Hear those champagne corks popping? There’s much ado going on in the writing cave today, as I celebrate the release of COURTSHIP OF THE CAKE, the second book in my “Much ‘I Do’ About Nothing” series!
Rock stars, masseuses, and bakers – oh my! This book has them all, and then some. It’s a story about love, life, and all the layers in between.
It certainly isn’t your average nuptial-themed romance. Like Dictatorship of the Dress, things aren’t always what they seem in this second installment of wedding-adventures-with-a-twist.
I’ll let you in on my little baker’s secret: Take one heaping scoop of ego (rocker Nash Drama). Next, mix him up with equal parts wild, wise and well-intentioned (massage therapist Dani James). Once they’re blended, send them back to his home town. Add in a child he’s never met, a resentful baby mamma, a retired burlesque queen, a tribute band king and oh, yeah…a spicy hot Lothario baker (Mick Spencer) who stole Dani’s heart (but left a slice of groom’s cake under her pillow) once upon a time. Sound like a recipe for disaster? Store them indefinitely in a Bed & Breakfast full of secrets, and serve with a generous garnish of humor and heartache. Cutesy cake comparisons aside…it’s an unconventional love triangle that took on a life of its own as I wrote it.
While plotting the story, I pondered the age-old adage: “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” Dani’s is an engagement of convenience: But can she truly help Nash…when she can’t help but be attracted to Mick? Turns out the concept of having/eating cake is a universal proverb, and I fell down the rabbit hole (aka: procrastination in the name of research) learning about the saying in other cultures. Here are just a few that stuck with me:
Afrikaans – You can’t butter your bread on both sides.
Bosnian: You can’t have both the lamb and the money.
German: You can’t dance at two weddings (at the same time).
Lithuanian: Both the wolf is full, and the sheep are intact.
Malayalam: You want both the one on the roof, and the one in your armpit.
Turkish: Wanting both the donkey and the sugar-dates.
Portuguese: Wanting the sun to shine on the threshing floor, while it rains on the turnip field.
Romanian: You can’t reconcile the goat and the cabbage.
Serbian: You can’t sit on two chairs with one butt.
Spanish: To be both at Mass and in the belfry, bell-ringing.
Tamil: Desire to have both the moustache and to drink the porridge.
Some are wacky, some are WTH? and some are just spot-on, right? Got a favorite? Or one of your own to share? I’d love to hear from you! And, of course, if you end up helping yourself to some Courtship of the Cake, I’d love to hear what you think of the book.
Grab a fork and dig in!
The one about the sun on the threshing floor and rain in the turnip field, i like that one.
Great imagery, right?