• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

MARY E THOMPSON

it's a curvy road to happily ever after

  • Home
  • Books
    • F-BOMB: Curvy Vigilantes
    • Book Boyfriends Wanted
    • F-BOMB: SEALs Love Curves
    • Big & Beautiful: Opposites Attract
    • Raise A Glass
    • Big & Beautiful
    • Paradise Park
    • Better In Bed
    • Love On Deck
    • Standalone Novels
    • Boxed Sets
  • Shop
  • Freebies
  • Blog
  • Meet Mary
  • Subscribe

Big & Beautiful series

Fun & Mine

June 24, 2018 by Mary

Today brings us to the end of Cupcake Week. I hope you had as much fun as I did with it!

No matter which cupcake is your favorite, you can make them all yours with a few simple tricks. I’m a big fan of not letting it be obvious that I just use a boxed cake mix (because we all know baking from scratch really is better), but I like things to be quick. As much as I love to bake, I don’t love standing over a stove for two hours while I painstakingly do something that could have been done with a boxed mix.

But turning that boxed mix into something that will leave everyone wondering where I learned to bake is always good.

Sprinkle On Top

The easiest way to make your cupcakes yours is to add something on top. It could be sprinkles, a cookie, graham cracker, chocolate, fruit, anything. Stick blueberries into the icing on a blueberry cupcake, sprinkle a s’mores cupcake with graham cracker crumbs, drizzle caramel over a dulce de leche cupcake, or add sprinkles for a little extra fun.

This is easy because it doesn’t require any extra planning. You can decide to decorate half the cupcakes one way and the other half another way. You can let your guests decorate their own (a big hit when there are kids involved). You can add anything you want and aren’t limited by what will survive the oven.

Plus, how fun is that? I mean really, who wants a plain chocolate cupcake when you can have a chocolate cupcake drizzled with extra chocolate and a peanut butter cup wedge on top? Well, okay, I’d eat them all, but you know what I’m saying!

Mix It In

Another simple way to customize your cupcakes is to put a surprise inside. I like doing this when I want people to think they’re just getting a regular old cupcake. It adds something special to it that surprises you on your first bite. Obviously, this is going into the oven so you might have to be careful. Keep an eye on your cupcakes to make sure whatever you add works well.

There are tons of things you can put in a cupcake. Some work better than others so you might want to test out a pan before you commit to the whole batch. Then again, how can you go wrong with cupcakes? Add candy cane pieces (small, like a crushed candy cane) in chocolate cupcakes for a holiday treat. Put an Oreo on the bottom of chocolate or vanilla cupcakes for a crunchy flavor burst (can do the same with Nilla Wafers, graham cracker crumbs, chocolate chip cookies – experiment with it!). My kids love adding sprinkles to vanilla cupcake batter. I’m partial to peanut butter cups in a chocolate cupcake. And of course, you can do fruit or coffee or mint, really, you can have a lot of fun creating your very own favorite cupcake!

Paint It On

I’m a fan of buttercream frosting. I could eat it with a spoon (and have)! If you baked a raspberry lemonade cupcake, you might want something other than a standard vanilla icing though. Icing isn’t quite as easy to change as cake, though. It takes a little more finessing and planning ahead, because you might need something else from the store. Changing the color is easy, but changing the flavor isn’t.

I highly recommend looking up a recipe if you want a different icing flavor, but don’t let that stop you from experimenting! For the most part, you can start with a typical buttercream icing, then adjust it slightly to get the flavor you want.

For strawberry icing, it can be as simple as adding strawberry syrup and using strawberry milk. For peanut butter icing, add peanut butter to the mix. Mocha icing requires chocolate and instant espresso. Remember that you want bake your icing so anything you use needs to be edible as is.

Eat Up!

Now I’m starving and really want cupcakes! I see a chocolate peanut butter cupcake with peanut butter icing and a drizzle of chocolate syrup on top in my future. Or maybe Oreo on the bottom chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting and Oreo crumbles on top. Ooh, no. I want a s’mores cupcake – graham cracker crumbs on the bottom, chocolate cupcake, and marshmallow buttercream icing with a drizzle of chocolate and graham cracker crumbs sprinkled on top. Yeah, that’s the one!

Which cupcake are you going to try first?

