Fiction Friday: An Interview with Ilsa from Love and Chocolate

Fiction Friday: 

An Interview with Ilsa Krause 

from Love and Chocolate

In anticipation of tomorrow’s release, Love and Chocolate, we’re sitting down with main character, Ilsa Krause. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and listen in…

Hello, Ilsa, tell us a little bit about your family. I’m the eldest and have three siblings, Nadine, Tobias, and Hedwig whom we call Heddie. We are very close and live together on our farm which is located in Cocoatown, Wisconsin. We lost Mama fifteen years ago to consumption, and Papa recently died. He was never the same after Mama died. It’s been very difficult but we’re getting by. I don’t know what I’d do without my siblings.

You went to work for Beck’s Chocolate factory. How is that going? Frankly, it’s a mixed blessing. Receiving a regular paycheck has been our saving grace. We’re able to make regular payments to our creditors. You see, Papa left behind lots of debt, so we made agreements with the men he owed money too. It was rather embarrassing, but they’ve been most understanding. I love the job itself; it’s very challenging, but sometimes there are difficulties with my co-workers. Why can’t they just do their jobs and get along with each other? Who cares if someone comes from another country? At some point, all our ancestors came to America as strangers. {shakes her head} Anyway, I’ve learned a lot which is good.

Did you ever consider leaving Cocoatown? Why or why not? No, not at all. I was born and raised here.

Photo: Pixabay

My family is here. Friends. I can’t imagine starting over somewhere else.

How would your siblings describe you? Probably dictatorial, overbearing, and unbending…{grins}…but hopefully, in an afterthought they say confident, organized, and well-meaning.

What is your biggest regret? Not telling Papa that I loved him. We don’t tend to be a demonstrative family. We don’t hug or tell each other we care or that we’ve done something well. After Papa, I realized how important it was to say those things to him.

Photo: Pixabay/
Jose Antonio Alba

Where is your “happy place?” Between the pages of a good book, most definitely. The actual place doesn’t matter. I can read lying in bed, curled in a chair in the parlor, or sitting on the grass under a tree. When I begin reading, the world fades away.

What is one thing you always carry with you? A book. Not very practical, I know, but having a book with me means I’m never alone.

____________________

Love and Chocolate

She just needs a job. He wants a career. Is there room in their hearts for love?

Ilsa Krause and her siblings are stunned to discover their father left massive debt behind upon his death. To help pay off their creditors and save the farm, she takes a job at Beck’s Chocolates, the company her father despised and refused to supply with milk. Then she discovers her boss is Ernst Webber, her high school love who unceremoniously dumped her via letter from college. Could life get any more difficult?

A freshly-minted university diploma in his hand, Ernst Webber lands his dream job at Beck’s Chocolates. His plans to work his way up the ladder don’t include romantic entanglements, then Ilsa Krause walks back into his life resurrecting feelings he thought long dead. However, her animosity makes it clear she has no interest in giving him a second chance. Can he get her to change her mind? Does he want to?

Pre-order Link: https://books2read.com/u/mdQerZ