A Meal with Isobel Avery by Chelsea Field

On a quiet afternoon in contemporary Los Angeles. . .

I bit into the plump, red cherry and let the tart sweetness of it roll across my tongue. My client’s dark gaze bore into me hungrily. Probably because he couldn’t eat a thing until I let him.

He was gorgeous. Annoyingly so. And like most annoyingly gorgeous people who could afford the exorbitant rates my employer charged, he was also annoying.

Which was fantastic, since we’d be sharing every meal together until people stopped trying to poison him. Judging by the impatient sneer on his full lips, that could be a really long time.

Ignoring his unsettling regard, I held the flavor on my tongue to taste if anything was out of place. Anything that wasn’t cherry or the expected traces of not-quite-washed-away pesticides. Clear. I selected two more pieces of fruit at random and repeated the process before pushing the bowl to my client. His hand brushed mine as—

My housemate’s cat dashed past me in hot pursuit of a cockroach, dispelling my imagined client’s gorgeous, sulky features.

I breathed away some of the tightness in my gut and pushed myself off the couch to make a cup of tea. There was no point stressing myself out. Visualizing how it might go wouldn’t change the outcome, and, after eight months of intensive training, I was as prepared as I was going to get.

Tomorrow, I’d have my first job interview with a potential client. My first assignment as a poison taster. Tomorrow, the client and the risk of the poison would be real.

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Eat, Pray, Die is the first book in the NEW Eat, Pray, Die humorous mystery series, published by JFP Press, July 2016.

Being an undercover poison taster for the rich and famous might sound glamorous, but for Isobel Avery it means stomaching bad clients and even worse coffee.

The one side of the job that lives up to expectations is the money. Which is just as well for Izzy, since she needs an awful lot of it. Who knew when she made a lifelong commitment to a man that it would be one year living with him and the rest of her life paying for it?

But even her scoundrel ex-husband doesn’t look so bad compared to her new client. He’s competent, condescending, and annoyingly attractive, and Izzy doesn’t know whether to sleep with him or poison him herself. Throw in a loan shark, a nosy neighbor, and a murder attempt, and Izzy will have her work cut out for her.

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Meet the author
Chelsea Field has lived an exciting life for an introvert. She’s fallen off a galloping racehorse, faced down dozens of Australia’s most dangerous animals (including vicious roosters, for those of you who’ve read EAT, PRAY, DIE), and while she’s never sold buns or coffee for a living like her protagonist, she’s consumed plenty of both. Yes, all of those points are about animals or food. I told you she’s an introvert. You can get to know her better at www.chelseafieldauthor.com. As the middle child of five, she’s used to being ignored, though, so don’t sweat it.

Giveaway: Leave a comment below for your chance to win a kindle copy of Eat, Pray, Die.  The giveaway will end July 14, 2016 at 12 AM (midnight) EST. Good luck everyone!

All comments are welcomed.