Saturday, January 18, 2014

[Kame's Review]: "The Sweetest Seduction"



The Sweetest Seduction by Crista McHugh
Publisher: Crista McHugh (December 26, 2013)
Series: The Kelly Brothers, 1
Genre: Contemporary Romance


Lia Mantovani has created one of the hottest restaurants on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, but all that could disappear if she loses her lease with Kelly Properties. Having had her dreams ripped away from her before, she’ll do everything in her power to keep her restaurant. Her fate hangs on the whims of the frustratingly handsome Adam Kelly.

Adam has spent years trying to convince world famous chef Amadeus Schlittler to open a restaurant in Chicago, but he wants the prime location held by Lia. Business has always come first… until sparks fly when Adam meets her. When things get hot outside the kitchen, though, they’re both in danger of getting burned.





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Kame's Review:


Lia is a new chef in Chicago who is taking the town by storm. She rarely leaves her restaurant but her mother's friend did have the winning bid at the charity auction; so Lia was off to cook a magnificent meal in a spectacular lakeside location. Adam runs the family real estate business he really has no time to date much to his mother’s dismay.  She has seven sons, all still single and not a hope of a grandchild in sight.  Adam and Lia share a spark, but their drive to succeed may end this relationship before it starts.


I love to cook and I jumped at the chance to read a book about a chef. Lia’s recipe ideas made my mouth water, but the book was far from a cookbook; ingredients, methods and entrees were dealt with in the same manner as a firearm in a romantic suspense novel. Cooking is what rescued Lia during a difficult time in her life, it is what healed the pain and challenges her each day. Adam is the oldest of seven brothers and took over his father’s business after his death. We see more of him as a big brother ready to offer advice and help when needed than a business man. His approach to dating Lia was refreshing. Each date was more about spending time together than flash; no whisking her off to dinner in Paris or renting out a whole restaurant. I myself would have loved to go on any of their dates


This was a quick read for me, but an enjoyable one. I could put it down when my eyes started to close one Friday evening, but promptly picked it back up when I woke Saturday morning. No heart wrenching suspense, no deep secret that pulled them apart; just a warm rather believable story about two successful people who without meddling mother’s may have never found each other. Yes they have challenges, but I never doubted an HEA would be there at the end.


As I said Adam is one of seven bachelor brothers. All of them introduced in some manner in this book; all with interesting and diverse career choices; they coupled with a few interesting characters from Lia’s restaurant I can see many books in this series to come. I actually have an ARC of book 2 and I plan on starting it once this review is complete.

    
  4 1/2 STARS!





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Kame received an e-copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for her honest opinion.
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Meet Kame:

Kame is part of a family of readers; one day she picked up the Nook she purchased for her husband and discovered her love of e-books. A few months later he purchased one for her so he could have his back! Kame’s Nook is never far, and she is hard pressed to pick a favorite book, genre or author. As long as there are characters that make her want to sit down and have a chat and a plot keeps the pages turning, she’ll read it.

Kame's GoodReads 




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Thanks for the review, Kame! :) The cover is lovely, and this sounds like a sweet contemporary; I'm putting it on my list! 

Have you read Crista McHugh before? Do you enjoy cooking in romance -- when the heroine (or hero) is a chef? Do you have a favorite?











Enjoy!


Until Next Time,

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