Tag Archives: food critic

Release Blitz: Suspiciously Sweet by Samantha SoRelle

Suspiciously Sweet | Samantha SoRelle

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Release Date: February 8th, 2022

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Amazon US | Amazon UK

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Sus Sweet Cover Sam SoRelle

Blurb

Trevor Hill has a secret.

By day he’s a mild-mannered journalist, but by night he’s the hottest—and most hated—food critic in town. When he walks into Nana O’Neill’s Bakery looking for his next scathing review, the last thing he expects is someone like Owen behind the counter. The scowling man looks more like a bouncer than a baker, but after one bite, Trevor is in love—with Owen’s baking at least.

Owen O’Neill has secrets of his own.

Scarred, tattooed Owen would rather be in the kitchen whipping up pastries than dealing with actual people. But with the business failing, he can’t bring himself to kick out any repeat customers, even ones as annoying, dismissive, sarcastic, funny, and gorgeous as Trevor.

All Owen wants is to be left to run his little bakery in peace—a task made more difficult not only by Trevor’s distracting presence, but also by the legions of fans that show up following a review by a famous yet secretive critic…

A 35,000 word novella, Suspiciously Sweet is as light and fluffy as a genoise sponge, but served hot and filled with plenty of spice!

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Teaser

“You gonna want a croissant?” yelled a voice from the kitchen.

“Excuse me?” Trevor asked, half actual question, half shock at being yelled at.

“I said, ‘You gonna want a croissant?’ They just finished, but I ain’t carrying a hot pan all the way out there if you don’t want one.”

“No. Thanks.”

A moment later the man reappeared, wiping his hands on a dishtowel that he slung over a broad shoulder. “So, what do you want?”

“You talk to all your customers this way?”

“Naw, only the ones who act like they’re too good for this place.”

Trevor froze, shocked.

The man smirked. “Yeah, not as dumb as I look. Now what do you want?”

Well, if he was going to be like that about it…

“I don’t know,” Trevor said as condescendingly as he could. “I have a very important meeting later today with some very important people who share my very high standards. Why don’t you just give me a dozen of what you consider your best, and we’ll see if that’s good enough.”

The man glared at Trevor. For a long moment he didn’t move. Then, with a tic of his jaw, he turned and grabbed a cardboard box and started filling it. Trevor leaned back to see what the man was grabbing out of the case. To his surprise, rather than grab a dozen of a single item, he was picking and choosing one or two from each of the selections of cakes and pastries on display.

“They’re all the best,” the man said as he laid a cherry tart carefully into the box. Trevor took a moment to marvel at the skill and delicacy apparent in those large, rough hands, then gave himself a mental shake.

“Best in the goddamn city.” The man folded up the lid on the box. “Those croissants you didn’t want are the best in the goddamn state.”

“I’m sure they are.” Trevor scoffed. “What kind of coffee do you have?”

“Black.”

“Well then, I’ll have a small black coffee too. Please.”

The coffee was, he grudgingly allowed, both poured efficiently—and by someone with excellent triceps, not that Trevor noticed—and of excellent quality.

“Total’s $26.73.”

“Oh, you know what? Throw in a croissant for me too. To go.”

Something deep inside Trevor trilled with delight at the baker’s flat glare. Yes, this review was going to be a delight to write.

About The Author

Samantha SoRelle Logo

Sam grew up all over the world and finally settled in Southern California when she soaked up too much sunshine and got too lazy to move.

When she’s not writing, she’s doing everything possible to keep from writing. This has led to some unusual pastimes including but not limited to: perfecting fake blood recipes, designing her own cross-stitch patterns, and wrapping presents for tigers.

She also enjoys collecting paintings of tall ships and has lost count of the number of succulents she owns.

She can be found online at www.samanthasorelle.com, which has the latest information on upcoming projects, free reads, the mailing list, and all her social media accounts.

Sam can also be contacted by email at samanthasorelle(at)gmail(dot)com which she is much better about checking than social media.

Social Media

Website: www.samanthasorelle.com

Twitter: @samanthasorelle

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samanthasorelleauthor

Instagram: @samantha.sorelle

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This was an absolute joy of a novella

Sus Sweet Cover Sam SoRelleSuspiciously Sweet by Samantha SoRelle

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What an unexpected joy this novella is. It manages to pack a proper, well narrated story into only 30k words and doesn’t miss anything.

The grumpy one/sunshine one is a favourite trope of mine but while Owen is definitely the grumpy one, Trevor is waaay too sarcastic to be a true sunshine one, even though his appearances start to bring light into the bakery.

