On to the rest of the meal and I have a KISS up for grabs!

Yesterday we were talking turkey, and thanks to all those tips I have plan! It will involve bacon and injecting the turkey with various things, including nutmeg--I've never eaten nutmeg but I'm thinking it tastes like nut... or meg... so that's all good.

A huge thanks to everyone who chipped in some ideas, I have them in a little list for future reference, and as I promised there are two copies of Ripley's Reaping to give away. The randomiser has picked Allison and Ursula. So please email me your addresses, ladies, so I can send across.

Next up we need to talk potatoes and veg. Give me some amazing ideas on what I should do to accompany the turkey. How can I mae sure the roasters are golden? The veg crisp? The idea will win a copy of my supernatural romance, The Kiss.

When Eva Diakou is offered a job on the Winterwood estate, she expects nothing but four months of back breaking work. Jobless and lonely, she has little choice but to accept. But things on the Winterwood estate are nothing like Eva was led to believe. Why has she been given one of the plushest rooms? Why is there nothing to do? And why is she so captivated by the strange statues adorning the estate?



Adam Winterwood is paying for a crime he never committed. Trapped for so many years, he is waiting for the one person who can keep him alive...or set him free. When Adam and Eva meet, sparks fly. Yet, neither realizes the sacrifice they will both have to make.


And it will all be decided by The Kiss.

