Scent in Romance

My husband bought me a surprise present last weekend when we were at Anthropologie, the sneaky man. That's it above. It's warm and woodsy with a hint of vanilla that's perfect for me. And it got me thinking: how many times have you seen a reference to scent in a romance novel? All the time, right? I can't remember whose series it was (Grace Burrowes maybe?) who gave each of her heroes and heroines a signature scent, sometimes in some interesting combinations: oranges, lavender, vanilla, cedar. In the series I just read by Laura Kaye (Hearts of the Anemoi, which I'll talk about in more detail next week), the heroes are all associated with a season and both hero and heroine have a scent that matches the hero's season. And of course, we're all aware of "man scent".

This is interesting to me because scent isn't something we're aware of a lot of the time. Scent registers when we smell something particularly good like baking cookies or particularly bad like pond water wet dog. A few months ago, my husband went back to my home town on the Central Coast of California. While there, we wanted to pick up a present for some friends of ours and we stumbled into a shop that specialized in local products: everything from soap and block-printed linens to sauces and spice blends. Our friends love tea so we were smelling all the teas when one of them socked me in the gut. The scent was Paso Robles: sage and lavender, but other things I couldn't readily identify. Until that moment, I didn't realize that Paso had a scent.

It's that concept of man scent that I'd like to explore. I ran across it again recently in an earlier Victoria Dahl work, which I forgive and don't feel weird calling out because she has gotten so so very good in the intervening years that it's basically the only criticism I can level at her. She said something similar in her new novella, Fanning the Flames, though this one worked for me while still remaining vague on the finer points of scent: "He smelled the way a man should smell when he was in your bed and working hard for it." [Loc 67] Nearly all romance writers use the man scent device. If it doesn't pop up in a book, I'm surprised at this point. Why? I have some theories. Four, actually.

The first theory is that writers are lazy. Maybe they don't know what to write as an introduction to further intimacy. Maybe they can't distinguish what makes a man smell good. The second is that they experience some form of sensory deprivation. Maybe they don't realize that all men smell different. The third theory is that it's a joke that romance writers are all in on and I'm not. My final theory is that scent is a very personal thing and they don't want to turn a reader off to a hero by giving him a smell that might be objectionable. I can't come up with any other reasons. Am I missing something?

Because I've gotta be honest, I think all of those reasons are dumb. I know writers aren't lazy. It takes a special kind of crazy to be willing to muck around in your own head as much as writers do. Writing, editing, copy-editing, etc. takes a lot of time and effort. Nor do I believe that writers are somehow unobservant. Maybe it's a charming conceit that good writers are all incredibly observant, but it doesn't seem so to me.  And those powers of observation must extend into realms beyond the visual. I also don't really believe that it's a joke, unless it's like one of those Onion stories that people occasionally pass around not realizing that it's satire.

The final theory is maybe a little more believable. My husband mostly smells like soap, which is fine by me and probably also universally appealing. There are certain colognes that trip my circuits. Calvin Klein's Obsession is one that gets me, but referring to a cologne by name in a book probably wouldn't be super helpful unless it's scratch-and-sniff like a Macy's catalog. That said, I once had a boyfriend who worked in a bar and smelled of cigarette smoke, Big Red gum, leather and Jack Daniels. Some people would think that smelled terrible, but I loved it. And if a writer described a hero that way, the reviewers would all go, "Ew, he smells like cigarette smoke? Disgusting. You totally lost me there. DNF." But writers who have written red-haired heroes or villainous heroes or short heroes or heroes with a little bit of a belly might get the same reaction.

So I understand why writers would stick with safe things like pine needles, citrus and rosemary, but there are a lot of other man smells. Heroes who work on cars or motorcycles should smell like gasoline and motor oil.  Shouldn't a man who swims or surfs smell like chlorine or salt water? Guys who have been working out should smell like sweat. Or at the very least, some kind of deodorant. And office-working billionaires do smell subtly expensive: like an upscale hotel. I can't be alone in finding any or all of these things sexy on the right guy. Man smell seems like an unnecessarily safe choice.

So please, no more "man scent". I don't know what that means. It isn't interesting. It isn't alluring. Tell me what he smells like instead. Whether that particular scent gets me hot or not, it tells me something about the hero that I want to know. Man scent does not.

