Kim McMahill

Yelapa, Mexico is located about an hour south of Puerto Vallarta by boat, depending on the speed of the boat. The approach to this small community is simply stunning.

For a twist on the traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, I often make pumpkin cheesecake. If you want to give it a whirl this year, here’s my favorite recipe. Enjoy and have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Crust : Crush 10 whole graham crackers and mix with 3 tablespoons of sugar and 3 tablespoons of butter. Press into a 10 inch cheesecake spring pan (bottom and 2 inches up the sides). Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove. Filling : Beat together until smooth, 2 (8-oz) packages of cream cheese (works best if softened), 1 cup of light cream, 1 cup of canned pumpkin, ¾ cup of sugar, 4 egg yolks (save whites in a separate bowl), 3 tablespoons of flour, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, ½ teaspoon each of ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Beat egg whites until stiff and gently fold into the pumpkin mixture. Pour over prepared crust and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Baking times vary, so make sure the center is set. I’ve found it often takes longer than the 1 hour noted ...

As the temperatures plunge, what better time to introduce my favorite Alaskan author, Lynn Lovegreen. Lynn grew up in Alaska, and still lives there. She taught English for 20 years before retiring to make more time for writing. She enjoys reading, hanging out with friends and family, and hitting targets with a cowboy action shooting club. Her young adult historical romances are set in the Alaska Gold Rush, a great time for drama, romance, and independent characters. Her latest novel in the series, Golden Days , has just been released and you can read more about it below. For more on Lynn and her work, please visit her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com . You can also find her on Facebook and Pinterest. Alaska is a cold place to live until love blossoms. Elizabeth Robinson travels by dog sled to help her family mind the store in Fairbanks, Alaska. She wants to pursue her drawing and painting, but women artists are rare in 1906, and flood, fire, and a death in the family force her ...

In the hills outside of Loreto, Mexico is Mission San Javier, which was founded in 1699 by the Jesuits, led by Father Francisco María Piccolo. The drive from Loreto takes about an hour and the scenery is spectacular. The road has steep grades, dizzying hairpin curves, and is quite narrow in spots. It’s normally all paved, but when we visited parts were washed out and water ran across the road in several places. The village of San Javier is small, simple, and there is minimal commerce which only adds to the overall charm of this picturesque community and important cultural site. 

I’m especially excited to introduce, Jewell Tweedt and her newest Inspirational/Historical romance novel, A Bride for the Sheriff . The novel, along with many of her other books, is set in frontier Omaha, Nebraska. Modern day Omaha is a place I know well and it is near and dear to my heart, so without further ado, here’s a quick blurb to whet your appetite. After four years of waiting for fiancé Cal Davidson to return, Claire Secord moves to frontier Omaha to start a new life. After all, many men did disappear during The War Between the States. Running the family mercantile keeps her busy days but at night she dreams of Cal and the life they’d planned. Handsome sheriff Tom Maxwell befriends Claire and they begin a warm yet casual romance. When Claire is kidnapped and carried off, she must employ all her faith, skills and intellect to survive until Tom can find her.        Reuniting they discover their true feelings and become engaged. Back in O...

In Wyoming, black bear populations are widespread, whereas grizzly habitat is primarily confined to northwestern Wyoming, but as populations increase and habitat decreases bears will expand their territory and reestablish in previous historical ranges or in new habitats. Grizzly bears have not inhabited the Bighorn National Forest since the early 20th century, but for the sake of fiction I have hastened the return of a solitary grizzly to the Big Horn Mountains just as a deadly storm is brewing … Black and grizzly bears can be incorrectly identified if attributes such as size or color are relied upon. For a more accurate identification, it’s important to remember that b lack bears have no shoulder hump, tall pointed ears and a straight facial profile from nose to ear. Grizzlies have a distinctive shoulder hump, short rounded ears, and its facial profile appears dished in. Bears play a fairly small role in Big Horn Storm , but added to an already dire and deadly situation, th...

One of the many things I love about Big Bend National Park is its rough and rugged landscape.   The Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River forms the border between the U.S. and Mexico, and its character changes dramatically depending on rainfall hundreds of miles away, and the season.   After multiple trips to the region, gazing across the river into Mexico, I knew I had to incorporate this amazing place into a story. In Deadly Exodus the river is the last obstacle standing in the way of freedom.

The third book in the Redbend High Series , Lineage , written by Anna Kittrell, has just been released by Prism Book Group. To learn more about this Young Adult Christian novel and the author please keep reading. Bianca can’t walk away from her family—she’ll have to run. Following the death of her mother, Bianca and her dad are on their own. But when a redheaded stranger at the funeral claims to be her biological father, Bianca’s reality crumbles. She soon finds herself trapped between the alcoholism of one father, and the wicked schemes of another—with no way to escape. About the Author Anna has written stories for as long as she can remember. She still has most of her tattered creations, leftovers she was unable to sell on the playground for a dime, written in childish handwriting on notebook paper, bound with too many staples. Her love of storytelling has grown throughout the years. She is thrilled to learn some people now believe her tales to be worth more than...