A quick and easy dessert, FREE books and fun on the beach!

Hi, All! Today, I am thrilled to share my latest quick and easy dessert experiment in the kitchen as I try to find healthy alternatives to bought ice cream. And I am thrilled because I managed to make the perfect thing made of Greek yoghurt, that, somehow, tastes like chilled cake instead! Just yummy! I did try to store it in the freezer, and it was okay as an ice cream, but if kept in the fridge, the taste is a lot better.

The lady fingers (savoyard biscuits) in this recipe cause a taste explosion in the mouth, but only, as I stated earlier, if it’s kept in the fridge! The biscuits soak up the excess liquid from the yoghurt/sugar mix fully after 24 hours and it turns into something magical. You just have to try it!

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FREE! Sweet first love on the island of Corfu and a strange haunting…

CORFU, 1987: Sofia is reluctant to talk to boys. Her family is strict and gossip in her village on Corfu is relentless. But Danny, a British tourist, is too charming to resist. As she falls in love, strange dreams about a woman dressed in black begin to haunt her…

BRIGHTON, ENGLAND: 1937: Laura arrives in Brighton to pursue a new life. She soon falls for Christian, a stagehand at the West Pier theatre, but when she’s offered a chance to perform there, her love for him is put to the test. Charles Willard, a wealthy aristocrat, starts to pursue her relentlessly…

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FREE books for all, loud crickets and yummy food! Fun news from my life in Greece to bring sunshine to your day. Go here to read my latest newsletter: https://madmimi.com/p/090ba21/preview

 

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New book! A young man determined to protect his girl… A teenage boy offering prophecies… and a series of unexplained events. Check it out on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3ke2O9U

Kelly ran a marathon and wound up running a house. With a ghost in it! Both humorous and moving, with delightful sweet romance, it’s just the ticket to lose yourself reading! Read more on Amazon
370 pages of Corfu summer bliss! This beach romance will make you fall in love… Available in paperback , box set or 4 kindle episodes!
To grab “Facets of Love” for FREE, go here! Planning to visit Greece? Check out our FREE guide to Corfu! For delicious Greek recipes, go here. Are you an author? Check out our FREE promo tips & resources here.

FREE books for all, Greek Easter, and cat trouble!

Thrilled to share my latest newsletter today where I am listing a few freebies for all as usual! I am also giving you the latest on my cats. Sissi, my one-year-old fur baby, has been particularly busy hunting for critters lately!

But before I tell you all that, here’s my best current book offer, which I’m rolling out for Greek Easter weekend. Grab The Raven Witch of Corfu box set with the whole story for only 99c!

Lizzie is not your average tourist…

Lizzie arrives on the idyllic Greek island of Corfu but far from feeling excited, her heart is heavy. She is here to claim back her twin brother who was kidnapped twenty years earlier on her previous visit. In a cave. By an evil witch.

When Lizzie sees her brother again, she receives the shock of her life. The witch has tricked her… As if this weren’t enough, Stamatis, a handsome local, steals her heart to complicate her life even further…

“It’s a step up from Mills and Boon – much more Mary Stewart than Barbara Cartland, with a bit of Gothic horror and Harry Potter-esque magic in the mix. And it’s certainly a page-turner.” ~Hilary Whitton Paipeti, author of In the Footsteps of Lawrence Durrell and Gerald Durrell in Corfu

Only 99c on Amazon US and UK for a limited time!

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Check out my latest newsletter for a plethora of kindle book deals, freebies, and musings from my life in Greece.

Are you interested in Corfu Easter traditions? Check out this post that will tell you all about the great procession of Holy Saturday and the famous pot-throwing custom! Kali Anastasi!

 

YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY… SHARING IS CARING! Tweet this to spread some love:

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New book! A young man determined to protect his girl… A teenage boy offering prophecies… and a series of unexplained events. Check it out on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3ke2O9U

Kelly ran a marathon and wound up running a house. With a ghost in it! Both humorous and moving, with delightful sweet romance, it’s just the ticket to lose yourself reading! Read more on Amazon
Summer love and a mysterious haunting in Corfu! Check it out here

370 pages of Corfu summer bliss! This beach romance will make you fall in love… Available in paperback , box set or 4 kindle episodes!
To grab “Facets of Love” for FREE, go here! Planning to visit Greece? Check out our FREE guide to Corfu! For delicious Greek recipes, go here. Are you an author? Check out our FREE promo tips & resources here.