I really loved the premise of this book too. The secret food critic going to write another of his spectacularly biting and caustic commentaries and then being blown away not only by the quality of the food, but also by the grumpy owner.

There’s a very strong visual sense throughout, the cakes and pastries Owen makes are accurately described in such a way you can almost smell and taste them.

It’s a slow burn romance, and I’d also say that, while it’s low steam, the intimacy between the two men, once they get their acts together, is incredibly hot and beautifully emotional.

Add in the lovely bunch of secondary characters and this has all the makings of a great reading experience.

I’d love to come back and read more in this setting!

#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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Release Blitz: Spooning Leads to Forking by Kilby Blades

Spooning Leads to Forking | Kilby Blades

Hot in the Kitchen #2

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Release Date: April 28, 2020

Publisher: Luxe Press

Add to Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49390330-spooning-leads-to-forking

Universal Link:

http://www.books2read.com/kilby-blades-spooning-leads-to-forking

Spooning Leads to Forking eBook Cover

Blurb

Leaving her name—and her job as a top food critic—behind in New York, Shea Summers seeks respite in Sapling. Her borrowed mountain getaway seems perfect for writing her opus. It’s also perfect for riding out a messy divorce and hiding the roomful of cash she kind-of-sort-of stole from her ex.

Too bad Sapling is a remote, three-restaurant town with food that leaves much to be desired. Sexy grocer, Dev Kingston, may be Shea’s saving grace. The way he looks at her with his aspen-green eyes shows her everything her marriage was missing, and he can special-order every delicacy she craves.

But Shea’s not the only one who isn’t what she seems. Dev moonlights as a sheriff’s deputy, a fact she finds out too late; a string of suspicious crimes finds newcomers under scrutiny; and her ex is going to extremes to find out where she is.

Taking the money and living under an assumed name might be on the right side of wrong, but dating Dev is a dangerous game. She’s still running and he’s still the law.

Excerpt

Dev Kingston has some nerve, Shea said to herself rather unreasonably. She’d been mentally cursing the man all morning. He was utterly responsible for her lack of concentration. Maybe some of the blame ought to be put on Delilah, whose abrupt disappearance the night before had perpetrated events that left Shea and Dev alone in his car.

Even before last night, Shea had struggled to remain impervious to his charm. Seeing him with Evie had done nothing to diminish his appeal. There were few things more attractive than a man who doted on his momma. Then, to be in his car, surrounded by a cocoon of his citrusy, spicy aroma had made Shea ache to do spicy things.

Don’t forget the arm squeeze, sex-starved Shea reminded reasonable Shea, as if any version of Shea could forget. It was the least-perfunctory cheek kiss she’d ever received. His big hand had cuffed her upper arm firmly. His green eyes had narrowed slightly, telegraphing something complex before warm lips delivered a too-brief kiss to her cheek.

A wave of his delectable scent had filled her senses as soon as he’d pulled back and she might have leant forward just a bit—her nose’s attempt to follow. She might’ve taken it farther, trailing said nose up the column of his beautiful neck, if his voice hadn’t broken the spell, speaking a deep, “Good night.”

Kilby author pic

About The Author

Kilby Blades is a 45-time-award-winning author of Romance and Women’s Fiction. Her debut novel, Snapdragon, was a HOLT Medallion finalist, a Publisher’s Weekly Book Life Prize Semi-Finalist, and an IPPY Award medalist.

Kilby was honored with an RSJ Emma Award for Best Debut Author in 2018 and has been lauded by critics for “easing feminism and equality into her novels” (IndieReader) and “writing characters who complement each other like a fine wine does a good meal” (Publisher’s Weekly).

When she’s not writing, Kilby goes to movie matinees alone, where she eats Chocolate Pocky and buttered popcorn and usually smuggles in not-a-little-bit of red wine.

She procrastinates from the difficult process of writing by oversharing on Facebook and Instagram and giving away cool stuff related to her fiction novels to her newsletter subscribers.

Social Media

https://www.facebook.com/groups/kilbyskorner/ (FB Reader Group)

http://www.kilbyblades.com/subscribe (Newsletter)

https://www.goodreads.com/kilbyblades (Goodreads)

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kilby-blades (BookBub)

http://www.instagram.com/kilbyblades (Instagram)

http://www.twitter.com/kilbyblades (Twitter)

http://www.facebook.com/kilbybladesauthor (FB Official Author Page)

https://www.kilbyblades.com/ (Website)

Giveaway

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by Kilby Blades

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