Title: A Perfumer’s Secret
Author:Adria J. Cimino
Published:May 2016, Velvet Morning Press
Format:Paperback, 258 pages
The quest for a stolen
perfume formula awakens passion, rivalry and family secrets in the
fragrant flower fields of the South of France…
Perfumer Zoe Flore
travels to Grasse, perfume capital of the world, to collect a formula:
her inheritance from the family she never knew existed. The scent
matches the one worn by her mother, who passed away when Zoe was a
teenager. Zoe, competing to create a new fragrance for a prestigious
designer, believes this scent could win the contract—and lead her to the
reason her mother fled Grasse for New York City.
Before Zoe can
discover the truth, the formula is stolen. And she’s not the only one
looking for it. So is Loulou, her rebellious teenage cousin; Philippe,
her alluring competitor for the fragrance contract; and a third person
who never wanted the formula to slip into the public in the first place.
The pursuit transforms into a journey of self-discovery as each
struggles to understand the complexities of love, the force of pride and
the meaning of family.
What
is Love? My Favorite Love Story Ingredients
By
Adria J. Cimino
I’m not a Romance author, but I do write love stories. Love
plays a central role in everything I’ve ever written. Sometimes the love is
between lovers (or potential lovers). Other times I’m writing a story about the
love between mother-daughter, father-son, siblings, friends. So, in my opinion,
what makes an unforgettable love story? Some elements that might be surprising…
Passion: OK, so passion itself isn’t surprising in a love
story. But it is when used in an unusual way. In my latest novel, A Perfumer’s Secret, the main character
is a perfumer passionate about scent, and scent actually defines her life. Zoe
is on the quest for a stolen perfume formula—one her mother created—and this
formula is an emotional link to her mother. Philippe, a fellow perfumer, is no
less passionate about scent. It’s Zoe’s own perfume that ensnares him in a
passion that rocks his world.
Sacrifice: This scene will always be with me, will always
bring tears to my eyes. In The Joy Luck
Club by Amy Tan, a young mother is forced to leave her babies behind—for
their survival—in the middle of an excruciating journey. There are plenty of
other touching scenes throughout the book (making it one of my all-time
favorites) but this particular one demonstrates truly what love is all about.
Danger: When danger arises, we often find out pretty
quickly who our real friends are! And this is the case in Entanglement by Katie Rose Guest Pryal (Full disclosure: I’m
co-founder of Velvet Morning Press, publisher of this book.) Best friends Greta
and Daphne move to Hollywood from North Carolina—lost in the glitz and glitter,
Daphne doesn’t realize that she has put her friend in danger. And that danger
shows us just how strong their friendship is.
Longing: Another one of my favorites… What is more romantic
than Jay Gatsby’s longing for Daisy in The
Great Gatsby? The languid descriptions, the brief encounters, and all that
is implied through Fitzgerald’s words. It is enough to make me swoon even after
having read the novel countless times. Unrequited love is definitely where it’s
at when it comes to writing a good, classic love story.
Pride: My novel, The
Creepshow, is about Wanda, a woman who faces discrimination in the
workplace and puts up a fight. Thankfully, Wanda has some love in her life, an
ex who comes back and wants to support her through the turmoil. But as much as
she wants to lean on Max, Wanda has her pride. She wants to get through the
troubles on her own. As Wanda’s pride grows, so does her self-worth. And the
possibility of true love with Max seems brighter.
So there you have it, some of my favorite ingredients for a
story of true love. What do you like to see in a love story?
*******************************************************************************
About the author: Adria
J. Cimino is the author of Amazon Best-Selling novel Paris, Rue des Martyrs and Close
to Destiny, as well as The Creepshow
and A Perfumer’s Secret. She also
co-founded boutique publishing house Velvet Morning Press. Prior to jumping
into the publishing world full time, she spent more than a decade as a
journalist at news organizations including The AP and Bloomberg News. Adria is
a member of Tall Poppy Writers, which unites bright authors with smart readers.
She lives in Paris with her husband, Didier, and daughter, Phèdre. When she
isn’t writing, you can find Adria at her neighborhood café watching the world
go by.
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