Watch me live on Youtube!

Wuhoo, I’m just bursting at the seams! The Public Central Historic Library of Corfu has invited me to do a live presentation on their Youtube channel to talk about my love for Corfu and the tales it inspired in me. I will be showing old photos, sharing about family and my summers in Corfu in the 1970s and 1980s. I’ll also be presenting two of my books set in Corfu. Hope to see you there!

Mark your calendar

The presentation will take place this coming Wednesday, March 17 at 18:00 Athens time. That’s 16:00 London, 11:00 New York. If the time doesn’t suit, then you’re welcome to watch it anytime later, as the presentation will remain on the library’s Youtube channel.

GO HERE TO WATCH LIVE OR ANYTIME LATER

Check out my latest newsletter for loads of FREE books and news from my life in Greece. FREE book offers expire soon so hurry!

It’s all HERE. Enjoy!

 

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Watch Effrosyni live on Youtube talk about old summers in #Corfu! #books #family Click To Tweet

New book! A young man determined to protect his girl… A teenage boy offering prophecies… and a series of unexplained events. Check it out on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3ke2O9U

Kelly ran a marathon and wound up running a house. With a ghost in it! Both humorous and moving, with delightful sweet romance, it’s just the ticket to lose yourself reading! Read more on Amazon
Summer love and a mysterious haunting in Corfu… Only $0.99 for a limited time!

370 pages of Corfu summer bliss! This beach romance will make you fall in love… Available in paperback , box set or 4 kindle episodes!
To grab “Facets of Love” for FREE, go here! Planning to visit Greece? Check out our FREE guide to Corfu! For delicious Greek recipes, go here. Are you an author? Check out our FREE promo tips & resources here.

A glowing review of The Raven Witch of Corfu by author Hilary Whitton Paipeti

(Review by author Hilary Whitton Paipeti)

Just south of Messonghi, and standing slightly separate from the aerial-capped hill of Hlomos, is the ‘pyramid-shaped’ mountain of Martaouna, one of the main settings for Effrosyni Moschoudi’s new novel, ‘The Raven Witch of Corfu’. Dubbed a ‘fantasy holiday romance’, it’s a step up from Mills and Boon – much more Mary Stewart than Barbara Cartland, with a bit of Gothic horror and Harry Potter-esque magic in the mix. And it’s certainly a page-turner – ideal for lazy afternoons on Messonghi beach (where much of it is set), or indeed at any place or time.

The plot gets going so quickly that it is almost impossible to précis it without giving the game away. Suffice to say that the heroine has returned to Corfu after twenty years, with a task to undertake – namely to claim back her twin brother, who was kidnapped, aged 12, on her previous visit. In a cave. By a wicked witch.

Sounds unlikely? So was Harry Potter, but that turned out OK, didn’t it? Continuous action through nearly 400 pages (how DID she keep it up?) and a number of sub-plots draw you in fast. Reading a pre-publication edition, I was supposed to be proof-reading, but I was so keen to know at every stage what happened next that I forgot!

Approaching the denouement, I really puzzled over how it would work out; I’m usually good at guessing endings, but this one floored me. Would it finish with a cop-out? No, Effrosyni came up with the goods, with a brilliant ‘twist’ that pulled the plot back from the brink.

What anchors Effrosyni’s books in reality is her sense of place. Her Corfu books are set in and around Moraitika, the ancestral home of her grandfather, and the place where she has holidayed every year since childhood. While plots may possess touches of the supernatural (as shown at the end of our serialisation of Effrosyni’s short story ‘A Holiday with Granny’), they are set in a real and familiar world, which renders the incredible somehow plausible. You can walk with the heroine to the secret olive groves on the mountain of Martaouna, and accompany her around Messonghi and to a ‘Varkarola’ festival at Petriti, where you’ll experience a long evening in high summer. These concrete scenes help us accept the surreality of the storyline, just as hobbits, orcs, elves and wizards could justifiably inhabit a world fully recognisable as England.

