The Avid Book Collector: 17 first Kisses

We are so excited to bring you the Release Day Launch for Heather Lyons' THE FORGOTTEN MOUNTAIN! THE FORGOTTEN MOUNTAIN is an Adult Romantic Fairy Tale, full of adventure and fantasy and the third book in Heather’s The Collectors’ Society Series!

Grab your copy today!

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The van door behind us slides shut. A click signals Marianne’s adherence to my wishes, and then we three descend upon the front door, the crunch of dead leaves and twigs beneath our feet cutting through the uneasy silence the gloom sunrise has brought. In a surprising show of gentlemanly manners, the A.D. moves to open the door. When the handle does not depress, a half smile curves his lips. “It’s locked. But no worries. I can have it picked open in no time.”

“There is no need.”

Darkish-blonde brows scrunch together. “But—”

“Stand to the side, please.”

When he fails to move at my thinly veiled order, Mary not so gently yanks our companion away.

The door before us is thick. The handle is ornate. It is a beautiful door, no doubt chosen specifically to adorn a building as fine as Bücherei. It takes me three strong, measured swings of my war hammer against the handle and its surrounding area to break it apart and permanently scar its beauty. Picking a lock is kind, respectful even. A picked lock can be relocked. I do not wish this door to close behind me. I do not wish to be respectful of Bücherei.

The time for genteel manners is gone.

The A.D. is in danger of catching flies with his mouth as he ogles the door’s remnants. For someone who professes to be so clever, he certainly underestimates ladies far too often.

Stale darkness, oppressive and opaque all at once, looms before us. I am unafraid, though. I am not even taken aback. I believe in the impossible, after all. I have seen, lived the impossible.

I step past the wreckage into the house.

The Forgotten Mountain - Off With Their Heads

After years spent in Wonderland, Alice Reeve learned the impossible was quite possible after all. She thought she left such fantastical realities behind when she finally returned to England.

Now Alice has become a member of the clandestine Collectors’ Society, and the impossible has found her again in the form of an elusive villain set on erasing entire worlds. As she and the rest of the Society race to bring this mysterious murderer to justice, the fight becomes painfully personal.

Lives are being lost. Loved ones are shattered or irrevocably altered. Each step closer Alice gets to the shadowy man she hunts, the more secrets she unravels, only to reveal chilling truths. If she wants to win this war and save millions of lives, Alice must once more embrace the impossible and make the unimaginable, imaginable.

Sometimes, the rabbit hole leads to terrifying places.

And don’t miss the first two books in Heather’s

The Collector’s Society Series…

THE COLLECTORS’ SOCIETY

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THE HIDDEN LIBRARY

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Heather Lyons writes epic, heartfelt love stories and has always had a thing for words. In addition to writing, she’s also been an archaeologist and a teacher. She and her husband and children live in sunny Southern California and are currently working their way through every cupcakery she can find.

Website ** Author Goodreads ** Twitter ** Facebook ** THE FORGOTTEN MOUNTAIN Goodreads

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17 First Kisses

by Rachael Allen

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: June 17th 2014

Synopsis

No matter how many boys Claire kisses, she can’t seem to find a decent boyfriend. Someone who wouldn’t rather date her gorgeous best friend, Megan. Someone who won’t freak out when he learns about the tragedy her family still hasn’t recovered from. Someone whose kisses can carry her away from her backwoods town for one fleeting moment.

Until Claire meets Luke.

But Megan is falling for Luke, too, and if there’s one thing Claire knows for sure, it’s that Megan’s pretty much irresistible.

With true love and best friendship on the line, Claire suddenly has everything to lose. And what she learns—about her crush, her friends, and most of all herself—makes the choices even harder.

In her moving debut, Rachael Allen brilliantly captures the complexities of friendship, the struggles of self-discovery, and the difficulties of trying to find love in high school. Fans of Sarah Ockler, Susane Colasanti, and Stephanie Perkins will fall head over heels for this addictive, heartfelt, and often hilarious modern love story.

