Is it Friday already?

Beauty and the Feast

One of my favorite books - I'm giving away six copies - six Kindle uploads. Please email me at juliarachelbarrett(at)gmail(dot)com for further information or leave a comment letting me know how to contact you.


Eva Raines is an uncomplicated country girl who's all about food. Eva moves to the Napa Valley where her culinary skills come to the attention of the owners of a start-up, All Things to All People, and Eva finds her niche as a personal chef. Now all she needs is a man as perfect as her cooking, but she has serious doubts that such a creature exists.

When wealthy entrepreneur, winery owner, and noted lothario, Gabriel Abbott, makes plans to seduce his flavor of the month, his assistant hires All Things to All People to cater a gourmet dinner. Eva expects to use her way with food to showcase the startup. What she unexpectedly discovers is that her culinary skills showcase far more.

Once Gabriel finds himself seduced by Eva's voice, and the sensual flavors and textures of her food, his previous plans are quickly forgotten. He begins to obsess about meeting his little chef in person. But when Eva and Gabe finally come face to face, the question is, how hot will their fire burn?

Ooops!

Sorry, it's been one of those weeks! Here's my post.

It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

This is my guy, Louie. We lost him last exactly one week ago. Because I'm one of those crazy dog lovers, I went out yesterday and got his name tattooed on my right wrist. Now he can still go everywhere with me.

In other news - It's my son's birthday and I baked him my specialty, a whiskey cake. One of my daughters got herself a serious case of food poisoning and her descriptions of her symptoms are beyond hilarious! I won't discuss them here...

Daughters of Persephone, my four-book science fiction series, will be out with Resplendence in July - at least books one and two. Hopefully books three and four will be released in August.

Beauty and the Feast is still on the bestseller list at Fictionwise. I was so sad to see it had dropped down to 5th today, but it had been hanging in there between number 1 and number 3 for weeks!

My Everything is actually in the top 25 and it just got listed a couple weeks ago.

A bunch of people I know out there in blogoland have been ill - get better! I'm sending good thoughts your way. love, julia

The Early Bird...

remembers to post!

My Everything, my romance suspense with Cobblestone, is showing up in a few new places. Reader and reviewer response to this book interests me. This book was so easy to write...it sort of wrote itself - yet it resonates with readers.

The theme of lovers parted, suffering tragic losses, and then reunited seems to be universally appealing. It certainly appeals to me. This is the second book I've written about two soul mates who met at the wrong time but are given the once in a lifetime opportunity to be together again. The first, Anytime Darlin', will be re-released with Siren in August.

I suppose one reason I gravitate to this theme is that my husband and I share it. We were together as young teens. We parted under tragic circumstances, suffered...well, I suffered, he dated models...but then reunited in the most romantic of ways.
Here's my dedication to him in my book, Beauty and the Feast:

"I believe in love at first sight. I’m convinced each of us does indeed have a soul mate. We may not always be so lucky as to find them in our lifetime, but that doesn’t negate my belief in them. My husband and I knew each other for fourteen years before we married. During those fourteen years, we spent perhaps a total of five weeks in each others company. There were two extended periods of time, one period that lasted for three years and another for six years, during which we had no contact whatsoever. Yet, when I received a phone call at 2 a.m. and the man I loved but hadn’t seen or heard from in six years asked if he could come see me, I answered yes without hesitation.
"Eight hundred miles later, he emerged from his vehicle, took me in his arms and carried me off to bed. That same day, he asked me to marry him. It’s been twenty-six years and we’ve never looked back. Still in love, still soul mates."

If you want to pick up a copy of My Everything, it's available at Cobblestone Press and on Fictionwise.

http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/myeverything.htm

http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/b110090/My-Everything/Julia-Barrett/?si=0

Alwaz L8

Sorry!

I can't schedule a post for the night before so I have to try to remember to write one on Friday mornings!

So, hurt my back...not fun. I'm actually thinking of seeing my doctor who I avoid seeing - he's a personal friend so I have a rule - no clothes come off...ever. If he wants to listen to anything or feel anything he does it over my fully-clothed body. Besides all my issues are injury related - fortunately! Illness seems to avoid me, knock on wood!