But the supernatural is not contained only in the book itself. As Effrosyni tells us, ‘something spooky happened when [the artist] got to work on the cover! I only told him my book was set on a beach in Corfu and, of all places, he showed me this image that actually depicts the bay in Messonghi.’ So, if you think you’re going to have to suspend belief when reading ‘Raven Witch’, just consider: There are more things in Heaven and Earth… Who knows what’s really hiding on Martaouna?

The review was published in the October issue of the Corfu e-newspaper, The Agiot.

Author Hilary Whitton Paipeti contributes with articles in The Agiot, mainly about hikes around Corfu, its flora and fauna. Her upcoming book, ‘In the Footsteps of Lawrence Durrell and Gerald Durrell in Corfu’, is a republication of the popular 1990s edition, with new content. Check out Hilary’s work at Corfu Walks and at The Corfu Trail.

The Raven Witch of Corfu is out on Amazon in 4 compelling kindle episodes. The paperback will follow soon. GO HERE to check it out!

 

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To grab “Facets of Love” for FREE, go here! Planning to visit Greece? Check out our FREE guide to Corfu! For delicious Greek recipes, go here. Are you an author? Check out our FREE promo tips & resources here.

 

Hot offer: The Lady of the Pier trilogy only 99c!

historical paranormal fiction england

Good morning peeps! Today I’m excited to announce a major promotion in my paranormal/historical trilogy, The Lady of the Pier. As you can see from the image, two of the books are FREE and the other is 99c, but only for a limited time!

The series has received some glowing comments from readers, but don’t just take my word for it: I invite you to visit Amazon and read some of the reviews. My readers say The Storm is their favorite – and its average rating of 5 stars on Amazon reflects that! This is a rare opportunity to emerge yourself in the dramatic world of WWII and the sweet nostalgia of the 80s in one series! Transporting yourself to the heavenly paradise of Corfu will delight you, but in the world of Brighton, England a mysterious haunting awaits to shift your mood. The Lady of the Pier will be sending chills up and down your spine as she slowly discloses her secrets…

This August, The Lady of the Pier comes to haunt us all! Make sure to not miss out…

greek island romance corfu

Start from The Ebb and recapture the sweetness of first love! You can also enjoy it as a standalone read. It’s a lighthearted book, unlike the rest of the series where the haunting intensifies and a compelling drama begins to unfold. The Ebb is FREE today and only for a couple of days!

Please note: The Flow is discounted only in the USA and the UK, but the other two books are FREE worldwide.

 

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Do you love Greece? Check out our guide to Corfu! For delicious Greek recipes, go here. Sign up to the newsletter for Effrosyni’s news and special offers (sparse emails) NEW: To read Effrosyni’s books for FREE (yes, free!), sign up to her team of loyal readers here. It’s free to join!
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Book review: Truly Madly Greekly by Mandy Baggot

Book

I loved this book for two different reasons. The first one is that it transported me effortlessly and swiftly to the Greek island of Corfu, my favorite corner of the world. The second is that Mandy Baggot kept me interested with her lifelike characters that were full of surprises. I loved the suspense in the beginning where you were given only hints of the characters’ past. These sparse tidbits of information certainly kept me interested to keep reading as to find out more. There are both funny and dramatic elements in this summer read, which makes it anything but your typical chick-lit novel set on a Greek beach, but  the story-telling was exquisite and I lapped it all up.

 

My rating:

4-stars

An enjoyable beach read with funny and dramatic elements

 

Book

Do you enjoy books set in Corfu? Are you looking for a romantic, beach read? Give this sizzling hot romance a try! Visit Amazon.

Check out my interview with Mandy Baggot on this site!

 

A review of Truly Madly Greekly by @MandyBaggot #ASMSG #IAN1 #Booklovers Click To Tweet

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Do you love Greece? Check out our guide to Corfu! For delicious Greek recipes, go here. Sign up to the newsletter for Effrosyni’s news and special offers (sparse emails) NEW: To read Effrosyni’s books for FREE (yes, free!), sign up to her team of loyal readers here. It’s free to join!
NEW! Are you an author? Check out my FREE author promo tips & resources here!

