Today I have an except from the book The Sinking Chef by Sylvia Ashby.
Blurb
“Bridget Jones meets Burnt in this delightful comedy novel about a talented YouTuber and the guy who keeps trying to bring her down. Although part of a series this book is completely standalone, as are all other novels in the Pot Love Series.
In Belsize Park, London, Ashley works hard on her daily YouTube channel “The Sinking Chef”. It’s filmed right in her kitchen, so she doesn’t go out much.
James is a gruff British TV director, turned publisher, who Ashley had a crush on ages ago. She has moved on but when he calls with an offer to take her out to lunch she doesn’t say no. It’s only lunch – what can go wrong?
The day Ashley meets James for lunch and he promises her a book deal, she makes the worse decision in her life – to hide the book deal from her boyfriend, Giacomo. As things progress Ashley’s secrets mount up and other things in her life unravel. Is there a connection? And how is she going to get out of this without losing Giacomo and the life she loves?
Set in the heart of fast-paced London, The Sinking Chef is a charming story of love, recipes, secrets, and the determination to do thinks right by those you love most in your life.”
Excerpt
“I stare at the screen exasperated.
Am I being pressured by a bunch of women I’ve never met before into having a baby asap? Isn’t that like the most important decision in your life? One that you don’t take lightly but think about long and hard? Preferably with your partner. Haven’t these women ever heard of family planning?
Then it dawns on me. I know what’s happening here. This is cyberbullying. It’s when people use social networks in a deliberate manner to harass other people. I’ve read a lot about this on the internet. There’ve been suicides. Jobs have been lost over this.
I just never thought it’d happen to me.
I rub my nose with the back of my hand. I brush against the mug of tea, which I’ve put too close to the edge of the table. It shakes perilously. A few droplets splatter over Giacomo’s beige shagpile rug.
‘Shit!’ I jump up and rescue the mug from toppling over. I run to the kitchen for some paper towel and dab the droplets until they dissipate.
‘Phew!’ I plonk back in the chair. Where was I?
I peer at the screen.
SkinnyMumof2: But if u are not pregnant and u don’t have kids and u are not necessarily trying what are u doing on mumsnet AshleyPiccolaMia?
She has a point.
What exactly am I doing on Mumsnet? On a non-bank holiday Monday. When everyone is hard at work milking the cash cow or saving the world.
I can’t tell the truth. Because… thing is… the reason I’m online so much and spend all this time talking to people on Mumsnet and Gay.com (it only happened once! I was curious…) is because I’m bored.
Ever since I moved my cookery show online I don’t get out much. The TV crew I work with comes to the house to do the filming. It’s cheaper that way, and Giacomo’s kitchen is way more swanky-looking than most of the studios’ ones out there.
I’m terribly, mind-numbingly, tear-jerkingly bored.
I get all my groceries delivered.
I don’t have a pet to keep me company. Not even a goldfish—
AshleyPiccolaMia: Finding new friends I guess *smile*
SkinnyMumof2: On mumsnet of all places…
PinkBear87: How has it come to this? To look for friends online? You should be going out there. You should be meeting with real people…
TatianaTopBanana:Honestly, AshleyPiccolaMia you should get a life.
SkinnyMumof2: Yeah. Why don’t you go out instead of lurking online?
PinkBear87: No offence AshleyPiccolaMia but that sounds a bit weird… like stalking…
I gasp. Lurking? Stalking? It’s not like that at all.
AshleyPiccolaMia: That’s not what I’m doing!
But everyone has left the chatroom.
‘Well, that went well,’ I say to nobody in particular. My voice echoes in the empty room. I put my hands to my face. My cheeks are flaming hot. Whatever. I don’t need to talk to people. There are lots of things I could be doing instead.”
If you like the sound of The Sinking Chef you can get your copy from one of these Amazon stores.
AMAZON LINKS
The book is exclusive for Amazon & in Kindle Unlimited
US
https://www.amazon.com/Sinking-Chef-Pot-Love-Book-ebook/dp/B06ZYGMPLB
UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sinking-Chef-Pot-Love-Book-ebook/dp/B06ZYGMPLB
Australia
https://www.amazon.com.au/Sinking-Chef-Pot-Love-Book-ebook/dp/B06ZYGMPLB
Canada
https://www.amazon.ca/Sinking-Chef-Sylvia-Ashby/dp/1548021784
Thanks for reading.
Emma-Louise x
Read, Write, Inspire 