Food and Sex by Lisabet Sarai

Welcome to my blog tour for my new novel The Ingredients of Bliss. What’s the book about? Well, some might say it focuses on the dual pleasures of food and sex.

My heroine, Mei Lee “Emily” Wong, is  a French-trained chef from Hong Kong who is invited to America to appear on a cooking show with the famous Gallic foodie, Etienne Duvalier. A culinary traditionalist, Etienne scorns Emily’s more creative approach to cooking. Emily has a tendency to add unconventional ingredients like ginger or water chestnuts to classic French dishes. Although the results are usually delicious, Etienne believes the standard recipes that have immortalized French cuisine should not be tampered with.

In this novel, the Tastes of France network sends Emily, Etienne and Harry Sanborne, the producer for Etienne’s show, to France to shoot on location. At each stop, they assemble menus of the local delicacies. I had a fabulous time researching appropriate dishes and describing them in loving detail. In Lyons, Emily and Etienne cook  cervelle de canut (a dish made of fromage blanc and fresh herbs), quenelles de brochet (a sort of fish dumpling in cream sauce), Lyonnais potatoes, salade Lyonnais (greens topped with bacon and poached egg), and marrons glacés (candied chestnuts). In Marseille, they create bouillabaisse (a savory seafood stew),  aioli (garlic-flavored mayonnaise served with fresh and steamed vegetables), ratatouille seasoned with raw basil and thyme, and chocolate honey mousse. In other scenes, they tackle crevettes au cognac et beurre blanc (shrimp with cognac and butter), lotte a l’Imperatrice (baked fish) and coquilles St. Jacques (grilled scallops with cheese).

Harry doesn’t cook, but he certainly enjoys eating. Indeed all three of the main characters are sensualists. Their openness to sensual experience spills over into the bedroom, where they indulge in a sizzling ménage that defies convention. And as one might expect, a good deal of the sexual activity that   goes on in this book is oral.

If you’re not hungry after reading The Ingredients of Bliss, you’re not paying attention!

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Excerpt:

“Come in. Lock the door behind you.”

Panic flared in his eyes and I thought for a moment I’d lost him. Then he swallowed again and obeyed.

A sense of triumph rushed through me, making my pulse race. “Turn around and let me look at you, Etienne.”

The debonair host of Toutes Les Saveurs stood before me, eyes cast down and hands clasped in front of his bulging crotch. Panting, his pupils dilated, he made me think of a thief caught in the act of committing a crime. A very horny thief.

“What shall I do with you, Etienne? You’re obviously very aroused. Aren’t you?”

“Ah—yes. I mean, yes, Ms Wong.”

“Why are you in this unseemly state?” I settled back in my chair and crossed one leg over the other, trying for a casual manner. This position had an additional advantage, too. I could squeeze my thighs together and stimulate my throbbing clit.

“I…um… I’m not sure.”

“What should I do with you, then? Yesterday you burst into my room and begged to be allowed to serve me. Is that still what you want?”

It was hard for him to admit—I could see this—without the libido-enhancing effects of Gran’s powder. He wanted to pretend he was still in charge. His eyes flitted around the cramped room, as though he was seeking some excuse, some escape. But his need was greater than his shame. He sighed, finally, and gave in to his desire.

“Yes, Ms Wong. I want… I want you to use me for your own pleasure.” His voice began with a quaver, but grew stronger as he proceeded. “I want to be your slave, if you’ll have me.”

My slave! If someone had asked me three months ago if I wanted a sexual slave, I would have laughed. Never, in all my thirty years, had I considered such a notion. Now, though, his words turned me to hot, quivering jelly. Dozens of filthy scenarios flooded my mind. I could scarcely decide which one to try first.

Start with something simple. Like a basic white sauce.

“Hmm. Do you think you deserve that? To serve me? To be my slave.”