 

Old photos and memories from Corfu

Today, I thought I’d share a couple of photos that my author friend Stephanie Wood sent to me recently. One day, Stephanie saw one of my posts about Moraitika, Corfu and the name rang a bell. Next, she was going through old photo albums and found evidence that confirmed her suspicions: she’d spent a holiday there back in the 80s but, over the years, had forgotten the name of the Corfiot village she stayed at. When she wrote to let me know, and to send the photos she found, I felt delighted. If I could re-acquaint her with such a blissful part of her past and, what’s more, stir in her the desire to return there one day, I felt my work was done.

It’s been a year now that I’ve been shouting it out from the rooftops of Twitter and Facebook that I am mad about Moraitika and Messonghi, the villages I set my romance trilogy in, and called them Vassilaki and Messi respectively in the books. It gives me great pleasure when people write to me to say they’ve been there in the past and that my posts caused them to start dreaming about them again, spurring them on to return!

So, to keep the fire inside your hearts kindling, this post is for all of you who, like me, adore these two quaint, heavenly corners of the world. Those among you who’ve been visiting since the 80s may enjoy remembering how these villages looked back then. You’ll need to forgive the low resolution, of course. These are grainy, as they should be, otherwise they wouldn’t be so precious, right?

Corfu 2

This picture from Stephanie was easy to identify as a picture of Moraitika beach.

 

Corfu 3

Now, this one gave me a hard time. It took me a while to identify the place and finally I realized it’s the road heading towards Moraitika as you come from the river bridge. Actually, this spot is very close to the bridge but it’s missing the big roundabout that’s in the middle of this road today. Back then, there was no roundabout and, depending on when in the 80s this photo was taken, there’s a chance the Messonghi river bridge wasn’t even built yet!

 

Corfu 1

Throughout the 80s, there were many restaurants offering live syrtaki dancing every night in Moraitika but only one had its dance floor by petrol pumps! And that was Paizanos petrol station on the main road (a petrol station still operates there today, and it’s situated near the bookshop/post office).

 

Corfu 4

This one is the last of Stephanie’s snaps and it’s my favourite, simply because it’s a picture of Martaouna, the pyramid-shaped mountain on the right that I can’t get enough of marveling at when  in Moraitika or Messonghi. Visible from both the villages, it houses the village of Spilio. Next to it, the Chlomos mountain is missing the two tall masts that are visible on the top today.

You can see a similar view of these mountains from the 80s in another picture courtesy of another Messonghi lover, my friend, Julie Reeves:

Messonghi beach 1982 by Julie Reeves

This was an utter delight for me when I first laid eyes on it. At the time, there were few touristic businesses in Messonghi and this photo reflects this. I used to stay at my aunt Rini’s house (aunt Rini was the sister of my grandfather, Spyros Vassilakis) for a few days at the time back then and would spend the whole day with my cousins Rini and Sofi Tsatsani. The house was just behind the building in the foreground. Seeing this photo caused a myriad of precious childhood memories to flood into my head.

Thank you Julie Reeves and Stephanie Wood for bringing back these memories!

I hope you’ve also enjoyed this short trip down memory lane. If you have similar old photos that show how these villages used to be in the 70s or 80s feel free to contact me as I’d love to see them. If I have a nice selection, I’d love to post a similar post in future again.

Before I go, to let you know that the terrific site Tripfiction asked me to contribute to their blog and, you know me, I came up with an article about my favorite place in the world – Corfu. Read it here and find out, among other things, what is the best time in the year to visit Corfu town and where on the island you’ll find freezing cold waters even in the summer! Ok, so I’ll spoil the surprise on the second one because I feel compelled to share the below pictures! Just look at these gorgeous views of the bay at Paleokastritsa that Julie Reeves took the other day:

In case you haven’t heard of Tripfiction before: If you search for your favorite locations in the world on this site, it will show you books set there! Nifty, huh!

Have you holidayed in Moraitika, Messonghi, or anywhere else in Corfu? Leave a comment and tell us all about it!

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Only on Amazon

Click here for the book trailer and a free excerpt of The Ebb.

 

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Do you love Greece? Check out our guide to Corfu! For delicious Greek recipes, go here. Sign up to the newsletter for Effrosyni’s news and special offers (sparse emails) NEW: To read Effrosyni’s books for FREE (yes, free!), sign up to her team of loyal readers here. It’s free to join!
NEW! Are you an author? Check out my FREE author promo tips & resources here!