Have Mercy Chicken Waffle Sandwiches

It's books like Have Mercy that make me sad more people don't read erotic romance. Shelley Ann Clark may be a first-time author, but this book doesn't read like a first effort. It's super hot, it's tightly written and Clark conveys truth about humanity and feminism that will stick with me for a long time to come.

Emme is a star on the rise. She reminds me a little of Vanessa Carlton, Adele or Lana Del Rey. She has a sexy, sultry, bluesy sound that seems perfect for this moment in music. On stage, she's magnetic. But she is not the same person off stage as she is on stage. Early in her career, she was a back-up singer for a popular band that subsequently broke up. And as legend had it, it was her fault. She has so much potential and the will to grasp it, but fear of how others will see her if she really takes the reins of her career and her desires paralyzes her.

Tom has barely had a life at all. His entire existence has been spent caring for others, particularly his alcoholic sister. He has always had to be the strong one, the responsible one. He inherited his father's bar and his father's house when it was never his ambition to obtain either. His true love is music and he's a phenomenal bass player. So when Emme approaches him to tour with her up-and-coming band, he desperately wants to say yes, but doesn't feel he can. Even when he commits, it isn't all the way.

When they go out on tour together, their mutual attraction has them taking tentative steps toward each other pretty early on, but both have issues outside the relationship holding them back. When they eventually do let their sexual relationship develop, the way it plays out may not work for every reader, particularly if the woman taking the lead in a mild BDSM scene is new to them. But there's a reason why this is important, and it's not just to hit readers' kink buttons. (That said, those with that particular kink button will find this story very satisfying indeed.)

At first, Emme allows herself to be painted as a victim, even in her own mind: of her mother's disapproval, of her suspicious neighbors, of her bandmates' paranoia, of the lead singer of the band she "broke up" and of the music industry gatekeepers who can't let her just be an artist. They want to label her a chunky homewrecker who uses her feminine wiles to distract from her lack of talent. It takes almost the entire duration of the book for Emme to realize that this is all, not to put too fine a point on it, bullshit. More importantly, it's bullshit that she can turn back on itself and use to her benefit.

And it's her sexual relationship with Tom, along with his unflagging confidence and pride in her, that teaches her about how to take the power she wields as an artist on stage and as a capable professional offstage and extend that into her interpersonal relationships. It takes a special kind of man to provide that support. For Tom to acknowledge that Emme has a deep well of strength of her own and to accept that and celebrate it and lean on it shows Have Mercy's true colors. It's not just about the femdom sex or the sultry blues club atmospherics. It's about revolutionizing the way we women see ourselves: powerful, talented, and in control of our own lives and destinies.

Touring musicians eat pretty terribly. My brother was the tour manager for a punk band when he was in his 20s and the main thing he wanted when he got off the road was home-cooked food. So it's not that surprising that the only major reference to a meal in Have Mercy takes place at a Waffle House, that bastion of highway-exit breakfast mediocrity.

It still manages to be a pivotal scene. In it, Emme acknowledges that the music industry would rather she be waifish than rock the curvy retro pin-up vibe she has. In this scene she baldly states that her body needs fuel and can't run on champagne, olives and air. And since this takes place immediately before she moves to take Tom for the first time, Emme's insistence on having the body she wants and not the body others would prefer her to have doesn't seem like an accident.

I had a couple failed batches of waffles before I hit upon this one. I found a few common denominators among the successful waffle recipes I tried. First, I had to turn my waffle iron up as hot as it would go before I got a sufficiently crispy waffle. Second, when I tried to cut back on the butter (which in this case would be desirable for more than maintaining a girlish figure because it gets all over your hands), the waffles turned spongey. Third, it didn't seem to matter whether I used milk or buttermilk, but this was not the time for any kind of buttermilk substitute. I tried it and it was just...gross. So get a quart of buttermilk. Between the chicken and the waffles, you'll use most of it anyway.

I served these sandwiches with some homemade sweet potato fries and Sriracha mayo dip. This is the recipe I use. Don't skip the step that has you soaking the cut sweet potatoes in water. I made the deep fried version since my oven was occupied with chicken, but that means you need to dry them quite thoroughly. Very hot oil and water are a bad combination. The recipe says cook for "several minutes" but my cook times have been consistently longer; about 10-12 minutes.