Have a taste of the first three chapters...
Chapter One


“You realize the contract is for four months?”
Eva Diakou, unemployed artist and self-proclaimed cupcake addict, took a deep breath and nodded in what, she hoped, was as a calm and professional manner. “Yes, I read all the recruitment literature.”
“And you understand during those four months you will be expected to stay within the Estate? No holidays? No weekends off? Once you start with us you will not finish until the four months are over. You’ll be paid only at the end of the contract and if you leave before then you get nothing.”
Again Eva nodded. The recruitment pack had made it all perfectly clear, as had the frighteningly well-groomed woman in front of her, for the past half hour.
Four months cut off from the real world. Eva sighed inwardly. It didn’t seem such a bad thing at the moment, especially not considering the pay on offer. “Yes I understand and that won’t be a problem.”
Determined, it seemed, to drive her point home, the woman, who hadn’t bothered to introduce herself, continued. “There will be no telephones, no internet, no contact with the outside world at all. Literally it will be like you’ve disappeared from the face of the earth... for four whole months.”
Ignoring, with difficulty, the fact that her entire social life—if you could even call it that—revolved around the internet Eva forced a smile. “Yes, the recruitment pack explained al that as well. It’s not a problem I assure you.”
The woman pursed her lips and gave Eva a long considering look, Eva tried to seem cool and collected but it wasn’t easy. Nervous and worried, beginning to sweat slightly, and pretty sure the ladder in her tights—her last pair—was snaking down to her knee, Eva superstitiously rubbed moist hands over her skirt and twitched it down. She needed this job, despite the fact it was temporary, like really needed it, and couldn’t afford to blow this interview.
“You’ll forgive me for saying so but you don’t look as though you’d be up for any really physical labor.”
A blush travelled warp speed over Eva’s body and she felt her jaw drop. She clenched and unclenched her fists around the hem of her skirt, wondering as she did so, how on earth she was supposed to reply to that. Bring it on bitch? Nope, unlikely to cut it.
“It’s demanding work, you need to be fairly fit,” the woman continued before Eva had a chance to answer. “Physically fit if you see what I mean.”
Eva barely contained herself from saying something, anything, insulting back. What a bitch. Feeling horribly hot and flustered, and depressingly aware of her tight suit Eva smiled through gritted teeth. Don’t blow this, you need the money, think of the money. “I’m up to the job I assure you.”
“I’m not trying to be rude,” the woman continued. “But there’s little point in appointing you if you’re not comfortable with the level of work.”
Eva held her smile in place, just about. Damn it she knew she was out of shape, was patently aware of the bloody fact and didn’t need to be reminded of it! Especially when compared to her interviewer. She certainly looks like she spends her entire freaking life in the gym. Say walnuts for an ass?
Of course Eva didn’t say any of the retorts she desperately wanted to say. She needed this job, was willing to hold her temper, take the insults and reassure as much as she could. The things I do for rent money. “I’m a very hard worker.”
The woman gave a skeptical look and Eva could do nothing but bite the inside of her cheek and tweak her skirt down a little more. Part of her couldn’t quite believe that she was being grilled over her size. Surely there was some sort of discrimination law or something around that? And it wasn’t like she was fat, curvy yes, but hardly in heavy weight category.
Jobless for the past six months and living on her savings meant that she’d had to change her eating habits, something that had been damn difficult. No more expensive fruit or cuts of meat, it was cheapey meals all the way. And comfort eating much? Yes, bored and a little depressed Eva had turned to the chocolate. She’d added two dress sizes and knew that she looked slightly curvier than the accepted norm, but then Eva was not a girl built to be skinny anyway, her olive skin demanded filling with curves—she just had slightly more than usual right now. The recruitment pack had mentioned ‘in house gym’ and Eva was determined over the next four months, if she got the job, to make good use of it.
“I didn’t mean to imply—” the woman continued and Eva plastered another smile to her face.
“Of course not.” Think of the money, think of the money.
The woman looked down at her papers and shook her head slowly. “It is a physically demanding job, waitress service, bar work and… other duties. You’ll be expected to do a bit of everything, and you should know here and now that I don’t take people on who won’t last the distance. I’m sorry.”
Despite the mega-bitch attitude she did sound sorry and Eva thought she saw a hint of sympathy in her eyes. That could only mean one thing. Shit. She felt the job slipping through her grasp and the familiar I-have-no-money-and-might-end-up-on-the-streets worry take hold. Leaning forward in her chair Eva decided to throw caution to the winds.
“Look I’m up to the work I promise you, I’ll do all the hours you can give me, all the overtime you have. I’ll work hard. I’ll work harder than anyone else you take on. You’ve seen my resume, I have experience in all the areas you need. Before I got my job in the studio,” she paused and shrugged, “well after as well if I’m honest, art doesn’t pay a lot, I worked in pretty much every bar and restaurant around.”
The woman frowned. “There’s nothing worse than taking someone on and finding out a few days in that they’re not right for the work.” She said the word ‘right’ like it was a contagious virus. “I don’t like losing them before the end of the contract. It makes my life too difficult.”
Eva leant forward a little more. Any further and I’ll be practically on her lap. “I need this job, really need it. I’m down to the last of my savings and have no other options. I promise I won’t let you down.”
It stung a bit to be so honest, especially to someone who had passed the boundaries of rude several sentences back, but Eva was desperate. She’d lost her job through no fault of her own in the middle of a global recession, everything had gone to shit including her one opportunity to do the very thing she loved and be paid for it. Jobs were scarce and those in the art world practically non existent. Too many people chasing too few opportunities, and she’d had no luck getting anything. Overqualified, under qualified, not right for the position, she’d heard it all. Four months cut off from the world in the middle of nowhere was not Eva’s preferred option but it was that or going cap in hand to the welfare office—something she was not prepared to do.
The woman frowned. “Don’t you have any family, anyone to help you out?”
“No, there’s no one but me.”
“No boyfriend?”
Is she trying to make me feel worse? “No.”
The woman tilted her head. “So no one to notice you’re gone?”
It sounded a bit depressing put like that but Eva couldn’t escape from the truth. There wasn’t any one to notice Eva’s absence for four months. No mom, no dad, no lover. She’d left all her friends behind when she’d moved to look for work, Facebook aside she was on her own. “No, no one.”
The woman pursed her lips again and said nothing for what seemed like hours, but in reality was only minutes. Eva bit down on her lip and sent out a silent prayer. Please, please, please give me this job... please just a bit of luck for freaking once...
Finally the woman stood up and opened the filing cabinet next to her desk. Ignoring the moisture pooling in the small of her back Eva sat up a little straighter and waited. The woman flicked through a bunch of folders before pulling one out. The folder was ice white and written on it in bold italics... a name, Evangeline Diakou, Applicant.
The woman turned back to Eva, gave one more assessing look and sighed. She rifled through the folder before pulling out a sheaf of stapled papers and paused for one more moment before passing them across. Eva took the papers, ignoring the fact that she’d probably make them damp with her sweaty fingers, and looked.
It was a contract. Her heart skipped a few beats and she was ready to fall over herself with thanks. Thank God. Sweet relief flooded her, at last a job, a chance. A freaking pay check.
Eva looked up and the words tumbled from her lips. “Thank you... really I mean thank you so much. I won’t let you down I promise.”
The woman placed her hands on her hips and smiled in a grim kind of fashion. ‘You start immediately.’


