If I Loved You by Jean Joachim

Good morning, dear readers! Before I introduce my visitor this week on Coffee with Colette, I want to mention a new feature I will have every now and then for my gentlemen callers who do not write in the romance genre. They will be joining me for Cocktails with Colette (and if you read a double-meaning in that, then you have a naughty mind!). So I hope you will pop by this Thursday evening for my first very special guest for cocktail hour!
Now, without further ado, it is my great honour to introduce fellow Secret Cravings Publishing author Jean Joachim! She has dropped by to tell you about the first book in her new Hollywood Hearts Series, If I Loved You. More specifically, she's going to tell you about how food plays a role! Now, for anyone who has been following my diet travails on my Facebook author page, I bet you can guess which picture below has me drooling!  I'll put this one on my TBR After Diet list! 

~Colette

 

FOOD & ROMANCE

Until a reader mentioned it, I wasn’t aware the role food plays in my contemporary romance novels. Perhaps growing up in a Jewish household, where food was such a symbol of love influenced me. This becomes evident in IF I LOVED YOU, the first book in my Hollywood Hearts series, as these snippets illustrate.

I love nothing more than to bring my hero and heroine together over a scrumptious meal in a fancy restaurant …


     The food arrived, arranged artistically. The duck on one side with wild rice on the other, Haricot verts rounded out the plate. Tiny, perfect slices of orange hugged the side of the duck, adding color and a gentle citrus scent. Hunger gnawed at Megan’s stomach. When she took the first forkful, the duck practically melted in her mouth. “It’s wonderful!” Megan gushed.
     “Knew you’d like it.” He smiled warmly at her.

or to be cooked in their apartment with lots of kissing in the kitchen.

     Meg walked in and stepped out of her shoes. A smile broke out across her face as she took a deep breath, savoring the mouth-watering scent. She padded into the kitchen only to interrupt an intimate moment. Penny faced the counter, tearing lettuce for a salad with Mark flush up against her back. He had his arms around her, his face buried in her neck. Megan couldn’t see his hands, but Penny’s moan left no doubt to their activity. She tiptoed back out, opened the front door, and then slammed it shut.

The sensuality of food, preparing it, sharing it and tasting it leads to easily to sharing other tastes in the bedroom. The challenge is making up different restaurants menus and dishes to be cooked at home that will deepen the pov of my characters, making them more real.

Food can also be used to weave in a bit of backstory and heighten the emotion of a scene…

     Chaz stopped twisting the cork on the champagne. He wandered over to the table set for two with good china and real silver. A lump rose in his throat. He put the bottle down and blinked rapidly. Meatloaf. No one has made meatloaf for me since…Mom.
     Megan bounced into the room with two champagne glasses in her hand.
     “Why haven’t you…” she started until she saw his face.
     “What the?”
     He raised his palm to her, still blinking while he inhaled a deep breath.
     “Are you okay?” Her brows knitted and she put a hand on his arm.
     He swiped the back of his hand across his eyes and turned away from her.

I hope I’ve whetted your appetite for a good contemporary romance. Tuck in the napkin, set up the knife and fork and dig into a heart-warming story.

If I Loved You is Now Available in Paperback and eBook

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

All Romance eBooks

Bookstrand

The Secret Cravings Store

Click here for excerpt, interview, and reviews!

 

 

About the Author

Jean Joachim, wife and mother of two sons, is owned by a rescued pug, named Homer. She’d been writing non-fiction for what seemed like forever until she got up the nerve to try fiction. It was love. Now she spends her days in New York City in the company of her characters, with a cup of tea and a secret stash of black licorice.

Check out her website: jeanjoachimbooks.com
Or find her on Facebook: Jean Joachim, Author