I felt like I was taking my life in my hands when I pitched the idea for ON THE STEAMY SIDE to my editor. Sure, it was a continuation of my culinary romance RECIPE FOR LOVE series, starring a character she already knew and loved from CAN’T STAND THE HEAT, but the concept . . . well, my original idea was a sort of homage update of Charlotte Bronte’s JANE EYRE: a classic governess story in which the innocent heroine falls for the brooding, sophisticated father of her charge, turning his life inside out and upside down in the process. For my purposes, there was also the added element of food—the hero, Devon Sparks, is also a jaded celebrity chef who’s afraid he’s lost his palate when his fancy, experimental food falls flat during a short stint at Market, while the owner is away. And the nanny, Lilah Jane Tunkle, has never worked in a professional kitchen (much less a testosterone-fueled NYC establishment) but has been steeped in good, old-fashioned Southern cooking since she was little. Guess whose food Devon’s son, Tucker, would rather eat? Because yeah—that’s the other essential ingredient in the governess romance: A kid! By the time…

A question I hear a lot is: “Where do you get your inspiration for your characters?” Adam Temple, the hero of Can’t Stand the Heat, is a chef-imagine Anthony Bourdain (for the hotness) crossed with Jamie Oliver (for the sweetness), and a pinch of Gordon Ramsay (for the perfectionism). When Adam is in the kitchen, he’s in charge. And he loves every second of it. In fact, that’s the key to Adam’s personality-he loves a lot of things. He loves his life, his job, his friends…it’s not hard or frightening for him to fall in love with the heroine, Miranda. He brings passion and enthusiasm to everything he does. To read more of Louisa’s blog please click here. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Recipe for Love #1 September 2009On Sale: September 1, 2009Featuring: Adam Temple; Miranda Wake368 pages ISBN: 0312356498EAN: 9780312356491Mass Market Paperback$6.99 Romance Contemporary Buy at Amazon.com Can’t Stand the Heat by Louisa Edwards For sharp-tongued food critic Miranda Wake, the chance to spend a month in Adam Temple’s kitchen to write an exposé is a journalistic dream come true. Surely Miranda can find a way to cut the hotshot chef down to size once she learns what really goes on at his trendy Manhattan restaurant. Trouble is, she never expected Adam to uncover her most embarrassing secret: she has no idea how to cook. As for Adam, well, he’s not about to have his reputation burned by a critic who doesn’t even know the difference between poaching and paring. He’ll just have to give the tempting redhead a few private lessons of his own . . . teaching her what it means to cook with passion. Seduction reaches a boiling point when two unlikely people find themselves thrown together. Excerpt What’s your name?” he asked her. She tossed her head again, the motion making her sway a little. Adam looked more closely. Her pupils were blown wide and dark, and her…