9 favorite things, including pie, Higgins, Carr & Julia London
Today's featured authors: Stacy Finz, author of Going Home; Heather Heyford, author of A Taste of Chardonnay; and Sophie Barnes, author of The Danger in Tempting an Earl. We're talking favorite desserts, favorite fellow romance authors and
Stacy Finz, author of Going Home
Three of my favorite desserts:
• Rainbow cookies. Although I've never actually seen them in Italy, they're sold in Italian bakeries in the United States. They are more like bars than cookies and are called rainbows because they have layers of white, pink and green cake, topped with a coating of chocolate. I'm crazy about marzipan and these are made with almond paste. They're hard to come by on the West Coast, where I live, so I've learned to make them myself.
• Pie. I pretty much like all pie, but particularly homemade berry pies with a crumble topping. To me, they scream country and comfort. For the holidays, I'm in charge of making the pies in my family. My specialty is pecan. But I make them all.
• Straus soft serve. I don't know if this ice cream is sold outside of Northern California, but a local family owns the creamery and the soft serve is to die for. It may sound weird, but a lot of places in the Bay Area serve it with a drizzle of olive oil and sea salt. And it's delicious!
Here's the blurb about Going Home:
The small mountain town of Nugget, California, has a strange way of giving people unexpected reasons to start over—and find the most irresistible chances to fall in love…
Maddy Breyer needs to prove she can make her own life after betrayal blew up her previous happily-ever-after. Staying totally focused on renovating a decrepit mansion into a bed-and-breakfast might help her—and this recession-hit town—finally turn things around. But the mysterious new sheriff is the kind of law-breaking temptation that's an even bigger challenge to resist…
Detective Rhys Shepard is only back in Nugget long enough to care for his ailing father. He's got a big-city promotion far away from this place that never accepted him. He does not need a sudden crime wave to solve. Or one leggy case of heartbreak stirring up all kinds of trouble and challenging his rules. Which might explain why he's suddenly finding it hard to leave…
Find out more at www.stacyfinz.com.
Heather Heyford, author of A Taste of Chardonnay
Three of my favorite fellow romance authors:
It's been drilled into us since kindergarten: "Copying is bad." So naturally, everyone's ears perked up when our college art professor told us that all artists learn, to a great extent, by copying. Turns out, Picasso was profoundly influenced by African art. The Beatles were obsessed with Elvis. Jane Austen has inspired a whole clutch of romance writers. Even Keith Urban, on a recent episode of American Idol, advised aspiring musicians to listen to everything, ignore what doesn't resonate and borrow what does to come up with a totally unique sound.
On my way to developing my romance writer's voice, I've taken that advice to heart. I'd be ecstatic if readers glimpsed the merest hint of Kristan Higgins' humor and a wee bit of Robyn Carr's wise sensitivity in A Taste of Chardonnay, the first book in my debut series, The Napa Wine Heiresses. And oh, I'd swoon to think I'd concocted love scenes anywhere near as luscious as Julia London's. (To date, I consider Kiera and Declan's four-alarm chemistry in The Year of Living Scandalously unrivaled.)
Humor, sensitivity, and heat … what more could you ask for in a romance novel? Thanks for the inspiration, Kristan, Robyn and Julia!
Here's the blurb about A Taste of Chardonnay (book one in The Napa Wine Heiresses):
Join author Heather Heyford as she uncorks A Taste of Chardonnay, a sparkling new series following the St. Pierre sisters, heiresses to a Napa wine fortune who are toasting the good life and thirsty for love.
Chardonnay St. Pierre's father is as infamous for his scandals as he is for his wine, and it's up to Char to restore the family name. The Challenge, an elite charity competition held in Napa, seems like the perfect opportunity for the socialite to cement her image as a philanthropist. But all eyes—including Char's—are on the Hollywood heartthrob who's also entered the race…
Long before his face was splashed across the gossip magazines, Ryder McBride grew up in a working-class family in Napa. When Ry learns he'll be up against Char in The Challenge, he assumes the grape doesn't fall far from the vine. But the more they get to know one another, the more they begin to realize that nothing pairs better with a heated rivalry than a healthy pour of flirtation …
Find out more at HeatherHeyford.com.
Sophie Barnes, author of The Danger in Tempting an Earl
Three inspirations behind The Danger in Tempting an Earl:
• A masquerade ball. With the plots of all three books in The Kingsborough Ball series taking place in parallel, the masquerade ball is the event that ties everything together as it sets the stage for each individual romance. In The Danger in Tempting an Earl, the shooting (seen from different perspectives throughout the series) plays a more dominant role because of the shooter's relationship to Katharine, which in turn influenced the direction in which I took my characters.
• Beauty and the Beast. Each book in the series is loosely based on a fairy tale, but in this final installment I've been more subtle about this than in the previous books. Rather than addressing the concept of Beauty and the Beast on a physical level, I've done so on an emotional one instead.
• Emma. One of my favorite Jane Austen novels, it was impossible for me not to be inspired by this book while writing a friends-to-lovers story. This was especially true considering the age difference between the hero and heroine, which was so great that Lucien had always been like an older brother toward Katharine while they were growing up. Now, as adults, he tries to persuade her to see their relationship in a more romantic light.
Here's the blurb about The Danger in Tempting an Earl:
Lucien Marvaine never thought he was good enough for Katherine. As the younger son of an earl, he didn't have a title or prospects. Then fate steps in and gives him a second chance, and this new Earl of Roxbury is determined to make the beautiful Kate his own . . . one touch . . . one kiss at a time.
Katherine never thought of herself as a temptress, certainly not with Lucien. Why, she's known him almost all her life! Yet as she waltzes in Lucien's arms at the Kingsborough Ball, she can't help but be drawn to him. Has he always been this hard and masculine? And where did those dimples come from? Kate is not looking for a husband . . . but how can she not surrender to Lucien's charms when love is at stake?
Find out more at www.sophiebarnes.com.