Part of Series
The Joy of Cooking Long after she'd given up on his return, Matthew Mark Hennessy strolled back into Joy Taylor's life, bolder than Hermes when he'd stolen Apollo's cattle. But Joy was no longer the girl who had so easily trusted him with her heart. An aspiring chef, she had no intention of being distracted by the fireworks the magician sparked in her. But with a kiss silkier than her custard cream, he melted away her defenses. And she knew the master showman had performed the greatest trick of all: setting her heart afire. A Recipe for Magic Mark had traveled to Louisiana to uncover the truth, not to rekindle an old passion. But Joy set him sizzling. It was not her cooking that had him salivating, but the sway of her hips. And though magicians never divulge their secrets, Joy tempted him to confide his innermost desires. In a flash Mark realized their passion was no illusion, but the magic of true love.
Author
I can't say that I'm one of those authors who announced to their mother at the age of six that they were going to be a writer. My first declared career choice was detective. I was reading Nancy Drew at the time, and half in love with Ned Nickerson. A distinct aversion to eminent bodily harm, however, made the career choice an impractical one. The notion I could be a detective, though, came from a book. Books have always been a treasured companion, a source of knowledge, and a means to travel beyond my world and experience since I first discovered The Poky Little Puppy and The Little Engine That Could in Golden books. It wasn't a far hop from a love of reading to a love of creating my own stories as well. When that practical streak (the one that steered me away from private detection) reared its head, I began a career in pharmacy. An admittedly varied career, for I've worked in just about every field of pharmacy except sales. My years of writing drug monographs, however, strengthened a heartfelt appreciation for the joys of fiction. When I became a stay-at-home mom, it seemed a perfect time to take the stories I'd been spinning and do something about putting the dream of getting published into practice. I discovered creating characters and plot an irresistible challenge. Especially when it meant I got to live with djinn, elves, and meddling Greek gods. And I got to be the detective, the magician, the chef, the villain, hero, and heroine. Five manuscripts and six years later, my first book, Wishes Come True, was published in 1998. Since then, my books have won a Golden Heart, a SARA Rising Star Grand Prize, the Holt Medallion, the Colorado Award of Excellence, the PRISM Award, and the National Reader's Choice Award and been a finalist RWA's RITA. After living for eighteen years in New Orleans, I've returned to my birth state of Michigan with a husband, three children, and two cats. Along with learning the ins and outs of empty nesting now that all three kids are in college, a commitment (again) to really sticking with an exercise program, and a home health care variation to the pharmacy career, I still find that creating characters and plot is an irresistible challenge. Only, in my books, Ned and Nancy are all grown up and falling in love. Kathleen (sourced from authors website)