Chapter Two
December 11th 1811

Lord Adam Garret, fifth Earl of Winterwood and sole owner of the Winters Estate, swallowed down his first brandy of the day, ignoring as he did so, the burn in the back of his throat. No matter how many times he drank the damn stuff it still caused his throat to protest. He wondered idly if that was due to his early introduction to the world of strong spirits. He’d been barely eighteen before he was consuming a good half a bottle a day and hadn’t really stopped since. Perhaps he’d irreversibly damaged himself? He was slightly surprised to realize that the thought bothered him.
Looking down at the now empty glass he grimaced. Dregs remained but he couldn’t face another burn so he dropped the delicate crystal on the side table, wincing at the sound of its shattering. Damn glasses, they were too fine, too prone to breaking—like so many things in his home.
Adam was a big man, he’d reached six foot before the age of sixteen and was well muscled. He wasn’t quite sure how that could be the case, he rarely exercised. Regardless he was a man in his prime, a man who broke things... often.
It’s not just things you break, its people too, hearts, honor...
He shook the thought off and eyed the shattered crystal again. Grace would complain tomorrow when she had to clean it up. She’d rally at him for his profligate ways and recklessness and he’d let her. God knows why he did. She was nothing more than a servant in the grand scheme of things. But the relationship between them had developed over the last decade to the point where neither stood on formality. She’d lecture him, he’d take it, go off and do more scandalous things, and she’d lecture him some more.
Sighing at the thought of Grace’s scolding’s Adam sat himself down behind his desk and rubbed his head. It ached again, maybe because of the brandy, maybe because of the late night or maybe because of the company. Truth be told Adam was strongly regretting throwing his latest house party. His cronies had stayed up well past the hours of decency and only the urgings of their ladybirds had convinced them to retire. Adam’s own Cherie Amore, the lovely Lila, had been vastly unhappy at the late hour and it had taken more effort than he wanted to give to placate her.
He rubbed his head again to try and ease the pain and found himself wishing he’d spent the Christmas period in Grosvenor Square. At least there he’d be within easy reach of his clubs and the gaming halls and the countless numbers of women of dubious virtue. Lila’s virtue, though dubious, was entirely too dependent on the latest trinket or false words of affection. Adam could barely utter them anymore and he knew he was tiring of her.
He was so tired of everything.
What the hell am I doing?
The words formed, as they did so often these days, too often. Adam jumped from his chair and found himself brandy in hand before he even knew it was what he intended. The alcohol seemed to be the only way to shut the voice up and God knows Adam wanted it to desist.
“You’re a disgrace to the family name boy.” His father’s words echoed from the bottom of the decanter but he ignored them. He knew he was a disgrace damn it, he didn’t need his father’s shade reminding him of that fact.
“That I am, papa, and don’t you just wish you’d had another son to inherit the estate and the title,” Adam said aloud.
Of course no one answered him, no papa and certainly no brother. There’d been no other heir, everything had fallen to Adam, straight into his lap on his sixteenth birthday. He hadn’t been ready for the responsibility, still wasn’t to be brutally honest. But what choice did he have? The entail prevented Adam doing what he really wanted, which was to sell everything and go to the devil in his own way.
The sunlight glinted off the amber liquid and Adam glanced out of the wide arching windows, slightly startled to see how bright everything was. He could see for miles from his position. The wide sweeping driveway, the magnificent fountain, all was laid out before him. Miles and miles of Winterwood land—all his responsibility. Adam couldn’t even imagine the possibility of a life that didn’t include thousands of dependents, tenants and servants and workers, all looking to him to ensure their livelihood. The prospect was a fairytale, a dream, something he would never have.
“Don’t I wish you’d had another son, preferably before me,” he whispered to his father’s portrait.
Sighing, Adam poured a generous shot of brandy and resumed his place behind his desk. Well, his father’s desk, it had never really been his, wasn’t like he even used it, any work he had to do was done from his own private sitting room. The study was an escape more than anything, a chance for him to hide from the world, from Grace, from Finn, his stoic manager, and at the moment, his house guests.
They’d be up and about soon, wondering what the night’s entertainment was going to be, what delights Adam had in store for them. He had no idea, more of the same probably. An extravagant feast, followed by extravagant amounts of liquor, followed by the sort of goings on no respectable earl would allow. Felton had hinted he’d be willing to swap mistresses for the night and Adam felt sure he’d been vaguely interested when drunk enough. It hadn’t even occurred to him that Lila might not be of the same mind.
Now, relatively sober, the idea held little appeal and Lila’s feelings were slightly more important.
Adam looked down at his brandy, rubbed his aching head again and took a deep breath. Perhaps it was time and more to start listening to the voice in his head? Maybe it was time to stop trying to shut it up with stronger and stronger spirits?
“Time to grow up boy,” his father’s portrait mocked.
Maybe it was time, after ten years, to finally think about sorting himself out.
Adam lifted his glass to the stern gaze of the only steadying influence he’d ever known, and swallowed the drink in one.
“Maybe it is, papa, maybe it is.” And he felt the burn all over again.


