A cupcake
baker with magical abilities suddenly finds herself competing with
the unfortunately handsome owner of the fancy new bakery across the
street in Golden Heart®
Winner Tara Sheets's magical romantic comedy releasing April 24th,
2018.
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Call Me Cupcake Blog
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About
Don’t
Call Me Cupcake:
Title:
Don’t
Call Me Cupcake
Author:
Tara Sheets
Genre:
Contemporary Romance
Release
Date: April
24, 2018
Publisher:
Zebra
Shout – Kensington Publishing
Series:
The Holloway Girls
Format:
Digital eBook / Print
Digital
ISBN:
1420146264
Print
ISBN:
9781420146264
Synopsis:
There’s
a very special kind of sweetness to life on Pine Cove Island …
Most families have a
favorite recipe or two, handed down through generations. The Holloway
women are a little different. Emma Holloway, like her grandmother
before her, bakes charms into her delicious cupcakes, granting the
recipient comfort, sweet dreams, or any number of good things. It’s
a strange gift, but it brings only happiness. Until gorgeous,
smooth-talking newcomer Hunter Kane strolls into her shop, Fairy
Cakes—and Emma makes the mistake of selling him not one, but three
Sweet Success cupcakes.
Hunter, it turns
out, is opening a fancy new restaurant and bakery right on the
waterfront—Emma’s competition. To make matters worse, the town
committee has decided to split the upcoming summer festival contract
between the two, forcing Emma to work with her nemesis. But she can’t
afford to split her profits. The solution: create a recipe that will
make Hunter leave town permanently.
The Holloway charms
are powerful. But there are other kinds of magic in the world—like
red-hot first kisses, secret glances, and the feeling that comes with
falling truly, madly, inconveniently in love . . .
Excerpt:
Copyright©
2018 Don’t Call Me Cupcake
Tara
Sheets
That
half smile ghosted across his face again and he crossed his arms. It
was a simple gesture of relaxed ease, but Emma didn’t buy it. There
was a hunger in his dark green gaze that she remembered all too well.
The lion was on high alert.
“What
did you want to talk about?” he asked.
“It
was wrong,” she blurted.
Hunter’s
posture shifted slightly. “You think last night was a mistake.”
“Totally.
I mean, I never do that kind of thing. Ever. I don’t know what I
was thinking, you know?” Here came the babble. She always babbled
when she was nervous. “But I know it’s not a good idea to mix my
personal life with business. And you and I are just business, so I
hope you understand it’s not going to happen again because, you
know, I can’t really believe it even happened in the first place.”
His
gaze was intense, like he was imagining the things they could do. The
things they had
done.
A delicious shiver skittered up her spine. She forged ahead. “I
mean, I just don’t think it should have happened at all. It was
kind of crazy and well, contrary to what you may have heard, I’m
not actually crazy. Weird, sure. But not reckless like that. At least
I never have been in the past. So anyway, I would like to forget
about it and, you know, just go on like before,” said the queen of
Babble-on. “Normal and stuff.”
Hunter nodded once
and glanced down at the floor. He seemed deep in thought, as if he
was trying to make a decision.
Emma
tried not to notice his muscular arms, crossed against his chest.
Nothing
sexy about those. Nope. La la la.
She could hear the second hands ticking on the wall clock. Tick.
Tick.
He
pressed his lips together and she suddenly remembered the feel of
them, warm and hot against the sensitive spot on her neck. Focus!
When
he finally lifted his head, her knees almost buckled. The lion stared
back, all wild and hungry and seductive, like he was about to lick
zebra chops. He leaned closer.
She
should probably back away.
He
watched her beneath thick, dark lashes and lowered his gaze to her
mouth.
Yup.
Definitely backing away soon. She could almost feel the heat of his
body on hers and her traitorous limbs ached with the desire to step
closer.
His
face hovered inches from hers, as if he was waiting for some sign.
Any
second now, she would back away. Any second. Emma’s mouth opened on
a tiny indrawn breath.
It
seemed to be exactly what he was waiting for. The moment his lips
touched hers, her limbs flooded with heat. Her body remembered him
and was instantly ready.
He gripped her hips
and lifted, pulling her flush against him. She wrapped her legs
around his waist, completely lost in the kiss that spread like
wildfire through her blood. He carried her to the back room, knocking
over a bag of sugar on the way as he braced her up against the pantry
wall. She gripped the edge of the shelf, sending stainless steel
mixing bowls toppling to the floor. The two of them were like a
hurricane, demolishing anything that got in the way, and she was
helpless to do anything but hang on.
Emma
suddenly wanted to feel his skin against hers. She grabbed the hem of
his shirt and yanked it up, breaking away from their kiss just long
enough to tear it over his head.
A
low growl escaped him as he ran his hands up under her apron, sending
a jolt of pure desire rocketing through her.
Screwed.
She
was so screwed. But in this moment, who cared?
She
smiled against his mouth and licked his lips. If he was the hungry
lion, then she was happy, slow-roasting zebra chops.
Review: Romance and food. That seems to be a recurring theme with my books lately. I really like this too. I love books where food is important. Oh and magic? Can you say, this book is destined to be a Hallmark movie? Really ...it should be. It gives you all those kinds of warm fuzzy feelings.
This is a book that you pick up and don't put down until its done.
This book is totally perfect and all I can do is just Squee about it.
Rating: 5 flowers
About
Tara Sheets:
TARA
SHEETS is an award-winning author of contemporary romance and women’s
fiction. Her work has earned first place recognition in literary
contests nationwide and her debut novel, Don’t Call Me Cupcake, won
the 2016 Golden Heart® award sponsored by Romance Writers of
America®. Tara began her career as an author in the Pacific
Northwest, inspired by the rain and the misty mountains and the
rivers of Starbucks coffee. She now lives in the warm, wonderful
South where she can stand outside with no coat on, and she finds that
pretty inspiring too. When not writing, Tara enjoys life with her
book-loving family and a book-eating dog named Merlin. She is
represented by Sarah Phair at Trident Media Group.
California author Gini Grossenbacher was a successful high school English teacher until she abandoned grades and term papers, choosing to write historical novels instead. Now she leads small writing groups and coaches other writers. She loves researching the history behind her novels, and enjoys traveling to the setting where they take place. Her hobbies include needlepoint, nature walks, and Scrabble. She lives in the Sacramento Valley where she grew up, east of San Francisco.
For more information, please visit Gini's website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads.
