Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Aloha to Kate Meader and FEEL THE HEAT



Our fire has been roaring inside as the snow fell all day ... we were feeling the heat!  Let's keep the heat going with Kate Meader as she gets ready for the print release of FEEL THE HEAT, Book in Hot in the Kitchen series, on January 28.   Kate joins me by the fire for a cozy chat ... but first a little about FEEL THE HEAT:

FEEL THE HEAT by Kate Meader (January 28, 2014; Forever Mass Market; 9781455599592; $6.00)

IF YOU CAN'T STAND THE HEAT . . .

Photographer Lili DeLuca spends all her time working at her family's Italian restaurant, instead of following her dream of getting an MFA. When famous British chef Jack Kilroy unexpectedly challenges her father to a cook-off, Lili decides she's tired of playing it safe and vows to seduce the tempting Brit. But once a video of her and Jack kissing goes viral and her luscious (if voluptuous) butt starts trending on Twitter, Lili fears she's cooked up a recipe for disaster . . .

Jack Kilroy's celebrity has left him feeling used and used up. While Lili's oh-so-sexy moans when she tastes his delicious creations turn him on, he's even more aroused by how this beautiful, funny woman is unimpressed by his fame. He knows they could be amazing together, if she could only see past his rabid-bitch, fork-wielding fan base. Now as he's about to start a new prime time TV cooking show, can Jack convince Lili to realize her own ambitions-and turn up the heat in his kitchen?

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Kim:  What scene did you have the most fun writing?

Kate:  Oh, I have to pick? Well, I love openings and having my heroine brain an arrogant celebrity chef with a frying pan while she’s sporting a Wonder Woman costume was a lot of fun to write. I also loved writing the scene where Jack is on the rack at a DeLuca family dinner. Lili’s father is sending blades of hate his way, her mother’s dropping hints about marriage, her aunt is alternating between lascivious leering and ripping his show to shreds, his producer is dropping truth bombs about his love life, and Lili is flat out ignoring him. Good stuff! But my favorite is probably the scene where Jack shows up outside Lili’s apartment after turning down her offer of a night of passion…and he proceeds to sing selections (tunelessly) from West Side Story through her intercom. A drunken Frenchman gets involved and things get steamy between Jack and Lili. It’s funny and sexy – well, I think so!

Kim:  What scene was the hardest to write?

Kate:  Probably when Lili reveals to Jack her painful past as a bullying victim because of her weight. Over the years she’s made peace with her curves and become comfortable in her skin, and she so wants to let Jack in. He’s her reward for accepting who she is! But her association with the man-about-town celebrity chef has made headlines and the teasing brings it all back to her. The fear of returning to the insecure blob inside her trumps everything. Jack’s reaction surprises her and takes things to another level.

Kim:  In the book, a very private moment between Jack and Lili goes viral on Twitter—how do you think you’d handle that situation if something like that ever happened to you??
Kate:  We’ve all done something a little crazy and in this day and age, with camera phones and i-reporters everywhere, your private moment of crazy could become a public moment of humiliation in a matter of clicks. And in Lili’s case, it’s not so much the fact it goes viral, but the ensuing hate-on that crushes her. Not to mention her butt has its own Twitter account! I like to think I’d be able to laugh at it—after I’d spent a few days curled in a fetal ball seeing how fast I can finish off a tub of chocolate chip ice cream.

Kim:  Lili struggles with some body issues—what do you hope readers can learn from her story?

Kate:  Lili has embraced who she is and how her love of food has manifested itself in her voluptuous body. But she’s always aimed low when it comes to men. Her (hotter than her) ex made little digs about how cuddly she was and how “comfortable” her body felt, something she accepted as the trade off for dating someone out of her league. So when Jack—gorgeous, smokin’, sex god Jack—hits her with his particular brand of shock and awe, she’s skeptical. But he pursues. Persists. Gets under her skin. In accepting that someone as special as Jack wants her and loves every one of her pasta-molded curves, Lili comes to realize that maybe she’s worthy of a great love after all. Skinny or curvaceous, we’re all worthy of that.

Kim:  Do you watch reality cooking shows? If so, what’s your favorite?

Kate:  I used to watch more but not so much now that all my free time is devoted to the voices in my head! Top Chef and Kitchen Nightmares were favorites. And while my hero is a British celebrity chef, that’s where the similarity to a certain foul-mouthed TV chef ends. Jack is alpha and the big man in the kitchen, but he would never berate his minions.

Kim:  If you were on a reality cooking show and had to make one dish, what would it be?

Kate:  Probably something Italian J I make a nice lemon-thyme shrimp with linguine, so I’d go with that.

Kim:  In the book Lili’s true passion is photography—do you prefer being in front of or behind the lens?

Kate:  Oh, behind, most definitely. I never feel like I take a good photo and I’m usually so impatient for the taker to finish that I invariably look grumpy.

Kim:  What is it about the city of Chicago that makes it the perfect place for a romance novel?

Kate:  Because it’s where I met my own hero, of course! Aside from that pertinent fact, Chicago has it all when it comes to playing supporting character in a romance novel. Great restaurants, a beautiful lake, fabulous tourist spots that make amazing backdrops for romantic scenes (the Bean sculpture plays a prominent role in ALL FIRED UP, Book 2 of the Hot in the Kitchen series). I just love the bustle and grit that’s part and parcel of a big city, and how it lends a smidge of reality to the fantasy of the perfect romance.

Kim:  What’s ahead for you and the Hot in the Kitchen series?

Kate:  Book 2, ALL FIRED UP is about Cara, Lili’s sister and Shane, a hot Irish pastry chef. That’s already available in ebook and will be released in print in September 2014. In March, we get Book 3, HOT AND BOTHERED, the ebook version of Tad and Jules’s story – Lili’s cousin and Jack’s sister. People have been asking about one of my characters from FEEL THE HEAT, a sexy French chef named Laurent, so I’m thinking of writing about him, but we shall see.


Kate Meader writes contemporary romance that serves up delicious food, sexy heroes, and heroines with a dash of sass. Originally from Ireland, she now makes her home in Chicago, a city made for food, romance, and laughter—and where she met her own sexy hero. When not writing about men who cook and the women who drool over them, she works in an academic library. Visit her website katemeader.com and follow her on Twitter @kittymeader.

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Mahalo, Kate, for warming up readers with your foodie romance series!   Readers, make sure you check out Kate's website, katemeader.com, for excerpts from FEEL THE HEAT and ALL FIRED UP.   Forever is sponsoring a fun giveaway at this link.

Stay warm!

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

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11 comments:

  1. Great interview and a new author for me to read. Thanks Kim! And Stay warm!

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  2. Thanks. We got only a couple inches of snow but it's extremely cold. Wish I had a fireplace.

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  3. Thanks for hosting me today, Kim!

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  4. Love her books! Everyone stay warm!

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  5. I hope that you all stay warm. It's cold down here in Florida, and I've had to put my heating on.

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  6. I could use some warming. Looks like a great read.

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  7. Enjoyed the interview. Looking forward to reading this one! Stay warm and safe.

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  8. Loved it. Cannot wait for the rest in the series.
    patoct

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  9. I'm putting this series in print on my TRL. Thanks for the great interview. Everyone stay warm, it's so cold here in Jersey and now they are predicting another major storm for Monday. :(

    Carol L
    Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

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  10. I love books with chefs. I've added this series to my TBR list.

    Marcy Shuler
    bmndshuler(at)hotmail(dot)com

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