Men had only ever brought me trouble. Cupcakes were so much better. But he made it hard to choose. The yummy man or the scrumptious cupcake? I wasn’t sure anymore. 

Available now for FREE!

Ebook on Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | B&N | Google Play | Smashwords 

Filed Under: Big & Beautiful series, Cupcakes Tagged With: Chubby & Charming, My Books, Sale

Scratch & Sniff

June 22, 2018 by Mary

You know me. I’ve already confessed that I don’t like to bake from scratch. I use a boxed mix most of the time. But once in a while, there’s a cake that I know has to be done from scratch. There’s something different, something special, about that one and you can’t use a mix. You have to do it the real way. With containers all over the kitchen, dirty dishes for days, and ingredients that you’ll use a tiny bit of then wonder what in the world you’re going to do with the rest.

It’s worth it, though.

Every year for Thanksgiving or Christmas (whatever holiday we spend with my family), red velvet cupcakes are on the menu. It’s my hubby’s favorite cake, so it’s something I make a couple times each year most years. The absolute best red velvet I’ve ever tasted is Paula Deen’s red velvet. If you’ve never tried it, trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

The other cakes I’ve made from scratch have been cake, not cupcakes. Sour cream pound cake and caramel cake. Even though they weren’t cupcakes, they were still delicious.

You know what I love about a cake from scratch?

The smell.

Now don’t get me wrong. A cake from the box smells good too, but there’s something different about a cake that took me an extended period of time to create. I’m sure it’s psychological, but the effort I put into it always makes me feel accomplished. It smells better, tastes better, feels better. The smiles on the faces of my family and friends always seem bigger and brighter.

People say the secret ingredient is love. I think that’s in everything we make. Whether we bake from scratch or mix it up with a box, we put love into everything we make. As long as we pour a little piece of our own heart into the batter, I think we’re in good shape.

What’s your secret ingredient?

I kept it locked up tight. I didn’t need it. It did its job for me, keeping me going. But then I met him, and everything changed. It was like it had a whole new purpose. And all of a sudden, my heart was beating just for him. 

Available now for FREE!

Ebook on Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | B&N | Google Play| Smashwords 

Filed Under: Big & Beautiful series, Cupcakes Tagged With: Chubby & Charming, My Books, Red Velvet

New & Delicious

June 20, 2018 by Mary

Who doesn’t love cupcakes? I mean, really. Unless there’s a medical reason, I don’t know anyone who won’t grab a cupcake and happily eat it when there’s one around. If you read my last post, to kick off Cupcake Week, then you know I’m a fan of using a boxed cake mix for my cupcakes. Yeah, I know from scratch is better, but, as my kids will tell you, I’m lazy. I like something quick that only requires a little effort to pull together.

But sometimes I want something a little different.

I’ll confess, my favorite cupcakes are chocolate with vanilla buttercream frosting. It’s simple and classic and so very delicious. I think if I had them more, I’d be a fan of Oreo or s’mores or chocolate peanut butter cupcakes. Cookie dough. Ooh, Twix. No, no! Cream cheese brownie cupcakes!

I might have a problem.

Here’s the thing… There aren’t boxes out there for every cupcake flavor you can imagine. If you like to experiment, you might be lightyears ahead of me on this adventure, but I don’t take the time to bake that much. I think I need to change that!

If you’re like me and you like to modify the boxed cake mix to create your own new & delicious cupcake flavor, it’s just as easy as the boxed mix. These are my favorites…

Vanilla Boxed Cake

I never use yellow cake, but I think that’s a personal preference. If I use food coloring, the yellow cakes never look right, so I stick with vanilla or white cake mix as my go-to mixes. I prepare the cake mix like we talked about on Monday, then I make a few changes to fit what I want my cupcakes to taste like.

Fruit is easy to add to vanilla cake mix because the flavors won’t compete. My daughter loves strawberry and blueberry. Dice up strawberries and add them to the batter, or add whole blueberries. You can add almost any fruit to a cake mix. Even better, save some to put on top!

Chocolate chips are simple and delicious. My husband likes chocolate, but he prefers vanilla, so a chocolate chip cupcake works well for him. Other options would be butterscotch chips (yum!), peanut butter, white chocolate, or nuts. Any of them will work really well in a vanilla cupcake and give you a little surprise when you bite in. My kids love adding sprinkles to the batter!

