September is upon us! And I can start to feel fall in the air. Oh please, dear god, let fall get here soon. Though I’m a Floridian, the heat and I are not friends and I do enjoy having seasons in New England, despite my allergies. While fall hasn’t quite arrived and summer is still holding on, I wanted to create a drink that would blend two of the seasons.
Destined for a King by Ashlyn Macnamara is a historical romance with a touch of fantasy set in a fictional kingdom. I was immediately captured by the cover because I really need to find a way to work a red cloak into my wardrobe. I also adore the “nursed back to health” trope. Within the first few pages, as the hero Torch and his men are storming a stronghold, the heroine, Calista, wounds him with an arrow. Torch winds up taking over Blackbriar Keep as part of his quest toward the throne. Calista is ordered to heal Torch, or else her family will suffer the consequences.
Even ill and wounded, Torch is charming, always ready with a tart, flirtatious quip. He’s also desperate for marriage and an heir. So here’s my reasoning for making what I call Kingsbane (it’s a traditional Jack Rose cocktail):
- It’s red, which matches the gorgeous cover.
- The citrus adds freshness and a bit of tang, which reminds me both of summer and the hero’s silver tongue.
- Plus, apples are a fall staple and sign of fertility (waggles eyebrows).
Kingsbane is also the poison that brings the hero and heroine together. But I promise this drink isn’t poisonous!
Also, we have a giveaway thanks to the great people at Loveswept! We have two digital copies up for grabs, so check out the details below on how to enter.
Shopping list
Apple brandy
Grenadine
Lemon or lime juice
Cherries (optional for garnish)
Proportions (in a shaker full of ice):
2 oz apple brandy
1 oz lemon or lime juice
1/2 oz grenadine
Modifications and notes:
- A Jack Rose typically calls for Applejack, which is frustratingly hard to find. I substituted Calvados for Applejack, which is also a bit pricey. So feel free to find any sort of cheap apple brandy that you tastebuds and wallet can both appreciate.
- Instead of grenadine, experiment with other mixers. I saw some tasty looking pomegranate liqueur that would probably work well and increase the alcohol content.
- Boozy fruit! I love these little cherries so much. I get excited whenever I order a cocktail at a bar and seem the perched on a toothpick in my drink. They’re so tasty and if you can find them, I highly recommend ‘em.
- I used lemon juice from concentrate because I’m lazy and didn’t feel like making a trip to the grocery store for some actual lemons. I firmly believe fresh is usually better, but at the same time, it’s getting mixed with other things, so I didn’t stress about it too much. If concentrate is all you have on hand, go for it! However, bottled juice is a bit stronger than fresh; keep that in mind.
- Instead of cherries, you can garnish with a lemon or lime slice, especially if you used fresh juice.
- Chill your glass!
Now it’s giveaway time! The best time! We have two (2) digital copies of Destined for a King to give away.
Since this book has one of my favorite tropes, I want to know what are yours. Comment below with your favorite romance trope to enter! The giveaway will end Sunday, September 11, 2016 at noon, EST, so get your comments in before then!
Standard disclaimers apply. We are not being compensated for this giveaway. Void where prohibited. Open to international residents where permitted by applicable law. Must be over 18. Be sure to keep your quivers full and your healing poultices well-stocked. Grousing, shirtless marauders will get zero sympathy. Mystical pendants shall be treated with care!
Best of luck!
UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who left comments! Glad to see I’m not the only one who loves the nursed-back-to-health trope.
And our winners are Janine and Kael! Keep an eye on your inboxes!
Commercial applejack is made by fortifying hard cider with a neutral grain spirit. From what I’ve seen, the traditional method involved concentrating hard cider by freezing out the excess water until the alcohol is at least 50 proof. It’s essentially the same process used for making ice wine. It’s relatively easy to do this in small (personal use) batches in your home freezer if you’re willing to invest the time. The traditional method is too time and labor intensive to be practical for an industrial operation.
I’m really a sucker for a well done enemies to lovers story. I love the slow burn romance. Also anything to do with performers
I love marriage of convenience stories, & I hadn’t really thought of it as a trope before, but nursed back to health might be my catnip as well.
I am always a sucker fir the marriage of convenience storyline!
I love friends to lovers in visual media, but in books, marriage of convenience is my jam. This cocktail sounds delicious!
Even though they tend to end up annoying me, I’m a sucker for romances where one or both of the couple has a secret, especially if they’re seeking vengeance because of it.
You might do better with pomegranate juice than commercial grenadine. Those don’t tend to have actual pomegranate content nowadays.
This looks yummy, and the book is on my to-read list!
My favorite tropes are bickering exes who are thrown back together and, for some godforsaken reason, amnesia– specifically, stories where the person with amnesia falls in love with their partner all over again. Bonus points if the couple was at odds before they fell in love and the amnesia- sufferer only remembers the bad times at first. Super specific but wow do I love it.
I am totally for enemies to lovers trope especially if it involves a hearty dose of sexy banter!
(And, I love Calvados, best so far: Boulard)
I’m a huge sucker for the revenge trope in all its various permutations, especially where the hero has to do a big grovel at some point.
