Please welcome Kathleen Rowland, author of heart-stopping
action-packed romantic suspense.
Kathleen rings in the holidays with healthy Goat Cheese Tartlets with Spiced
Apple-Fig Compote. This festive
appetizer is 50 calories per serving and makes 30 tartlets.
Ingredients
- 30 item(s) mini
phyllo shell(s)
- 1/3 cup(s) fat-free
cream cheese, softened
- 5 1/3 Tbsp soft-type
goat cheese, softened (1/3 cup)
- 1 item(s) egg
white(s)
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp all-purpose
flour
- 2 medium Granny
Smith apple, peeled, coarsely grated (about 3/4 cup)
- 1/2 cup(s) jam,
fig variety
- 1/8 tsp ground
allspice
- 1/4 cup(s) mint
leaves, fresh, for garnish
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange phyllo shells on a cookie sheet.
2. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, goat cheese, egg white, honey and flour until thick and creamy, about 5 to 6 minutes; spoon 1 teaspoon of filling in each shell. Bake until set, about 15 minutes; remove from oven and let cool.
3. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine apple, jam and allspice; set over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until jam melts and mixture thickens slightly (juice from apples will evaporate); remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Just before serving, spoon 1 teaspoon apple compote onto each tart; garnish with mint. Yields 1 tartlet per serving.
Deadly Alliance: Finbar
Donahue, former Army Ranger, walked on the wild side in Iraq, but now he lives
in the shadows. After his evasive partner, Les, was shot in a random drive-by,
Finn discovers cash is siphoned monthly. He fights to keep his investment
company afloat. When the late partner’s girlfriend, Amy Kintyre, applies for
his bookkeeping job, Finn suspects she knows about his company drain and hires
her.
Amy needs a
nine-to-five with free evenings and weekends to get her fashion design business
back on track. She unearths Les’ s secret bank account and alerts Finn.
Freezing of the money laundering account sets off havoc within an Irish gang.
Amy witnesses a gang fight between a brutal ISIS fundraising organization and
the Irish. Desperate to escape a stalker’s crosshairs, she seeks refuge with
Finn. As danger heats up, sparks fly hotter.
Excerpt:
The front door opened.
“Sorry, we’re closed.” Holding a broom, the owner of the
bar swept behind the bar. Burlie didn’t look up.
Finn stepped closer. Drunken merrymakers, they were not.
His heart hammered like it was stuck in overdrive.
“We offer protection.”
Speaking with a Spanish accent, the shortest of the trio dressed like the
others, and donned the ISIS-style black
ski mask.
“I have protection.” Burlie’s big mouth nailed his
coffin.
A second thug grabbed the bartender’s hand and pulled out
clippers. “You’ll change your mind, one finger at a time.”
“I just paid the Irish.” Panic burrowed into Burlie’s
high-pitched cry. He thrashed his arms as he tried to pull his hand back.
“Us you pay.” His
utterance with the object in the first position identified him as an Arab
speaker. Light glinted off shiny
metal. The thug pulled a combat knife,
grabbed Burlie’s arms, spun him, put the blade to his neck. Finn dialed 911 and
then shouted, “Finn Donahue here. Gang trouble. Burlie’s Jazz Club.” To grab their attention even more, he heaved
in a breath and released a long whistle. His distraction worked.
Burlie broke from the hold, and Finn thanked God for the
curious.
“Where are you?” Heavy boots pounded toward him.
Finn’s phone vibrated, but he killed the call and darted
into the first door he saw, the one with the frosted pink window. He spotted
Amy at the sink and pointed his index finger up.
He took off his coat and wrapped it around his fist.
After rapping on the glass, he wound up and threw a hard punch through the
window. Glass splintered as he connected with the thug’s nose. Prepared to jump
aside, he opened the door.
Amy followed and jumped over the guy spread on the floor,
holding a hand over his bleeding nose.
He struggled to
stand. Finn patted him down, took his gun, and pointed it at him. After the guy
stood, Finn walked him to a chair. “Don’t move.”
“I’ll phone the police.” A high-pitched squeal came from
the back of her throat. “Never mind. Police are here.”
From the street, the blue light of a cop car radiated
across the club’s interior like a strobe. Uniforms burst through the door.
The first officer made radio contact with homicide, and
the second, much younger, rushed to the nearest thug and pulled out flex-cuffs.
“Stand over there, Amy.” Finn motioned toward a corner.
She rolled her eyes and dashed toward Burlie who wrestled
with the Arab and tried to keep him from moving toward the young rookie. Amy
pulled an item from her purse. A Swiss army knife? Out came a miniature cork
screw.
The rookie cop turned the Arab around to be handcuffed
and leaned him against a wall. The thug used the hard surface as leverage to
throw himself against him.
Finn saw it coming. A switchblade sprung from the Arab’s
sleeve. In a split second, he drove it into the cop’s shoulder, but Amy stabbed
him in the back with the wine opener.
The Arab spun and pulled a knife from his jeans’ pocket.
Amy dodged, but he thrust it into a cop’s gut before running.
Finn waited for an opening and shot him in the hip.
Howling about uncivilized
barbarians, he dropped.
Up from his chair, the loser with the broken nose swung
his fists, raining blows and a kick to the nuts which Finn deflected.
“Don’t make me shoot you.” Finn stunned him with a chop
to the neck, caught him in a headlock. With a gun at his back, he marched him
forward.
Amy broke into the center of the room and turned around,
taking in the menacing scene. The girl-next-door had street smarts, competency
with the corkscrew, and fearless determination.
He walked over and touched her weapon-holding hand. “You
didn’t have pocket-knife experience on your resume.” It didn’t make her
invincible. Nor did it mean he should hire her.
She
shook her head. “Never used it this way. It’s handy when hiking She looked at
her pocket knife, folded and stuffed it in her pocket. Her eyes blinked in frenzy in spite of her
bravery.
Buy
links:
* * *
How
about romantic travel to Lake Arrowhead, California, where Deadly Alliance takes place? Fall colors mix with evergreens around
this pristine mountain lake. Bring a picnic basket and rent a pontoon!
Book
Buyers Best finalist Kathleen Rowland is devoted to giving her readers
fast-paced, high-stakes suspense with a sizzling love story sure to melt their
hearts. Lily’s Pad and the Intervenus
Series: A Brand New Address and Betrayal at Crater’s Edge are sweet. Deadly Alliance and her
work-in-progress, Unholy Alliance,
are contracted with Tirgearr Publishing and written for adults.
Kathleen
used to write computer programs but now writes novels. She grew up in Iowa
where she caught lightning bugs, ran barefoot, and raced her sailboat on Lake
Okoboji. Now she wears flip-flops and sails with her husband, Gerry, on Newport
Harbor but wishes there were lightning bugs in California.
Kathleen
exists happily with her witty CPA husband, Gerry, in their 70’s poolside
retreat in Southern California where she adores time spent with visiting
grandchildren, dogs, one bunny, and noisy neighbors. While proud of their five
children who’ve flown the coop, she appreciates the luxury of time to write. If
you’d enjoy news, sign up for Kathleen’s newsletter at http://www.kathleenrowland.com/