Changing the flavor of the vanilla cupcake is easy to do and can really make your cupcakes stand out. The vanilla is a good base for a lot of other flavors. Add maple or almond extract to add those flavors in a subtle way. Use lemon extract and zest or orange or lime to make it stand out more. Add pumpkin pie spices for a fall flavor or a different pudding mix to bring things to a whole new level. Think about what your icing is going to be and compliment the flavors. You’ll have everyone asking how you made it!

Chocolate Boxed Cake

I love chocolate. There’s nothing wrong with chocolate in my opinion, but I know there are times when it’s nice to change things up a bit!

You really can’t change the flavor of chocolate, but you can bump it up. Add chocolate chips to make it even sweeter. Throw in some dark chocolate chunks for a rich surprise or white chocolate chips for a visual delight. You can even throw in colored chocolate wafers or shavings, but that’ll end up more for the visual effect than the flavor. One thing I’ve read, but haven’t tried, is to add pop (or soda as some of you say) to the batter. Chocolate root beer float? How about a chocolate cherry coke?

Adding things to the batter can make chocolate that much better. A dollop of a mixture of cream cheese, sugar, and an egg on top (before baking) will settle in the middle for a rich surprise. You can do the same with marshmallows or a mixture of marshmallow fluff and vanilla icing. Crumble up cookie pieces or candy bars and add that to the mix. Really, the possibilities are only limited by your taste buds and imagination!

Make It New & Delicious

There are options out there. You can fall down a rabbit hole of possibilities if you search Pinterest. You might be starving by the time you start baking! People are so incredibly creative out there. I like to experiment a little bit, and I think today might be a good day to do that. I’m heading to the store. I’ll see what I can find!

How are you going to change your basic boxed cake mix?

I didn’t have time for a guy. I was already overwhelmed by my job and the coworker from hell. But he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He kept asking me out until I had no choice but to say yes. 

Available now for FREE!

Ebook on Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | B&N | Google Play| Smashwords 

Filed Under: Big & Beautiful series, Cupcakes Tagged With: Chubby & Charming, My Books, Sale

Quick & Yummy

June 18, 2018 by Mary

It’s cupcake week around here! Chubby & Charming is free and Lush & Lovely is only $0.99 for the week, so we’re celebrating with a virtual cupcake party! First up, Quick & Yummy Cupcakes!

I might have a little problem with sugar. Like, I can’t get enough kind of a problem. I love cupcakes, and pretty much every other sweet, but there’s just something special about cupcakes.

For my kids’ birthday party, which is coming up, I always make cupcakes. They’re easy to grab and wander around with, you don’t need anything special (you know, like forks), and they’re delicious!

But I don’t like to take forever. As much as I love to bake, I’m not a stand over the stove and melt chocolate for the batter kind of mom. I like something I can mix up and stick in the oven. The problem is the boxed cake mixes don’t always do it for me. So I make a few changes to improve them and have everyone asking for my recipe! They really are that good!

Quick & Yummy Cupcakes

You will need:

One boxed cake mix, whatever flavor you like. Since we always have tons of people, I usually do a chocolate, a vanilla, and sometimes a strawberry (my daughter’s favorite).
Jell-O pudding instant mix that’s the same flavor as your cupcake mix (chocolate for chocolate, strawberry for strawberry, etc.). You will not prepare this so you don’t need anything special.
Look at the directions on the back. They always call for water, eggs, and sometimes oil. Make sure you have all of that, plus milk and butter.

When you’re ready to bake, mix the dry ingredients together – the cake mix and the Jell-O pudding mix. After they’re mixed together well, you’ll add in your wet ingredients.

Substitute milk for the water the recipe calls for. Add one extra egg. Melt butter and substitute it for half of the required oil (some things online say to double the butter, but I never do that).

When everything is well mixed, spoon batter into cupcake wrappers (I fill them about 3/4 of the way). Bake according to the box but check the biggest ones with a toothpick before taking them out of the oven. Allow to cool, then comes the fun part!

Frosting!

