GIVEAWAY: Luscious by Amanda Usen

"SCRUMPTIOUS delivers a yummy treat for the senses and the imagination!"

~ Ashia, The Romance Reviews

(Read the full review.)

Scrumptious is the first book. After that comes, LUSCIOUS. (Don't you just love these mouth-watering titles?)


ABOUT THE BOOK: Plain old ice cream just isn't going to cut it. To beat these blues, chef Olivia Marconi needs the good stuff: rich, creamy tiramisu gelato. And no place better to get it than Italy. But a fresh start is nearly impossible with Sean Kindred dogging her every move. She's been burned by his too-hot-to-handle antics before. Though there's no denying the man can still get her all fired up. Could a weeklong affair finally turn into something more lasting...or will it all go up in flames?


Now, let's hear more about LUSCIOUS from Amanda!

Q: What gave you the inspiration for your delicious (food), sexy chefs series?

A: I met my husband in culinary school and I’ve cooked in Nashville, New Orleans, Monterey and Buffalo. There’s always so much drama in kitchens – cursing, yelling, joking and flirting. There’s a lot of pressure, a rich environment for conflict and romance! When we lived in New Orleans, my husband cooked sauté for Susan Spicer at Bayona, one of the finest restaurants in the French Quarter, and I was her pastry chef. Ben would come home with burns on his arms that he wasn’t even aware of because there was no time to do anything other than cook during service. Chefs are an interesting breed. They are tough enough to take the mental and physical heat of a busy kitchen, but they are also creative, nurturing and indulgent. In other words, fun hero and heroine material!

Q: Please share a fascinating experience or research fact while in the course of writing LUSCIOUS.

A: When I decided to write a book set at a vineyard, I wrangled an invitation to spend the day harvesting and crushing grapes at Arrowhead Spring Vineyard in Lockport, NY. I showed up and said, “Hi, I’m the chef who is writing a book.” Robin said, “Hi, I’m the farmer who is distributing bins.” I hopped on her tractor and spent the day following her around, picking her brain about all the things she and her husband, Duncan Ross, have to do to run the vineyard and winery. I snipped grapes, drove the tractor and helped dump thirty-pound bins of grapes into the crusher. It was exhausting but exhilarating. I scrawled all sorts of great details in the little notebook I kept in my pocket.

When the book was finished, Robin read it to make sure I hadn’t taken too many liberties with the wine-making process. I was thrilled when she said it sounded perfectly possible, and even more excited when she offered to host a LUSCIOUS release party in the tasting room at the vineyard. We served the fruit of my labors – the 2010 Arrowhead Spring Vineyards Chardonnay!

Q: Wow, that's exciting! And also exciting for us to hear. Back to LUSCIOUS, we first met Olivia Marconi from Scrumptious, where we practically see her break down after she finally discovered her husband cheating on her. How has this incident shaped her to be the woman she is in LUSCIOUS?

A: When we see Olivia again in LUSCIOUS, her marriage is over, she hates her job and her two best friends have just fallen in love with each other. The bad decisions she has made over the past few years have made her doubt her judgment and her cooking abilities. She wants to quit. In fact, she is on her way to Italy to tell her parents she doesn’t want to run the family restaurant anymore. Olivia has deep-seated feelings of inferiority because her husband chose other women, her best friend is an amazing cook and her mother is so hard to please. Olivia needs to regain faith in herself, and she does through food and love, my favorite combination.

Q: Tell us more about Sean. What makes him a swoonworthy hero?

A: Oh, I do love Sean Kindred. It took me a little while to realize that just because Sean is determined to seduce Olivia, he isn’t a bad boy at heart. Sure he plans to ditch his business suit at the earliest opportunity and begin bodily erasing all the damage Olivia’s ex-husband did to her during their unfortunate marriage, but it’s because he’s had a crush on her for half his life. He doesn’t want to miss another chance with her. Sean is intelligent, protective and willing to take a risk. Underneath his indecent intentions, he’s rock-solid and completely devoted to Olivia. Swoon!


I'm swooning here myself! Sean sounds like a great guy. And we don't have to wait. LUSCIOUS is now available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other stores.



GIVEAWAY

Three (3) lucky winners will win a copy of LUSCIOUS! Sponsored by Sourcebooks. Thank you!

To enter, simply be a follower and answer this question: What is your favorite food? Why?


Note :

1. Only one winner per household
2. U.S./Canada residents only


Contest Period: July 27 to August 4

Contest Winner Announcement: August 5

Winners will be randomly selected via Randomizer.org. Please come back and check if you're the winner.

Good luck!