When you're done with these, you'll have butter-slicked fingers and you'll be dripping BBQ sauce. You'll want some napkins handy. But sometimes messy is fun, right?

Chicken Waffle Sandwiches
adapted from How Sweet Eats and Joy of Cooking
Makes: 4 sandwiches
Time: 2 hour, 45 minutes (Hands on time: 45 minutes)

Chicken
2 chicken breasts, cut in half length-wise
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cups panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup fine bread crumbs
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
high heat cooking spray (not olive oil)

Waffles
1 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

16 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs, well beaten

Sandwiches
1 large tomato
4 leaves lettuce of your choice
1/3 cup BBQ sauce (I like Smokey Bones)

1. Cut chicken breasts in half length-wise and put them in a shallow dish. Pour 1 cup buttermilk over them and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a wire rack on top. Spray the rack with cooking spray.

3. Combine the panko bread crumbs, fine bread crumbs, flour, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and dredge in the bread crumb mixture. Press the bread crumbs so they adhere.

3. Put the chicken on the wire rack and spray with cooking spray on top so they crisp in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip the chicken, spray the other side and bake for another 10 minutes.

4. While the chicken cooks, start on the waffles. Heat the waffle iron.

5. Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs and melted butter. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Whisk until combined. The batter will be lumpy.

6. Spoon 1/2 cup of batter (or different amount according to your waffle iron's instructions--mine takes 2 cups) into the hot waffle maker. Close the lid and bake until the waffle is golden.

7. Place a slice of tomato, a piece of lettuce, a piece of chicken and a bit of BBQ sauce on each waffle. Top with another waffle and serve immediately.

8. If for some reason you can't serve immediately or you're making more than 4 sandwiches, I had good luck with reheating the fresh or frozen waffles in my toaster. 

Saturday Snack Time, June 12, 2014

Saturday Snack Time is a little collection of fun things I found online during the week and I thought were worth sharing. This week, I've also got a quick review of a book I read recently and liked, Delphine Dryden's Sex on the Beach, which comes out on Tuesday. Let's get snacking, shall we?



1 | These sticky sesame chicken wings from Smitten Kitchen look terrific.

2 | For my review this week of Laura Florand's The Chocolate Thief, I was tempted to make s'mores instead of raspberry tarts. These would have been a good choice.

3 | Loved this article on how anesthesia works.

4 | Women are not crazy.

5 | How do we learn about sex? How did books shape our perspectives? From Amber Belldene on Wonkomance.

6 | Delphine Dryden has a book out this upcoming week and because I know my Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and am basically a big nerd, I got to read it early. Sex on the Beach runs in parallel to Mai Tai for Two, which I reviewed back in May, which is a pretty interesting story device. I'm not usually one for vanilla contemporaries with a low dosage of angst, but I found this book just as charming as its predecessor. Amanda and Jeremy are navigating family and careers and basic differences about how to solve problems when both people are used to making decisions on their own. It's messy, it's real and, oh, because it's Dryden, it's also hot. Like Mai Tai for Two, this book is subtly brilliant in that the only thing it's about is a relationship between two people: a real relationship that seems to have hit a bump on the road to marriage. The cheerful Hawaiian setting, the newly-hot hero and the lack of a tidy, perfect ending just hit all the right notes for me. Pick it up as next weekend's quick summer poolside read.

Have a great weekend!

On Failure and Confidence

Last week when I was interviewed by Lady Smut, Kiersten Hallie Krum asked me a bunch of interesting questions, but the one that stuck with me was if I had any funny failure stories to share.

I said that it was rare for me to have a failure any more, but I'm not sure that's strictly true. I think I've changed my definition of what failure is. Sure, I've had my fair share of hilarious kitchen disasters. I nearly gassed myself with pureed onion and the wrong kind of curry one time several years ago. I set oatmeal on fire when I was eight years old. I over-salted a batch of eggplant so badly that now I only buy the tiny ones because they're tender enough already (yes, that was scarring). And it's true that those kinds of failures have become increasingly rare as I've gained experience and confidence.

