around the block a few times, or at least around the rodeo arena. He takes a chance on the kid, giving him a job and a place to live on his ranch. The two of them discover a surprising amount of common ground, but trouble has a way of finding each of them. Mason has to learn to be fully honest with Levi, who in turn has to realize he’s not just riding out for himself anymore.



Excerpt:

Chapter One

Mason Wild’s first stop after leaving New Jersey was a rest area west of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he met a truck driver in the men’s room who was headed down Interstate 81 toward Roanoke. It was the farthest away from home he’d ever been.

He had a little money on him but not much, and he had to stretch it pretty far because it was slow going finding rides after that until he’d passed through Knoxville and Nashville and landed in Jackson, Tennessee. By then he was a kind of hungry he’d never been in his whole life. He asked around, found some day work, and stayed there two days, keeping his head down and moving rocks around. It was shit money, but it was better than nothing, and nobody cared what his name was.

From Jackson he hitched a ride to Memphis. He was doing his best to be a good passenger, be polite like his mom taught him and just keep his stupid mouth shut. That was hard. He usually liked people and could talk about whatever when he wanted to, but right now he didn’t want to be too memorable.

Outside Memphis, he finally found a truck driver who was on a long haul. The guy was headed all the way to El Paso, and Mason figured what the hell, that was pretty damn far away, right? On the way, while the driver talked on and on for hours, he looked out the window as everything he understood disappeared in the rearview mirror and the world around him got flatter and drier. It felt like he spent weeks in that truck.

When he got to El Paso, he lucked into a stretch of work gutting some houses in town, but man, that was a long week. It was hot out and not only did the guys he was working with all seem to know each other, but they all knew what they were doing too. He knew some Spanish—you didn’t grow up in North Jersey and not know some Spanish—but apparently only enough local slang to figure out when he was being made fun of. Still, he was pretty much the biggest guy on the job, and he managed to hold his own even if they didn’t like his sneakers.

Mason hated them lately too. Everybody he knew wore sneakers at home, but out here, not only did he stand out as a city kid, but they were totally useless. He demolished a kitchen with a couple of guys one morning and stepped on a screw sticking up out of a cabinet door. It went right through his sole but luckily not into his foot. After that he spent half his time making sure he didn’t step on anything else or drop anything on his toes either. He couldn’t afford to do the hospital thing.

He was pretty sure he had enough money for some decent boots now, though, and he decided he’d buy some at his next stop—not that he knew where that was yet. But he was running out of real estate and he’d better figure something out soon. He couldn’t travel much farther away than he already had.

From El Paso the interstate only went north. He found a guy headed up 25 through Albuquerque, and hitched a ride, hoping he could bail somewhere near civilization.

It was an amazing drive—the grays and the tans and pinks seemed to be everywhere, the mountains and mesas like a whole foreign landscape.

“You know where you’re headed, kid?” The old cowboy didn’t look the slightest bit worried about picking him up. In fact, “Almon Ryder from right outside Dallas, pleased to meetcha, I do have my conceal carry permit,” looked like he might enjoy a bit of a fight.

“No.” Mason glanced over at him, wondering how polite the old guy expected him to be. He wasn’t planning on fighting anyone again. Ever. “Uh… no, sir. I’m just looking for work. You know.” Not too friendly, keep it to small talk. He’d gotten pretty good at riding in the passenger side of a semi and mostly pretending he wasn’t there, but a pickup was closer quarters.

“I do. There’s always work for guys that are willing. I’m going to see my son at UNM. He plays baseball there.”

Mason had no idea where that was. Baseball was awesome, though. “Yeah? That’s cool. Is he on a scholarship?”

“Yeah. He’s a good kid. My youngest. I have eight.”

“Sons?”

“Children. Seven of them are girls.”

“Holy crap!” He winced. “Uh. I mean, wow. That’s great. You’re totally outnumbered. And lucky. You’re very lucky.” He rolled his eyes. He should be keeping his stupid mouth shut. “Sorry.”

“I am totally outnumbered, kid. I lost my wife to breast cancer five years ago, with three still in school. Thank God for the oldest girls or the youngest might have starved.” The huge laugh boomed out, filling the cab.

Whoa. Small world. “I’m sorry, man. I lost my mom two years ago, same thing.” What a horrible time that had been. His whole senior year. “What was your wife’s name?”

“Sueann. She was a good woman. I’m sorry about your momma. It ain’t right.”

