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.
Read an excerpt from On The Steamy Side
Visit Louisa Edwards' web site
About Louisa Edwards
"My favorite thing about romance is that it’s like real life — but the way you wish life could be."
—Louisa Edwards
Louisa Edwards grew up in Virginia, surrounded by the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. By age 11, she was sneaking Harlequins out of her visiting grandmother’s suitcase, making her parents nervous about what, precisely, their little girl was learning from those books. Naturally, they were relieved when Louisa decided to attend Bryn Mawr College, hoping the Seven Sisters vibe might instill the intellectual rigor she thus far seemed to lack.
To their dismay, however, even the ivy-covered halls of Bryn Mawr couldn’t distract Louisa from her addiction to romances. Instead, she traded in her Harlequins for longer, juicier single titles, reading everything from Laura Kinsale to Jennifer Cruisie. She also managed to graduate cum laude with a degree in Romance Languages (which is not as sexy as it sounds—mostly she studied Spanish, French, and Italian literature, although some of that French stuff did get fairly racy.)
After graduation, Louisa moved to Manhattan, landing a job as an editorial assistant at Penguin Group (USA), where she worked directly for the smart, savvy president of Mass Market Paperbacks, Leslie Gelbman, who guided Louisa as she built her own list.
Vindication! It was possible to make a living from reading romance novels. Louisa’s parents were equal parts surprised and thrilled. While at Berkley, Louisa was lucky enough to work with some great authors, assistant editing Leslie’s heavy hitters, Nora Roberts and Jayne Ann Krentz. Louisa’s own list included, among others, Lucy Monroe, Jennifer St. Giles, and Shelley Bradley. All of which led to Louisa being promoted to assistant editor.
Then real life romance ensued: Louisa married a journalist and was promptly exiled to Ohio so her husband could work for his family’s newspaper. There Louisa started reviewing romances for FreshFiction.com and took a part-time job at the Culinary Vegetable Institute. Personal interaction with chefs, plus the limited repertoire of local restaurants stoked Louisa’s interest in food. She began critiquing restaurants for the local newspaper, got sucked into Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen, trailed a chef friend at his restaurant in Raleigh, North Carolina, started cooking her way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and decided to bring it all together by writing CAN’T STAND THE HEAT.
Now she awaits the response of the masses to her second foodie-inspired Recipe for Love romance for St. Martin’s Paperbacks, ON THE STEAMY SIDE. Meanwhile, Louisa will continue to eat in as many wonderful restaurants as possible—purely for research, of course.
Also by Louisa Edwards...
Can't Stand The Heat
A contest from Louisa...
Enter to win a copy of On The Steamy Side! Click here!
An Interview with Louisa Edwards
By Holly Hewson for The Romance StudioHH: Louisa, thank you for talking with us at The Romance Studio. Please tell us about your latest release, On The Steamy Side. Louisa: On the Steamy Side picks up a few months after the end of Can't Stand the Heat and focuses on a supporting character from the first book, Devon Sparks. Devon's a jaded, cynical celebrity chef whose life is about to be turned upside down when he fires his publicist, takes over a friend's restaurant as a favor, and finds his estranged 10-year-old son on his doorstep. Luckily for him, he's got Lilah Jane Tunkle to help straighten things out! Lilah came to New York City looking for adventure and excitement, and found a father and son in desperate need of down-to-earth advice, no-nonsense cooking, and, of course, love.
On the Steamy Side is part of my Recipe for Love series, but it can definitely be read as a stand alone story!
HH: A sassy Southern nanny and a famous chef at a crossroads in his life. Where did you get the idea for their sizzling story? Louisa: The original idea was actually to do sort of a modern take on one of my favorite novels, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I loved the thought of twisting the classic governess romance by making her a nanny from a small town and him a superstar chef -- and then setting the whole thing in Manhattan! The story grew from there. It didn't end up being a faithful retelling of Jane Eyre at all, but that's where the idea came from.
HH: What do you like best about Lilah? And how do you relate to her? Louisa: I really like Lilah's outlook on life-she's very positive and hopeful, and there's a core of strength in her that makes her believe she can do whatever she sets out to do. I relate most to her background; I grew up in a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, and most of the food and recipes Lilah refers to in the book are actually my old family recipes!
HH: This is the second book in your Recipe For Love series. What can you tell us about the first story, Can't Stand the Heat? Louisa: Can't Stand the Heat is where we first meet the kitchen crew at Market, a new Manhattan restaurant. Adam Temple is the chef/owner who clashes with snarky food critic Miranda Wake and dares her to spend a week in his kitchen-only to find out she can barely boil water! So of course, he decides to teach her how to cook . . . and a few other things. :)
HH: What are some of your personal favorite restaurants? Louisa: We travel a lot, so I actually have favorite restaurants all over the place! In NYC, I love Ouest, Momofuku Noodle Bar, Nobu, and a new fave is Frankie's Spuntino. Ohio is home to Iron Chef Michael Symon's fabulous restaurant Lola, which we love, and there's also a great little eatery in our town called Zinc Brasserie. In Raleigh, there's 18 Seaboard; in Washington, D.C., it's Café Atlantico; in San Francisco I love Bix and Fish & Farm. In Chicago, Alinea, Tru, and Hot Doug's were my biggest hits, and in Atlanta, I'd never miss a chance to go to Watershed. My parents live in Austin, so we go there frequently-I'd have to say Taco Deli and Uchi. Okay, clearly we like to both travel and eat!
HH: What else do you have coming for lucky readers? Louisa: On August 31, 2010, the third book in what I'm calling the Market Trilogy will hit shelves! Just One Taste centers on culinary student Wes Murphy and food chemistry professor Rosemary Wilkins as they explore aphrodisiacs. That book will also see the culmination of a romantic subplot that has appeared in the first two Recipe for Love novels, as well, so it should be pretty satisfying! I hope...
HH: What's your writing time like? And what do you consider a successful writing day? Louisa: I try to limit working on promotional stuff to the morning so I can really concentrate on writing in the afternoon. A good writing day for me is between 1,500 and 2,000 words; more is even better!
HH: How do you balance your successful writing career with family and everything else in life? Louisa: I'm lucky to be married to the most supportive man on the planet; he totally believes in me. And when it comes to my writing career, he's the first one pushing me to think big!
HH: Do you enjoy hearing from fans? Louisa: There is very little more thrilling for an author than hearing from fans! Mine are the best -- so enthusiastic and thoughtful about the characters. I've had some great e-mail conversations with readers. If you'd like to get in touch, you can use the Contact form on my website.
HH: What's the best fan letter/email/interaction you've ever had? Louisa: It's impossible to pick one out as the "best," but one that meant a lot to me was from a woman in South Carolina who told me that she read On the Steamy Side in one sitting, and as soon as she was done with it she had to run find her copy of Can't Stand the Heat and read it over again, too! I think my heart actually skipped a beat, because I've had that exact same response as a reader, and the idea that I could give that to someone else is just amazing. It's what this job is all about, really.
HH: Thank you!
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