Spotlight & Giveaway: A Legend in the Baking by Jamie Wesley

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Jamie Wesley to HJ!

Hi Jamie and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, A Legend in the Baking: A Novel!

 
Hi, everyone! Thank you so much for stopping by today. I’m Jamie Wesley. I write romcoms, including my latest, A Legend in the Baking. When I’m not writing, I’m planning my next trip to Walt Disney World, watching my favorite sports teams, or eating French fries.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

A LEGEND IN THE BAKING is the second book in my Sugar Blitz series.

Pro football player August is the strong, silent type who loves doing the dirty, behind-the-scenes work to make the cupcake shop he co-owns with his two best friends/teammates a success. That all gets blown to smithereens when he can’t keep silent any longer and his feminist rant goes viral.

Sloane is his best friend’s little sister, who also happens to be a social media manager in need of a job. The two join forces to use August’s newfound notoriety to promote the cupcake shop’s newest location. Hijinks ensue!

Oh, did I forget to mention these two have history and that both have serious trouble ignoring their long-simmering, undeniable chemistry?
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

Oh. August pushed his lips upward.
Her head cocked to the side, her nose scrunching up. “Is that supposed to be a smile? It’s giving Beast when Lumiere, Mrs. Potts, and Cogsworth decided he needed to woo Belle and told him to stop scowling.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

Sloane is a social media manager. That’s largely because I used to watch a show called The Bold Type. One of the main characters, Kat, was a social media manager, and I thought that would be a cool career to write about and incorporate into a book.

Longing is a main theme of the playlist.
Babydoll – Mariah Carey
If – Janet Jackson
Your Girl – Mariah Carey
Before I Do – Sevyn Streeter
Dreaming of You – Selena
Love Lies – Khalid and Normani
August – Taylor Swift

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

These two have known each other a long time. August is initially drawn to Sloane because she makes him laugh, which he isn’t accustomed to doing. She appreciates his willingness to listen and always be there for her.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

There is a scene where August and Sloane end up having a little baking competition. The whole scene made me laugh so hard. Here’s a little snippet:

Sloane made a beeline for the refrigerator.
He followed at a more sedate pace. “What are you doing?”
“Making sure I get the best eggs.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.” Her voice came from inside the door of the massive refrigerator.

Readers should read this book….

if they enjoy baking romances and/or cupcakes. Many people have told me they got very hungry reading the Sugar Blitz books.
if they like nice guys finishing first.
if they enjoy the brother’s best friend and second chance romance tropes.
if they like laughing.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I’m working on the third book in the series, which stars Nicholas, the head baker and world’s biggest flirt. Watching him fall in love is the best.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: One print copy giveaway of A LEGEND IN THE BAKING, US Winner ONLY

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What is your favorite cupcake flavor? Are you a baker?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Excerpt from A Legend in the Baking: A Novel:

Her mouth watered as she neared the kitchen in the back of the building. Baking was definitely happening inside. The fresh, warm scents of sugar, vanilla, and lemon floated through the air. Lemon meringue cupcakes? Also known as her favorite? Yes, please.
She pushed the door open and hurried inside. But again, she was disappointed. No brother, no Nicholas, no cupcakes cooling on the counter waiting for her to devour, er—taste test—them.
The good news was the aroma of cupcakes was stronger here. She was one step closer to heaven. Her eyes locked on the oven across the room. It was on. Her much-needed reward waited inside. Drawn to the oven like bees to nectar, she marched across the room.
Until a butt entered her line of vision. An exceptional butt. Extraordinary, really. Perfectly rounded and muscular. Biteable. Sloane halted. Suddenly, finding her brother or getting to cupcakes were no longer her top priorities. Time to appease a different type of hunger. One she didn’t allow herself to indulge in much because embarrassing the shit out of herself once was more than enough times to last a lifetime. Yeah . . . but this was different. The owner of the butt couldn’t see her, so ogling was allowed.
He was on his knees, his head underneath a sink as he reached, unsuccessfully based on his colorful curses, for something deep inside.
“Shitdamnfuck,” he muttered.
“You okay there?” she called out, biting her lip to stop a giggle from escaping.
Thwack! His upper body jerked upward, making an unpleasant sound.
More colorful curses followed as August Hodges, the third co-owner of Sugar Blitz, scooted back, patting the spot on his head where he’d bashed it against the counter.
Sloane grimaced in equal measures of sympathy and guilt. “Ouch. Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
He cocked his head to the side and glared up at her. “Sloane.”
All growly and annoyed. And panty-melting. If one was interested in having one’s panties melted off, and she most certainly was not. Not by him, anyway.
Not anymore.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

In A Legend in the Baking, the new romance from Jamie Wesley, a cupcake-baking football player gets assistance from a social media maven—and his best friend’s little sister—to help promote his new bakery after accidentally going viral online.

August Hodges was supposed to be the silent partner in Sugar Blitz Cupcakes. Emphasis on silent. That is until his impromptu feminist rant about how women bakers are the backbone of the industry and baking cupcakes isn’t a threat to masculinity goes viral, making him the hottest bachelor in town. With a new location in the works, August and his partners decide to capitalize on this perfect opportunity to help cement their place in the community. But the hiring of his best friend’s younger sister, the woman who has haunted some of his best dreams for years, was as much of a shock as his new-found fame.

Social media manager Sloane Dell fell hard for her brother’s best friend the moment she met him more than a decade ago, but that teenage infatuation cost her dearly. Still, she accepts her brother’s request to revamp the bakery’s social media presence to take advantage of August’s newfound popularity, knowing it’s the big break her fledgling career needs. She’ll just ignore the fact that August is still August, i.e. sexier and sweeter than any man has a right to be. And that he drives her crazy with his resistance to all her ideas.

They vow to leave the past in the past. But when an explosive make-out session makes it clear their attraction burns hotter than ever, Sloane and August are forced to reconsider what it means to take a risk and chase your dreams.

As they’re both about to find out, all’s fair in love and cupcakes.
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Meet the Author:

Jamie Wesley has been reading romance novels since she was about 12 when her mother left a romance novel, which a friend had given her, on the nightstand. Jamie read it instead, and the rest is history. Her books include Fake It Till You Bake It, the One-on-One series, and Camp Firefly Falls. When she’s not writing or reading romance, Jamie can be found watching TV, rooting for her favorite sports teams, and/or planning her next trip to Walt Disney World.
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