Julie Cohen wants you to taunt her with her own baked goods...plus a book giveaway!

**Giveaway is now closed**

Today we welcome Julie Cohen, and her latest novel "Getting Away With It." Growing up in the mountains of western Maine, Julie started writing short stories as a young girl, mostly about rock stars and magic. She graduated from Brown University with honors in English. She then moved to the United Kingdom, where she researched fairies in Victorian children's literature. She became a secondary school English teacher, while during her down time writing novels. Julie has moved on to writing full time and lives in Berkshire with her husband and son.

"Getting Away With It," is about a stunt woman who takes over her identical twin sister’s life when her sister disappears. It has ice cream, stately homes, crop circles, fast cars and a really hot man.

As a special treat during the winter holiday season, Julie has a free read on her website and to download from Smashwords. It’s a stand-alone extra chapter from the book—the story of the ten-year-old Liza and Lee’s Christmas pageant disaster.

Thanks to Headline (UK), we have THREE copies of "Getting Away with It" to give to some lucky readers anywhere in the world!

You can find Julie at her website, Facebook and Twitter.

I love you, Chick Lit Central, but it’s actually sort of cruel of you to make me write this recipe down for you. See, the thing is that this is an American recipe. It’s something that I used to make quite a bit when I lived in America, especially because a loaf of this Cranberry Nut Bread is a really nice thing to wrap up in foil and ribbon and give to a friend during the holiday season so they can have it for breakfast or with a cup of tea in the afternoon. It shows your love and appreciation of their friendship.

But here in England, where I live now, it’s really difficult to find fresh cranberries any time of the year except for about the week before Christmas. They’re all shipped over from the bogs of Massachusetts (oh, those sweet, sweet bogs) and nobody in England believes you can use them for anything except for a) getting rid of urinary tract infections and b) cooking up with the Christmas turkey into a big congealed mass and then immediately throwing away uneaten. They do not understand the wondrousness that is Cranberry Nut Bread.

So please, please, please...if you make this recipe, let me know. Taunt me with it. And save me a slice.

Cranberry Nut Bread

2 cups whole fresh cranberries from the sweet, sweet bogs of Massachusetts
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
1 egg, beaten
2 tbs vegetable oil
the juice of 1 orange
½ cup (or so) of milk (if any)
½ cup chopped walnuts
grated peel of 1 orange

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F and lightly grease a 9” by 5” bread pan. Wash, drain, and coarsely chop cranberries, appreciating that you can get them in your country. Add egg, oil, and orange juice.

In another bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and soda. Combine the wet and dry mixtures and add sufficient milk to give a soft, slightly sticky consistency. Mix well, adding nuts and orange peel.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean—about one hour. Then call me.

Special thanks to Julie for sharing her tasty recipe with measurements easily understandable to our US readership, even though she's overseas. :) Thanks to Headline for sharing Julie's book with our readers.

How to win "Getting Away with It":

Please comment below with your e-mail address. (Please note:Entries without an e-mail address will NOT be counted. You can use AT and DOT to avoid spam. Or provide a link to your facebook page or blog if you can receive messages there.)

Bonus entries (can be listed all in one post):
1. Please tell us: What is one thing you would love to eat or experience again but can't find anywhere?
2. Follow this blog and post a comment saying you are a follower (if you already follow, that's fine too).
3. Post this contest on Facebook or Twitter or in your blog, and leave a comment saying where you've posted it.
4. Join Chick Lit Central on Facebook. Edit settings if you don't want to receive a lot of messages at your e-mail account. Please read our posting guidelines, as well. (If you're already a member, let us know that too.)
5. Add a friend to our Facebook group. (Tell us who you added.) Be sure to remind them to edit their settings.

Giveaway ends December 13th at midnight EST.