“Uh—I don’t know, Ms Wong. But I’d like to try. When you touched me yesterday… Mon dieu, it was so marvelous…” Naked yearning showed in his eyes.

Sympathy welled up inside me. I pushed it aside. I had to be strong. Stern. Maybe even cruel.

“Hush. Do you think I care about your pleasure?”

Chastened, he remained silent as I’d bid him to do.

“Let’s use that mouth of yours for a more useful purpose than whining about your desires.”

*****

Blurb

One sexy French chef. One kinky American TV producer. One ambitious Chinese gal who thinks she wants them both. The ingredients of bliss? Or a recipe for disaster?

Accomplished cook Mei Lee “Emily” Wong knows exactly what she wants—her own show on the Tastes of France food channel. But life is full of complications. First, her deceptively nerdy producer, Harry Sanborne, initiates Emily into the delights of submission. Then her boss, legendary chef Etienne Duvalier, begs her to dominate him. Emily just can’t resist—especially when Harry orders her to explore her inner mistress. Suave and sexy Etienne will do whatever she asks—in the bedroom if not in the kitchen. And Harry, her lovingly diabolical Dom, adores pushing Emily’s limits.

When the network sends the trio to France to shoot a series of cooking shows on location, Emily knows her career is on the upswing. Her plans fall apart in Marseille as a Hong Kong drug syndicate kidnaps both Etienne and Harry. The Iron Hammer Triad mistakes Etienne for notorious gangster Jean Le Requin, who has stolen their drug shipment, worth millions. Emily realizes she must find the real Le Requin, retrieve the purloined dope, and bargain it for Harry’s and Etienne’s lives. The secret she’s been keeping from Harry might prove useful. Still, what chance does one woman whose knife skills are limited to chopping vegetables, have against the ruthless cruelty of two criminal organizations?

Get your copy today! 

The special VIP edition of The Ingredients of Bliss is now available from Totally Bound. This version contains a sizzling bonus chapter not available from other retailers. Totally Bound has the most advanced book selling site of any independent publisher on the web, with new One-Click ordering and direct delivery to all e-reader platforms.

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Blog Tour Prizes

First prize: $30 gift certificate to Sur La Table (http://www.surlatable.com)
Second prize: $20 gift certificate to Whole Foods Market (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com)
Third prize: Three-pack of ebooks from my back list, including a copy of Her Secret Ingredient, the prequel to The Ingredients of Bliss.

I’ll also be giving a PDF copy of my own original cookbook, Recipes from an International Kitchen, to everyone who leaves a comment. AND I have a bonus $10 Totally Bound gift certificate for the tour host who gets the most reader comments.

To enter, simply leave a comment that includes your email address. You can enter once for each spot in the tour. For the full tour schedule, go to:

http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/2014/08/ingredients-of-bliss-blog-tour-starts.html

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About the Author

I started both writing and cooking at an early age, and I’ve continued to indulge both passions as I’ve matured. Usually I’m an improvisational cook; I’m not all that fond of following recipes, and when I do, I almost always introduce my own variations. My philosophy tends to be the more spice, the better.

You could say the same about my writing. Since the release of my debut novel Raw Silk in 1999, I’ve published lots of erotica and erotic romance in almost every sub-genre– more than fifty single author titles, plus dozens of short stories in various erotic anthologies, including the Lambda winner Where the Girls Are and the IPPIE Best Erotic Book of 2011, Carnal Machines. My gay scifi erotic romance Quarantine won a Rainbow Awards 2012 Honorable Mention.

I have more degrees than anyone would ever need, from prestigious educational institutions who would no doubt be deeply embarrassed by my chosen genre. Widely traveled but still with a long bucket list of places to go, I currently live in Southeast Asia with my indulgent husband and two exceptional felines, where I pursue an alternative career that is completely unrelated to my creative writing.

Website: http://www.lisabetsarai.com
Blog: http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com
Goodreads page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/83387.Lisabet_Sarai
Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/author/lisabetsarai