Brand New Flavor: The proper uses of magic, by EM Lynley

My guest today is author E.M. Lynley, who’s here to talk about her brand new Dreamspinner Press release, Brand New Flavor.  I had the pleasure of beta reading this sexy and sweet story about love amidst cool, creamy ice cream.  I enjoyed every yummy bit of it, too.  The  book is part of E.M.’s Delectable Series of food-related gay romances.

So stop by Dreamspinner Press, download a copy, get yourself some ice cream, and settle into a chair with your ereader for a tasty bit of romance!  Welcome, E.M.! -Shira

******************************

Brand New Flavor, releasing November 21 from Dreamspinner Press, is the story of artisan ice cream maker Jay Brown and Cameron Clay, the food critic he’s trying to impress, by creating a completely new and unique ice cream that sums up everything he feels for Cameron. Jay needs to convey so many things, but he knows that with the right combination of flavors, Cameron will understand everything in just one taste.

That’s a pretty tall order for one bite, isn’t it? I didn’t think just how difficult this would be when I started writing the story. I saw it more as a Cinderella story: Boy meets ice cream maker. Boy loses ice cream maker. Boy searches for and finds ice cream maker and they live happily ever after. Instead of a glass slipper, I used, well, ice cream. (You’ll just have to read it find out how).

This couldn’t be any ordinary ice cream that could bring two people together. In fact, one of my beta readers found the descriptions of Jay’s ice cream so magical, she suggested I actually imbue Jay and his ice cream with magical powers. What a great idea, I thought. Then I mulled the suggestion over a little bit and decided that no matter how magical this ice cream appeared to be, it shouldn’t actually be magical.

Why not? you might be asking. If not, please ask or the rest of this will be very boring. Why can’t this ice cream be real magic? As much as this story might resemble a fairy tale, using magic to me seemed to downplay just what a genius Jay is at making delicious ice cream. If he just needs to sprinkle some fairy dust or wiggle his nose—or another part of his anatomy—then he hasn’t worked hard enough to win over Cameron.

And if Cam eats magical ice cream and falls in love with Jay, then he’s not really acting of his own free will or appreciating everything Jay has done to impress him. Nope, that ice cream had to be real and it had to be delicious because Jay put his heart and soul and love into creating the perfect combination of tastes and textures. And Cameron had to know that Jay made it just for him. Anything less would sell short the desired result of the ice cream.

I’ve got nothing against magic, but sometimes a lot of hard work and even more love and emotion can create magic all on its own. And that sort of effect doesn’t wear off when the spell does. That sort of love can last forever.

Brand New Flavor comes out November 21 from Dreamspinner Press.

Read an excerpt here.

Brand New Flavor by EM Lynley

Blurb:

When artisan ice cream maker Jay Brown first meets food writer Cameron Clay at a charity tasting event, they get along like strawberries and chocolate sauce. Jay’s unique flavors thrill more than Cameron’s jaded palate, but after a delicious encounter in Jay’s delivery truck, where extra-creamy frozen treats are not the only delights sampled, Cameron loses Jay’s contact info—and any hope of a real date.

Desperate, Cameron convinces his editor to host an artisanal ice cream contest in hopes of drawing out the elusive genius. But more complications threaten to intervene. Will Jay even enter the contest? Or will the chance of a happily ever after melt away?

EM Lynley: http://www.emlynley.com

On Facebook:

2 comments

  1. Thea - Reply

    Literally LOL-ed at “or another part of his anatomy”! 😉
    But you’re right — it’s more meaningful to have hard work and loving thoughts go into something than just magic. Can’t wait to read what kind of flavor this special ice cream is!!

Leave Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.