I’m delighted that this book of my heart, the sweet yet hot love story between high-flying lawyer Kitty Kerr and artistic organic farmer Lucy Shen is now out in the wild, waiting for you to read. 

This book started with names. Lucy was first, the name coming from the English middle name of my friend Nina. Lucy also has her last name, Shen. It’s a tribute to Nina, one of my best friends, lost too soon. I’d like to think she would have been tickled pink to find out that in another world, she’s part of a tender romance, and is an organic farmer with a kickass talent at welding sculptures from old farm parts. <3

Kitty’s name came second, well, almost third, because I named Lucy’s farm (Country Mouse) first. And then I thought, what might be sweet yet cute but to have a Kitty for the Mouse? (I’m also a big cat person–see my Instagram, lol–seriously, cats for miles.) Then, I needed a bit of opposites attract… and Kitty became a lawyer. Corporate law, at that.

And then, I read the book Chop Suey Nation: The Legion Cafe and Other Stories from Canada’s Chinese Restaurants, by Ann Hui, and dug into some history of Chinese immigrants in Canada, and that’s when the restaurant pop-up idea started to percolate. (It also gave me an excuse to buy more cookbooks and experiment in the kitchen, something I highly recommend!)

So, if you’re in the mood for a tender yet hot romance between an anxious lawyer and a dedicated and hardworking farmer, this is your book. Fortunately, it’s been released on Bold Strokes Books, and it will be released on Amazon, B&N, and other retailers like The Ripped Bodice on February 11th. Take some time with Kitty and Lucy, and find out what they get cooking.

Kitty Kerr is a high-flying lawyer when her career plans are derailed by the luscious blackberries from Lucy Shen’s Country Mouse Farms. Kitty can’t get enough of the fruit, or of Lucy. Suddenly, she’s wanting things she never dared to want—Lucy, and the life on the farm. But how will being an artisan cook/farmer fit with her legal ambitions and city habits?

Between her beautiful farm and her sculpture, Lucy’s life is set. Falling for a big city lawyer is not part of the plan. Even as Kitty helps make her dreams of spotlighting her farm’s produce in restaurants a reality, Lucy’s terrified that she and the farm aren’t enough to keep Kitty interested in love and the simpler things in life.

Pulled in two different directions, will the city kitty and country mouse be able to make it work?

(And many thanks to Tammy Seidick for that gorgeous cover! Doesn’t it make you just want to devour those blackberries?!)