That said, I do an awful lot of kitchen experimentation. Last week, I made three sauces to go with sea scallops for my review of Jeffe Kennedy's Ruby. I made the cilantro sauce twice, the chocolate sauce three times and the mango sauce four times. The first step was to be sure the sauces all worked and tasted good on their own. Putting the cilantro yogurt sauce in the fridge overnight with the lime added at the food processor stage resulted in a curdled sauce the next day. The first batch of the chocolate sauce involved balsamic roasted strawberries that smelled terrific and tasted terrible. The mango sauce worked like a charm the very first time, but mellowed too much in the fridge overnight. And when it came time to serve them all together, it got lost in the other two and didn't pair well so I had to start over with a different base. And yet, I don't count the first six tries as failures. They were merely steps on the way to the final product. Like revisions on a novel. I even had editors: my husband and a couple of friends who came over for dinner.

The first time it occurred to me that I might have stumbled across a "right way" of doing recipe development was when we saw Chef earlier this week. There's a scene where Jon Favreau's character is creating a new menu and there are ingredients and tupperware containers scattered over the kitchen. My husband leaned over to me in the theater and said, "Well, that looks familiar."

On Tuesday, Delphine Dryden wrote a post at Wonkomance about a story she had started years ago and that lived in the back of a desk drawer until she came back to it recently. I'm not a writer, but I did glean something from her post: it's important to fail. Pushing myself to cook based on inspiration outside my own head makes me a better cook. Not only would I have not likely succeeded at something as complicated as coming up with my own sauce recipes years ago, I wouldn't even have attempted it. Until I did it last week, I didn't even know I could. Until I saw that movie, I didn't know that I was doing it right, whatever that is.

Which brings me to my point. I'm not a writer. I'm a cook. But as creative people, and especially as female creative people, I'm not sure we give ourselves enough credit. I've read a bunch of Delphine Dryden's books. And let me just say that she knows what she's doing. And it's hard for me to type this, much less say this, but I know what I'm doing too. And not only do I know what I'm doing, I'm getting even better.

There are lots of people out there with more experience, better training, better ideas, but your story arc is yours. And you do know what you're doing.

The Chocolate Thief Raspberry Tarts

 
When I started Cooking Up Romance a couple of months ago, there were a few books that people kept pointing me toward and saying I absolutely had to read, largely for their sheer volume of food. Laura Florand's Chocolate Series was at the top of that list. And they were totally right. The Chocolate Thief is a tasty romp through the chocolatiers, restaurants and streets of Paris.

Heroine Cade Corey is the successful, capable scion of an old Maryland chocolate-making family. With Hershey just over the border in Pennsylvania, I couldn't help but draw parallels as the beloved American Hershey bar receives very little respect in Europe. But Cade has an idea for bringing Parisian artisan chocolate to the masses--if only she can find a French chocolatier who will cooperate by lending a name and a recipe.

Hero Sylvain Marquis is the best chocolatier in Paris, creating chocolates so exquisite that though she has been around copious amounts of chocolate her whole life, Cade can't stop eating his when she first tastes them. Unfortunately, Sylvain also has a terrible temper and a complete abhorrence for her idea. He makes her cry when she first approaches him, then makes fun of her when they meet again, finally driving her to break into his shop to see if she can find what she wants. Plus, he's nerdy and sexy, which is pretty much my favorite combination of hero traits.

Though at first Cade and Sylvain get along like chocolate and water, he is eventually captivated by her love for chocolate and she is seduced by his knowledge and skill. With chocolate, people. Heads out of the gutter please. Though, it should be said that his skills in other areas aren't at all tepid. In fact, he has mastered the art of seduction by chocolate, a particularly neat twist by Florand.

For any lover of chocolate, or of Paris, this book is an absolute must-read. Even if the characters weren't utterly charming and the plot didn't provide a number of unique twists, they would be worth it for the food alone. I've just gotten the second one and I can't wait to devour it. Also, I'm not sure how long this sale is going on, but right now you can get the Kindle edition of the 4th book in the series, The Chocolate Rose, for free on Amazon!

Early in the story, when Sylvain is still utterly contemptuous of Cade's American-ness, she encounters him in a bakery early one morning. Flustered and determined to try something utterly French, she picks out a raspberry tart for her breakfast, earning the scorn and derision of both Sylvain and the baker. Though, upon reflection, Sylvain decides that she looks pretty cute with her raspberry tart, even if it is a ridiculous breakfast.

