Is Jam Healthy For Breakfast?

When I was seven, my father brought home a beautiful lady who gave me a mango. That day, my mother watched me happily eating the mango while she signed her name on the divorce papers. After that, she jumped off the roof of our building. From then on, mangoes became the nightmare of my life. So on my wedding day, I told my husband, Alan Holt, "If you ever want a divorce, just give me a mango." Alan pulled me into his arms, quiet. From then on, mangoes became off-limits for him, too. On Christmas Eve of our fifth year of marriage, Alan's childhood sweetheart, Larissa Fennimore, left a mango on his desk at the office. The very same day, Alan announced he was cutting ties with Larissa and fired her from the company. That day, I truly believed he was the man I was meant to be with. Half a year later, I flew back from overseas, having just closed a partnership deal worth about 200 million dollars. At the celebration dinner, Alan handed me a drink. After I had finished half the glass, his so-called childhood sweetheart, the woman who had been kicked out of the company, stood behind me with a big grin and asked, "Does the mango juice taste good?" I stared at Alan in disbelief, and he was trying hard not to laugh. "Don't be mad. Larissa insisted I played a little joke on you. I didn't actually give you a mango; I just gave you a bottle of mango juice. But I think she's right. The fact that you don't eat mangoes is a real problem. You were really enjoying that juice just now." My face went cold. I lifted my hand and threw the rest of the mango juice in his face, then turned around and walked away. Some things are never a joke. I wouldn't kid around with mangoes or divorce.

Juicy Robinson was the color of sweet black licorice, of a charcoal briquette soaked in lighter fluid and no one was going to make her feel like she wasn’t the sexiest thing around—not the white people that her mother had taught her to distrust and certainly not the homeless white man that has been watching her from the alley.Troy’s mental illness forced him onto the streets. After an altercation, Juicy finds herself rescued by this unlikely individual; a white, homeless man that she has thoughtlessly nick-named; ‘Mr. Cracker.’ Out of a sense of loneliness and true friendship the two outcasts try to find something deeper than friendship as they journey to self-discovery. Juicy is created by Pepper Pace, an EGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

After I secured a billion-dollar partnership for Horizon Ventures, the sales department celebrated with an afternoon tea spread where everyone got to choose their own order. When it was my turn, the new hire, Jessica Osborne, suddenly cut in. "Chicken sandwiches for the rest of them. No need to order anything else." I ignored her and calmly told the admin clerk, "I’ll have a slice of chocolate cake." The next second, Jessica slammed the menu right across my face and glared at me furiously. "I said no, so you don’t get to order. Who do you think you are? A princess?" The hard menu left a stinging red mark across my face, and a surge of anger flared up inside me. Without hesitating, I grabbed the menu and hurled it right back at her face. Jessica immediately shrieked and roared at me, "Do you have any idea who I am?! My dad is Royce Osborne, the biggest client this company has! Even our CEO, Emily Hopkins, treats me with respect. How dare you lay a hand on me? Believe it or not, I can get your $600,000 bonus canceled and have you blacklisted from this entire industry!" I froze. Royce Osborne's my maternal uncle. He’s forty, famously single, and has never been married. When exactly did he have such a grown-up daughter?

María López, a twenty-seven-year-old Dominican lawyer, decides that she is not ready to marry, her partner Reed is filled with revenge and hatred towards her and begins to create rumors about alleged bribes accepted by María, bribes of which were even from the defendant for her. After a discussion with the directors of the Buffet, María decides to take a vacation to her homeland on Christmas Eve. On the plane he meets Julio Medina, a man with cinnamon skin, honey-colored eyes and a captivating gaze, who had recently found his wife being unfaithful to him. Julio takes an interest in María and proposes her to a night of sex without commitments. After all, she is no longer engaged to anyone and decides to accept the indecent proposal. Julio is the change she needs in her life, a tender, attentive, romantic man and most importantly ... LOVE COFFEE! Could it be that it is too late when Maria realizes that love at first coffee does exist? Will Julio hold out for Maria to realize that she loves him? Julio is not looking for something temporary, he knew it the moment he saw that woman for the first time. He should make her his, she was perfect for him. Do two souls recognize each other when they belong? Was he wrong? Julio is a man sure of what he wants, and who he wants in his life is that woman so incomprehensible and afraid of falling in love.

At our company dinner, my girlfriend, Katherine Hale, makes a detour to get some treats. She hands a glass of juice to my childhood friend, Mark Langley, who is sitting opposite us. Then, she sets down a cup of yogurt in front of me. Mark thanks her with a smile. "How thoughtful of you! You remembered I can't have iced drinks because of my gastric issues." I stare at the cup of yogurt with mango bits in it. Then, I nudge it further away from me, my expression blank. "What's the matter?" Katherine asks casually. I respond, "I'm allergic to mangoes. Did you forget that again?" She freezes for a moment. Then, she smiles and shrugs. "Come on, it's no big deal. Just pick out the mango bits." But she never forgets that Mark doesn't want any cilantro or onion in his food. Also, he only accepts chilled juice without any ice or sugar. Meanwhile, I have difficulty breathing if I take even a single bite of mango, but she thinks it's fine as long as I pick them out. Turns out, if one is biased enough, they can overlook even matters of life and death. On our way home, I sit in the back seat as usual. I look at the two people in the front, who seem perfect for each other. All of a sudden, I feel relief washing over me. Katherine can't even remember my allergies, so what am I holding onto this relationship for?

Red Wine for Breakfast stars Jenny Reed, a 34 year old Californian from New York, who plays macho Monopoly by her own rules. Winner take all. And she had it all: the number one morning radio show on KKTM FM in Los Angeles, a wonderful best friend, and a nice noncommittal affair with the station owner, Brian Allen. Her career was all she needed. Success was all she ever wanted. Until Johnny King became her on air partner and challenged her to play his own game. The day she beat him was the day she gained his respect. It was also the day she lost her best friend in an apparent suicide ... or was it murder? Real life radio personalities and a front page drug scandal bring realism to a fictional novel set in Los Angeles where radio stations change formats like socks, and jobs are as secure as houses built on the San Andreas Fault. In a business drowning in testosterone, Red Wine for Breakfast is the story of strong, determined New Yorker who has to shake off the laid back attitude of LA to overcome the challenges of an industry that threatens to turn her off and a man who only wants to turn her on.