Food plays such a big role in most of my books, my new release, VANILLA WITH A TWIST, no exception. In this little snippet, my hero, Deacon, brings take out forTandy – my heroine – from her favorite boardwalk restaurant. Who can resist a man who brings you your favorite food? I know I can’t. Tandy can’t seem to, either….
“This is nice.” Deacon pulled out a chair for her, something a man had never done before. That the gesture seemed as natural to him as breathing was, surprisingly, attractive. “Great view,” he said, taking a seat next to her instead of across, so they both faced the ocean. She shimmied her chair a bit away from him.
After he handed her utensils and napkins from the bag, he removed several containers.
“How hungry are you?” she asked, gaping at the enormous selection.
Her gaze dropped to his wide shoulders when he gave her a casual shrug. “I’ll bring any leftovers home with me. I haven’t gone food shopping since I’ve been here, and my supplies are low. Plus”—he grinned at her—“I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I wanted to have an assortment.”
“You could feed a family of four with this assortment and still have leftovers.” She opened the container with the treasured garlic knots. The groan of pleasure as the scent of hot, yeasty bread, pungent garlic butter, and sea salt hit her senses had Deacon’s lips exploding into a grin.
“I ordered those because the aroma had me salivating. I’m glad you like them, too.”
She popped one into her mouth, the flavors exploding across her taste buds, and around it said, “I way more than like these. If I could let myself, I’d eat them every single day.” She swallowed and took a swig from the bottled water he’d brought for her. “I’ve tried to make them a couple of times over the years, and they never come out as good as the Trap’s. Ricky, the owner, refuses to share the recipe with anyone.”
“I don’t blame him. Keeping it close to the vest is smart from a business standpoint. You should understand that.” He cocked his head toward her shop. “I saw several flavors I’ve never heard of before listed on your menu board. I’m sure you don’t share your recipe blends for those specialty flavors, do you?”
“Nope. Proprietary is my middle name.”
Intrigued? You can preorder your copy now for just #99cents. On release day- 5.20.2020 – the price goes up, so why not save a few bucks now and preorder? Makes sense to me, heehee.
VANILLA WITH A TWIST ( One Scoop or Two)
Genre: Sweet romance, smalltown romance, Older couple.
Tandy Blakemore spends her days running her New England ice cream parlor, single-parenting her teenaged son, and trying to keep her head above financial water. No easy feat when the shop’s machinery is aging and her son is thinking about college. Tandy hasn’t had a day off in a decade and wonders if she’ll ever be able to live a worry-free life.
Engineer Deacon Withers is on an enforced vacation in the tiny seaside town of Beacher’s Cove. Overworked, stressed, and lonely, he walks into Tandy’s shop for a midday ice cream cone and gets embroiled in helping her fix a broken piece of equipment.
Can the budding friendship that follows help fix their broken spirits and lead to love?
Peggy Jaeger, Author 