1 pound powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp milk (start with that and add more if necessary)
To make chocolate: add 3 tbsp of cocoa and 1 tbsp oil

Mix ingredients together until well blended. If you need more milk, add very slowly (1 tsp at a time).

Of course you have to try the frosting to make sure it’s good, so grab a spoonful and test it out! (If it’s part of the directions you have to do it, right?)

Frost your cupcakes and enjoy!

What’s your favorite kind of cupcake?

Everything was perfect until he walked into my life. I had my friends, my work, cupcakes. I didn’t need a man. But he was the kind of man you couldn’t ignore, the kind of man who stepped into your mind and refused to walk away. Too bad he walked into my heart, too. 

Available now for FREE!

Ebook on Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | B&N | Google Play | Smashwords 

Filed Under: Big & Beautiful series, Cupcakes Tagged With: Chubby & Charming, Lush & Lovely, My Books, Sale

You know you love it!

January 19, 2018 by Mary

I”m so excited to have the Big & Beautiful boxed sets on sale this week! If you haven’t read these stories yet, you’re missing out!

The first book in the series, Chubby & Charming, is always free. Go grab your copy today!

To make things even better, you can get the first boxed set for only $0.99! Read all about Claire, Lexi, Addi, and Sam falling in love. Four books for only $0.99!

The second boxed set is on sale at Kobo for 40% off through January 29. Use code BOX40 to get the discount!

And the third boxed set is finally available! You can read all the Big & Beautiful stories for less than $20!

Go grab them all now!

Chubby & Charming
Big & Beautiful Boxed Set 1
Big & Beautiful Boxed Set 2
Big & Beautiful Boxed Set 3

Chubby & Charming at Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | B&N | Smashwords 

Boxed Set #1 at Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | B&N | Smashwords

Boxed Set #2 at Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | B&N | Smashwords

Boxed Set #3 at Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | B&N | Smashwords

[mailerlite_form form_id=3]

Filed Under: Big & Beautiful series, Writer Words Tagged With: My Books, Sale

Introducing Opposites Attract

October 24, 2017 by Mary

The word Aloha is so fitting today. It’s a Hawaiian word that means both ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ and really suits this post.

I always have trouble saying goodbye. Walking away from something I love is nearly impossible for me. This series has meant as much to me as it has to so many of you. The emails and reviews have lifted me up and shown me that so many of you were looking for the same thing I was.

A series about overweight women who just wanted to find love.

To be able to bring these women to life and help them find love has inspired me so much and given me so much hope. I know it’s done the same for many of you, and I thank you for sharing your stories with me.

I know these amazing thirteen women, and the amazing men they love, will be in future books. Next week I’ll give you a first peek at the brand new spin-off series, Opposites Attract. Sawyer will get his happily ever after and make some new friends for us to fall in love with. And I’m toying with the idea of following Laura and seeing her fall in love.

And some of the Big & Beautiful characters will make appearances in the spin-off series.

Ample & AlluringAs hard as it is to say goodbye, I know they’ll always be there. Like old friends you can drop in on and know you can pick up right where you left off. It’ll be fun to watch where they go in the future. And maybe catch a few new weddings and babies along the way!

It’s hard to pick a favorite couple, but I think Peyton and Wyatt became my favorites as I wrote their story. For a long time, Carrie and Drew were my favorites, and I still think they’re up there.

I’d love to know who your favorites were, and why, if you feel like sharing in the comments below!

As I say aloha to Big & Beautiful, I’m also saying aloha to Opposites Attract! About a year ago, a reader asked me if I’d ever considered writing a story from the male point of view exclusively. It wasn’t something I ever thought about since I always feel more connected to my female characters. Especially in the Big & Beautiful series where I wrote only from the woman’s point of view so we could really feel what it was like to be her.

But the question got me thinking. You clearly loved Big & Beautiful, and I was thinking about writing a spin-off series.

As the idea sat with me, I realized how much I loved the challenge. With every new series I write, I try to do something a little different, something that will push me as an author. Writing exclusively from the male point of view was definitely going to be a challenge.

So was finding the right guy to start the series.

Since I intended it to be a spin-off from Big & Beautiful, I knew the guy had to be someone who was part of that series. I was working on Round & Ravishing, and the opportunity for a future hero presented itself in the form of Sawyer, Noah’s photographer brother.

