I would like to welcome
author Candace Shaw today to celebrate her self-published debut novel, COOKINGUP LOVE! This is a witting and saucy romance that was released on May 24th!
I am thrilled to be apart of her tour today.
Could you start things off by telling us a
little about your release Cooking Up
Love, book 1 in the Arrington Family Series (that isn’t on the back of the
bookcover) ?
Cooking Up Love is a
fun, flirty and sexy African-American contemporary romance novel set in
Memphis, Tennessee. The heroine, Shelbi Arrington, is a food critic with The Memphis Tribune. She accepted the
position in order to bury her medical career even though she is expected to
start her residency and then join her parents and siblings at the family’s
private medical practice. But because of something that happened during her
internship in medical school, she’s reluctant to begin. She meets chef Justin
Richardson on the trolley one afternoon and is completely taken by the handsome
man. Justin isn’t exactly fond of doctors, especially the one who couldn’t save
his mother during surgery when Justin was only twelve years old.
How did you come up with the plot for Cooking Up Love?
My husband and I were visiting his family in Memphis. We stayed
downtown in his cousin’s loft, rode the trolley, went to Beale Street to listen
to the blues and ate delicious barbecue. I loved the atmosphere of downtown and
wanted to incorporate it into a book. We
went to Memphis in May, a barbecue and blues festival and I got the idea to
make Shelbi a food critic from a renowned family of doctors and Justin, a chef
who doesn’t care for doctors because of how his mother died.Was it easy to decide what challenges to throw at Shelbi and Justin?
Yes. Once I started writing the book, the words and ideas started to flow and weave together.
What was the biggest
setback in writing a series?
Not sure about it being a setback but just making sure that how I
describe a character, such as eye color, hair color, etc. or giving them a
certain personality in one book, that I make sure those things do not change in
the books to follow.
Do you have any other
projects you are working on?
Yes. I’m currently working on the second book in the Arrington
Family Series. It’s about Shelbi’s older sister, Dr. Bria Arrington, who’s an
allergist at the family’s private medical practice. She wants to incorporate
naturopathic medicine with traditional medicine for her patients but her
father, the head of the practice, is totally against it. She also tired of being celibate and is
hoping her friend, ex basketball player and entrepreneur, Rasheed Vincent can
break it. It’s titled The Game of Seduction and will be out the fall of 2012.
I’m also rewriting the first book in another series, the Chase family, who are
the cousins to the Arrington family. The first book follows interior decorator,
Megan Chase who is happily single yet her family feels she should settle down.
Her friend, Congressman Steven Monroe, a self-proclaimed bachelor, is running
for the US Senate. His team wants him to date one woman during the
campaign. This book is titled The
Perfect Candidate for Love.
Are you a full time writer
or do you have a day job? If yes, How do you divide your time?
I write full time.
Do you have any questions
you would like to ask the readers?
Yes. There are a quite a few scenes (like the excerpt below)
where Justin and Shelbi are cooking southern dishes. Readers, tell me your
favorite southern dish for a chance to be entered in my first virtual blog tour
giveaway. Mine is shrimp and grits................................. Thank you so much for having me on your blog today.
EXCERPT
He studied Shelbi as she took a bite of the shrimp and
grits. Her eyes closed while she moaned, and he imagined her doing the same
underneath him with her smooth legs wrapped around his waist.
“Justin, I’ve had shrimp and grits before, but never quite
like this,” she said, then took another bite. “I don’t want the bowl to ever be
empty. It’s better than mine.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.” He pushed his plate
aside and rested his hands in a crossed position on the table.
She sampled another dish as her eyes fluttered shut again.
Her sweet, sensual moans turned him on in ways he couldn’t even explain. If he
weren’t in a professional setting, he would’ve pushed the table out of the way
and pulled her to him to settle her on his lap and devour her kissable lips.
Her sculpted face, a little beauty mark on her right cheek,
and her pouty mouth partaking of the food he’d prepared especially for her,
made him want to stare at her all day. She was sexy in skinny jeans that fit
her curvy hips like a glove, and a yellow blouse enhanced her perky, rounded
breasts, which rose and fell while she oohed and aahed over the meal. When she
licked her finger after eating a shrimp, the bear rose in his boxer shorts and
pointed directly at the sweet honey pot in front of him. Justin took a long
gulp of his water to cool down the erection interrupting his business meeting.
Her sultry voice filled his ears like sexy jazz as she
continued to compliment him on the meal.
“This is so good.” She glanced at the plate he had pushed
aside. “Why aren’t you eating?” She took a swig of her water before continuing.
“You didn’t poison it, did you?” she asked with a laugh.
“No, baby. I sample as I cook. Besides, I enjoy watching you
eat.”
“Well, you definitely can cook. I see why your restaurant is
so successful.” She dabbed her mouth with her napkin and stood to retrieve her
laptop from his desk. “I do have a few more questions.”
Her hips rocked back and forth in the jeans, and he almost
poured his ice water over his head to cool down the burning desire to kiss more
than just her hand.
BUY LINKS:
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cooking-up-love-candace-shaw/1110563536?ean=2940014478809
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-cookinguplove-789351-149.html
WAYS TO CONTACT CANDACE SHAW
Email:
Candace.Shaw@aol.com
Twitter: twitter.com/Candace_Shaw
***GIVEAWAY***
One tour follower will win a $10.00 Starbucks gift card. Follow the tour and leave a comment at each stop to give you more chances to win. Plus, if you are a subscriber on my blog, (http://candaceshaw.net) you’ll have an extra entry. The winner will be selected on Random.org and I’ll announce the winner on June 1st on my blog. All entries must be in by 11:59 PM on May 31st. Blog tour schedule: http://candaceshaw.net/blog-tour-schedule/
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