HE TAKES THE CAKE
by J. Lynn
Rowan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Contemporary
romance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Life is good for Tess Gardiner: Her Savannah, Georgia, bakery and cafe
is thriving. She’s earned Master Pastry Chef status from the American Culinary Federation.
And she’s attending a regional culinary convention in Charleston, where she’s
been invited to sit on a small business panel discussion. The opportunity to
tout her success will, hopefully, lead to bigger and better things in her
professional life. As for her personal life? The relative contentedness she’s
enjoyed for years receives a sudden jolt when she comes face to face with Tyler
Brinks, the ex-boyfriend she summarily dismissed from her life eight years ago.
Tyler’s
success as a highly-trained chef has launched him into the stratosphere. He
already owns one ridiculously successful restaurant, and he’s aggressively
working on plans for a second. But he’s never quite gotten over Tess, and he’s
never really been sure what actually went wrong between them. So when a pastry
and baking competition is announced for the week following the culinary
convention in Charleston, Ty jumps at the chance to tempt Tess with the
challenge of being his partner, giving him the perfect opportunity to remind
her how good they once were together.
As the
competition heats up in the kitchen, it soon becomes clear to Tess that Ty has
more than cream puffs and cupcakes on his mind. And she can’t deny that her
feelings for Ty never truly cooled, but have been simmering all these years,
despite the way their relationship ended. Now Ty’s attention has her
wondering—is this just the path to final closure? Or could this be a second
chance at true love?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
Ty comes to a stop a couple paces away and settles
his hands on his hips. “Hey, Tess. Long time, no see.”
“Yeah, well . . .”
That’s got to be the lamest opener ever. I clear my
throat, relieved that my voice is working at all, and muster up my pride.
But before I can come up with a real comment, Ty
says, “I saw you listed on the small business panel discussion. Must be
exciting.”
“This from a featured presenter.” Squaring my
shoulders, I tilt my head slightly and jerk my chin at him. “You always walk
around in your chef’s coat?”
“Only when I’m hoping to run into my ex-girlfriends
at culinary conventions.”
The teasing note in his deep voice has my eyes
narrowing. “Tyler—”
He holds up his hands, palms out, and chuckles.
“Geez, I’m kidding. Calm down, Contessa.”
“Do. Not. Call. Me. That.” I grind the words out
from between my teeth.
“Wow. Still touchy, are we?” He crosses his arms
again and tips his head back while he surveys me. We don’t have a big
difference between us in height, but whenever he does that, it makes me feel
about five inches tall. “I was actually prepping for a demonstration, and was
just taking a little break.”
Irritation slides through me, both at Ty as well as
myself. I shouldn’t be letting the old hurts bubble up like this. I haven’t
seen him in eight years. Even if we parted on the worst terms possible, he
deserves the benefit of the doubt, as a fellow culinary professional if nothing
else.
“Sorry.” I make a show of folding up the pamphlet,
forgotten until now, and sliding it into my bag. The move allows me to break
eye contact and re-center myself. By the time I look up again, Ty’s smirk is
back in place. Hoisting my bag into a more secure position on my shoulder, I
fold my arms in a mirror of his posture. “You’ve probably got a busy few days
ahead. Odds of us running into each other again are slim, so . . .”
A knowing light flashes in his eyes, even as he
offers a handshake. Against my better judgment and with only the barest
hesitation, I accept.
Fires start popping up all along my nerves the
instant our palms touch. By the time I realize my mistake, it’s too late to
pull away.
Ty gives my hand a gentle squeeze. “Maybe I’ll see
you around.”
He releases me, takes a couple steps backward, and
gives me a wink before turning to walk away. I stand there, my hand still
hanging in the air like a limp fish.
Maybe I’ll see you around?
Coming from Ty, that’s not a possibility.
It’s a promise.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and
Links:
Author
Bio:
J.
Lynn Rowan started writing stories as a small child, usually starring her
favorite cartoon characters. Most of her work through middle and high school
was filled with typical teenage angst and melodrama, and usually mirrored the
books she loved to read. But eventually she found her own author’s voice and
decided to seriously pursue a writing career.
Historical
fiction remains J. Lynn’s “first love”, but she has enjoyed the journey to
becoming an author of romance and chick lit. She is a member of Romance Writers
of America, the Central New York Romance Writers, and the Historical Novel
Society. She is also a teacher who tries to instill a love of learning,
reading, and writing in her students.
When
she’s not writing, J. Lynn enjoys travelling, gardening poorly but
enthusiastically, studying various topics in American history for her own
expertise, and channeling Julia Child every time she steps into the kitchen.
A
native of Oswego, NY, she now lives in Charlotte, NC, with her own Romantic
Hero of a husband and their little rainbow, affectionately known as Babycakes.
Email:
jlynnrowanliterature@gmail.com
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/JLynnRowan
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/JLynnRowanLit
Pinterest:
http://www.pinterest.com/jlynnrowan/
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
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