Rachel Harris | The Power of Taste

Books have the power to whisk readers away. Transport them to a different time and place, one without the hassles of their everyday lives. The world an author creates within the pages of a book can be fantastical, historical, or similar to the one we live in today, but they all of the potential of providing a new experience.

And the best worlds, in my ever-so-humble opinion, are ones that involve complete sensory immersion.

As an avid reader, there’s nothing I enjoy more than losing myself in a story. Almost hearing the old church bell’s clang in the distance, or feeling the grit of sand between my toes. Smelling the sugary goodness of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies, or seeing the golden rays of sun bursting from behind a fluffy white cloud. When creating a fictional world, the sense of hearing and sight are standard tools in any author’s belt. Smell and touch round the worlds out and bring them to life. But my favorite sense—the one I believe breathes life into pages, and makes that world feel real—is taste.

Taste is often the forgotten sense in storytelling. To be fair, it’s not always that easy to incorporate outside of a cooking scene or one that involves a meal. But think for a moment—how many of your childhood memories are tied to your favorite foods? Meals your grandmother or mother may have made every year for a special celebration. Certain dishes that have the power to make you feel warm and safe and whole again. The phrase comfort food exists for a reason. My favorite stories leave me craving the dishes the characters ate, almost tasting those flavors on my tongue, even as I fight the urge to get up for a snack because I don’t want to stop reading. In my recent release Taste the Heat, I may’ve had a little too much fun playing with the sense of taste, wanting to make readers crave the cuisine of my heritage. See, Cajun culture is all about the food. When an event comes up in New Orleans, the first question asked is what kind of food will be there? Followed then by questions about the alcohol situation, and finally, oh yeah, what’s the reason for the party? Colby Robicheaux, the heroine of the book I consider a love letter to my hometown, is a chef troubled by the memories of her childhood. Those memories are so painful she hasn’t returned to New Orleans in over twelve years and they’re so linked to food that she’s unable to prepare or eat Cajun food anymore.

That is until fire captain Jason Landry comes into the picture. In my favorite scene, Jason removes Colby’s sense of sight with the help of a black silk blindfold…and then he feeds her. With her primary sense shut off, Colby has no other option but to taste the food Jason places on her tongue—Cajun food—and relive the memories they conjure.

Writing a scene without the sense of sight was a challenge. We filter so much of our normal experience through our eyesight. But by removing it, and by bringing the under-utilized sense of taste to the forefront, I believe I was able to create a scene that resonates so much stronger than it would have otherwise. The other senses were still there, but they were focused on one thing—food. The crisp, crunch of the French bread and the sweet luxurious lump of crab. The velvet tenderness of linguine, the tang of garlic, and the smoke of Andouille. Each bite Colby took brought forth another memory, memories she dealt with in a variety of ways. Tears and smiles. Shock and fear. And in the end, it’s the tastes and flavors of her past that tear Colby apart and knit her back together. Well, that and the sexy fire captain.

So as you can see, taste is by far my favorite of the five senses. What is yours?

A Tale of Two Centuries

Alessandra D'Angeli is in need of an adventure. Tired of her sixteenth–century life in Italy and homesick for her time–traveling cousin, Cat, who visited her for a magical week and dazzled her with tales of the future, Alessandra is lost. Until the stars hear her plea.

One mystical spell later, Alessandra appears on Cat's Beverly Hills doorstep five hundred years in the future. Surrounded by confusing gadgets, scary transportation, and scandalous clothing, Less is hesitant to live the life of a twenty–first century teen...until she meets the infuriating—and infuriatingly handsome—surfer Austin Michaels. Austin challenges everything she believes in...and introduces her to a world filled with possibility.

With the clock ticking, Less knows she must live every moment of her modern life while she still can. But how will she return to the drab life of her past when the future is what holds everything she's come to love?

Bio: Rachel Harris grew up in New Orleans, watching soap operas with her grandmother and staying up late sneak reading her mam's favorite romance novels. Now a Cajun cowgirl living in Houston, she still stays up too late reading her favorite romances, only now, she can do so openly. She firmly believes life's problems can be solved with a hot, powdered-sugar-coated beignet or a thick slice of king cake, and that screaming at strangers for cheap, plastic beads is acceptable behavior in certain situations. She homeschools her two beautiful girls and loves watching reality television with her amazing husband. She writes young adult, new adult, and adult Fun, Flirty Escapes, and LOVES talking with readers!