You all know how much I love cooking and baking and what a huge fan I am of culinary romances, so it is with great pleasure that I welcome to Book Lovers Inc. and introduce you to foodie romance author Kimberly Kincaid, who stops by to tell you a bit about her brand new release Love on the Line! So please give her a warm and delicious welcome (with chocolate chip cookie and cinnamon latte ;-)) and if you share with us your favourite treat you could even win a copy of her book! 😀

Stella: Hi Kimberly, welcome to Book Lovers Inc! Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?

Kimberly: I write contemporary foodie romance (where the characters are involved in food in some way—chefs, caterers, restaurant owners, etc.), both for Curtis Brown Digital and Kensington Books. I’m also a food nut, a yoga instructor, and a kid wrangler. It’s a good life!

Stella: Are you a planner or pantser? Can you tell us a bit about your writing process? How do your novels come to life?

Kimberly: I am a freaky plotter. I cannot write unattended! Sometimes I’ll stretch the boundaries of an outline as I go, or things will pop up that surprise me and I’ll weave them in, but I always start with a very detailed outline. Without the map, I can’t find the treasure.

Stella: What do you think is the difference between a reader and a real Book Lover?

Kimberly: For me, readers can go through a book, and when they put it down, they’re “done”. But a Book Lover is someone who gets caught in the place, with the characters, and thinks about the book after she’s done. Sometimes a lot! It’s like not wanting to leave your favorite place.

Stella: Your latest novel, Love on the Line, a delicious culinary contemporary romance was released recently, congratulations! Can you tell our readers what they can expect of it? 

Kimberly: Thank you! Love On The Line is the story of a gruff cop, Noah, who is injured in the line of duty and is forced to rely on his partner’s chef sister, Violet, to avoid starving. Take your hot cop, add a sexy chef, a little bit of mystery and a whole lot of heat in the kitchen. Oh, and did I mention there are brownies?

Stella: Could you introduce Noah and Violet, the hero and heroine of Love on the Line to us?

Kimberly: I’m going to let them do it through this excerpt. It’s more fun to let them loose on the page! Noah is having temporary post-traumatic memory loss directly after being shot, and Violet’s in his home kitchen, setting up:

As soon as Noah got behind her, the smell of coconuts and warm sand filled his senses, delivering a crystal clear image to his brain. His heart slammed in his ribcage, and without thinking, he cupped Violet’s elbow and swung her around, so tight to his body that he felt her gasp as much as heard it.
“You were in my hospital room yesterday. Before I woke up.”
“I…I—”
But he barreled on, the memory as bright and vivid as if it had just happened a minute ago. “Your hair was braided, on your shoulders, and you were wearing a…a bracelet that sounded like wind chimes. You said the doctor was coming. It was you.”
The fan of her gold-tipped lashes fluttered wide, and the warm puff of her breath heated his cheek as she nodded. “I didn’t mean to intrude. I was looking for Jason, but I didn’t think you’d wake up.”
Noah shook his head to quell her apology. “It doesn’t matter,” he said, his resolve locking into place, and Violet went utterly still against him.
“It doesn’t?”
“No. You’re the first thing I’ve been able to remember since I got shot in the first place. In fact, you’re the only thing I can remember since I got shot.”

Taylor Kinney as Noah

Stella: If Love on the Line were to be made into a movie, who would be your perfect cast?

Kimberly: This is my *favorite* question! In my head, I picture Noah as Taylor Kinney, from Chicago Fire. Violet was inspired by a photo of a Cosmo model, but she’d be a blond Scarlett Johansson. And Jason (Violet’s brother, who’s story is next) would be Chris Pine.

Stella: Can you share with us a behind the scenes secrets about Love on the Line? 

Kimberly: Noah has three brothers, inspired by an article I read about New England Patriot’s tight end Rob Gronkowski. I had very much wanted to write them into the story, but it ended up being Violet’s brother who stole the show. It worked out, but I kind of wonder about those Blackwell brothers from time to time!

Stella: Now can you tell us 3 reasons why people should read Love on the Line?

Kimberly: Aside from the sizzling cop, the sweet and sassy chef and the brownies, you mean? 😉

Scarlett Johansson as Violet

Stella: Is Love on the Line a standalone novel or the first in a series of culinary romance books?

Kimberly: It’s the first of at least two, possibly three novellas. Jason’s story, Drawing The Line, will be available in a few weeks.

Stella: What is your favourite part of a romance novel to read or write? The beginning, the first meeting, first kiss, getting to know each other, first love scene, big fight, HEA, or something else?

