Buy this book

My friend, Louisa Edwards' newest book comes out today. Isn't the cover absolutely drool worthy?

Here's the blurb:

Welcome to the Rising Star Chef competition, where today’s hottest chefs battle it out on national TV for a chance at fame, fortune and culinary supremacy. Every contestant hungers to win, but only one will take the prize...

HE’S GOT THE SIZZLE

When it comes to competitive cooking, Max Lunden is no stranger to winning...though he’s never been great at working with a team. A master chef—and major hunk—he’s traveled the world, picking up new cooking techniques as well as beautiful women. But when the prodigal chef returns home to his family’s Greenwich Village restaurant, he discovers one too many cooks in the kitchen—and she’s every bit as passionate as he is...

SHE’S GOT THE FIRE

Juliet Cavanaugh used to have a crush on Max when she was just a teenager, hanging out at Lunden & Sons Tavern, hoping to catch a glimpse of the owner’s oldest, and hottest, son. Now a chef herself—competing in the biggest culinary contest in the country—Juliet will be cooking side by side with the one man she’s always admired...and desired. But despite their simmering attraction, Juliet is determined to keep her cool—no matter how hot it gets...

Chick lit Lives On

I just love a good surprise. As opposed to a bad surprise, which would be anything I don't have complete control over. Us control freaks (and yes, I am one of those) don't like the bad surprises.

So what's a good surprise? Opening my email to read that my Kindle has just been sent my electronic copy of Mini Shopaholic! I must have pre-ordered it a zillion years ago because I totally forgot about it. Of course, first I have to finish reading Louisa's Just One Taste, which is utterly fabulous. I would have finished it the day I started it except I went out of town this past weekend and haven't had a chance to pick it back up again. But I will, and then it's on the adventures of Becky Bloomwood and her mini me.

And speaking of chick lit... check out the new blog here by the RWA chapter of Chick lit writers (of which I'm a proud member). Should have some great upcoming posts!

Good things

First off, mea culpa! Please forgive my lack of blogging. Won't happen again. I promise. Well, I say that now, but you know sometimes life interferes with the best of intentions, so let me say that I promise to try not to let it happen again.

The winner of this last Tuesday's give away, All I Ever Wanted, is Marian Pearson Stevens. Marian, please email me at mariageraci1@gmail.com with your address. And congratulations!

So now for the good things:

1. My awesome friend and critique partner Mel had a fabulous review for her latest novel, Love Sucks! at Fresh Fiction. You can read it here. I'm so happy for Mel! She's an awesome writer and her books deserve the wonderful reviews they've been receiving.

2. My other awesome friend, Louisa Edwards' 3rd book in the Recipe for Love series came out this week. It's called JUST ONE TASTE and it too has been garnering fabulous reviews. I haven't read Louisa's latest, although it's on my list for things to do this weekend and I expect it to be as wonderfully entertaining and romantic as her first two books are.

Bad-boy chef Wes Murphy is dreading his final-semester cooking class—Food Chemistry 101—until he meets the new substitute teacher. Dr. Rosemary Wilkins is a feast for the eyes, though her approach to food is strictly academic. So Wes decides to rattle her Bunsen burner by asking for her hands-on advice—on aphrodisiacs…

Rosemary is a little wary about working with Wes, whose casual flirtations make her hot under the collar. But once they begin testing the love-enhancing power of chocolate, oysters, and strawberries, it becomes scientifically evident that the brainy science nerd and the boyish chef have some major chemistry together—and it’s delicious…

Doesn't that sound awesome? Hint: I'm going to be giving away this book next week, so check back on Tuesday to enter!

On the Steamy Side

Yay! There's no more waiting because On The Steamy Side hits bookstores today! This is Louisa Edward's 2nd book in her Recipe for Love series and it promises to be just as romantic and funny as Can't Stand the Heat the book that introduced us to all the wonderful characters at Market, the upscale NY restaurant at the heart of the books. I had the privilege of reading a rough draft of the first few chapters a while ago and it was absolutely fantastic.

On The Steamy Side

She’s Never Met A Man So Mouth-Watering
When Lilah Jane Tunkle fled her dull life in Virginia for the bright lights of New York City, she didn’t expect to wind up a nanny to a gorgeous celebrity chef’s ten-year-old son. Working for the delectable Devon Sparks is a sure-fire recipe for disaster, especially after Lilah gets a tantalizing taste of his perfectly seasoned kisses . . .

And He Can’t Resist Her Down-Home Spice
Devon’s not sure he can handle one more surprise ingredient in his life—he left his popular TV show, his culinary reputation is on the line, and now the son he barely knows is back for seconds. Lilah’s Southern sass is supposed to keep the boy in line, but soon enough she’s teaching Devon a thing or two about homespun food . . . and turning up the heat.

