Friday, January 11, 2013

Goddess Fish Promotions Guest Post: Jennifer Shirk




GETTING INTO CHARACTER

Every author does a little research when creating their characters. For KISSING KENDALL, my new sweet romance, I happened to have watched a lot of the Food Network channel. J
I wanted my character to open up her own bakery. I was lucky enough to have a friend who owned one, so I could ask a lot of questions. But I also wanted to get some new ideas on things my character Kendall could make as well.
I happened to be watching the show “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” and one of the chefs mentioned a doughnut muffin. It sounded so scrumptious I knew that had to be Kendall’s specialty. I even went to the trouble of looking up the recipe and making it. (It is delicious, by the way) Then my editor suggested tinkering with the recipe to create my own version for Kendall and that is the recipe that is included in the book!
Talk about fun research!
Right now I still must be in baking mode because I have a new story I’m working on and my character is a pastry chef. I’m still working on a specialty for her! J
Thanks so much for having me today!
I hope you get to check out KISSING KENDALL-and try out the doughnut muffin recipe for yourself.
And be sure to check out my new Valentine’s Day novella coming out later this month called A LITTLE BIT CUPID about a loner who must find true love before midnight on Valentine’s Day or risk having humanity lose love forever, and with the help of Cupid’s son himself, she seeks out Mr. Wrong while Mr. Right is right under her nose. (No recipes or baked goods in this one but still lots of fun!)


Kissing Kendall
by Jennifer Shirk

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BLURB: Kendall Grisbaum has been trying to pick up of the pieces of her life since the death of her firefighter husband almost two years ago. The last thing she’s interested in is love and feels the best way to start moving on is to concentrate on opening up her new bakery business. Unfortunately, she’s finding it hard to remember those two points now that her old friend and policeman Brad Mayer is back in her life and giving her a helping hand. After losing her husband in the line of duty, Kendall doesn’t want to get involved with another man with a dangerous job, and refuses to give in to her attraction to the handsome police officer. But Brad has always loved Kendall from afar and now that he senses she might feel the same, he’s determined to show her the real danger would be to lose another chance at love.

Excerpt :


Brad startled her by reaching out and stroking the side of her face with his finger. “Hey, why the frown? I pay you a compliment and you look unhappy. Next time, I’m going to tell you your cupcakes suck if that’s what it takes to get a smile out of you.”

“Oh, stop,” she said with a halfhearted laugh, lightly batting away his hand. “It’s nothing you said. And I am happy.” Mostly. At least she was happier than she’d been a few months ago.

Brad narrowed his eyes. “No, I know you. What’s really going on?”

She should have known better than to think she could hide anything from him, so she gave up the pretense. “I don’t know. I…I guess I feel a little alone sometimes. Grammy never seems to be around when I need her—and she’s all I have now. Even though it’s just you and Georgie, you two are close and share so much. And I…” She flushed, realizing she was babbling and embarrassing herself further. “Never mind.  I’m sorry. I’m just being silly.”

“Hey, you’re not being silly.” Brad stepped even closer.

His aftershave tickled her nose, but the fresh scent was a welcome change to her senses. All she wanted to do was lean in farther and just inhale. She hoped he didn’t notice her swaying into him, but he smelled a thousand times better than cupcakes and wet paint.

“You can’t help the way you feel,” he said, placing his warm, broad hands on her shoulders. “But I want you to know that I’ll always be around, so you never have to feel alone.”

She wanted to argue that point, but his kind words were overwhelming. Brad pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her. She stiffened at first, but the way he positioned himself made it clear that he had no intention of letting her go any time soon.

Her shoulders relaxed and she dropped her chin to his chest with a sigh of pleasure. Somehow Brad instinctively knew she needed this—a good old-fashioned hug—more than she knew she needed it herself. She wound her arms around his waist and sank deeper into his chest. An aching need to be held by him and have all her worries disappear squeezed through her. She felt safe, almost believing his words that he would always be around and she’d never be alone.

It was nice to pretend for a few minutes, anyway.

Brad shifted, gathering her even closer. He brushed a gentle kiss on the side of her forehead and a shudder passed through her. He felt so nice. This felt so nice. Brad inclined his head a few more inches and his breath softly fanned her face.

Without warning, her senses began to spin from the heat of his body and the scent of his skin. That’s when she knew she was in trouble.

Her eyes sprang open. Suddenly their embrace didn’t feel like a friendly hug, but something much more intimate. What were they doing? What was she doing?

Brad is only trying to comfort you, she kept telling herself. Until she looked up into his eyes and saw that he felt what was passing between them as well. His blue eyes were filled with heat. Desire. She swallowed hard.


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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Jennifer Shirk has a bachelor degree in pharmacy-which has in NO WAY at all helped her with her writing career. But she likes to point it out, since it shows romantic-at-hearts come in all shapes, sizes, and mind-numbing educations.

She writes sweet romantic comedies and won third place in the RWA 2006 NYC's Kathryn Hayes Love and Laughter Contest with her book, The Role of a Lifetime.

She's also a board member for Straight Ahead Ministries, an organization involved in helping spread the gospel and aiding medical and pharmacy students in Russia. She resides in a beach resort in NJ, and when she's not involved in all the above, she's taking care of her most treasured possessions: her husband, daughter, and four hermit crabs.





Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Kissing-Kendall-Maritime-City-ebook/dp/B00AKQTJ6U

Giveaway: 

Jennifer will be awarding a free ebook of Kissing Kendall or an ebook from her backlist (winner's choice) to a random commenter at each stop. (There must be a minimum of 5 comments on each blog for a winner to be chosen).



13 comments:

Emily said...

Thanks for the excerpt, can't wait to read this book!

Goddess Fish Promotions said...

Thank you for hosting today.

Nina Croft said...

Sounds like my sort of research!

Linda G. said...

Wow, a doughnut muffin? That sounds sweet and fantastic. And so does KISSING KENDALL. :)

Linda Kage said...

You had me at "doughnut muffin." Wow, that sounds good. And I have a copy of the book, so yay, I already have the recipe too, I guess! Thanks. Congrats on your newest release, and good luck with the next!

Anonymous said...

I love how you learned more about your character. You emerged yourself in her development from the beginning! I would love to have a reason to watch Food Network for as long as I want.

chrysrawr@yahoo.com

Robin said...

This sounds like a fun story!

robindpdx (at) yahoo (dot) com

Robin Bielman said...

I loved Kissing Kendall! And I loved the doughnut muffins! Yes, I made them! They were yummy! And so easy to make. It doesn't get much better than an awesome book and awesome recipe in one. :)

Sparks of Ember said...

I was watching that show once and they mentioned a donut bread pudding. I am dying to test that out sometime. Doughnut muffins sounds heavenly!

The Mistress of the Dark said...

All this talk about donut muffins is making me very hungry!

Shelley Munro said...

I just have to make a doughnut muffin now :)

Shopgirl said...

Love the excerpt! Would love to win this! shopgirl152nykiki(at)yahoo(dot)com

Meghan said...

Thanks for the giveaway! It's great!
Love that book cover as well...

mestith@gmail.com

 
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