1–What is the title of your latest release?
THE SECRET RECIPE OF ELLA DOVE
2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Ella Dove, a famous baker with the mystical ability to revive precious memories with her cakes, returns home and attempts to repair the two relationships that sent her running away from home to begin with.
3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I grew up in East Tennessee, which is in the extreme east point of the state. North Carolina was about fifteen minutes away, so we almost always played, fished, shopped, and skied in that state because of their wonderful mountains and quaint towns. The small town of Dove Pond is a compilation of all those wonderful towns, especially Black Mountain, which is located right outside of Asheville.
4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Heck YES. Ella’s self-confident, caring, and fun. She’s also a baker, and a magical baker at that, whose cakes and scones can bring back very dear, precious memories. I wish I really knew Ella Dove!
5–What are three words that describe your hero?
Caring, funny, and empathetic.
6–What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned a LOT about cooking as I made all of the dishes mentioned in the book. I made them often, too, which made my husband gain weight.
7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
Before I start writing for the day, I re-read what I wrote the day before and clean it up. I wait until I’m done to edit for plot and pacing.
8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Scones with icing. I just love those.
9–Describe your writing space/office!
I write all over the place – at the dining room table, on the loveseat beside the window, snuggled in the chair near the garden doors, outside on the deck – I have a laptop and moving around keeps me from getting bored with a place.
10–Who is an author you admire?
Sarah Addison Allen. I’ve read every word she’s published and can’t wait to read more.
11–Is there a book that changed your life?
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. It’s a great book and a wonderful movie, too. It changed my life by showing me the power of viewing real life through a magical lens.
12–Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)
I was doing laundry when I got “the call” from an editor at Avon Books to publish my first book, The Abduction of Julia. I loved that editor and got to work with her from that day all the way to her retirement a few years ago.
13–What’s your favorite genre to read?
Romance and Magic Realism followed by general Women’s Fiction especially those with a romantic theme.
14–What’s your favorite movie?
The Grand Budapest Hotel.
15–What is your favorite season?
Fall followed by spring and winter and then summer, which isn’t my favorite because of the bugs.
16–How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
With friends and my husband. My favorite gift is a book. I love finding out what books other people enjoy.
17–What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman.
18–What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Southern followed by Thai.
19–What do you do when you have free time?
I read and paint (watercolors).
20–What can readers expect from you next?
The fourth book in the Dove Pond series, THE BOOKSHOP OF HIDDEN DREAMS comes out in May.
THE SECRET RECIPE OF ELLA DOVE by Karen Hawkins
Three lives converge as a wildly talented baker returns to Dove Pond to face her past in this entry in the charming series that proves that sometimes miracles really do happen…
Ella Dove is a talented, free-spirited baker who goes wherever the wind takes her—but driven by a haunting dream, she’s coming home to Dove Pond for the first time in over a decade. Ella believes the dream is a sign it’s time she confront and make amends to her mentor, Angela Stewart Harrington. Years ago, she falsely accused Ella of stealing her coveted family recipe book, known as the Book of Cakes.
Angela has her own share of apologies to make. Her daughter Jules has never forgiven her for divorcing her father, and they’ve been estranged ever since. But just when the door for a possible reconciliation opens, a miscommunication turns into a lie that could destroy their relationship forever.
Meanwhile, Jules’s son Gray is shocked that Ella, his first love and his first heartbreak, has returned to Dove Pond. But even though he knows Ella is a wanderer and will soon leave, he’s unable to stop himself from falling for her once again. Can Gray find a way to convince Ella to give him, and their magical town, a serious chance? Or is he once again on the road to heartbreak?
With so much at stake, Ella, Angela, and Gray must learn to accept each other—flaws and all—forgive the many mistakes of their pasts, and trust that love can, and will, always find a way. For fans of Alice Hoffman and Sarah Addison Allen, The Secret Recipe of Ella Dove is a delicious and magical read that will warm your heart and charm your senses.
Fantasy Magical Realism | Women’s Fiction | Romance Contemporary [Gallery Books, On Sale: August 15, 2023, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781982195922 / eISBN: 9781982195953]
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About Karen Hawkins
New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Karen Hawkins is known for her wonderfully humorous and emotion-tugging historical and contemporary romances. The author of over 30 novels, Karen writes for a living between shopping for shoes, playing around on Facebook and Pinterest, looking for fun items for Hawkins Manor, and napping, although usually not at the same time. Sometimes, for fun, she takes Instagram pictures of her two rescue dogs, Sadie and Teke, and posts them online.
Yeah, she’s a wild one.
Karen lives in balmy Orlando, Florida, with her husband, aka Hot Cop, and her two dogs. Her children are both out of college and have become productive, non-violent members of society. Karen writes six to eight hours a day when not obsessively reading research books on Regency-era Scotland, snacking on chocolate, or looking out the windows of her house and thinking about gardening. Her hobbies include sculpting, oil painting, playing badminton, and — ok, ok, she doesn’t have any hobbies, but if she did, she’s sure they’d be something refined and fascinating.
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