Kimberly: I know this is a bit sadistic, but I like the Dark Moment the best. I think in terms of working up toward it, then getting them out of it. But I also like writing the love scene where they realize they’re in love with each other. The intensity is fantastic.

Stella: YAY! Finally someone like me! I also love the Dark Moment! 😀 I am a HUGE fan of culinary romances, so I’m curious to know: why did you decide to write one? Do you like to cook/bake in real life as well? Any favourite recipe you’d like to share with us? Or a memorable food moment? (I ate the most delicious crispy crême brulée while touring the chateaux of the Valley of the Loire and overlooking the Chateau of Azay-le-Rideau, to this day that crême brulée haunts me 😉 lol)

Kimberly: Annnd now I want crème brulee! I come from a big family where food is love. I have always loved to cook, and I think there’s just something so evocative about food that it goes hand in hand with romantic love and sex for me. It’ all just so fabulously intense and sexy! As far as food in my life, I knew I was going to marry my husband when he made me the perfect PB and J. We were living on a total shoestring budget, and I’d had this awful day, and he came out with this warm, gooey, wonderful sandwich to make me feel better, and I knew he was The One for me.

Stella:Aww 😀 What is next on your schedule? Any future plans you’d like to share with us?

Kimberly: I just finished Drawing The Line, which will release in mid-May. I also have a Christmas anthology coming out with Kensington in October titled The Sugar Cookie Sweetheart Swap (with Donna Kauffman and Kate Angell) and then my Pine Mountain series kicks off in early 2014. I’m a busy lady!

Stella: Sounds great! 😀 Could you share with us something, a trivia that not many people know about you?

Kimberly: Despite the fact that I write about them quite a bit, I can’t stand eggs. I try and I try, but I just can’t do it! My characters love them though, and that’s good enough for me 😀

Love on the Line by Kimberly Kincaid

Violet Morgan puts the personal in personal chef, catering to clients who want the full cooking experience rather than a culinary drop-and-dash. But when her brother’s police detective partner is injured in the line of duty and needs help during recovery, she makes an exception. Violet lost her father to the job seven years ago, and worries for her brother’s safety every day. The last thing she wants is to get up-close with her brother’s career-cop partner…again.

For Noah Blackwell, being a detective isn’t just a lifestyle, it’s a legacy. So when he’s forced to take mandatory leave and deal with the trauma amnesia keeping him from identifying his shooter, it’s a literal case of adding insult to injury— and now he’s got to deal with an unwanted culinary caregiver on top of it. Never mind that he and Violet shared a steamy, secret kiss last New Year’s Eve. She rejects everything related to the job, and Noah’s not about to be distracted from recovering his memory and getting back to what he does best. No matter how pretty Violet is.

Despite their differences, Violet and Noah share a surprising bond in the kitchen that grows into something neither of them expect. But as Noah heals and their feelings for each other extend from the kitchen to the bedroom, Violet knows she must make an impossible choice. She may wear her heart on her sleeve when it comes to food, but can she risk it all to put love on the line.

Buy at Amazon for only $0.99!  – Goodreads

Kimberly Kincaid writes contemporary romance that splits the difference between sexy and sweet. When she’s not sitting cross-legged in an ancient desk chair known as “The Pleather Bomber”, she can be found practicing obscene mounts of yoga, whipping up anything from enchiladas to éclairs in her kitchen, or curled up with her nose in a book. Kimberly is a 2011 RWA Golden Heart® finalist who lives (and writes!) by the mantra that food is love. She is thrilled to have collaborated on a Christmas anthology with Donna Kauffman and Kate Angell, titled The Sugar Cookie Sweetheart Swap, to kick off her Pine Mountain foodie series with Kensington this October. Her first full-length novel, Turn Up the Heat, will follow in February 2014. Kimberly resides in northern Virginia with her wildly patient husband and their three daughters. Visit her any time at her website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads.

Kimberly has generously offered an ebook copy of Love on the Line to a lucky commenter! 

All you have to do is leave a comment and tell us:

 Salty or sweet? What’s your favourite treat?

(You can read our full giveaway policy here)

Please be sure to include a valid email address in the comment form (need not be in the actual body of the comment).

Giveaway ends on 4 May 2013 and we will announce the winner on Sunday.

Good Luck!

About Stella

Stella is a proud bookaholic and a self-taught multilinguist in training. Besides reading, her other great passions are travelling and baking. When she is not globetrotting she lives in sunny Budapest, where she loves to spend her free time preparing (and feasting on) delicious cookies or devouring equally yummy books. Her favourite genres are urban fantasy and romance and she couldn't live without her daily dose of sunshine. Besides being the Latin Lover on BLI Stella also blogs about books and a bookish life on Ex Libris.

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