The Sexy Chef

There are certain professions that are sort of standard for romance heroes. The military (especially elite groups like the SEALs or the Rangers), cops, billionaire financial types, lawyers, and so on. Most of these guys are in lines of work that require them to confront danger regularly or to wield power regularly or to, you know, pull off their shirts to display their splendid pecs regularly. I’ve done cops before, also lawyers and tough guys of all types. But this time I’m trying something a little different.

The hero of Fearless Love, Joe LeBlanc, is a chef.

On one level that creates a problem since there’s no way a chef’s going to be whipping off his white coat to display his splendid pecs (unless he’s a complete jackass—there’s a lot of hot stuff around a working kitchen). But confronting danger and wielding power, yeah, chefs do that pretty regularly, particularly head chefs like Joe. And, thanks to Food Network and Bravo, chefs have a certain rock star quality these days. Bobby Flay, Rocco DeSpirito, John Besh, Michael Symon, Hosea Rosenberg—all those guys are pretty hot (of course, Guy Fieri and Mario Batali don’t do a lot for me, but hey, to each her own). I even created a Pinterest board just for sexy chefs.

So what else does a chef have that might earn him that “sexy” designation? Well, there’s the whole creativity thing, of course. Good chefs need both skill and imagination to do what they do. And skill and imagination can be applied to a lot of other areas of life as well, if you get my drift. But I think most of all there’s the sensuality that comes along with food. To be a great cook, you have to love taste and texture. You have to believe in things like “mouth feel” and the importance of smell. You’ve got to use all your senses, and you use them to give other people pleasure. What’s sexier than that?

I’ve got a scene in Fearless Love where the hero cooks for the heroine. They’ve just made love, and they’re hungry. The process of putting together a simple dish for the woman he’s beginning to care about awakens a whole new set of responses.

MG handed him her bowl, then watched him pour them over the top. He gave the spaghetti one last toss before sprinkling on the green onions. “I think we’re done.”

“Good. After all of that, I’m starving.” She started toward the cupboard to get the plates, but he caught her around the waist pulling her tight against his body. Apparently, his recovery time was over. He cupped the back of her head and covered her mouth with his.

A few moment later, he raised his head. “I’m starved too,” he growled. “Eat fast.”

Sexy chef? Oh yeah, baby.

Here’s the blurb for Fearless Love:

Fearless Love, Konigsberg, Texas, Book 7

Sweet music doesn’t come without a few sour notes.

MG Carmody never figured her musical dreams would crash against the reality of Nashville. Now the only thing she has going for her is her late grandfather’s chicken farm, which comes with molting hens that won’t lay, one irascible rooster, and a huge mortgage held by a ruthless opponent—her Great Aunt Nedda.

With fewer eggs to sell, MG needs extra money, fast. Even if it means carving out time for a job as a prep cook at The Rose—and resisting her attraction to its sexy head chef.

Joe LeBlanc has problems of his own. He’s got a kitchen full of temperamental cooks—one of whom is a sneak thief—a demanding cooking competition to prepare for, and an attraction to MG that could easily boil over into something tasty. If he could figure out the cause of the shy beauty’s lack of self confidence.

In Joe’s arms, MG’s heart begins to find its voice. But between kitchen thieves, performance anxiety, saucy saboteurs, greedy relatives, and one very pissed-off rooster, the chances of them ever making sweet music are looking slimmer by the day.

Warning: Contains hot kitchen sex, cool Americana music, foodie hysteria, and a whole lot of fowl play.

Buy link: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/fearless-love-p-7011.html

So what do you think? Are chefs sexy?