All righty then, what's new? Beauty and the Feast is selling well on Fictionwise. I think that's good. I know Tessie and Desiree are waaaay up there too, plus Tessie is in the top 100 on Amazon Kindle! Go Tessie Bradford!
The most important thing is that hubby loves loves loves BATF! He thinks it might be my best yet. He's such a good partner! If he doesn't like what I write, he tells me. For instance, he could take or leave Captured because he said - it's you - I know you - why do I need to read about you? But...big but...he did enjoy listening to Captured on his Kindle with the voice thingy. That was actually pretty cool!

WIPs: a post-apocalyptic work of sci fi, a paranormal you will sooooo love, and a sequel to Captured.

Enough of my rambling! My kitty wants to eat, my birds are screeching and I have to clean the house! Oh yeah, and email my doctor. Crap!

5 Delightful Divas for Beauty and the Feast

From Stacey at Dark Diva Reviews ~5 Delightful Divas for

Beauty and the Feast:

Stacey’s Review:

“Eva is a chef that loves her job. She takes pride in the food she makes and it shows. There are a lot of food and meal preparation descriptions, but rather than bore us, they stimulates our senses…and makes us hungry. At the end of the book, there are recipes and quick facts about the meals Eva makes in the book, which was a nice touch.

Eva is hired to prepare a romantic dinner for two for Gabriel Abbott and a date. When she discusses the meal plan on the phone with him, she falls for his sexy voice, just as he does for hers. Later, when they meet by accident, there is perfect chemistry between them and nothing is ever the same.

One of the biggest hurdles facing them is the fact that Eva is a simple country girl and Gabriel is wealthy and educated. Can their two worlds blend enough for them to have a life together? Can Eva trust Gabe, even though he has a past reputation as a playboy?

This book was great with many layers. Julia Barrett created characters so real that I could read about their daily activities all day and enjoy every minute of it. Not only the main characters, but the complimentary cast of secondary characters as well.

I found around the middle, I began to wonder where this book was going. Then a spiteful ex-girlfriend comes into the picture and creates all kinds of problems for our lovers and plenty of suspense for the reader!

If you enjoy a classic romance with a dose of suspense to keep you anxious, then give Beauty and the Feast a read. The sex was hot and the last scene of the book was just perfect and kept me smiling long after I closed the book. Julia Barrett is a talented author that can pull you out of reality with her writing. I look forward to her next release.”

Rated 5 Delightful Divas by Stacey!

On Vacation!

Sorry! No time!

Head over to my site: http://juliarachelbarrett.net or visit Mandi at Smexy Books to read her review of Beauty and the Feast - the good and the bad! She liked the book. Not quite her cup of tea, but still...
I'll think of you while I'm flying around Thunder Mountain and surfing at Newport Beach! love, julia

Beauty and the Feast

Beauty and the Feast

Coming March 16th from Resplendence.

Blurb:

Eva Raines is an uncomplicated country girl who’s all about food. Eva moves to the Napa Valley where her culinary skills come to the attention of the owners of a start-up and Eva finds her niche as a personal chef. Now all she needs is a man as perfect as her cooking, but she has serious doubts such a creature exists.

When wealthy entrepreneur, winery owner, and noted lothario, Gabriel Abbott, makes plans to seduce his flavor of the month, his assistant hires All Things to All People to cater a gourmet dinner. Eva expects to use her way with food to showcase the startup. What she unexpectedly discovers is that her culinary skills showcase far more. Gabriel Abbott finds himself seduced by her voice and the sensual flavors and textures of her food and his previous plans are quickly forgotten. He begins to obsess about meeting his little chef in person. He’s not alone. Once Eva hears Gabe’s voice and spends time in his home in the Napa Valley, she begins to wonder about the real man and her dreams of him are so hot they could ignite a barbecue.

When Eva and Gabe finally come face to face, the question is, how hot will their fire burn?

Feel free to stop over at my website and check out a month-long contest. You can win a copy of Beauty and the Feast. http://juliarachelbarrett.net

http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/

Next time...the excerpt. Not G-rated!