Sawyer always wanted to move to Hawaii, and being a photographer allowed me a chance to put him right where I wanted him. Smack in the middle of the wedding world.

I might have laughed a few evil laughs at the idea.

But I couldn’t walk away from it.

A wedding series, set in Hawaii, told exclusively from the male point of view?

Yep, I’d found my new challenge.

In this brand new series, Opposites Attract, you’ll get a peek into the male mind. You’ll find out what makes them tick. What they really think about during sex. And how they truly feel about our curves.

You’ll also get a peek into their dirty minds!

The first book in the series is Order vs. Chaos. Sawyer meets his match in a feisty wedding planner. Kiana has everything just how she wants it, but Sawyer comes in and messes up her perfectly ordered world.

And she just might love it.

But she’d never tell him that.

Enjoy a sneak peek at Order vs. Chaos below, and preorder your copy now!

Excerpt from Order vs. Chaos

I heard music coming from the back of the house and followed it to a small office with a white desk front and center, two yellow chairs opposite the desk, and Kiana singing along to the music in her white captain’s chair, her head bopping and her dark hair swinging.

Damn was she cute.

I knocked on the door after a second and held up the bag of food. She beckoned me in and turned the music off.

“What do I owe you?” she asked, reaching into a lower desk drawer.

I shook my head. “Consider it a peace offering. Maybe you’ll give me a little bit of a chance if I don’t let you get cranky today.”

She looked like she was considering my words, but wasn’t happy about them. She finally nodded, just once, and gestured for me to sit in one of the guest chairs.

She dug into the bag and smiled when she opened her burger. She took a big bite, groaning and closing her eyes.

It was impossible not to think about sex when I was around her. The woman was a walking, talking, groaning sex dream.

And she was off limits because she was my boss.

Coming December 26

Preorder now!

Ebook on Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | B&N

[mailerlite_form form_id=3]

Filed Under: Big & Beautiful series, Opposites Attract, Teaser Tuesday Tagged With: Ample & Alluring, Cover Reveal, My Books, New Series, Order vs Chaos

Next Page »

Before Footer

Enjoying my Sunday today and looking for the brigh Enjoying my Sunday today and looking for the bright, happy, good in life. #authorlife #authorsofig #buffalony #happysunday
He was the one that got away. Ran away really. But He was the one that got away. Ran away really. But he came back. Almost twenty years later. With a teenager. Wanting another chance. 

➤https://geni.us/h5qj

#contemporaryromance #bookboyfriendswanted #steamyromance #smalltownromance #bookgasm  #readromance #authorsofig #indieauthor #newrelease
Ten people were taken from my city over the weeken Ten people were taken from my city over the weekend. Ten people who did nothing wrong. The person who took their lives was filled was hate and took it out on innocent people. #BuffaloNY is the City of Good Neighbors. I didn't know those ten people, but I feel their loss like the rest of my city does. We are all neighbors, and we all hurting. 

My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of Aaron Salter, Ruth Whitfield, Pearl Young, Celestine Chaney, Roberta Drury, Heyward Patterson, Margus Morrison, Andre Mackneil, Geraldine Talley, and Katherine Massey; and with the survivors: Zaire Goodman, Jennifer Warrington, and Christopher Braden.
Dating your ex in a small town means everyone know Dating your ex in a small town means everyone knowing your business. Like the fact that he broke your heart. They should all be on my side, right? Too bad he’s bringing an old town hangout back to life. And getting everyone involved. And making all of us fall in love with him. 

READ NOW ➤ https://geni.us/h5qj

#contemporaryromance #bookboyfriendswanted #steamyromance #smalltownromance #bookgasm #bookporn #readromance #authorsofig #indieauthor #newrelease
All those books make me so happy. I could curl up All those books make me so happy. I could curl up and read all day in there! #readhere #authorlife #readromance #amreading #authorsofig #bookedweekend
Follow me on Instagram

Footer

ConvertKit Form

 

Follow Me

Shop Now

© Copyright 2013-2021 Mary E Thompson · All Rights Reserved · Powered by WordPress ·

This site is restricted to adults only. If you are not 18+, please leave. Any links to external sites may be affiliate links, which means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Links to Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple, Google Play, and Smashwords are also affiliate links. Privacy Policy