A Scottish Character in the Kitchen! Spotlight #NewRelease ~ WITH EVERY KISS by Nancy Lee Badger and
Please welcome back to the Tavern, the lovely and talented Nancy Lee Badger! We're celebrating her new release, With Every Kiss! She's also having a giveaway, so don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter at the end. I'm handing out glasses of champagne, so sit back and let's hear from Nancy...
With Every Kiss, an Opportunity Falls novel, was released November 3rd. The idea for this contemporary romance grew from my personal experience growing up on Long Island in the shadow of New York City, then moving to the mountains of New Hampshire. I set the story in both Manhattan and fictional Fairfield, New Hampshire, and send the main characters on a wild chase. However, a certain secondary character stole my heart. I named my hero’s elderly aunt after a dear friend who died many years ago. Aunt Thalia is Scottish, and her quips, food, and work ethic are evident. She even continues to call her nephew, the uptight Manhattan lawyer, ‘lad’.
Some of the foods she prepares to keep her husband and Mitch well fed, so they can keep their campground running smoothly, include bangers and mash (sausages and mashed potatoes) Scottish scones (sweet!), homemade bread (scented with honey), and chili.
Plain old chili? What did you expect? She met and married an American, and spent her adult life in rural New Hampshire. She still hums a Scottish tune while cooking.
Oh, my! I'm salivating at all these delicious, tempting recipes. Thanks for sharing, Nancy!
Blurb ~
Abigail Huntington, a successful Manhattan artist, is burned out, and is more comfortable wearing jogging attire, than dresses and heels. Bored by the city, and the jerks she’s dated, she needs to get away to paint beautiful and pricey landscapes, which is why she starts asking about New England campgrounds during her one-woman art show.
Mitchel Campbell, a corporate lawyer working for his father, wants to bed the pretty jogger he has watched for weeks. Recalling happier times in New England at his aunt and uncle’s campground near Opportunity Falls, he grumbles when is ordered to attend an art show. He overhears a woman asking about campgrounds, and realizes she is the jogger. When he disappears minutes later, Abigail is left fuming. Meeting him again in a campground in New Hampshire is a coincidence…or is it?
Excerpt from With Every Kiss ~
Mitch laughed and shook his head. He needed a mature woman in his life. A woman like Abigail Huntington. Until she arrived, he’d find female companionship in town at the new bar.
A five-minute discussion with her at the gallery hadn’t morphed into a monogamous relationship. His body tightened at the idea of spending the summer near her, but he desired more than sex. She struck him as intelligent, athletic, talented, and sweet.
Since when did I crave sweets?
The kitchen screen door slammed behind him. His uncle glanced up from his newspaper. Mitchell’s aunt pulled fresh bread from the oven and the aroma made his stomach rumble.
His uncle chuckled while his aunt winked.
“Smells wonderful, Aunt Thalia.”
“Did you have a nice walk?” his uncle asked.
“Yes. I ended up at the river.”
“Take the dog next time. He loves to swim. Still haven’t taught him how to fetch a ball or stick.”
“I’ll work with him.”
“Good luck with that. Make sure he doesn’t scare any guests. I don’t want our visitors high-tailing it out of here crying wolf.”
“I’ll keep an eye on him. Can I do anything to help you, Auntie?”
She waved a hand then sliced the bread. After she threw steaming pieces in a basket, she passed the yeasty treats to him.
Mitchell sniffed the honey-scented loaf, set the basket on the scarred kitchen table, then pulled a beer from the refrigerator. He unscrewed the cap, then sighed with pleasure as the cold liquid slid down his parched throat.
His uncle chuckled, again.
Aunt Thalia ladled something rich and dark red into bowls. As he took another sip of beer, she sliced a cucumber faster than a prep chef. His uncle peeked out into the office before grabbing a spoon. He didn’t wait for the others.
His aunt shot a dirty look at her husband.
“I’m glad you didn’t ask me to work the desk, Uncle Jim.” Mitch dropped into a chair.
“You’re here for the solitude, son. Of course, some hard labor will help us both.”
He planned to stay away from people. For a while, anyway. With his aunt, his uncle, and Frik for company he had need of no one else.
“Except her,” he whispered. What made him think of her again?
Damn!
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Author Bio ~
Nancy Lee Badger, formerly of Huntington, New York, has fond memories of growing up on Long Island. Her life changed when she attended college in New Hampshire. After meeting her husband at Plymouth State, and raising two handsome sons, Nancy moved to North Carolina where she writes full-time. Nancy is a member of Romance Writers of America, Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, Fantasy-Futuristic & Paranormal Romance Writers, and the Triangle Association of Freelancers.
Connect with Nancy Lee Badger ~
With Every Kiss: an Opportunity Falls novel was released November 3rd. Since this is also my birthday month, I am giving away an Artist’s Assortment of Goodies. No purchase necessary, and it ends November 18th.