Chapter Three


Despite the fact that the recruitment pack had said Winterwood Estate, with a capital E, Eva hadn’t really thought about how big it would be. They’d been driving for over an hour through country lanes all of which the driver, who she’d had been introduced to as Finn, said were part of the Estate. He was an odd sort of man, not overly friendly but not unfriendly either. Eva couldn’t work him out, though of course she was giving it a damn good try.
“Is it much further, Finn?” she asked. Again.
In lieu of an answer he turned off one country lane and joined another. It was so overgrown it hardly counted as a lane in Eva’s opinion. There were no signs and she wondered how the guests managed to find their way.
“Finn, is there another road, like a main road that leads to the Estate?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, I come this way, always have.”
Silence reigned for a moment before Eva took another stab at him. “How long have you worked here?”
He shrugged again and Eva wondered if he disliked personal questions, she was trying to be sociable though, get things off to a good start. They’d already exhausted the weather and local wildlife and she didn’t know what else to talk about.
“Always,” he replied after a moment. “Always on this land.”
“How much land is there?”
Finn shook his head. “I don’t know, miss, it goes on for a good long way, everything you can see and more.”
A lot then. “What is the land used for?”
Finn drove on to what looked like nothing more than a field, Eva couldn’t actually see a lane. “It’s not used for anything it’s just part of the Estate.”
“There’s no farms or anything?”
He shook his head. “There used to be tenement farms a good long while ago but not anymore.”
“What happened to them?”
“Changing times, miss, I suppose.”
Eva thought of all the homeless people in the cities, the cramped apartments and tiny houses. What a waste of so much perfectly good land. Shrugging, because it wasn’t her land lying idle, she pressed her nose to the window of the jeep and inhaled the clean country air. She thought the fields would look lovely in the summer; even now in the chilly winter air they had a certain charm. Eva had always preferred open spaces to the compact close living of most cities and she couldn’t help but grin. At last lady luck had smiled upon her. At last she had a chance to sort herself out. About bloody time.
After signing the contract the woman who finally introduced herself as Grace had called a wiry looking man into the room.
“This is Finn, he’ll take you back to your flat and wait whilst you pack what you need, then he’ll drive you to the Estate,” Grace had said.
Eva was surprised, although Grace had said immediately but she hadn’t thought she meant immediately. “Now as in right now?” she’d asked.
Grace nodded. “The season starts soon and we need to get everything ready. All the other staff are there and I’ll be coming down myself this evening. You’re the last to be recruited, we were getting a bit desperate to be honest.”
Ignoring the slightly veiled insult, think of the money, Eva forced a smile. “The season?”
“Yes we have a three month season for our guests.”
Puzzled but guessing it explained the four month contract Eva frowned. “Doesn’t the season usually mean the summer?”
Grace shook her head. “No, our guests are a bit different. Our season runs from the end of December through to March. We like to make sure our staff are in place a couple of weeks before. We’re a little bit late with you, it’s the eleventh today so you’ll only have just over a week to get settled in before the guests arrive.”
Well that’s Christmas taken care of and the New Year. Eva had always had a hideous time finding something to do during the holidays, now she would be working with other people and not sat alone eating dinner for one.
“I’ve never heard of such a season before,” Eva said. “Is that usual?”
“Some people like a long Christmas and New Year holiday. They stay with us for several weeks”
Long? Four freaking months?
“Right, well okay,” Eva said for lack of anything else to say. Who was she to question it?
Finn had indeed driven Eva to her flat (well Eva called it a flat, it was more like one room and a toilet), where she’d called her landlord and used the last of her savings covering the rent for the next four months. She changed from her too tight suit into comfy jeans and a jumper and packed her one bag with a few possessions, including her laptop. Grace had said no internet access so it was probably pointless taking it but Eva didn’t want to risk leaving it in her room. She did not live in the most respectable area and wouldn’t count on it still being here when she returned.
She wondered, as she was packing, what the big hurry was, and had Eva been a different sort of person might have wondered if she was being sold to a brothel or some such set up. The job was genuine though she knew that, her ‘case officer’ at the job centre had found it for her and Eva knew he vetted all jobs for authenticity before she was sent for interviews.
Eva could only assume that Grace was telling the truth, that the season, weird thought it sounded, was due to start any moment and she needed everyone on board…
Fidgeting in her seat, trying to get a bit more comfortable, Eva felt her stomach give an audible groan. They’d been driving for maybe two hours before even hitting the country lanes, it would be dark soon and she was starving. I hope we get to the freaking house in time for dinner.
