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They’re turning up the heat!
French-trained chef Donovan Russell needs a change—a big one. So he’s trading in his five-star Parisian kitchen for the restaurants at his grandmother’s up-and-coming Reno casino. Donovan’s cooking techniques are flawless. It will be culinary perfection...as soon as he convinces his spirited and unconventional new pastry chef to follow his rules!
Hendrix Beausolies never follows recipes. Her desserts are a mouthwatering riot of complex flavors, each more delicious than the last. Where Donovan is all structure and precision, Hendrix cooks with instinct and experimentation. But when someone starts sabotaging their kitchens, they are forced to work together... Will they discover a shared passion for more than just food?
When she finished putting the ganache on the rolls, she popped one onto a plate and handed it to Donovan. “Try this.”
He took an experimental bite, chewed thoroughly and looked up at her. “Heavenly. You put apples in the rolls. What’s in the ganache? It tastes different.”
“Unsweetened apple cider,” she answered promptly. “Just a little to get the right taste.” She slid a roll onto a plate for herself and then took a bite. “It’s almost there. Maybe some candied walnut. Or...crystalized dates.”
He nodded as he took another bite. “The adventurous eater would try the ones with dates, but the average eater isn’t going to want dates on their cinnamon rolls, they’ll just want butter.”
“I agree butter is great, but people use too much of it, and it clouds the taste of their foods.”
“That’s how people are.”
She didn’t respond as she finished her roll. She licked the fork and found Donovan watching her.
“I like to eat,” she said, “and I’m not going to apologize for it.”
“I like women who eat.”
“In your business, you should.” She took his plate and put it in the sink, then opened the refrigerator to remove her bowl of chilled dough already formed into individual balls to start the crusts for her pies.
He reached over to touch her face. She remained still as he gently wiped a bit of ganache from the corner of her lip. Then he licked his finger. He smiled at her, and she tilted her head, walked closer to him and kissed him.
Jackie can’t cook. But she can eat. Miriam sort of cooks, but really prefers restaurant dining with no dishes to clean afterward.
Regardless, food is an absolute necessity. We cannot exist without it, despite our love-hate relationship with it. Somewhere along the historical road regarding food, it has evolved into love. We gift people at various holidays and celebrations with cake, pies, donuts and other sweet concoctions to savor these important moments.
Food brings together two very different people in this story. Donovan Russell follows the rules. For him, food is about perfection. Hendrix breaks the rules. She puts together disparate flavors and makes them work. Join Hendrix and Donovan as they discover a passion for each other that is much, much better than chocolate.
Much love,
Jackie and Miriam
J.M. Jeffries
Bet on My Heart
J.M. Jeffries
JACKIE and MIRIAM live in Southern California. When they aren’t writing, Jackie is trying to take a nap and Miriam plays with her grandchildren. Jackie thought she wanted to be a lawyer until she met Miriam and decided to be a writer instead. Miriam always wanted to be a writer from her earliest childhood when she taught herself to read at age four. Both are avid readers and can usually be found with their noses in a book, or, now that it’s the twenty-first century, their eReaders. Check out their blog at jmjeffries.com.
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Jackie: Thank you, Cheesecake Factory, for your Red Velvet White Chocolate cheesecake. With a little nudge, I can always get Miriam to have a planning session there.
Miriam: Thank you to Mars, Incorporated for white-chocolate M&M’s. Jackie thinks she’s enticing me to the Cheesecake Factory, but I’m just happy because I don’t have to clean the kitchen. Also, a huge kiss to my newest grandson, Warrick Aurelian Pace, born August 2014. Big hugs to my granddaughter, Kathryn, who provides me with unending amusement. And a fist bump to my grandson, Frederik, who thinks he’s getting too old for kisses. And to my children, you are both always in my heart.
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