Fire and Ice Blog Hop: Cambria Hebert!

Guys, it is really cold right now.  I am being completely literal because it's currently 29 degrees outside my window.  I live in California, which means that it is arctic outside.  Anyway, I have a really really exciting and somewhat intense post for you guys today.  If you couldn't tell from the title, the super awesome Cambria Hebert is chilling with us today with some extra fun goodies to remind us of warmer times.  I also have a review of her soon to be released book RECALLED!  Oh I forgot to mention Cambria has some SUPER awesome stuff that you can win!!  Woohoo, let's let the winter wonder-fun begin!

Here's a post from the lady of the day herself: Cambria Hebert!

Social media is everywhere these days. I mean there’s facebook, twitter, youtube, Google +, Goodreads, and the list goes on and on and on.

So when Pinterest came around I was first baffled (I mean someone explain this to me please) and then I was just insistent I was NOT going to be joining yet one more site I had to keep up with.

That lasted all of ten minutes.

What happened was I got a request from a blogger to create a Board on Pinterest on Heven, the main character in my Heven and Hell series. Then we could use the board to build a blog post around.

So of course I did it. When a fan asks me to do something I usually try to do it.

And so I joined Pinterest… and proceeded to get hooked.

I am on there all the time now, searching out fun nail art ideas (I like to paint my toes), hair style ideas, fashion trends, recipes, jewelry and other fun things.

The most recent board I created in for Valentine’s Day. I have pinned recipes, fun crafts, printable coloring pages for kids and more. It’s a great little spot to keep all the ideas I might need.

So today I thought I would share one of the super simple valentine day recipes I pinned. You can make it and give it to your sweetheart OR you can eat it all yourself! LOL.

And if you like this recipe and want to see what else I have pinned then check out my entire board here:

http://pinterest.com/cambriahebert/valentine-s-day-fun/

Now onto the recipe! 

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg (no shell)
3 TBSP milk
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup M&M's (no snacking)
1/2 cup oats (quick cooking)
1/2 cup cocca Krispies
1/2 cup white chips

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, egg, and milk and mix well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Gradually add to the butter mixture and mix well.

Stir in M&M's, oats, cocoa krispies, and white chips until combined. (The dough is pretty thick so you might have to use your hands.)

Use a cookie scoop or spoon to drop on prepared cookie sheet. Back 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Place on a cooling rack to cool. Try one.

Makes a little over 2 dozen cookies.

(recipe originally posted at http://whatchamakinnow.blogspot.com/2013/01/valentines-day-cookies-with-surprise.html?showComment=1358178889549)

Makes you hungry doesn’t it??

Hey look a super cool giveaway!  Sorry International friends this one is US ONLY.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review of Recalled! 

I definitely am ready for some cookies now!  That might be on my to-do list today.  So, now I'm going to address the awesomeness that is Cambria's new book Recalled.  I was SO excited to be chosen to review for her because I love her Heven and Hell series, and I knew that this one wouldn't disappoint.  Guys, it's so good.  From the first words of the blurb, "love or death" I really should have been prepared for what I was about to read, but I could not have been more unprepared for how wowed I was with Recalled.  

I can really only think of one series off the top of my head that has a sort of "death collector" as a main character, and the world in Recalled could not be anymore different from what idea I had formed in my mind.  She handles the "death escort" theme with a balance of humor and severity that makes the events in the book seem believable and easily imaginable.  Dex's introduction to the Death Collector business is parts scary, hilarious, and unbelievable.  The way the Cambria can emit all of these emotions through one passage is a huge feat in my opinion.  

One thing that I always know that I will get in a Cambria Herbert book is characters that are freaking likable and relatable.  Piper and Dex are no different.  Even though we are introduced to Dex as he is pick pocketing Piper you can't help but to feel what he is going through.  You feel how cold and alone he is.  Then about a minute later you fall in love with him.  You'll find out why when you read the book. ;)  Piper is seriously just a good human being.  I don't mean in the everything she does is perfect way, but in the sense that she genuinely cares about people.  My heart went out to her when she was on her quest to find out who Dex was.  

I love the realistic depiction of Piper's and Dex's relationship forming.  I thought it was beautiful and full of mystery at parts on both of their ends.  I really don't want to say too much to give anything away, but if you have read any of my posts on this blog you will know that insta-love is not my cup of tea and I am SO extremely happy that Piper and Dex have a fantastically well paced journey. 

The setting for me was where I had a little hard time, only because it seemed like Piper lived in a little nicer place then where she worked, and the reason this bugged me is because the diner where she works I pictured to be in the middle of like an intersection filled with dark alley ways and tons of bums with the tough looking gang member thrown in.   Maybe this is just because I built it up in my head this way, I just felt a slight disconnect between these two settings.  Also this may have to do with the fact the Piper goes to school and I just figure that she could be working somewhere close to the school, not in the ghetto.  Please just note on the grand scale of things this is me being weird and this could not even rate on someone else's scale.  But, legitimately I have been to scary parts of Los Angeles and I don't know how girlfriend works in the scary part of town, seriously.  I couldn't do it. 

The plot for this was very angst ridden, on my part.  It was a battle of don't do it, you are too good to, and don't be evil, please don't be evil all rolling around in my head.  The end for me was simultaneously satisfying, yet has me salivating for the next book in the series.  If you're a fan of the Heven and Hell series, you definitely should be picking this one up when it comes out on the 15th!  I'm excited to be in another one of Cambria's books!  If you like suspense, romance, and the death scene, this one is a must read for you!

5/5 OH YEAH I LOVED IT

Oh!  A side note!  If you buy Recalled on it's release day FEB 15th it's only 99 cents!! That's such a bargain, so go pick it up and love it like me!! Just to make you salivate more here's the blurb!

Love or Death? A simple question really. The choice seems obvious. But. What if you never knew love, what if your life was spent just trying to survive? What if you knew your fate before you were fully grown?

And then you died.

And you were given another chance. A better chance.

This new life depended upon one thing: your job. And so you agreed. You thought it would be simple. You thought it would be cut and dry.

It never is.

And now you are left holding the fate of someone else in the palm of your hand and you have to make the ultimate choice.

Love or Death?

Cambria Hebert is the author of the young adult paranormal Heven and Hell series and the upcoming Death Escorts series. She loves a caramel latte, hates math and is afraid of chickens (yes, chickens). She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair. She currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and children (both human and furry) where she is plotting her next book. You can find out more about Cambria and her work by visiting http://www.cambriahebert.com

“Like” her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cambria-Hebert/128278117253138

Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cambriahebert

Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/cambriahebert/pins/

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5298677.Cambria_Hebert

Cambria website: http://www.cambriahebert.com