Title: THE CAKE EFFECT
Genre: Women's Fiction
Word Count: 72,000
Query:
Lou is a talented chef in Milwaukee, struggling to
keep her small French restaurant afloat while floundering in her fiancé's world
of cocktail-infused schmooze fests. During the worst day of her life, she
destroys a perfectly good coconut cake, leaves her fiancé, and nearly burns
down her kitchen, earning her a nasty review from the local food critic.
Al Waters hates Milwaukee and hopes his scathing (and,
to him, entertaining) restaurant reviews gain him a column in a real city, but
not before he reconnects with the adorable coconut cake-toting woman he met in
the newsstand line. When Al visits a local pub to celebrate his best
critique yet, he finds the delightful and very drunk Lou, unaware she’s the
chef he just skewered.
Lou accepts Al's challenge to show him what makes
Milwaukee so great -- with the agreement they never discuss work. It’s the
perfect arrangement for a critic with an alter ego. During their non-dates
exploring the city's treasures, Lou’s restaurant declines while Al’s column
becomes more popular. If her restaurant fails, she loses the one place she
flourished. If Al can’t keep his identity secret, he could lose so much more.
Charming, delicious, and fun, The Cake Effect
is You’ve Got Mail meets No Reservations.
First 250:
Lou hoisted up her gown and winced as she tottered
across the parking lot. The sparkly four-inch heels looked so pretty in the
box, but now felt like a mortar and pestle grinding each bone in her foot. She
missed her green Crocs.
Lou plucked at the tight elastic under her clothes,
squeezing her into the sleek, black dress her fiancé had given her. She
scurried to catch up with him.
"Overstuffed truffle and foie gras sausage,"
Lou said.
Dev’s face crinkled in confusion.
"What?"
"It's a new dish, inspired by how I feel in these
clothes. Maybe served over brown butter dumplings..." Lou tilted her head,
visualizing the newly formed meal. Dev frowned at her and sighed.
She wilted at the familiar reaction. "I’m sorry.
It helps distract me."
His features softened as he looked at her.
"You’ll be fine. You look stunning."
Lou gave a feeble smile, stepping into the soft,
yellow light of the Milwaukee Country Club's foyer, the cushy patterned carpet
springing back with each step. Black-and-white pictures adorned the buttery
walls, telling the club's regal history. Many showed eager young men in white
standing behind wealthy gentlemen in funny pants. Hunger for something more
burned in their eyes. Lou understood.
To the left waited the dining room, full of
white-coated tables twinkling with polished silver and crystal water goblets.
Lou glimpsed the swinging doors to the kitchen, beckoning her like an old
friend.
Well, now that we're allowed to give love...
ReplyDeleteI sure hope some cruising agent comes and snaps this up! I read the full last week, and it's loads of fun, with terrific MCs and an equally engaging set of secondary characters, which is something I really look for when choosing my reading. The setting leaps off the page, and there's tons of foodie goodness. The whole book is clever, warm, surprising, and a great read.
I always love a book with foodie goodness!!
ReplyDeleteRIGHT? Somebody request this book! (And you know, mine too, entry #42-- it's completely awesome and you'll love it) but the point is that I also love THIS book. Which is, you know, not mine.
ReplyDeleteThe author has also turned out to be a class act, btw, and I did not even know her before we scrapped over the same agent auction, so she must be nice, b/c that was the equivalent of tackling each other at a tag sale, right? And we ended up swapping manuscripts. So. Great book, lovely author. Just sayin'.
Ditto. The Cake Effect is a delicious little love story; a sweet guilty pleasure. I'm feeling kind of maxed out on all the dark, violent fiction--it feels so fresh again to read something romantic and FUN.
ReplyDelete