“Sueann. That’s a pretty name.” Nope. It wasn’t right. He used to think there was a bigger plan, but he wasn’t so sure anymore. He was just glad he didn’t have to break Mom’s heart when he left home. “So your youngest is in college. Where’s your oldest?”

“Married with four babies in Dallas. She’s an ER nurse. Her husband does something on the computer for work. He’s good to her and loves those babies, so I suppose I won’t have to kill him.”

“Uh. Well, that’s good, I guess?” Jesus. Everything he’d ever heard about Texans was true. Other things were true too, like this guy was super friendly and kind, but the whole gun-toting, bigger-than-life, major-accent thing? Totally true. And awesome. He’d never met anyone from Texas before now. Or wait, one of the truck drivers? The guy who’d driven him from Harrisburg to Roanoke… no wait, he was from Georgia.

His stomach growled. Loud. He looked out the window and pretended like he didn’t notice.

Almon grinned over at him. “You too, huh? There’s a McD’s up here. I’ll buy you a burger. You ain’t a vegetabletarian, right?”

He cheeks got hot. He hated handouts, but he wasn’t exactly flush at the moment. “Not me. If it’s food, I’ll eat it. That’s really nice of you. Thanks.” Vegetabletarian. Awesome.

“I hate eating alone, and I been down on my luck once or twice.”

“I’ll figure it out. I can work. I don’t know how to do much, but I’m big enough and I learn fast.” He had no choice, right? Thank God he didn’t have eight kids to feed. Whoa.

            “Then you’ll be fine.” Almon pulled off and parked. “Let’s go in. Christ, my ass is too old to make this drive for a ball game.”

Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48080929-land-of-enchantment?ac=1&from_search=true

Our Links:
jodipayne.net
Social Media: https://linktr.ee/jodipayne

batortuga.com
Social Media: https://linktr.ee/batortuga

Pucker Up Monday

Welcome to Pucker Up Monday. It's not what you think, lol. Since Mondays do tend to suck, I though I'd try to start the week off right for y'all.

Are y'all ready to step back into the Harvest world? If so, come follow me for a little teaser for the next Young book. :)

Chapter One

“Transporter ready?” Hamza asked, stepping onto the pad. His royal guard spread out around him.

“Yes, prince. Coordinates confirmed for Darkkit palace transporter room.”

“Energize.”

Moments later, Hamza strode toward the Royal Physician’s suite with several of his guards flanking him. The clicking of their boots on the polished floors echoed in his ears, ratcheting his anger higher. Tension radiated from him, sending palace employees scurrying out of his path. Damnation. Those around him had nothing to do with the violent urges seething inside him, so he shoved his burgeoning rage deep inside. Still, he fingered the phaser on his hip.

Stopping by the door to the birthing suite, he took a breath and tried to marshal his thoughts. Dayo and Szin were in labor, and the families were in attendance. What should be a wondrous occasion was soon going to be spoiled. As much as he hated that, he didn’t have time to spare. His guards stayed back as Hamza stepped inside.

His dabba, King Duran, turned to him, a smile gracing his face. “Hamza! We were wondering—what’s wrong?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Hamza saw Malk, Kia, and Laken enter. Had he been so rattled he hadn’t noticed them as he stormed down the hall? He’d been trained better, but the news he brought stole his focus. Hamza swallowed and shoved his slipup from his mind.

“Hamza? Where’s Neo?” Doc asked. “We thought the both of you would be here.”

Hamza bowed his head toward his mate’s dabba. “He wanted to be, but something came up, and unfortunately his presence was required elsewhere.” Hamza faced his dabba. “Sire?”

King Duran frowned. “Speak freely. What has happened?”

“There have been multiple attacks on Tah’Nar. The cities of Castron, Lowbrett, and Kiton were bombed by photon torpedoes ten unit minutes ago. The war room is code red.”

“Shit,” Dale whispered.

“Oh God.” Chad grabbed Gibor’s arm.

King Duran inhaled sharply. “Who, Hamza? Who dares attack Tah’Narian cities?”

“Five unit minutes ago, three Ne Reynian battleships appeared via wormhole in orbit around the planet. Hails were sent and ignored. Red alert was activated on all space ships due to this. The Ne Reynian battleships immediately entered our atmosphere. They were moving at a speed I have never seen, Sire. It was like warp drive, but that’s physically impossible since wrap is used to jump from star system to star system. It’s not utilized for this type of short distance travel.”

