Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **AUTHOR SPECIAL** with MELISSA STORM!

Welcome to my Friday bonus feature called Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **Author Special**!! Today, instead of one of my recipes, I will introduce you to a new author who will share one of her favorite recipes. Not only will you and I occasionally learn how to make something new and delicious, but we’ll also get a chance to check out some fantastic authors. Introducing author MELISSA STORM and her favorite recipe for Melissa Storm’s Colorful Life Fruit Parfait!

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Excerpt

Daly’s feet dragged through the all-too-familiar halls of Oakland Community College. She’d already spent two years of her life here, and was supposed to be done, but… she’d put her dreams on hold for another year to retake the stupid algebra class she needed for her associate’s degree in liberal arts. Why did she need math and biology in order to paint? The whole reason she’d attended junior college in the first place was to bolster her not-so-great high school GPA and impress the admissions board at the Cranbrook Academy of Art—and now she was wasting even more time.

What’s worse, the class met two days per week at eight in the morning, and she’d never been a morning person. She doubted such a thing even existed, especially after watching the other commuter students floating through the hallways with their eyes fixed on their feet. No one wanted to be here.

The scholarship she so desperately needed demanded a minimum 3.5 GPA. She’d do what it took to get an A this semester, but that didn’t mean she would enjoy it.

Her mother had huge stores of money, but of course, she refused to designate even the smallest amount for Daly’s education unless she chose to major in something “useful.”

She refused to give in to her mother’s misguided plans even though finding her own way meant wasting away at community college for another long semester; she would live her own life, thank you very much.

She hurried into class, chose a desk at the front of the room, and unpacked her school supplies.

After a few silent minutes, the instructor plodded into the room without so much as a glance at Daly and the other students. He dropped into his chair and took a long swig of coffee, then cleared his throat, still scowling.

Daly’s chest clenched. No, this was not good. Where were the teachers who loved their jobs? Who loved sharing their passion with beginning scholars? A groggy-looking mean person would make this already awful experience even worse than she’d feared.

He took out his iPhone, and the music of Angry Birds filled the lecture hall for a good ten minutes past the scheduled start time.

Finally, a student behind Daly stood and said, “Excuse me, Mr. Palermo. It’s almost a quarter after. I think class is supposed to begin.”

The instructor raised a condescending eyebrow, then scanned the room full of students who were all annoyed, but too afraid of jeopardizing their grades to complain. He slammed his phone down and stalked over to the chalkboard and wrote his name in big block letters.

Looks like she’d be needing a tutor.

* * *

Class ended almost as quickly as it began, leaving Daly with an hour to kill before heading home. Maybe a surprise visit to her boyfriend’s dorm room could help turn this awful day around. Still, visiting him always made her a little sad. He’d moved on to a four-year college and was only a few semesters shy of his bachelor’s degree, while she was still stuck in junior college studying subjects she loathed.

She should be at the next phase, too, according to the plan they’d made when they met two years ago—they would get their associate degrees, and then Rick would move on to pre-law and Daly to art school. They would each graduate top of their classes; Rick would be the next Johnny Cochran, and Daly would be a true original but every bit as famous as Chagall, Picasso, or Matisse. Somewhere in the interim, they’d get married and live happily ever after.

It was a good plan. Maybe she could still catch up.

Her excitement mounted as she climbed the stairs to the third floor of the residence hall. Rick didn’t have class until the evening on Tuesdays, so they could spend the entire day wrapped in each other’s arms—a low-key, high-romance kind of day.

She’d missed him these past few days, but he’d insisted he needed a little time on his own to learn the lay of the new campus, collect his books, and get settled in. Now that his first week of classes was drawing to a close, though, he’d be thrilled by her surprise visit.

Each of the doors sported yellow stars cut out from construction paper, with the names of the residents scrawled in black marker. She followed them down until she found Rick’s. A disgusting gray sock clung to his doorknob.

Yuck.

He’d been here less than a week, and already Rick was living like a slob.

He’d better get his act together before we move in together next year. Daly grabbed the sock, stuck her finger over the peephole, and knocked.

Rick groaned inside. “Dude, go away!”

That was weird. She knocked again.

This time footsteps stomped across the tiny room and the door flung open. “Whaaat?” The moment his eyes fell upon Daly, his expression changed. “Uh, what are you doing here, Daly?” He stood in nothing but a pair of black boxers patterned with red chili peppers.

Daly pressed the sock into his chest and pushed her way into the dorm. “I wanted to surprise you… Are you surprised?”

“Yeah, definitely.” He nodded vigorously and drew her into a tight embrace.

