Ivory Road Serial – Siobhan Muir

Recipe for Romance: Cinnamon Roll Apple Pie

Posted on June 11, 2023June 11, 2023 by Siobhan Muir

Recipe for Romance Two champagne glasses against a purple sparkly background with bells and ribbons at their base

Welcome to Recipe for Romance! Each weekend, I share a snippet of a tale that either takes place in the current month (in this case, June or is coming out in the current month, and a recipe that either goes with the tale or goes with the month. Confused yet? Excellent! lol Let’s get started. I’m sharing a snippet of THE KAROBIS CALLS, book 4 in the 4 part Ivory Road serial. Iliana has returned to the school and found it burning. After she found survivors, she takes Naomi and goes after those kidnapped, including Brandon. I think everyone needs a sweet treat after something like that. Available Now: The Karobis Calls When they reached the end of the road to the school, Iliana pulled Aristotle to a stop, allowing Naomi to come alongside them. “Okay, we need to figure out who they are, where they’ve gone, and how many they took with them. You said you could track them?” Iliana dismounted and pulled Aristotle over to the side of the road. Naomi nodded as she slid off her horse. “My father taught me. It was the only way to know where to hunt for the day in my homeland.” Rather than look at the ground, Naomi narrowed her gaze at Iliana. “What do you think we should look for? Too many people have come from the village and obscured the tracks of the slavers.” Iliana held up a hand. “Let’s not make too many assumptions yet. First, you said they were dressed all in black, similar to me, right?” Naomi nodded. “Okay, our first thought would be the Knalish, but it could be the peoples who live east of your homeland, too. The desert folks that my people call the Bedouin.” Naomi shook her head. “I know those people. We call them the Tsornin, but while they dress in black, they have flowing robes rather than the tighter clothes you wear. And all the men who came to the school were dressed like you.” She frowned. “Why do you wear those clothes?” “I lived for a long time in the Karobis Desert, and fitting in without being a part of any particular worven or clan, was the safest. The Knalish saw what they wanted to see without asking questions.” That sounded plausible, right? Naomi’s eyes widened and she nodded slowly. “A disguise to live in peace.” “Exactly.” Thank goodness she agreed. Cinnamon Roll Apple Pie Cinnamon Roll Apple Pie Crust #1 2 puff pastry sheets 2 tbsp melted butter 4 tsp cinnamon 1 egg Brush butter over pastry sheet and add the cinnamon to cover. Roll sheets up into a cinnamon roll, cut the ends off to make even, and cut the roll into several ¾ inch disks. Place the disks on their sides in a pie plate all the way up to the rim. Press to flatten and merge into a crust. Brush with beaten egg. Apples Eight cups of sliced apples ½ cup of sugar 3 tbsp flour 1 tsp cinnamon Combine dry ingredients until well blended. Add 8 cups of sliced apples (we used Pink Lady) and toss with hands until completely covered with cinnamon sugar. Pour apples and cinnamon sugar remnants into brushed egg roll crust and spread out until it fills the pie basin. Crust #2 2 puff pastry sheets 2 tbsp melted butter 4 tsp cinnamon 1 egg Combine like the first crust, roll, and cut into disks. Arrange disks in a circular pattern on parchment paper. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper, and roll out into upper crust with rolling pin (like a regular crust). Remove top layer of parchment paper and lay the newly rolled crust on top of the apples. Trim extra off crust to fit pie plate and press edges together to seal. Brush top of crust with beaten egg and cut heat vents. Bake at 350 F (177 C) for 40 minutes.