“Finn, how much longer?” she asked.
Instead of answering he turned sharply off the field onto a long paved lane, it went on quite some way into the distance, maybe a mile or so. Eva looked around but the lane started from the field, there was no other way that she could see to get to it. There must be another way to the Estate or how on earth would the guests find it?
Trees were planted on both sides of the lane which in the summer would provide a natural canopy. Now, though they were devoid of leaves, with the last days light there was an eerie air to them.
Finn drove slowly, maybe due to the bumpiness of the lane and Eva noticed that every couple of hundred meters or so twin statues flanked them. She thought they might be copies of museum pieces but couldn’t be sure without getting a bit closer. What she could tell though—even from a distance—was that the women were all curvy in a renaissance sort of way, the men all spectacularly muscled and they were all, strangely enough, looking towards the sky.
Eventually Finn turned again and Eva was greeted by two splendidly naked ladies, arms wrapped around one another, and then again by two extremely well endowed men who were... Eva looked closer... locked in quite an intimate embrace.
Despite her hunger Eva’s fingers itched for her sketch pad and she smiled slightly. It had been some weeks since she’d felt the desire to draw or paint or do anything remotely artistic. Losing a job that required it kind of put a dampener on doing it purely for pleasure, the statues though, they were too beautiful not to capture on paper. Eva determined there and then that at some point she would explore the statues in detail and draw them all, maybe with a view to painting them when the four months were over.
One more turn and then the house came into view and Eva couldn’t help but gasp in shock. It was huge, far, far bigger than she had expected. It sat smack bang in the centre of a huge sweeping driveway and it was lovely, there was no other word for it. Built who knew how many hundreds of years ago it was like something out of a fairytale, fountain, turrets and gargoyles included.
“How old is the house?” she asked Finn as they got out of the car.
“I don’t know exactly, miss,” he replied. “It used to be owned by the Earl and was passed down through his family, son to son, Earl to Earl. I believe it was their principle residence, outside of the house in Grosvenor Square.”
“And now it’s a holiday Estate?”
Finn nodded.
“He sold it? The Earl I mean?”
Finn looked around uneasily. “I’m not sure, maybe.”
Eva guessed that the unnamed Earl must have run out of money, something Finn was uncomfortable talking about. So many country houses had been put in trust or sold, they were just too much for the families to maintain. Eva didn’t think there was any shame in that but then she’d been living off out of date food, and squeezing into tight clothes for the last few months. She had little shame left.
“I’ll show you the way in then, miss,” Finn said.
They walked towards the house, Finn gallantly carrying Eva’s only bag, she trying to take in everything at once. The twin turrets seemed to stretch forever, the gargoyles were a perfect shade of white and the fountain... she stopped.
The fountain was breathtaking but what really captured Eva’s attention was the statue sat right in the middle of it. Like the others it too was looking at the sky, unlike the others its modesty was covered by a cloth draped across its hips. It was a he and Eva suspected he had been modeled on Adonis—with one rather large alteration that the alabaster cloth did little to hide.
Her heart raced, adrenaline flooded her and she swallowed dryly.
“Come along, miss.” Finn’s voice reached her and Eva exhaled the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.
Shaking herself she puzzled at her own reaction. Sure, decent food was not the only thing she’d had to go without over the last few months but it wasn’t like the damn thing was real. She sighed imperceptibly, there was no denying that the statue was beautiful and the man, were he real, would be something to behold. It was a pity Eva couldn’t see his face, but the body would be enough to grace any canvas.
She hurried after Finn and then asked the question that had niggled her since they turned onto the lane. “Finn, why do the statues all look upwards?”
Finn pushed open the massive double doors of the house and cast her and odd glance. “I don’t know, I never noticed.”
How could he not notice? It’s pretty freaking obvious. “We’re the statues built at the same time as the house?”
“They’re just statues, miss,” he replied casting her, what Eva thought, was an uneasy sort of look. “Pay no attention to them.”
“I was just curious,” she said trying to reassure him. Maybe the statues are worth a lot of money and he doesn’t want her messing around with them?
“Pay them no mind,” he added. “Just ignore them for the time being.”
The time being? Eva wondered what he meant, he wasn’t making any sense, unless, bloody hell Eva hoped she wasn’t expected to clean them. That would be some job and one she wouldn’t relish in the winter air. The very thought of cold water dripping down her arms made her shiver.
“Finn...” she began, but he shook his head and looked at his feet.
“Just leave it be, miss, leave them be. Come on I’ll show you to your room.”
And with that Eva had no choice but to follow.

The Kiss