The raspberry tart in the book is described as having a golden crust, pale custard and sweet, fresh berries. Sadly for me, I find pastry cream a little bit boring and even though it's peak raspberry season, I didn't find the tart flavorful enough on its own. That said, the book is called The Chocolate Thief. And it's in a series all about chocolate. So I didn't have a hard time giving these a non-traditional twist with a little bit of chocolate.

As for the tart dough, you're going to need a kitchen scale. You've got one, right? If not, they're about $25. Don't be intimidated. I actually find it easier to bake by weight than by volume. It's just much more accurate! This tart dough is the best one I've used: super forgiving, doesn't require refrigeration and no need to use foil, parchment or any kind of pie weights. It's kind of miraculous and therefore worth the purchase of a scale if you don't have one.

Also, I've included a full-scale recipe for the chocolate sauce I used. You'll have TONS left over. Just store it in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap touching the surface. You can microwave it for just a couple seconds a spoonful at a time and drizzle it on crepes, ice cream, waffles, pound cake or just someone you like a lot. Or they can drizzle it on you. I mean, you just made them a freaking raspberry tart.

And as long as we're being decadent, go ahead and have one of these tarts for breakfast. I won't tell if you don't.

Raspberry Tarts with Pastry Cream and Chocolate
adapted from Brave Tart and America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
Makes: 6 four-inch tarts
Time: 3 1/2 hours (1 hour hands on time)

Pastry Cream
2 cups half and half
1/2 cup sugar, separated
pinch salt
5 large egg yolks, room temperature
3 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and chilled
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Tart Dough
3 ounces white sugar
6 ounces unsalted butter (NOT tablespoons--don't mess that up), plus extra for pans
9 ounces flour, sifted
1 generous pinch salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
powdered sugar for rolling

Chocolate Sauce
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
pinch salt
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

18 ounces fresh raspberries

1. For the pasty cream, bring the half and half, 6 tablespoons of sugar and the salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar together until smooth. Sift in the cornstarch to prevent lumps and whisk until smooth.

3. Reduce heat to medium. Slowly whisk about 1 cup of the simmering half and half mixture into the yolks to temper (for more on tempering, see my creme brulee recipe). The slowly whisk the tempered yolks back into the simmering half and half mixture and return pot to heat. Whisking constantly, return the mixture to a simmer and cook until thickened and a few bubbles burst the surface, about 30 seconds. Off the heat, whisk in the butter and vanilla. Transfer to heat proof bowl and cover with a layer of plastic wrap flush to the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate until cold, about 3 hours.

4. For the tart crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease six 4" tart pans.

5. Cream together the butter, salt and sugar either in a stand mixer or with a pastry blender until combined. Add sifted flour with mixer on lowest speed or mix by hand for two minutes. The mixer will still be pretty crumbly, but don't worry.

6. Knead lightly by hand against the side of the bowl until a smooth dough forms. Scatter powdered sugar over rolling surface. Turn out dough onto surface and roll to 1/8" thickness. Cut into four sections and press into tart pans, pinching off excess and pressing the sides up a little over the top to compensate for any shrinkage during baking. Re-roll scraps and cut into two more sections and press into tart pans. Don't worry if the dough tears. Just piece it back together. It will still be fine. Prick dough all over the surface with a fork (bottom and sides both).

7. Bake until lightly browned, about 14 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes on a rack before removing from pans. Allow to cool completely.

8. For the chocolate sauce, bring the cream, corn syrup, butter and salt to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Off the heat, stir in the chocolate, cover and let stand until the chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes. Uncover and whisk gently until smooth.

9. Add 1 tablespoon of warm chocolate sauce to the bottom of each tart shell. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the chocolate to set.

10. Add 4 tablespoons of pastry cream to each tart shell.

11. Starting in the middle and working your way out, add three rings of raspberries to each tart shell. Drizzle each tart with warm chocolate. Tarts keep in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Saturday Snack Time, July 5, 2014

It's Independence Day weekend here in the States. After the farmer's market this morning, hubby and I are enjoying time with friends and then going dancing. But first, I'm trying a little something different this weekend with a third post for the week. I can't promise I'll do one of these every week, but I wanted a spot to stash all the fun links I come across that I think others might enjoy. Plus, I'll occasionally do a review of new books by authors I've already featured recently on the blog.