“Wait,” Keyno gasped. “Are you saying they entered our atmosphere and then in five unit minutes managed to get from where they appeared… to where they attacked?”

Hamza glanced at Keyno. “I’m afraid so. The speed was faster than impulse, but it wasn’t warp. It must be a new technology. I scrambled fighters from bases near each city as a first wave of defense. The Sunder and the Obsidian Cross starships were not spaced docked and are on an interception course, but right now, only the fighters are engaging the battleships. There has been massive damage to those three cities.”

Keyno growled. “Major cities of ours. Three major cities on three different continents on Tah’Nar.”

“Yes.” Hamza nodded. “Starships are being dispatched from various orbiting space stations as we speak but that takes time. Other ships are recalling crew members. In the meantime, I’ve increased fighters around Darkkit and the Tah’Narian Planetary Defense building.”

Ti straightened. “King Duran? The Onfre stand ready to assist you. Shall I call for reinforcements?”

“Please,” King Duran said. “Thank you, Ti. Your peoples help will be much appreciated.”

Ti pulled his comm from his pants pocket and moved to a corner of the room.

Hamza watched the easy-going look on Cielo’s face dissolve into ruthlessness. Mentally Hamza corrected himself. No, that wasn’t Cielo. That was Cielo’s other personality: Colt, the gangbanger. The killer. The sociopath who would do anything to protect his love ones. All of them had grown up hearing about Colt.

“They did it. They attacked us. Oh my God, they actually went through with it. I can’t believe this.” Dale pressed his hands over his mouth. Chad released Gibor and hurried to Dale, wrapping his arm around Dale’s waist.

A shrill cry of a new born young came from the birthing suite.

King Duran clenched his fists. “My friends, I’m going to have Szin and Dayo moved into the underground bunkers since they just gave birth. Hamza? Return to the war room, please. I’ll be there as soon as I take care of this.”

“Yes, Sire.” The war room was the nickname for the Tah’Narian Planetary Defense building. It was actually a misnomer since it wasn’t a ‘room’ but more of a sprawling complex.

Standing in the outer chamber, Hamza watched his dabba lead everyone into the birthing suite. Ti stood behind King Duran. Colt had his arm around Dale’s shoulders.

“What’s going on?” Dayo questioned.

“Ti?” Takeo asked.

Hamza heard Dale try to speak, but his voice broke.

“Guys, what the hell is going on?” Szin demanded.

King Duran cleared his throat. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, especially at what should be a joyful occasion, but the Ne Reyn have not only attacked the Unity, but now they have launched a strike directly at our planet. Captain Ti is here to witness the birth of Szin and Takeo’s young, but he also came bearing news. The Onfre stand with us. Gentlemen, we are at war.”

From the floor, a mist swirled, and the arkhim who had bonded to Dayo appeared. Dayo and Raiden quickly assured everyone there was no danger, but still, tension rose at the sudden appearance of Dayo’s new guardian.

Hamza had been briefed about the magical animal, but hearing about it wasn’t the same as seeing it… or caught in its fierce gaze. Hamza gulped. It was large animal with an arrow-shaped head, a long muzzle, and a lengthy neck. Thick, white iridescent scales cover its powerful body. A row of small, clear horns that shone like sparkling ice ran down its spine. A tail stretched out from behind it. Damn thing was rather intimidating in appearance.

Composing himself, Hamza turned from the outer room of the birthing suite and stepped into the hallway. His guards stood silently. Face carefully blank, he nodded at them. They fell in behind him, and together, they returned to the transportation pad.

War. They were at war once more.

All hybrids were well aware of what happened the last time Tah’Nar got itself into a battle with another species. Due to Tah’Nar attacking the Onfre for resources, the Onfre released a virus that invaded the Tah’Narian reproductive system and destroyed it, rendering all Tah’Narians sterile.

But anyone pregnant had a much worse fate. The virus flooded the surculas, attacked and killed the young, and then kept going, eating its way through the surculas and attacking the rest of the body. The person was literally dissolved from the inside out.

The catastrophic change to Tah’Narian way of life resulted in a desperation for mates. Earthlings called it ‘the harvest’.

Pucker Up Monday

Welcome to Pucker Up Monday. It's not what you think, lol. Since Mondays do tend to suck, I though I'd try to start the week off right for y'all. 

We're gonna do something a little different this time. ;)