Review: Outstanding Debut Adult Contemporary Romance
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 12, 2013
I loved Rachel Harris' YA novel My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century, and was really excited to read her debut adult contemporary novel, Taste the Heat.  I must say that she exceeded all my expectations.  I just loved it.  Colby Robicheaux has been gone from New Orleans for almost 12 years.  She has established herself as a well known and well respected chef in Las Vegas, but after her father's death, she has returned home to help her brother and sister run the family restaurant for the summer, counting the days until she can leave New Orleans and everything it represents to her behind.  Jason Landry is the Captain of the Fire Department, and for those who love a man in uniform, he is hotness personified - with and without it.  He is also Colby's childhood crush and her brother's best friend.  When the two meet again at a community function and he doesn't recognize Colby at first, it proves to be very entertaining for her to watch his reaction and be the object of his flirtation.  When Jason finally does realize who she is, he wants to kick himself - I mean she is practically like his little sister, only she isn't so little anymore, and she sure doesn't feel like a sister.  Jason knows he should remarry for his daughter Emma's sake, but he doesn't want to put his heart out there to be broken again.  It's just too painful.  The last thing Colby wants is a relationship, but when she looks at Jason, she finds all those old feelings rising to the surface.  Despite their best attempts, they cannot stay away from each other.  Besides, Emma loves Colby, and Colby feels the same way about Emma.  Colby makes it clear she is leaving at the end of the summer, but they can hang out and have fun while she is there casually....or can they?  What Jason doesn't know, and Colby soon confides in him, is the real reason she left New Orleans and why she rarely comes back.  Jason also shares his pain with Colby.  He then becomes a man on a mission to help Colby heal from the wounds from her past, but Colby may just feel she is too broken to fix.Taste the Heat is such a great story.  I loved both Colby and Jason, especially Jason.  They just don't come any better than him, and Rachel Harris has outdone herself in creating his character.  I loved Jason's daughter Emma to.  She is such a sweetheart.  The secondary characters were excellently written and woven into the story, especially Colby's brother Cane and her sister Sherry, and I really hope her next book is about Cane.  He has the whole hot bad boy persona going on, and I would love to read more about him. I have said it before and I will say it again, I haven't read a book yet from Entangled Publishing that I didn't like and their Bliss imprint is one of my favorites.  Taste the Heat is a an exciting romance that is sweet, but has that sizzle that makes it exciting, and is also fun, entertaining, and emotional at times.  I loved the New Orleans setting, and the way Rachel Harris was able to immerse you into the city and its culture, especially its world famous food.  If you are a contemporary romance fan then Taste the Heat is a great read and something you definitely will want to check out.