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I'd like to thank Jennifer for inviting me.  As an author of Avalon Books and an Indieauthor under the pen name of K. T. Roberts, I'm honored to be here with all ofyou today. 
What's hotter than a summer inNew York City?  Two sexy Italian Chefsfighting over you, of course!Hopeless romantic, Ellana Licari, has her sights seton the tall, dark and handsome, Nick Soranno. Withthe help of the two meddling Mamas, she's determined to show him she's The One- not that scrawny redhead who's rapidly becoming more than his casual 'flavorof the month'. Convincing Nick to stop thinkingof her like his sister won't be easy, but Ellana's about to up the ante tobreak up the relationship and leave this new one in a cloud of dust.

But is it working?  Not aswell as she'd expected.  But that's okaybecause now Ellana's canoodling with the Italian stallion, Giovanni Cavallini,to make Nick jealous.  Of course, Giovanni's only too happy to oblige—he'sgot his own agenda, but now that she has Nick's attention, is it too late?
With the matchmaking Mamas doingtheir best to interfere, Ellana's stuck in a quandary . . . which one of thesetempting chefs will she choose?

I'm often asked what made me decide to write lightheartedcontemporary romance.  My response is simple.  I'm a person who finds humor in life.  That's not to say that I'm always upbeat, butit isn't often that you'll find me down.Life is about making the most of any given situation andtrying to see it as a glass half full instead of half empty.  While they both mean the same thing, it'schoosing to see things in a different light.  Of course this post isn't intended to be about inciting positivethinking into your minds, it's just what I do to interject some of the thingsthat have happened to me, or people I know, into my stories in a humorous way.
 Shut Upand Kiss Me is set in present time in New York City.   It's about Ellana Licari and Nicky Sorannowho have been friends since the day they were born when their mothers met inthe hospital.  And that's just how longEllana has been in love with Nicky—or at least that's what the mamas toldher.  In the scene below, Ellana has justgiven up her apartment and job in New Jersey and moving back to New Yorkbecause her Mama has called to tell her Nicky is getting married to someoneelse.  Mama's been trying to get her backin her grips for two years—this time it worked. In this scene Ellana is having a flashback of her childhood and how themamas used brainwashing attempts to keep their dream alive: My mind drifted to Nicky and meas kids, and the Cupid Mongers' brainwashing techniques. I did have to admitthinking about us back then did give me a warm fuzzy and made me smile.
The memory of Mom using Bobbipins to attach the top of a sheer white curtain to my head as a bridal veil,made me laugh out loud. Those two goofy mothers had decided right from thebeginning they weren't going to risk the event not happening. I could almostsmell the tiny bouquet of wild flowers Mom would shove in my hand every afternoon.Then, as Nicky and I walked down the path towards Aunt Nan, who posed as thepriest, Mom would hum the wedding march until we were pronounced husband andwife.
     At the time, Nicky and I enjoyed "thegame" but that was only because we weren't aware of the mothers' devious waysyet. Nicky just groans about it now, and me, well, I guess I'm still holding onto the dream. The thought of being Mrs. Nicholas Soranno has always given mecomfort, but it's never going to happen unless I'm able to change my status ashis surrogate sister.  Buy Now Both ofthese things happened in real life, I just enhanced the truth a tad.If youwant a good laugh, read Shut Up and KissMe available now at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  And while you're at it, check out my reviewsof which I'm very proud. 
So whatam I doing now?  I'm writing the secondbook in a three-part series about romance and food that includes 32 recipes—oneafter each chapter that I've incorporated into the story.  I have three more books to pitch to mypublisher to keep the series going, because doesn't everyone like recipes?
As aprofessional chef, I've always wanted to have my own cookbook, so when Avalonasked me to write this series, I jumped at the chance.  The series is entitled Romancing the Chef'sToque, and the first book, Dishing Up Romance will be out in February 2012. Theother two books entitled One Menu at a Time, and Catering to Love will bereleased in June and October, respectively. I'm having a great time writing these books!
If you'd like to win a free copy of Shut Up and Kiss Me,leave me a comment on this blog and I'll do a random pick and contact thecommenter for details.
Find out more about me at www.carolynhughey.com .  You might also want to check out my blog at www.blogging.carolynhughey.com.You can also follow me on Twitter under ScriBLINGDIVAS or Facebook underCarolyn Esposito Hughey.