Summer Spirits

 

by Jill Wellington, Pixabay

Hello from Flossie Benton Rogers! Here in the south we’re heading into deep summer. My family has been enjoying the pool for a couple of months now. It’s clear they inherited my husband’s hot blood rather than my chilled blood, or maybe it’s a sign of my getting older. Whatever the reason, I’m basically miserable hitting the water until late July and August.  However, I can join them by lounging poolside with my feet in the water, as the girl above is doing, enjoying the spirit of summer while sipping a Summer Spirit.

With our passion to be faithful to a keto eating plan, though, we’ve had to adjust our cocktail recipes. Skinny Syrups has a keto bar collection that includes keto lime juice, keto simple syrup, and keto grenadine. The little ones love cherry cola mocktails: cola or cola zero over ice with keto grenadine added. Several syrup brands have fruit-flavored keto syrups that are on point. We all have different taste buds for cocktails and mocktails. I love a crisp gin concoction such as the iconic gin & tonic. Here is a delicious keto version. Omit the gin, and it makes a refreshing mocktail.

KETO GIN & TONIC

Ingredients

One jigger (1.5 ounces) Nolet’s silver gin or your favorite brand

Cup or more of diet tonic water (my absolute favorite is Publix diet)

Teaspoon of keto lime juice

Directions

Add ingredients to a chilled glass, stir, add plentiful ice, and enjoy.

It’s always interesting to see what beverages book characters go for. In my fantasy romance, Lord of Fire Wytchfae #5, the hero visits an underground club called Slice that deals in selling trafficked beings. Slice stays hidden by situating itself in an alternate dimension, as well as two years into the future. The hero, known as The Hawk, is trying to blend in as he searches frantically for the kidnapped heroine. He knows a Wytchfae would be a prize for an unscrupulous buyer. While waiting to see if Garnet appears, The Hawk imbibes a few cocktails.

 

“What can I get you to drink?”

“Bring me a Scotch Inferno, neat, black not red.”

As the server bobbled off toward the shiny onyx mirrored counter, he lent his intense scrutiny to the cavernous room with its many privacy booths and secluded crannies. His attention fell on the stage area. There appeared to be three platforms, and the curtains were closed. The swirling spotlights told him something special was about to take place. He remembered the shows here, tame compared to some of the other bars in the hotel. There had been music and other things. Usually metal or other forms of rock, designed to stimulate and excite.

 

The server set his drink in front of him on the table. One of the side curtains opened to reveal a group of four young male musicians, fronted by a slick-looking emcee in sharkskin and gooped up hair. The speaker mimicked a Cockney slang. “My name is Levi, and I’m here to welcome you to Slice. Punks and ponies, it’s time for some Nineteen Seventies vintage punk. Give a finger and a whistle for The Crash!”

 

The band’s energetic music blared out in the arrhythmic discord of dissatisfied youth. Hell, they might even be straight from the 1970s if things still worked the same around here. The angst-ridden twang of the lead guitar revved louder and spiraled the room. The vibration thundered through his veins. By the time the set was done, so were two Infernos.

After several more acts and performances, including that of a female lamia transforming into a giant snake, the hero finally catches sight of his woman.

The drumbeat accelerated once more, signaling the entrance of another thrall. "Prepare for a delicious treat indeed, gents and ladies. This rare gem comes to us from the human world. She is a Wytchfae extraordinaire. Put your hands together for the luscious Garnet."

Although he had been expecting it, the announcement of Garnet’s name half gutted him. The Hawk knocked back the dregs of his Inferno and squeezed the glass until it broke in his hand. The audience clapped in sync with the drum.

 

The curtain shimmied open once more. Her head held high, her expression stony, Garnet stood in the middle of the center stage. Her luscious body shimmered beneath the sensuous stage lights.  The crowd’s excited roar bounced off the walls. Whistles and catcalls pierced the air.

 

Can Garnet and The Hawk escape from this predicament with their lives intact? I don’t know, but—fingers crossed--I’m trusting in the power of true love and happily ever after!

Dear Friends, relish your summer. Spend lots of time with precious family and friends. Enjoy one or two cocktails, mocktails, or Summer Sprits of your choice along the way.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Flossie Benton Rogers for Pen Dames