Explosive Christmas Showdown: Author Guest Post + Enter to Win

 

 

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Explosive Christmas Showdown by Darlene L. Turner, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Explosive Christmas Showdown 

Series: Crisis Rescue Team #2 

Author: Darlene L. Turner 

Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense 

Release Date: October 25, 2022 

Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense

A bomber brings terror to Christmas

as the presents go tick…tick…boom. 

 With criminal investigative analyst Olive Wells at the center of a bomber’s dangerous game, she’ll do anything to catch the culprit—even work with her ex-fiancé and his K-9 detector dog. But with the Christmas rampage drawing ever closer, Zac Turner’s convinced the attacks are personal. Can they piece together their ties to the bomber…before another gift explodes? 

  From Love Inspired Suspense: Courage. Danger. Faith.

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookDepository | IndieBound | Christianbook | BookBub

Christmas Memories & Traditions

By Darlene L. Turner

  

I’m an everything-pumpkin-spice kind of gal and I love fall. However, my favorite holiday is Christmas. Why? That’s easy to answer.

It’s the time of year we celebrate our Savior’s birth. He IS the reason for the season and we rejoice! God sent his Son as a gift to save the world. Without Him, we’d be lost. Forever.

Also, spending time with family and creating memories/traditions is what Christmas is all about, right? I have so many, it’s hard to narrow them down. The ones that resonate in my mind are attending our Christmas Eve service all dressed up, then coming home and opening one gift—pajamas. Then we’d gather the gifts from the top of the piano in the basement. My brother, sister, and I would be in charge of bringing them upstairs and placing them under the tree. Of course—like any child would do—we’d be trying to guess what was inside (and to my mother’s dismay, shaking a few!). After that we’d put out milk/cookies for Santa, hang our stockings on our bedroom doorknobs, and climb into bed. My sister and I shared a room and, like any child, the anticipation of Santa visiting our house kept us awake. In the morning (at our parents’ “appointed” time), we’d gather our stockings and run downstairs, and open them on our Mom and Dad’s bed. Today, opening my stocking is still my favorite thing to do on Christmas morning.

I’ve carried many of our family traditions into adulthood, but also started new ones. Jeff and I like to make gingerbread cookies. I make the dough. He rolls it and cuts out the gingerbread boys and girls. I dip them in chocolate (yum!) and he puts on the sprinkles. Teamwork! I’ve shared the recipe I use below. Such fun!

When I first pitched the storyline of Explosive Christmas Showdown to my editor, it wasn’t set at Christmas, but a story regarding a serial bomber. Olive, Zac, and Ziva were all in place, but when I found out the publication date, I asked if I could make it a Christmas story. My editor said yes.

Needless to say, I was very excited! I began brainstorming and soon the idea of the bombs in gifts along with jingle bells emerged. Thus, the Jingle Bell Bomber came to life. Ha ha! It was fun to create his game, but most of all I loved writing the relationship of Olive, Zac, Ziva, and Grace. They went through trying times, but in the end, learned to trust God. They even started their own Christmas tradition of decorating their tree together in the end.

Christmas memories and traditions make the season even more special, but I’m so thankful God gave us the greatest gift of all—Jesus!

What is your favorite Christmas memory or tradition?

Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

·         2/3 cup unsalted butter (soften to room temperature)

·         3/4 cup packed brown sugar

·         2/3 cup molasses

·         1 large egg (room temperature)

·         1 tsp vanilla extract

·         3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

·         1 tsp baking soda

·         ½ tsp salt

·         1 tbsp ginger

·         1 tbsp cinnamon

·         ½ tsp allspice

·         ½ tsp cloves

 

Instructions:

 

1.      In a large bowl beat the butter for 1 minute on medium speed until smooth. Add the brown sugar and molasses. Beat in egg and vanilla on high speed for 2 minutes. Butter may separate, but that’s okay.

2.      In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Combine into the wet ingredients, mixing slowly on low speed. The cookie dough will be thick and a bit sticky. Divide in half and wrap in plastic wrap, flattening into circular shapes. Chill for 3 hours (up to 3 days). Best to keep in the fridge overnight.

3.      Preheat to 350F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

4.      Take out one package of dough. Roll out until it’s ¼ inch thick. Cut into shapes and place on cookie sheets, placing one inch apart.

5.      Repeat the above with second package of dough.

6.      Bake for about 8-11 minutes (depending on size of cookie). Be careful not to overbake as they’ll be harder.

7.      Cool cookies for five minutes on the cookie sheet. Move to cooling rack. After completely cooling, decorate.

Enjoy!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Darlene L. Turner is an award-winning author and lives with her husband, Jeff in Ontario, Canada. Her love of suspense began when she read her first Nancy Drew book. She’s turned that passion into her writing and believes readers will be captured by her plots, inspired by her strong characters, and moved by her inspirational message.

Connect with Darlene by visiting darlenelturner.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.

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TOUR GIVEAWAY

(3) winners will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Card.

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight October 24, 2022 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on October 31, 2022. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US/CAN only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE

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