Recipe for Romance: Chocolate Chip Kiss Cookies

Posted on May 27, 2023May 24, 2023 by Siobhan Muir

Welcome to Recipe for Romance! Each weekend, I share a snippet of a tale that either takes place in the current month (in this case, May) or is coming out in the current month, and a recipe that either goes with the tale or goes with the month. Confused yet? Excellent! lol Let’s get started. I’m sharing a snippet of THE KAROBIS CALLS, book 4 in the 4 part Ivory Road serial, which came out May 22 2023. It’s crazy to recognize this tale is done. It’s only been waiting 23 years. Iliana has returned to the Ivory School to find it in ruins with the dead left out to rot. I know Chocolate Chip Kiss Cookies don’t go with the scene, but my kid is graduating this year and we’ll be serving folks these at her party. They are a family favorite. Available Now: The Karobis Calls “Oh dear sweet glory.” Iliana turned away and heaved again, but nothing came up. Grief roared inside her as she moved through the rest of the house, searching for any survivors. She found Temujin inside a ring of bodies in black robes like hers. The Knalish? What the hell are they doing here? Temujin had held his own, taking three adult men with him before he succumbed to his wounds. She knelt beside the boy, scanning his body for any signs of life, but he lay still as the dead invaders around him. “Oh, Temujin, I’m so sorry.” She bowed her head. “I should’ve been here to help.” A sound made her glance around and she realized he’d been defending an iron door to a stone room in the center of the house. The door flew open and a small body launched at her, screaming a war cry. “Die, Knalish dog!” Iliana lurched to her feet and met the sword flying at her head with her dagger and a shriek of steel. She pivoted to step over the bodies and watched her opponent. It took her precious seconds and a flurry of defensive moves to realize her opponent was Naomi, her face twisted in anger and grief. “Whoa, wait. Naomi, it’s—” “You’re going to pay for that death; for all the deaths!” Naomi ignored her and pressed on until Iliana disarmed her and bumped her to the floor. “Go ahead and kill me, you coward, but I swear on my grandmother’s grave, I will haunt you through the nine worlds and beyond!” “Naomi, it’s me, Rory.” Iliana sheathed her dagger and removed the silk from her face before she knelt beside the girl. “It’s Master Rory. See?” Naomi blinked, her eyes growing wide. “Master Rory? Oh sweet Goddess, thank goodness you’re here!” Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Kiss Cookies Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Kiss Cookies Ingredients 48 Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Kisses, unwrapped 1 stick (8 Tbsp) Butter, softened 1 egg ½ cup granulated white sugar ½ cup brown sugar, packed 1 tsp vanilla 2 cups GF 1:1 all-purpose flour 1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips Directions Heat oven to 365 F. In a large bowl mix butter, the two sugars, and vanilla until well blended. Add egg and mix until smooth. Add flour to butter mixture a little at a time until relatively smooth. Fold in mini chocolate chips. The dough won’t be smooth and the chips might be loose, but it won’t matter in the long run. Grab a handful of dough, a “scant tablespoon’s worth” and flatten in your palm. Place a Dark Chocolate Kiss in the center, and mold the dough and chips around the kiss, pressing gently. Once it has covered the Kiss, roll in your hands to make a ball. Place all the balls on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet. Bake at 365 F for 8-10 minutes. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack until no longer squishy. Makes 48+ cookies.