BFF Chocolate Soufflé

Megan and Claire are going to teach you how to make the soufflé Megan makes during the scene where she and Claire begin to become friends:

M: Hi, I’m Megan.

C: And I’m Claire.

M: Today I’m going to teach all of you how to make the soufflé that started our friendship.

C: And I am going to painstakingly record every last detail of what she does so I can scientifically prove she uses voodoo magic to make soufflés.

M: I do not! Just because I make ultra-fabulous soufflés every single time does not mean I practice dark magic.

C: *coughs* Mmm-hmm. I’m just gonna copy down the ingredients.

5 egg whites and 3 egg yolks

¼ cup heavy cream

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (or vanilla sugar if you’re fancy like Megan)

5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (cut up)

1 stick (1 cup) unsalted butter (melted and then cooled)

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Powdered sugar

Voodoo magic

M: First, you separate the egg whites and yolks into two bowls while the eggs are still cold. No egg yolks in the egg whites bowl! This is key! Every time a molecule of egg yolk makes it into the egg whites, God kills a kitten. Write that down, Claire!

C: Egg yolks = dead kittens. Got it.

M: Then, we want to give the whites a chance to warm to room temperature, so we’ll do some other stuff.

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line four 1-cup ramekins with 2 coats of butter and 1 coat of granulated sugar.

M: Do it just like how Curtis Stone does it with the 2-minute refrigeration in between. Like in this video: http://www.curtisstone.com/Videos/Recipe-Videos/The-Worlds-Best-Chocolate-Souffle.aspx Just watch it. The man is a genius.

C: Plus, let’s be honest, watching a hot chef with an accent cook chocolate desserts is eight different kinds of bliss.

2) Combine chocolate and cream in a small saucepan or double boiler, stirring occasionally until smooth. Then transfer to a large bowl to cool.

3) Whisk yolks and cocoa powder together and then combine with the chocolate mixture until smooth.

4) In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until they look foamy. Then gradually beat in the ¼ cup of sugar.

M: Make sure to beat the eggs long enough so that peaks form on the beaters when you lift the mixer. *lifts electric mixer* See?

C: That looks highly unnatural. But I’m still gonna lick those later.

5) Fold two scoops of the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture using a rubber spatula. Then fold in the rest of the egg white mixture.

M: You have to be super gentle here. And you definitely don’t want to over mix or you’ll lose all the air bubbles that make the soufflé puff up in the oven. If there really is voodoo magic in this soufflé, it’s hiding in those air bubbles.

C: I knew it!

6) Put an equal amount of soufflé batter into each ramekin, making sure the batter comes to the very top of the dish without going over.

7) Bake 10-20 minutes.

M: This really varies by oven. You want the soufflés to puff out the top of the dish but you also want them to be moist in the middle. I suggest sitting in front of your oven the first couple times and watching them. Every. Single. Second. The perfect soufflé takes trial and error. If you don’t cook it long enough, it falls. If you cook it too long, it falls.

C: If you talk above a whisper or make sudden movements or give it the stink eye, it falls.

8) Sprinkle powdered sugar on top and pour on chocolate sauce (made from more chocolate and heavy cream in the double boiler). Serve immediately to your new best friend.

C: I feel like the “immediately” part is unnecessary. Anyone who wouldn’t shove this in their mouth immediately is not someone I want to be best friends with.

M: Word.

*Note: This recipe is adapted from Easy Chocolate Soufflé (p. 173) from 365 Great Chocolate Desserts and Curtis Stone’s The World’s Best Chocolate Soufflé video.

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Rachael Allen lives in Atlanta, GA where she's working furiously on her PhD in neuroscience. When she's not doing science or writing YA, you can find her chasing after her toddler and her two sled dogs. Her debut YA novel 17 FIRST KISSES, is forthcoming from Harper Teen. Rachael may or may not have had 17 first kisses...luckily she doesn't kiss and tell.