Ask anyone about my cooking skills, and you’ll soon learn I’m not the smoothest operator in the kitchen. Baking desserts I can do, but experimenting with a little dab of this and a touch of that for main courses? Uh, no. I need exact measurements and rules to follow.
Sarcasm, however, runs deep in my veins…
…which is why I couldn’t resist making Madelyn (Maddie) Frye the heroine in the third and final Checkerberry Inn book. The endearingly snarky chef first appeared in book 2, and in her usual gruff ways offered some great advice and encouragement to the owner’s grandson Miles. Now it’s his turn to poke and prod her in the right direction, along with his white-haired Cupid of a grandmother, Ruby, and the rest of the beloved cast.
But who to write as her hero? I needed someone who’d been through their own hell and back so they wouldn’t crumble if she threw a jab or two their way. Enter Cole Masterson, misunderstood and formerly unfairly arrested and jailed Texan who made a brief appearance in book 2 as well, playing guitar for his grandfather’s Sunday service at the inn.
I loved how this story came together. His easy-going personality seemed the perfect compliment to hers, their banter such fun to write. Neither planned to fall for the other—he’d agreed to be her dating coach, of all things—but sometimes characters don’t pick their HEA, the HEA picks them.
Hmm, I’m thinking the author may have had something to do with it as well.
I hope you fall in love with Cole and Maddie as much as I did, and enjoy reconnecting with the rest of the cast in this final Checkerberry inn novel.
Her Unexpected Hero
By Kyra Jacobs
Release date: July 17, 2017
Series: Checkerberry Inn #3 (Can be read as a standalone)
Maddie Frye, the Checkerberry Inn’s snarky, introverted chef, just wants to be left alone. But with the inn’s upcoming gala, Maddie’s boss has matchmaking on the brain. So when the gorgeous new guy in town helps her out for a night, she comes up with the perfect solution to her problem…
Cole Granville is looking for a fresh start. When a part-time job opens in the Checkerberry’s kitchen, he takes it without a second thought. The only catch? He’s got to help his sexy new coworker snag a date for an upcoming dance. But as he coaches Maddie on attracting her crush, Cole realizes he’s the one falling for the curvy brunette.