RELEASE DAY THE KAROBIS CALLS

Posted on May 22, 2023May 22, 2023 by Siobhan Muir

It’s Release Day for THE IVORY ROAD: THE KAROBIS CALLS, the exciting conclusion to The Ivory Road serial. This is a 23 year old story that’s been reworked and changed into something new, even for me. I hope you’ve enjoyed Ivory’s journey. When I started this story, I was in the Aleutian Islands, working on my Master’s Thesis in volcanology. But in the evenings after fieldwork was done, my Muse refused to be quiet any longer (I’d ignored her all through college). So this story was born. But it evolved in 2022 and surprised even me. Here’s the blurb: Rushing to her home world to save a friend brought only heartache. Can Iliana now save Brandon? A desperate return to her world has left Iliana shaken, but a gut feeling that something’s wrong in Brandon’s world sends her riding hard for the Ivory School. When she arrives in Los Arboles, the campus is a smoking ruin and bodies litter the grounds. She finds a few survivors and learns Brandon—and others from the school—have been kidnapped…by an enemy everyone thought was dead. The only way to rescue Brandon is to use the skills she honed at his school. But she has no way of knowing if he survived the attack or if he even wants her rescue, and it’s not like she can text or track him with GPS. With the help of the only uninjured student, she heads back to the Karobis Desert, hoping she’s not too late to save everything that matters to her in this—or any—world. The Karobis Calls is the fourth story and dramatic conclusion to the four-part serial recounting Iliana’s journey along the Ivory Road. EXCERPT OF THE KAROBIS CALLS The world was still. Sunshine of early evening burnished the sunflowers in the fields around her and crickets sang in the grasses. Warmth as real as the freezing cold of Australia enveloped her and she took a deep breath of relief. “Do you ever get used to the sharp changes in weather and temperature?” She shook herself to release all the tension in her body from the harrowing ride. “Iliana…” Aristotle’s voice held caution as he trotted ahead. “What?” “Look ahead.” She swung her gaze ahead and all the comfort and heat left her body in a rush. Black smoke billowed in thick oily plumes from the smoldering trees around the main house of the Ivory School of Tactics and Warfare. The breeze painted the sky with streaks of black as fear ran with little cold feet up her spine. “Sweet glory, what the fuck? Run, Aristotle!” The horse launched into a pounding gallop up the road to the school and Iliana tried to come to grips with what she saw. The unfolding ruin made her stomach tighten and she hauled back on the reins as they made it to the smoking yard. Both the house and the stables had been set ablaze and now stood in blackened ruins, studs and beams sticking up like the ribs of huge animals. The fountain in the center was smashed to nothing but fragments, the water dribbling sluggishly from bent pipes. “Oh, my glory.” Iliana dismounted but couldn’t move a step away from Aristotle as her gaze took in everything. The doors to the house were burned away to nothing but the hinges. Inside, blackened rubble was all that remained of the tile floors and the furnishings. The dorms and outbuildings still smoldered sullenly as she turned slowly to look at the estate. Her gaze caught on something lying on the threshold of the burned-out house. Something vaguely familiar. “Aristotle, is that…is that a body?” His head reared back and his nostrils flared in surprise. “Yes.” “Oh sweet glory…” She swallowed hard and took a few steps closer, cataloging every detail like the props manager on a movie set. The body lay belly-down with one hand extended into the house as if the owner had been running inside before being stopped, violently. As she drew closer, she recognized Master Vasily’s Slavic features turned to the side, his eyes still open despite the charred skin. What little she’d eaten that morning came up in a rush and she turned to the side to keep from vomiting on the body. No, no, no. This can’t be happening. If Vasily is dead, then… Her body heaved again, emptying her stomach before she wiped her mouth on her arm, tears running down her face. “We have to check for more bodies, Iliana.” Aristotle’s voice sounded as shaken as she felt. “Survivors. We have to check for survivors.” She gritted her teeth. “There have to be survivors because I can’t accept that I wasn’t here to help Brandon when he needed me.” “The world doesn’t work that way.” “Yes, it damn well does. At least in my world, right now.” She raised her chin and stepped over Vasily’s body, ignoring the dull pain from her knee with each stride. She wiped her eyes on her black silks and focused on finding the residents of the school; anyone who could tell her what had happened. Broken tile and charred wood met each step as she searched the remains of the house. The second floor was completely gone, the smoke filling the air above the ground floor. She picked her way around burned and discarded furniture to discover Brandon’s library was nothing but ash. Her eyes filled with more tears, but she wasn’t sure if it was grief or smoke affecting them. The dining hall had suffered the most damage, both in furniture and in bodies. Iliana blinked back tears as she wrapped her silks around her face. She didn’t recognize every body, but Señora Cruz lay bristling with crossbow bolts surrounded by students missing limbs. “Oh dear sweet glory.” She turned away and heaved again, but nothing came up. Grief roared inside her as she moved through the rest of the house, searching for any survivors. She found Temujin inside a ring of bodies…