But all, you know, snack-sized. Let's get snacking, shall we?

What would 4th of July weekend be without all-American cherry pie? With Amaretto whipped cream.

Our farmer's market had the first peaches of the year on Thursday. You might consider making these peaches and cream cupcakes if cherries aren't your thing.

Because we women could all use a little empowerment this week.

In the summer, I pretty much have a permanent tan line from these. I wear them everywhere. I just thought you should know that.

Hot preppy farmer in the hay photos from a very unlikely source. Just scroll down.

Did you read Emma Barry's post this week on Nationalism and Romance? I'm particularly struck by her observation that even non-American writers seem to set many books in the U.S. Personally, I wish they wouldn't, but that may be a "me" thing. It's impossibly rare to accurately capture places like New York or Memphis if you haven't been there. Also, she refers to Laura Florand's book The Chocolate Thief, which happens to be what I'll be reviewing on Monday! Come on back.

Finally, this week was a big one for Cooking Up Romance. I got my very first press! Kiersten Hallie Krum from Lady Smut did an interview with me on Monday so head over there if you missed it and want some behind-the-scenes scoop.

Have a great weekend, folks!

Ruby Sea Scallops Three Ways

Ruby by Jeffe Kennedy* is just one of those books that I wish I could dive into and paddle around in for a while. It seems oh-so-appropriate to set a BDSM-flavored erotic romance in the town that has everything to teach the rest of the United States about the meaning of true debauchery. This wickedly hot story is set in New Orleans in the lead-up to Mardi Gras and features an up-tight fashion editor and a kinky chef. This is not the mindless, tawdry gluttony of Las Vegas buffets and strip clubs, but the languid, sultry elegance of the Old South.

The heroine of Ruby, Danielle Sosna, is primed and ready for someone like Bobby. She is wound unbearably tight, skirting the edges of satisfaction in both her professional and personal lives. Her work as an assistant editor for a fashion magazine has brought her to New Orleans, the culinary capital of the United States, and while she's curious about the food, she can't get past the limitations she has imposed on herself with her diet. She orders sauce on the side, changes preparations, and completely guts the vision of the dish she orders. We've all known people like her. I felt sorry for her even as I wanted to shake her.

So does the hero. Bobby Prejean owns the restaurant where she has ordered this sad imitation of a meal. Upon hearing of her order, well, he kind of loses it. Though as the book progresses, it becomes clear that he's got the heart of a marshmallow, he also has a Cajun temper. Romance heroes typically smell like pine trees, fresh grass, cigars, whiskey and MAN. Bobby smells of butter and garlic. If at first I wanted to shake Dani, I wanted to lick Bobby.

When they meet up again by chance later that day, Dani agrees to an evening of pleasure with Bobby, but only if she's willing to play by his rules. The only hard limit she sets is maintaining her anonymity through the use of a pseudonym: Ruby Tuesday. This sets the stage for trip to a kink club, a testing of Dani's sexual boundaries, the ruination of her diet and, eventually, a happy ending that brings both hero and heroine some much needed peace of mind.

There are a couple things I loved about Kennedy's Facets of Passion series, which also includes the edgier Sapphire and the unusual Platinum. First, the characters are sexually kinky because they're sexually kinky. They don't have psychological wounds or mental illnesses that they're trying to heal by beating or being beaten. Second, the Doms in the relationships are not only strict and demanding, they're also nurturing and caring. They behave like real human beings rather than Dominant romance robots. Bobby in particular is heart-breakingly sweet and sensitive despite how controlling and adventurous he is in the bedroom.

I can't recommend these books highly enough. Even if you're normally not attracted to BDSM relationships in romance you might give these a try. They're hot, they're tender and Kennedy makes sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that they're romantic.