2 Releases and a chat!

I have 2 friends with new releases today! I'm so looking forward to reading each of these books. First, there's Marilyn's Brant's According to Jane, which I've been salivating to get my grubby paws on for months now. According to Amazon, my copy shipped yesterday, so I'll have to wait a few more days to read it, but you better believe I'll be tearing through that puppy. It's Marilyn's debut novel and a former Golden Heart winner and it's been getting fantastic reviews!

Then, there's my good buddy Naughty Kate (better known as Kate Pearce)'s newest installment in her "Simply" series, Simply Wicked. These are wickedly good down and dirty romances that will have you flipping the pages long past your bed time. I've been waiting a long time for this one too. Looks like my weekend is already booked (he he...get the pun?) Okay, bad joke, but you catch my drift. Run out and buy these. Or run over to Amazon and order them. Either way, you won't be sorry!

And about that chat...

On Wednesday, September 30th @ 9pm ET, Louisa Edwards will be the featured guest author in The Knight Agency chat room. Formerly an editor at Penguin's Berkley imprint before turning in her editor's hat, she describes her debut novel, CAN'T STAND THE HEAT (St. Martin's, Sept. 2009) as a "culinary romance."

Louisa has an in depth knowledge of the ins and outs of the publishing industry, and she'll be sharing lots of information about her experience as a first-time author and details on her upcoming projects.

Hope to see you there! Of course, there will also be fun trivia and prizes!

Here's the 411 on CAN'T STAND THE HEAT: For sharp-tongued Miranda Wake, the chance to spend a month in Adam Temple’s kitchen to write an exposé is a journalistic dream come true. Surely Miranda can find a way to cut the hotshot chef down to size once she learns what really goes on at his trendy Manhattan restaurant. The trouble is, she never expected Adam to find out her most embarrassing secret: this critic has no idea how to cook.

As for Adam, well, he’s not about to have his reputation burned by a critic who doesn’t even know the difference between poaching and paring. He’ll just have to give the tempting redhead a few private lessons of his own—teaching Miranda what it means to cook with passion.

To learn more about Louisa, visit http://www.louisaedwards.com/.

What: CHAT with Louisa Edwards
Where: TKA's Chat Room
When: Wednesday, September 30th @ 9pm ET
How to Chat: (1) Click on this link: http://client1.sigmachat.com/sc.php?id=115545(2) Enter a username and password (any combination) (3) Click Login

6 Very Dull things

Yes, Louisa, it's taken me nearly a week to think of 6 unimportant things about myself. Honestly, I think everything about me is important, so this was a toughie:)

Here are the rules:

Rules:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your blog entry.
5. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.

This reminds me of that game they play in Jane Austen's Emma during the picnic scene where Emma accidentally (sort of) disses Miss Bates. That scene is sooo painful to read because you want to shake Emma and scream "no, don't say it!" But of course she does:

"...and she only demands from each of you either one thing very clever, be it prose or verse, original or repeated—or two things moderately clever—or three things very dull indeed, and she engages to laugh heartily at them all."

"Oh! very well," exclaimed Miss Bates, "then I need not be uneasy. 'Three things very dull indeed.' That will just do for me, you know. I shall be sure to say three dull things as soon as ever I open my mouth, shan't I?—(looking round with the most good-humoured dependence on every body's assent)—Do not you all think I shall?"

Emma could not resist.
"Ah! ma'am, but there may be a difficulty. Pardon me—but you will be limited as to number—only three at once."


Okay, so for Louisa, here are 6 VERY dull things about myself:

1. I wake up every morning and do the crossword puzzle while I drink my coffee.

2. I never read the directions unless I absolutely have to.

3. I also never stop to ask for directions. I leave that up to my husband. I will literally drive around in circles before I give in.

4. I have a foot fetish. (I'll leave the details of that up to your imagination).

5. I just don't get the Brad Pitt thing.

6. I am incredibly lucky when it counts. I once went to see Peter Frampton in concert (cut me some slack, it was the 70's) in the Citrus Bowl (downtown Orlando-not a good neighborhood) and after we got into the concert, we realized we left our keys in the car which was parked about 2 blocks away on some random street. If we left the Citrus Bowl we wouldn't be able to get back in and of course, being 18, our priorities were what they were. So after a 6 hour concert we got out at midnight, thinking, "holy shit, what do we do now?" only to discover that the keys to the car were sitting right there in plain view with the car doors open. Yeah, NO ONE deserves to be that lucky.

Now, if I knew 6 people who hadn't already been tagged, I would happily tag them, but I think everyone in the universe has done this one!