Please help me welcome today’s guest, Sadira Stone….
Please tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where do you live now? Family? Pets?
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area (the fog belt), joined the Army right after high school, went to Germany, then to Georgia & Alabama where I earned my teaching degree, then back to Germany where I taught on U.S. military bases until 2014 when I took early retirement & moved to Tacoma, Washington. After seven years in the Pacific Northwest, we recently moved to Las Vegas, where I live with my darling Hubs. No pets at the moment. One gorgeous daughter, one charming stepson who, with his lovely wife, will soon furnish us our first grandchild!
Where did you get the idea for Delicious Heat?
Anna and Diego’s Meet Cute scene happens in Bangers Tavern Romance 1, Christmas Rekindled, and readers asked for their story.
Why did you choose this genre?
My stories are always realistic contemporary romance centering around small businesses and the found family who gather there. I love the way a shared enterprise can forge close relationships.
Was there anything unusual, any anecdote about this book, the characters, title, process, etc, you’d like to share?
The story starts out with Anna’s discovery that her weasel of a husband is cheating on her. She tosses him out, then the very next day discovers she’s pregnant. Tough choice—stay in a crappy marriage for the baby’s sake, or divorce him and become a single mom? Diego’s arrival in her life further complicates her choices, of course.
What is the most difficult thing about writing a book? What was the most difficult thing about this one in particular?
I always struggle with the middle of the first draft. I started writing this book last spring, then my husband fell ill. I wrote through his surgery, recovery, and our move to Las Vegas, not to mention the pandemic. It was sloooow going.
Are there any tricks, habits or superstitions you have when creating a story?
I’m a kinesthetic learner, so I always start out by jotting scene ideas on index cards. These get arranged into a rough outline. It gives me such satisfaction to crumple and toss each card as I work that idea into the story.
What actors would you like in the main roles if your book were made into a movie?
Diego’s appearance is based on actor/musician Alfonso Herrera. He’s a hottie! Anna is half Lebanese-American on her father’s side. Lebanese actress/singer Maya Asmar would be make a perfect movie Anna.
What genre have you never written that you’d like to write?
I recently attended a panel discussion on reverse harem romance, and now I’m noodling out plans for a reverse harem series. This one will have supernatural elements, something I’ve never dabbled in before. Can’t wait to get started!
What is your favorite quote?
Life may not be the party we hoped for; but while we’re here, we might as well dance.
What celebrity would you most like to be stranded on an island with?
Whichever one had the best boat-building skills.
Is there one subject you would never write about? What is it?
BDSM. No shade on the kinksters—I believe that whatever consenting adults do behind closed doors is none of my business. But I don’t get the appeal of that kind of sexual expression, so I’d do a lousy job writing it.
What do you want your tombstone to say?
She touched lives and had a blast.
If you could spend time with a character from your book, whom would it be? And what would you do during that day? (PG-13 please 🙂
I’d love to help Diego in his food truck for a day. I’m a wannabe chef at heart.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Absolutely! This story (and my life) rejects the old-fashioned notion that in order to be a good mother, a woman must put her own needs last. Anna chooses to leave her cheating, neglectful husband, and she gets tons of push-back for that choice.
Your favorite…
Movie: French Kiss
Music: Blues
Place you’ve visited: The Loire Valley in France
Place you’d like to visit: Tahiti!
TV show from childhood: The Partridge Family (Yup, I’m old.)
TV show from adulthood: Any hospital drama, like Chicago Med
Food: Cheese!
Sports team: Meh. I’ll watch whatever Hubs is watching.
Which do you prefer: Board games/card games or television? Darts!
Thank you, Sadira. What a fun interview. I’m old too, LOL, and I also loved The Partridge Family. 🙂
Please tell us about your book…
Blurb:
Cupid has lousy timing.
After kicking her cheating husband to the curb, nurse Anna Khoury discovers she’s pregnant. When Bangers Tavern’s hunky chef makes heart eyes at her, she dismisses that delicious thrill as the last thing she needs. Single motherhood will take all her strength and focus. Anna’s battered heart can’t take another blow.
Chef Diego Vargas is aiming higher than burgers and tater tots. His dream—his own food truck, the Empanada Angel, but he’ll need his family’s support to pull it off. Meeting Anna leaves him thunderstruck, even though his attraction to her threatens all his plans. Call it fate, call him crazy, but he’s determined to prove he’s in it for keeps.
With a belligerent ex-husband and two overprotective families set on breaking them up, Anna and Diego will need more than red-hot passion to pull them through. His career and her baby’s future are on the line.
Come back to Bangers Tavern for a spicy tale of forbidden love that will warm your heart…and other parts…and make you hungry for empanadas!
Excerpt:
He dipped a spoon in his olive and sun-dried tomato tapenade and held it to her lips. She held his gaze as her soft pink lips closed delicately around the morsel. Then her eyes closed, and her fingers fluttered to the delicate V where her collar bones met. Her soft moan brought his dick to full attention.
Note to self—cook for Anna as often as possible.
A devilish smile bloomed across Anna’s lovely face. “What Olive doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”
“Smart mom.” He slathered her feta-studded burger with tapenade, topped it with a dollop of tzatziki, and filled the rest of the plate with garlic tots.
Watching Anna eat was his new favorite thing. Perched on her stool at the center island, she attacked her dinner with enthusiasm bordering on feral. Each groan of pleasure echoed between his thighs.
She licked tzatziki from her thumb, then glanced up and caught him gawking. “Oh, jeez, I must look like a pig.”
He shook his head. “A pig could never be so pretty.” Or tempting. Or bewitching. Or fascinating…
She ducked her chin and giggled. “You’re trying to seduce me and Olive with your cooking superpowers, aren’t you?”
“Drat.” He smacked the counter. “You’ve discovered my evil plan.”
Buy link(s): https://books2read.com/deliciousheat
Bio:
Award-winning contemporary romance author Sadira Stone spins steamy, smoochy tales set in small businesses—a quirky bookstore, a neighborhood bar, a vintage boutique… Her stories highlight found family, friendship, and the sizzling chemistry that pulls unlikely partners together. When she emerges from her writing cave in Las Vegas, Nevada (which she seldom does), she can be found in belly dance class, or strumming her ukulele, perhaps exploring the West with her charming husband, or cooking up a storm, and always gobbling all the romance books. For a guaranteed HEA (and no cliffhangers!) visit Sadira at http://www.sadirastone.com.
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Author Alicia Dean 
I enjoy your writing! I’m sure I’ll love this one, too!
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