She consumed him in a ravenous kiss, walking them backward in the direction of his bed. He hesitated, but she ignored it. They could talk about what was bothering him later. Right now she needed Rick’s kisses to erase the terrible start to her day. She fell back onto the bed, pulling him down on top of her.

Their landing was anything but soft.

Daly jumped back onto her feet and whipped around.

A naked redhead rubbed her eyes and sat up. “Rick, honey, who’s this?” She yawned and pulled the comforter up to cover her exposed breasts.

“Yeah, Rick, who’s that?” Daly demanded, risking a glance at him, which only increased her fury. They had agreed to wait until marriage—his idea—but now here he was with some random co-ed, breaking their oath and breaking her heart in one swift maneuver.

Rick’s eyes shot from one girl to the other, his face turning as red as the imposter’s tresses.

The longer he remained silent, the tenser the situation became.
Finally Daly blurted, “Um, I… my class got out early, and I wanted to surprise you…spend the day together, but—”

“But, he’s already with me,” the naked girl supplied.

Tears welled behind Daly’s eyes, but she refused to surrender the last bit of power she still held.

Rick frowned.

“Oh, I get it. You must be Daily,” Ms. Naked chirped.

“The name’s Daly,” she sputtered, emphasizing the soft a. “It rhymes with tally.”

Why am I bothering teaching this home-wrecker how to correctly pronounce my name? It wasn’t as if she ever wanted to see her again.

“Whatever, Daily.” She reached her arms toward Rick and cooed.

“Ricky, come back to bed.”

“I… I just….” Just what? What could I possibly say to make this okay?

Rick pulled Daly into the tiny dorm bathroom before she could form a cohesive thought. “Give me a minute here,” he muttered to the redhead as he shut the door.

“I don’t understand. How could you do this to me?”

“How couldn’t I? You must have seen this coming. I mean, you did this to yourself.”

Daly shook her head and a tear escaped.

Rick clenched his jaw. A single, pulsing vein snaked across his left temple. She chose to focus on that rather than his words. “You seriously don’t understand? Well, that’s the problem. You’re too distant, too out of touch. I feel like I’m having this relationship all by myself, and that’s not really fair to me, is it?”

Daly just stared at him.

He took a deep breath, sending the vein back behind the protective sheath of his tanned skin, like he was mentally pushing her aside. “You don’t let people in. You don’t let me in.”

“You’re too much like your mother.”

Daly gasped. After two years together, he had to know how much that statement would hurt her. Well, his plan worked. She would never forgive him now—not even if he begged.

“I’m sure you’ll be super happy together,” she said sarcastically, as she pulled at the bathroom door and dashed out into the dorm room.

She bumped into Ms. Naked who stood right outside the bathroom with the sheet wrapped around her, toga-style.

“I’m leaving,” Daly whispered. “You win.”

The girl smirked, obviously thrilled to have won the “prize”. Well, she could keep him.

About Author Melissa Storm…

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Links to Melissa’s website, blog, books, #ad, etc.:

Amazon ebook: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1L143YY?tag=mollyfitz-20

Amazon paperback: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1QL3WWH?tag=mollyfitz-20

I hope you enjoy the recipe Melissa is sharing today on Karen’s Killer Fixin’s. Happy Eating!

Karen

P.S. We’re at 701 recipes and counting with this posting. Hope you find some recipes you like. If this is your first visit, please check out past blogs for more Killer Fixin’s. In the right-hand column menu,  you can even look up past recipes by type. i.e. Desserts, Breads, Beef, Chicken, Soups, Author Specials, etc.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: If an author’s favorite recipe isn’t their own creation and came from an online site, you will now find the entire recipe through the link to that site as a personal recommendation. Thank you.

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MELISSA STORM’S COLORFUL LIFE FRUIT PARFAIT

Note from Melissa: Recipe inspired by A Colorful Life.

Fruit ingredients:

Strawberries
Kiwi
Pineapple
Bananas
Grapes
Blueberries
Raspberries
Apples
Mandarin or clementine oranges

Sauce ingredients:

1 individual container of Greek yogurt (plain)
Juice of one fresh-squeezed lime (approx. 3 tbsp)
3 tbsp honey
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Whisk together the sauce ingredients by hand and chill in fridge until needed.

Slice, peel, and cube fruit into bite-sized pieces as desired.

Layer fruit and berries into a clear glass bowl or individual clear glasses. Avoid putting the same two colors next to each other.

Drizzle sauce over fruit when ready to serve.

Happy Reading!

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Thanks, Melissa, for sharing your book with us!

Don’t miss the chance to read this book!