Love Death and the Art of Cooking by Linda Griffin | Review, $25 Giveaway, Excerpt
A book blog tour from Goddess Fish Promotions.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and Marianne & Judy at Goddess Fish for providing me the information for this tour.
Book Details
Love, Death, and the Art of Cooking by Linda Griffin Published by The Wild Rose Press on 08/16/2021
Genres: Fiction, Contempoary Romance, Romantic Suspense
Format: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 264
Source: Goddess Fish Promotions, Received from the author or publisher for review.Software engineer Reid Lucas loves to cook and has a history of falling in love with married women. When he leaves his complicated past in Chicago for a job in California, he runs into trouble and must call a virtual stranger to bail him out of jail.
Alyssa Knight, a tough street cop waiting for a church annulment from her passive-aggressive husband, is the roommate of the woman Reid calls for help, and she reluctantly provides bail for Reid.
He falls for her immediately, and cooking for her is an act of love. She just wants to be friends, but they keep ending up in bed together. When his boss is murdered, Reid is a suspect…or is he the intended target?
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Excerpt from Love Death and the Art of Cooking
“You’re such a showoff.” She did a “reasonably competent” job and then watched him lift and turn the bread onto the baking stone with the pancake turner. “Are you sure you don’t want a job as a chef?”
“Positive. I wouldn’t want to give up my amateur status.” He finished the salad and asked, “Do you like your bread crust crispy or softer?”
“Crispy, I guess,” she said, and he propped the bread oven door slightly ajar. “Wow,” she said.
“All this and bread made to order.” By the time he had the roast and vegetables on a platter and the basting liquid simmering for gravy, the bread was ready to come out of the oven. It smelled wonderful, and the timing was perfect. Alyssa was suitably impressed and gazed at the feast on the table before her with something like reverence, but she frowned when he poured the beer. “I need to keep my wits about me with you around,” she reminded him. “And I have to drive home.”
“It’s just beer, and if you drink too much, you can stay here. I’ll sleep on the couch.” She sampled the Estrella and agreed it was a suitable choice. Everything tasted fantastic to Reid, not because he appreciated his own cooking, but because he loved being alone with Alyssa and sharing a meal with her.
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Purchase Links for Love Death and the Art of Cooking
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My thoughts on Love Death and the Art of Cooking
Love, Death, and the Art of Cooking has all the ingredients to cook up a fantastic romantic suspense novel. Sorry, I just couldn’t resist the pun.
Alyssa and Reid meet under dubious circumstances. As a street-wise cop, Alyssa is suspicious of too-good-to-be-true Reid. Tender-hearted Reid is looking to turn his life around after it was upended in Chicago. When the two come together on the west coast, sparks fly. But can these two damaged souls overcome the obstacles in their path?
That takes care of the love ingredient. The mysterious deaths of people connected to Reid add an element of intrigue and suspense. Are they coincidences or is Reid the intended victim all along? This arc of the storyline was enough to keep me turning the pages long into the night.
A man who cooks like Reid for fun and to bring pleasure to people is rare. The concoctions he whips up are mouth-watering and worthy of a recipe section at the end of the book. Hint to author!!
Jane plays the part of the carefree sidekick and matchmaker to perfection. Every scene she is in is like a breeze of spring air blowing through the room. She certainly deserves to have her full story told soon.
The pacing is excellent from start to finish. The writing is so descriptive, the scenes play out like a movie. Love Death and the Art of Cooking will set your heart racing and your mouth watering.
I received a copy of the book for the tour. This review is my honest, unbiased opinion.
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About Linda Griffin
Linda Griffin:
I was born and raised in San Diego, California, and earned a BA in English from San Diego State University and an MLS from UCLA. I began my career as a reference and collection development librarian in the Art and Music Section of the San Diego Public Library and then transferred to the Literature and Languages Section, where I had the pleasure of managing the Central Library’s Fiction collection and initiating fiction order lists for the entire library system. Although I also enjoy reading biography, memoir, and history, fiction remains my first love. In addition to the three R’s—reading, writing, and research—I enjoy Scrabble, movies, and travel.
My earliest ambition was to be a “book maker” and I wrote my first story, “Judy and the Fairies,” with a plot stolen from a comic book, at the age of six. I broke into print in college with a story in the San Diego State University literary journal, The Phoenix, but most of my magazine publications came after I left the library to spend more time on my writing
My stories have been published in numerous journals, including Eclectica, Thema Literary Journal, The Binnacle, The Nassau Review, Orbis, and Avalon Literary Review, and in the anthologies Short Story America, Vol. 2, The Captive and the Dead, and Australia Burns. Four stories, including one as yet unpublished, received honorable mention in the Short Story America Prize for Short Fiction contests.
Member of RWA and Authors Guild
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Giveaway!
Linda Griffin will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Visit more stops on the tour for extra chances to win!
Full tour schedule:
September 14: The Avid Reader
September 21: Our Town Book Reviews
September 21: Fabulous and Brunette
September 28: Sandra’s Book Club
October 5: Iron Canuck Reviews & More
October 5: Gina Rae Mitchell
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Purchase Love Death and the Art of Cooking online from a local book store.
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Easy Amazon Links
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I really like the cover and the excerpt.
I liked the excerpt.
Sounds like the protagonist has a complicated life – really like that….best of luck with the tour and thank you very much.
Thanks for hosting!
Thank you so much for hosting and for the lovely review, Gina! As for the recipes, they couldn’t be included in the book because, unlike Reid, my best kitchen skill is washing dishes, and the recipes are not my own. However, some of them are posted on my Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/lgriffin08392487/love-death-and-the-art-of-cooking/
and the others can be requested through my website contact page.
Thanks for stopping by Linda. I’ll be checking your Pinterest board!