It was impossible to pick one spot where food became an important element of this story. Bobby's desire for sexual control is possibly only subsumed by his desire to feed people, particularly the calorie-phobic Danielle. Which brings me to the very best part of Ruby. Sure, the sex is epic-level hot and the characters are adorable together, but what made this book the stand-out of the series was Kennedy's sensual descriptions of Bobby's food. Honestly, I sensed a kindred spirit because the man just cannot stop cooking. It's almost compulsive. Blueberry muffins, truffle omelets and crepes for breakfast; cranberry and brie sandwiches for lunch; steak, scallops, souffles, oysters and who only knows what else for dinner. If you're not hungry by the end of this book, there's something wrong with your soul.

This dish comes from a scene in the middle of the book where Bobby brings Danielle to his restaurant and feeds her several small plates. My version of his scallop dish includes a cilantro-lime crema with a Greek yogurt base, a peppered mango curry with a coconut milk base and a spiced chocolate with a tomato base. If you're cooking for more than four people, just buy more scallops. Unless you're trying to feed 12, there will be plenty of sauce if you resist the temptation to heap sauce on the plate. And you should. My guests thought even half a tablespoon was borderline too much.

While it can be tough to reproduce the variety enabled by a walk-in fridge and a small army of sous chefs at home, these sea scallops are totally doable. For starters, this dish is not nearly as difficult as it looks. If you can operate a blender, you can make these sauces. Though if you've got a lover to impress, this fancy-looking dish should do it. And since the sauces should be made ahead and chilled for a few hours, and it only takes 4 minutes to sear the scallops, it won't even distract you from your other evening's activities for very long.

Plus if you're looking to introduce a little spice to your sex life, mangoes, chiles and chocolate are said to be aphrodisiacs. Just sayin'.

Seared Sea Scallops Three Ways
Makes: 4 servings as an appetizer or small plate
Time: 1 hour

Spiced Cocoa Sauce

4 tsps unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp cinnamon

pinch of mace

1 tbsp brown sugar

3 tbsps tomato sauce

3 tbsps water

1/2 tbsp molasses

2 tsp olive oil

1) In a small bowl combine the cocoa powder, salt, pepper, cumin, cinnamon, mace and brown sugar and whisk to combine. In a different small bowl, combine the tomato sauce, water and molasses.

2) Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat until it is shimmering and fragrant. Add the spice mixture and cook for 1 minute.

3) Add the liquid, scraping up any browned bits from the sides and bottom of the pan. Whisking constantly, simmer for 3 minutes. Remove to small dish and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.

Cilantro Lime Crema

1/4 cup minced cilantro

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp salt

6 tbsp Greek yogurt

1/2 tbsp lime juice

1) Combine all ingredients except lime juice in a blender or small food processor. Pulse until combined, about 10 pulses. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.

2) When ready to serve, whisk in lime juice.

Peppered Mango Curry

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 onion (1/3 cup)

1/4 orange bell pepper, roasted, peeled and chopped

1/2 garlic clove

1/2 tbsp minced ginger

1 tbsp yellow curry powder

1/4 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsps brown sugar

1/2 tbsp cider vinegar

1/2 can full fat coconut milk

1/2 mango, peeled and chopped

1) Heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft, approximately 5 minutes.

2) Add bell pepper, garlic and ginger. Cook for an additional minute.

3) Add curry, cumin, cayenne and brown sugar. Cook for an additional minute.

4) Add cider vinegar, coconut milk and mango. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.

5) Add sauce to blender and puree until smooth. Chill until cold, at least 1 hour.

Sea Scallops

12 sea scallops

salt and pepper

2 teaspoons oil with high smoke point like grapeseed oil (not olive oil)

Minced cilantro, curry powder and grated dark chocolate for garnish (optional)

1) Plate sauces by adding 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of each sauce to a plate. If desired, add garnishes: a pinch of cilantro, curry and dark chocolate shavings for the appropriate sauce.

2) Thoroughly rinse and dry scallops. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3) Heat oil over medium-high heat until shimmering.

4) Add scallops to the pan and cook two minutes on each side.

5) Remove to a plate and let cool one minute. Plate scallops over each sauce and serve immediately.

*Jeffe Kennedy did a lovely, lyrical post on her blog a couple of weeks ago while I was testing the recipes for this review. It was also very flattering of my efforts here at Cooking Up Romance. That said, I had already written the review part of this post and you know I only write about the  books I liked, right? So consider this my disclosure.