LeseLust & LeseLiebe

Country cooking for Caralynne Hayman is as common as the West Virginia mountains. A method to keep her sanity in a difficult environment and provide her girls with healthy, homemade food. Caralynne is angry and bitter over the death of her eleven-year-old daughter, but when Dayne MacFarland re-enters her life, Cara is torn between her determination to render revenge upon the murderer and Dayne's love. Can she have both? When Dayne returns home, determined to bring the truth to the people he’s known all his life, he rediscovers Cara and realizes the love he once felt for her is still deeply embedded within his heart. But can Dayne's love for Caralynne bridge the gulf of anger and bitterness that divides the community? Or will Caralynne's deadly secrets prove too high a price for her redemption? Amid all the angst and trouble in this small community, Caralynne's cooking is a gleam of hope. Even when some of the ladies belittle her cooking abilities, Cara knows jealousy is...

Awash in Talent  welcomes you to Providence, Rhode Island, where ten percent of the population can move objects telekinetically, set fires with their minds (or extreme emotions), or observe your thoughts as if they were a TV series. Although this Providence is a fantasy, it’s based on the real capital of Rhode Island, a place I love for all its uniqueness. You couldn’t experience Providence without Rhode Island cuisine. To start with some of the lingo, Rhode Islanders call milkshakes “cabinets” and pronounce quahog (a local clam; try it stuffed) as if it were spelled “co-hog.” They drink coffee milk made with a special syrup that’s sold right next to Hershey’s, the bread comes from Portugal and is lightly sweet, and some of their best pizza comes from bakeries! Awash in Talent  is made up of three stories, and the one that pays most attention to food is told from the point of view of native Rhode Islander Kelly. She’s recently and unpleasantly discovered that she’s pyrokineti...

Molly and Sandra couldn’t be more different.  They were once just co-workers, but found themselves relying on each other for survival after the virus took out almost everyone they ever loved. At first, they lived off the vending machines in the basement of the fifteen-story building where they used to work, and now lived.  Of course, it didn’t take long for the supply of Twinkies and Dr. Pepper to dry up.  They had to find real food.  The shelves were emptying in the stores, and that meant there were other survivors. Soon, they had to get out and find them. During a trip to what was left of the mall for lip gloss and bras, they ran across a couple of survivors they might like to meet.  And the girls were invited to dinner.  Cute guys and dinner?  What post-apocalyptic girl could say no to that?  And they were served fresh strawberries – and wine. What was left of the town looted until there was nothing in the stores and then they had to restore th...

Preparing lavish dinners never happens in the old haunted house Ben provides for four homeless teens: Cori, Chuck, Adam and Emily. In the suspense novel, Sheltered , a taste for freedom, acceptance, or revenge is on their tongues more than any other flavor. Packing school lunches with plain old peanut butter sandwiches is a chore left to Emily. Her heart is breaking over Ben when he rents the last room to pretty little Megan. Megan should have been thinking about formula and baby food and how she could regain custody, but that ends up on the stove’s back burner when she falls for Ben. Spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, and of course pizza are the staples when you have an unwed mom, schizophrenic twins, and a Goth teen taking turns cooking. With so many problems in one stitched together household mealtime can be the most stressful of all, even if they stick to comfort food. Strange things begin to happen, not only in the kitchen, but in the attic and the basement. Maybe the ghosts or demon...

Unearthly Delights Greetings, my name is Horasmythe Spindlecleft, also known as the gourmet of gourmets. If you've ever dined in my modest little Inn "The Fat Cobblefoot", situated on the side of the Foggypeake mountains, you'll be well aware of my extensive knowledge of food and of the finer things in life. By now you've no doubt heard of my infamous twice-fried bat wings and hair of Hackthin tart, creations of exquisite beauty, though I say so myself. Not to mention my highly regarded Doormouse eye on toadstall and very-berry-sherry sauce. So it's with great pride that I can announce I've been appointed chief scribbler of food reviews for the Grimwytch Gazette. Below are the first of many pearls of wisdom concerning places where weary travelers may sip and gorge upon unearthly delights. Outside of The Fat Cobblefoot, of course. And of places that should be be avoided like Fungal-throat plague. The Malady Inn A Fairly good stock of Old Catwhist, shame abo...

Hey, Shelley! Thanks for hosting me today on your blog! Hello, everybody. I’m Jeff, here to discuss the foods featured in Speed Demons. So, without further ado, let’s get right to it. Speed Demons takes place in a small town called Helensview. My characters can be found eating at two different locations in that town. One place is called the Eat’N’Grease, a small diner that doesn’t get much business these days as something mysterious has happened to most of the town. As you might guess, the Eat’N’Grease Diner features foods like eggs, sausage, hash browns, fries, hamburgers, and just about anything that drips grease all over you. One scene finds Chase Weaverson, the main character, eating cherry cobbler as he tries to figure out what’s going on. The other location is the mini-mart of Helensview’s newest gas station. In one scene, it isn’t Chase or Gus Peddle who are eating food, but rather the rampaging Speed Demons. Aisles of chips and soda are utterly ravaged, the Demons shredding and...

I’m Canadian, born and raised. For a ten year stretch, from the mid-nineties to 2005, I lived in the United States. These are the two countries I know, so it made sense to set my novels in these countries. My first novel, Dead Man's Hand , was set in Las Vegas. My second novel, Kiss & Tell , set in Los Angeles. Canada and the United States, both in North America, are very similar when dealing with things like foods, language, culture, activities, etc. But for my new novel, Wild Card , I challenged myself. Part of Wild Card is set in South America, more specifically, Brazil and Colombia. So the internet was my friend, and played a key role in my research, especially when learning special dishes because let’s face it, my characters have to eat. I learned that breakfast is usually lighter for Brazilians, to save room for bigger lunches. Coffee and tropical fruits are big in both countries. Rice is very popular in Colombia and served with most dishes. Special dishes from Brazil ...