Today's Special - - Virginia Kantra

It's my pleasure to welcome New York Times bestselling author Virginia Kantra back to The Romance Dish.  I fell in love with Virginia's writing about seven years ago when she released two romantic suspense novels (CLOSE UP and HOME BEFORE MIDNIGHT).  I immediately searched out her earlier Silhouette books then happily followed her into her contemporary paranormal Children of the Sea series and now into her straight contemporary Dare Island series. No matter what sub-genre she's writing, she never fails to capture my reader's heart.  


Virginia loves reading romance novels, taking long walks on the beach, and cookies. (Which is why she needs to take those long walks!) She loves hearing from her readers.

Find her on line  http://virginiakantra.com

And on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/VirginiaKantraBooks

This coming Saturday, July 7, Virginia is very excited to be signing her latest release, Carolina Home, at Nora Roberts’ Turn the Page Bookstore in Boonsboro,MD. To order your signed copy or for more information, visit  

http://ttpbooks.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=TTPB&Category_Code=VB

“Home” Cooking – Virginia Kantra

I’m so happy to be back at The Romance Dish! And since we’re “dishing,” I thought I’d talk about food. Sooner or later in my books, the hero always feeds the heroine. Why?  Well, it could be because food has a long history as an aphrodisiac. Alcohol lowers inhibitions. Chocolate contains both a soothing sedative and a stimulant to increase desire. Oysters, which change their sex between male and female, are supposed to put you in touch with your feminine side. Or your masculine side. Whatever.

Maybe the hero feeding the heroine has to do with that whole hunter-gatherer thing. You know, we’re genetically programmed to want a man who can drag a woolly mammoth chop back to the cave.

I think it’s likely that on some level food = dating. The pacing of our lives – and our novels – rarely allows for leisurely meals where we can savor the food and the company.  But women, and women readers, want more.  We want courtship.  We crave conversation.   We believe in…dating.  When the hero and heroine share a meal and the events of their day or their lives, the connection feels authentic to us. We can believe in their happy ending.

Of course, my preoccupation with food in romance could spring from the fact that I’m married to a man who can cook. It’s sexy. The setting doesn’t have to be a five-star restaurant. Not every woman craves champagne and caviar. But when the hero feeds the heroine, he is being attentive to her needs. And a man who satisfies his partner’s appetites in one way, well...

Matt Fletcher, the hero of Carolina Home, is no gourmet chef. But he’s definitely capable of giving the heroine, Allison Carter, what she needs.

He grabbed a quilt from the back and spread it over the truck bed. “Up you go.”

He boosted her onto the tailgate, his hands hard and strong. She caught her breath as he swung up beside her, the truck bouncing beneath his weight. His thigh brushed hers, his body warm and close. He stretched an arm behind her, making her heart beat faster.

Making his move, she thought.

He dragged a cooler forward from the back and began to unload it.

A picnic.

Her lips curved as he laid out grapes and cheese and wrapped sandwiches. She found the simple spread more appealing than her mother’s themed and catered menus, more romantic than an overpriced meal in some fancy restaurant. Matt lifted a bottle of wine from the cooler.

And far more seductive.

She watched as he lit a Coleman lantern, as he pulled a corkscrew from his pocket.

“Very nice,” she said. “Do you come here often?”

“I used to. With my grandda, fifteen, twenty years ago.” Expertly, he uncorked the wine. “It hasn’t changed much.”

“You don’t like change?”

“I didn’t say that. You can’t live on an island without accepting change. Storms come, beaches erode, families die out or move away. Old houses are bulldozed to make way for a parking lot or a septic tank.”

He poured wine into two plastic tumblers, handed her one. “You live with loss, you learn to appreciate the things that endure. The sea. The moon. The lighthouse.”

“The things that endure,” she repeated softly. “I like that.”

Wasn’t that what she’d come to Dare Island to find?

She wanted to build a life here, to make a permanent place for herself, something solid, something lasting.

She didn’t want to be another in the long line of Women Who Had Dated Matt Fletcher, the summer girls who lasted a few days or weeks.

It was both tempting and dangerous to believe she could be more.

She sipped her wine. “Thank you. You’re very good at this.”

He paused, unwrapping a sandwich. “This?”

She flapped her hand, encompassing the scene. “The secluded beach, the private picnic, the bottle of wine. It’s really nice,” she said again. “You’re awfully . . .” Practiced. “Prepared.”

“Not me. My mom.”

Allison blinked. “Your mother?”

“The inn keeps supplies on hand for the guests, wine and cheese, box lunches, that kind of thing. Those are my mother’s cookies.” – from Carolina Home

* * *

When Matt feeds Allison, he’s offering her a piece of himself, a part of his history, along with the cookies. And that, to me, is better than chocolate.

Here’s Matt’s mom’s recipe for chocolate chip cookies from Carolina Home.

Cream together until light and fluffy:

½ C butter, softened

½ C Crisco

½ C sugar

½ C brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Add: 2 eggs and beat well.

In a separate bowl, combine:

2 ¼ C all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

Add flour mixture gradually to butter and sugar, beating well.

Stir in:

2 C bittersweet chocolate chips

1 C chopped walnuts (optional)

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 8-10 mins.

***

Tell me, what is your “perfect date” food? Does the man in your life cook for you?

One randomly chosen person leaving a comment today will receive a signed copy of Carolina Home!