By Alice Renaud (Guest Blogger)
“If
music be the food of love, play on!” wrote Shakespeare, and both
music and food play a big part in my stories. Today I’ll focus on
food, which is one of my favourite topics. I was born and brought up
in France, where food is an essential part of culture, identity and
family life. Every major event and festival is marked by a meal,
usually several courses long, with assorted wines. Families and
friends stay around the table for hours, eating and chatting. As for
romance, an area where the French feel they are experts, food is an
essential part of courtship. Dates usually take place around a meal –
in a restaurant or at home. Both men and women are expected to cook,
and show off their culinary skills to impress potential partners.
One
of my university friends was a very beautiful, sexy girl. This guy
was mad about her, but she wasn’t interested. Not easily
discouraged, he became her friend, and one day, he made lunch for
her. Bingo! He was a first class cook. They’ve been married for
twenty-five years now and have two beautiful daughters.
However
I had a slight problem in this wonderful world of food and romance. I
can’t cook. OK, that’s not quite true. Anyone can cook, given the
right equipment, ingredients, and instructions. I could do it… with
a lot of effort… and coaching from my mum… and hours spent
slaving over the cooker… but the results were never quite as I
expected. French men have high standards, so I wasn’t very
successful in the romance arena, either. Then at the age of
twenty-six, I moved to London, UK. Complete change of scene! Whilst
the British love to eat and watch cookery shows, they’re not so big
on actually cooking. Socialising and flirting usually takes place
over a drink… or two. The first date is often in a coffee shop, the
second date in a wine bar or pub. When he invites you to a
restaurant, you know he’s serious about you.
My
first date with the (British) love of my life was in a very nice
Moroccan restaurant, that’s how I knew he really liked me and
wanted a serious relationship. I didn’t really notice the food… I
was focused on his blue eyes and the fact that he’d brought me red
roses. On a first date! The guy meant business. We’ve been married
for thirteen years now and I’m a very lucky woman. And yes… he
cooks all our meals. Well, he understood early on that he had little
choice, unless he was ready to live on takeaways for the rest of his
life.
The
hero of my book A Merman’s Choice, Yann, loves food,
and can cook. It’s part of his appeal. Food and drink are a gift
for a romance writer, you can create a really sensual scene and show
the characters bonding over their meal… enjoying the tastes, and
textures… getting closer… and closer… until they’re savouring
each other rather than the food. And if your hero or heroine is shy,
alcohol is a great way to loosen those inhibitions a little.
Yann is
a shape-shifting merman who falls in love with a human woman, Alex.
Mermen are forbidden from marrying humans, so Yann has some serious
obstacles to overcome in order to achieve his happily-ever-after with
Alex. When Yann and Alex have their first argument, he appeases her
by offering her fish and chips (a very traditional British treat),
washed down with cider. Later, when they are caught up in a storm,
and end up in Yann’s house, he prepares another meal for her –
oysters and whisky. Just as whisky is stronger than cider, so the
heat level in their relationship goes up a notch… or two. To learn
more… read the excerpt below!
I
hope you have enjoyed this post and will be tempted to discover more
about Yann and Alex’s forbidden love and the world of the merfolk.
Contest
and giveaway – Free book! For a chance to win a free PDF copy
of my book, just leave a comment on this post! I will select the
winner from those who have commented.
A
Merman’s Choice – Book 1 in the Sea of Love series
For
centuries the shape-shifting mermen of the Morvann Islands have lived
incognito among humans. But one of them, Yann, has developed some bad
habits. Like rescuing humans, even when doing so risks revealing his
true nature. When he fishes Alex out of the sea, he doesn’t expect
her to reappear eight months later, and turn his life upside down by
asking him to be her guide.
Alex
is determined to fulfil a promise to her dying grandmother, by
gathering pictures and stories of the Morvanns. But she soon
discovers that, on these remote Welsh islands, legends have a habit
of becoming true!
Over
the course of a few days, Yann and Alex grow close. But some mermen
hate humans. Their hostility, and Yann’s secret, threaten to tear
the couple apart just as they are discovering that they are soul
mates. Can Yann overcome the obstacles in his path and make the right
choice?
Book
buy links
Excerpt
Yann
went to the dresser against the wall and picked up a bottle and two
glasses. “Would you like a dram of whisky to warm you up?”
Alex
slid back down the sofa. His ears registered the squeak of leg
against leather, and his mind instantly pictured her sprawled on the
cushions, her golden hair fanned behind her head, milky thighs open
wide. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the maddening
image.
Her
voice dropped into a seductive purr. “I’m quite warm already,
thank you. But I can cope with more heat.”
He
poured a glass of the golden liquid and brought it to her.
“Thank
you.” She sipped it and made a grimace, which turned into a smile.
“Even better than cider.”
Her
mouth glowed against her milky skin like a forbidden fruit. He
thought of the first summer berries, tart redcurrants, juicy
raspberries. Would she taste like them?
They
needed food. If he didn’t get lunch down her soon, she’d get
drunk. The demon voice in his mind whispered that Alex would be great
fun if she lost her inhibitions. He tried to shut the demon out. What
could he prepare quickly?
He
strode to the trap in the floor by the front door and lifted it. The
smell and sound of seawater, sloshing in the dark, rose up.
Alex
padded over to investigate. “Oh, wow. You have a whole aquarium
down there!”
The
corner of her blanket brushed his bare arm, sending another twig to
feed the fire that smouldered in his loins.
“That’s how Islanders keep their seafood fresh. Why don’t you go and sit at the table, and I’ll open a dozen oysters for you?”
She
didn’t need to see the tunnel on the side of the “aquarium,”
that led to the lower floor of the house, the level that flooded at
high tide and opened onto the sea. The level where a more respectable
merman would spend most of his time.
She
moved away, to the centre of the room where the oak table stood. Not
far enough. He’d become so attuned to her that every one of her
movements seemed to ripple across the space and lap against his body.
He grabbed a knife and bucket from the tool shelf, snapped the first
oyster open and dropped it in the bucket. Now she was crossing her
legs, damn her. Did she know that the woollen fabric was opening,
uncovering the ivory skin of her inner thigh? Was she flirting with
him, or was it his imagination?
“I
love oysters.” Her voice wrapped itself around him like a silk
scarf. “Pity we don’t have any champagne to go with them, but
this whisky is just as good.”
Too
late, he remembered that for mainlanders, oysters weren’t a cheap,
quick meal. On the mainland, oysters were the food of seduction. An
aphrodisiac. What if Alex was misreading his intentions?
Or
rather, what if she were reading them all too well?
She
patted the bench next to her. “Come and sit here. I can’t eat all
these oysters on my own.”
Her
grin gave the lie to her words. Her grin said, “I can gobble them
all up, and you with it.”
About
the Author
Her
first two paranormal romances did not find a publisher either, then
she wrote “A Merman’s Choice,” which was published in January
this year by Black Velvet Seductions. It is the first book in a
fantasy romance trilogy inspired by the landscapes and legends of
Brittany and Wales. The second book, “Music for a Merman,” will
be out later this year.
She’s
also written a short story, “The Sweetest Magic of All,” that
will appear in the BVS supernatural romance anthology “Mystic
Desire,” due this fall (autumn). It’s about a sexy apprentice
witch and a hot time-travelling warlock who go in search of a magical
amulet... and find more than they bargained for!
Alice
loves reading and writing stories, and sharing them with anyone who’s
interested!
Author
links
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/alicerauthor
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/alicerenaudauthor/
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