Don’t enter me in the giveaway, obviously. I just wanted to drop this here. It’s pricy but I’ve had my eye on this ever since a friend of mine took me to this store a couple of weeks ago. Really regretting not buying it: http://www.medievalboutique.com/bustier-and-surcoat/2501-galadriel-surcoat.html
You know, just in case anyone was in the market for a red medieval-ish surcoat.
And now I have to go to the liquor store. Thank you for creating a drink based on my book!
I love a good wounded hero. There is something about the heroine breaking through a grumpy shell to reach the man underneath that makes me swoon every time.
I love me a beta hero or a virgin hero. There’s not enough of them so they always feel like a fresher take on the power dynamics in the relationship. I’m also a sucker for a contemporary marriage of convenience trope and a historical arranged marriage trope- anything where the h/h have to kind of be a team and figure things out together.
I love the enemies to lovers trope!
I like the marriage of convenience trope where h/h like each other or any romance where the h/h are very different but respect each other. One of my favorite examples of this is Grace Graven’s Radiance.
Secret baby/Oops pregnancy. DON’T JUDGE ME!!!
As a “lady doctor” myself, I love lady doctor stories as long as the medical aspects make sense. Especially co-workers. True confession: I once fell totally in lust with a doctor without ever seeing his face (he was wearing a surgical mask) based on how his hands looked as he put in a central line.
I like marriage of convenience with a wounded hero. Good mix, unlike the homemade Redneck (I can say it because I am one and proud of it) Apple jack that knocked me on my behind when I was younger.
If done well, the enemies to lovers storyline is one of my favourites. I’ve already read The Hating Game three times in the last month. The nursing back to health trope is also good (which also features in The Hating Game). Otherwise, the road trip, with the hero and heroine forced to spend time together in closed confines, is also a hit with me.
I too, want to find a way to work a red cloak into my wardrobe.
Definitely going to try my hand at this cocktail, I’m a sucker for anything with cherries.
I’m also a sucker for the fish out of water trope – give me a big ol’ alpha hero out of his element and a sassy heroine who has to show him the ropes and I’m hooked.
*sighs*
Secret babies. I can’t get enough secret baby plots (though I need a good reason for the kid to be secret) I think it’s because I started reading Harlequin Presents novels when I was eight. They warped my fragile young mind.
Fantasy romance!
I probably have too many to name, but off the top of my head: mutual pining, it’s like the best opposite of the Big Mis, and if the author does it right then it’s the best thing ever when they finally get together.
I do enjoy fake marriage/relationship tropes. That moment they stop acting and start having actual feels? Yes, please.
Any combination of the following:
– regency period romance
– sassy female lead who is prepared to dress as a boy to get things done, etc.
– smart male lead with emotional depth
– joint discovery of the wonders of love
– great sex
🙂
I am a sucker for marriage of convenience tropes.
I love a good time travel story.
I do not know about tropes, but I like a tortured but decent hero who does not take himself all that serious and who likes animals and children (but may deny it).
This sounds like a fabulous cocktail. I must have one!
AS for tropes, I love an historical with a boyish female lead (read lady in pants). I also like road trips and house parties.
Friends to lovers… Enemies to lovers… secret baby, marriage of convenience, forced proximity (love a good snowstorm!), the pretend engagement, heroine disguised as a stableboy because reasons… It’s harder to think of one I *don’t* love!
Actually– I really don’t like the “I’m going to seduce you for revenge on your father/brother/footman/horse” etc. UGH.
I love friends to lovers and wounded hero but really I love allz the thropes! Because, you know, romance
Strong, confident, self assured heroines.
I love a great humorous workplace romance, especially a personal assistant/boss story. And then when the boss needs a fake relationship – oh boy, catnip!
I’m a sucker for forced proximity, especially due to weather. I love a good snow day in real life, too. However I’ll expand this to include proximity resulting from marriage of convenience (especially fake ones), another favorite.
I especially like when the heroine is quietly capable of (a) extricating herself from whatever plot dilemma she encounters, and (b) pursuing and achieving her own goals, but she allows her potential SO to come along for the ride because she kind of likes them, especially if she’s not admitting this to herself yet but keeps trying to justify their usefulness to her cause. Let the adorableness ensue.
Thanks for the awesome recipe and review, Amanda!
I like secret baby and second chance romance. Also cowboys. : )
Favorite romance trope? Probably the under-appreciated woman who struggles in the background (could be a wallflower) .
Marriage of convenience for sure!!
Witty protagonists and intelligent, character based humor get me every time. So any trope that is infused by those characteristics is ok with me. I also like traditional tropes with gender reversals–men who give up or alter their dreams to achieve an HEA with the heroine, women who protect and defend their men, heroes who nurse the heroine through illness or injury, heroines who instruct or inform their men.
The romantic in me loves friends to lovers. I’ve got more faith the relationship will last
My favorite trope is reunited lovers, with bonus catnip points if it’s like, something horrible and self-sacrificing tore them apart. Fortunately for me, this happens like, every other romance novel, so I have a lot to read.
I don’t know if it is a trope, but I love confident, competent women. Also, marriages of convenience with a slow build toward the HEA. So not a fan of insta-love.