A Recipe for Trouble

How many people have their very own twenty-first century version of a fairy godmother? Single mom Angelina Redding has Molly, and it’s a good thing too, because Angelina’s life is about to get very complicated.

Start with Craig Harding, the sexy academic with a mysterious past she’s managing an event for. Craig is not only a dream to work with, but he’s also exactly the kind of man she is attracted to. Too bad the college she and Craig work for frowns on personal relationships between their employees.

A Recipe for TroubleAdd the cooking competition Angelina is staging for Craig. With one issue after another troubling the event, Angelina has begun to wonder if the glitches are deliberate. International culinary competitions are high-stakes events and winning one can bring big rewards. The contestants are single-minded, perfectionist chefs and they all intend to come in first. Is one of them behind the sabotage?

When Angelina finds the chef-to-beat dead in one of the competition kitchens she knows she’s got a problem. Still, she has Molly, her helpful fairy godmother who doesn’t mind fixing what goes wrong.

Knowing that a body in the kitchen is sure to spoil the competition, Molly does what she does best. She corrects the problem by magically whisking away the corpse, ensuring no one will ever know the chef was killed there.

Now there’s no body and a murderer at large. Angelina and Craig will have to work together to keep the moody chefs in line, the competition on schedule, and the murderer at bay.

What better way for a girl to figure out if the sexy guy she works with is really the one she wants?

A Recipe for Trouble is published in e-format and is widely available. The print edition is available at Amazon and can be ordered by bookstores through Ingrams Distribution.

Available as a serial at Radish Books and as a full book in e-format at:

Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Scribd / 24SymbolsAmazon

EXCERPT

On the other end of the telephone Shasta Baker’s voice was decisive. “The letter arrived in today’s mail, but it is dated last Wednesday.”

“I can see that.” Craig stared at the PDF of the letter they were discussing, searching for an explanation.

Dear Dr. Baker, the letter began.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the dates of the Culinary Olympic Trials have been changed. The Trials will now be held one week later than expected. To make the transition easier for you and your team, I have contacted the hotel and changed your reservations to the new dates.

I hope that this change does not cause you undue inconvenience.

The letter closed with a traditional yours truly and Angelina’s name and contact information.

“Someone at PGC needs to look into who actually did send it,” Shasta said.

“And that would be me.”

Shasta laughed. “You’ve got a reputation too, Craig. You expect the best, but you look after your people.”

“She’s not one of my people.” Thank God. He was counting the days until the Olympic Trials were over, because he had plans. There was a play at the Arts Club Theater he wanted to see. It would be more fun to go with a date—Angelina. Dinner before at a quiet restaurant with great food and loads of ambiance, drinks after. Who knew where the evening might go after that?

Shasta’s voice interrupted his pleasant thoughts. “No. Unfortunately she reports to Marshall Drake. But she’s working on your event, Craig. And you need that event to succeed. She’s a key player, and you know it. That’s why I’m coming to you with this.”

Craig leaned back in his chair and grimaced. “Okay, Shasta. I’ll handle it.”

After Craig put down the phone he stared at the PDF. The signature at the bottom certainly looked like Angelina’s, but he didn’t have one handy to compare it with.

So how did he handle this? Did he dig through his files until he found something she’d signed, then look at the signatures side by side? Or did he print off a copy of the PDF, take it to her office now, show her the letter and ask her what it was all about?

He liked the second option better. He’d go with that one.

Angelina was finishing up a phone call when he entered. She smiled at him, then went back to her conversation.

Craig settled into a chair and studied her. She’d left the top buttons on her shirt open. There was a glimpse of cleavage. Nothing more than a glimpse though, as was appropriate for the office. He decided that was a pity because the way her breasts filled out the tailored blue shirt was enough to set his imagination alight.

If the theater evening was a success he’d need to follow it up quickly. How? A concert? The opera? Damn, he wished he knew her tastes.

“Great.” After a final scribbled note, Angelina hung up the phone. “What can I do for you?”

She smiled what Craig thought of as her ‘professional smile.’ He wondered if she had guessed why he’d dropped in to see her and was trying to disarm him, or if she was truly innocent.

He leaned forward to lay the printout of the letter on her desk. “Shasta Baker e-mailed this to me a few minutes ago.”

She chewed her bottom lip as she read the letter. She had very pretty lips, full and pink.

Kissable.

Whoa! Not appropriate right now! He straightened. She had no idea of his thoughts, thank God. Still, he shifted uncomfortably on the chair.

Angelina’s eyes flicked down the page, once, then a second time. Color rushed up under her skin, before it retreated, leaving her pale. “I didn’t write this.”

He touched the paper with his index finger, just above her scrawled name. “I believe you, but that looks like your signature, doesn’t it?”

His heart did a flip as she frowned. Pulling a blank piece of paper out, she quickly scratched out her name. She pointed to the signature she’d just written. “Look at the way I write my capital A and R, with a swirl at the bottom of each. And the g has a crispness the signature on Shasta’s document doesn’t have. I didn’t sign the this, nor did I write it.”

Craig studied the papers. “We need to figure out who and why. Take a look at the date. The timing is interesting, don’t you think?”

Angelina frowned at him. “It’s dated the same day the reduced rate at the hotel was canceled.”

“Yes. What does that say to you?”

Her expression thoughtful, she said, “The letter to Shasta claims that the dates of the competition have been changed and that the competition will begin a week later. You know, Craig, this is pretty smooth stuff. What if Shasta Baker hadn’t complained about the hotel not having bedroom space? What if she’d waited and tried to reserve, then been told there was no discount available for the dates she was asking for? When she received this letter she would have assumed she’d asked for the wrong dates and that she had plenty of time to make alternate reservations.”

Craig leaned forward in his chair. “The competitors from Oak Bay wouldn’t have shown up on the right date, including Fenner Powell, who’s considered the man to beat.”

“Unless you’re Marshall Drake,” Angelina said, her eyes sparkling as she thought. “He refuses to accept that anyone other than our own Vaughn Canby could possibly win.”

“Vaughn’s good,” Craig said, wishing he could move closer to her. “There’s no doubt about it, but he’ll have to fight to win the place on the Canadian team. Oak Bay has deep reserves, including Gene Dunlap, whose reputation is excellent. As well, several of Vancouver’s top restaurants are sending chefs. This competition isn’t Vaughn’s to lose.”

Angelina studied the PDF printout. “My name is the one on the letter sent to Shasta. Maybe someone wants to cause me problems.”

Craig could hear the worry in Angelina’s voice and a twinge fear came alive in his gut. His first instinct was to protect Angelina from any possible threat. His second was to soothe––because the threat would remain just that, thanks to Shasta.

Right now he needed to make sure Angelina understood that he trusted her. That he was there for her.

Then they needed to consider who had sent the letter and why.

And if it meant he could spend more time with Angelina?

Bonus.

Available as a serial at Radish Books and as a full book in e-format at:

Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Scribd / 24SymbolsAmazon