Review: Perfect mix of romance, suspense, and drama
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 18, 2013
REVIEWED BY KATIEI loved DEEP AUTUMN HEAT! In my opinion, the summary doesn't do it justice. There are multiple suspenseful and thrilling subplots to go along with the romance of Seb and Lexie. You know me...I have to have my thrills and suspense! But before I get ahead of myself, let's concentrate on Seb and Lexie!Lexie had moved to the small town of Star Harbor from California and opened the Lexie Meyers Kitchen (LMK). She was on the verge of adding a catering business to go along with her successful restaurant. Her signature secret recipe was for her coconut cake. I can't stress enough my want to try this cake! The only downfall to books is that you can't grab whatever you want right out of them and eat it!Sebastian Grayson grew up in Star Harbor but lives in New York City where he is an acclaimed and famous chef who owns a restaurant, Helena. He is looking to expand to another location and is about to start his own cooking show. Seb is one of four boys, and he and his brothers all meet every year in Star Harbor for Labor Day weekend.Lexie and Seb have chemistry right off the bat, although she doesn't make it easy. Lexie is busy at her restaurant and she just doesn't seem to have any time or interest in a romantic relationship, but Sebastian is persistent! The Grayson boys are described as extremely good-looking, so combining that with fame and excellent cooking skills, Seb isn't used to being turned down. Part of his flirtation game is a cook-off with Lexie right at the LMK--again, I wanted to grab these crab cakes off the page and devour them! Maybe I missed my calling as a food critic {sigh}. This book moves at a good pace, and although I wanted to slap Lexie across the face a few times, the chemistry and sexual tension resolves itself nicely.The parts that kept me intrigued included an unreliable produce delivery company, a crazy lady (who owns a restaurant in the next town over) who is after the coconut cake recipe, an abusive ex-boyfriend, and some weird threatening notes that show up at the LMK. All of that combined with a smattering of fun, quirky, nosey, and gossipy small-town characters makes this book a winner! It takes the cake! (Okay...that was bad.)I had only two miniscule issues, which honestly could have been oversights due to the speed in which I read this one:1) Lexie acquired the nickname "spice" from Seb at some point. I'm not sure when it happened and I don't love it as far as nicknames go.2) Buster, Lexie's right-hand man and grill cook at the LMK, is an older man! I read over half of the book picturing a young kid in his 20s only to find out that I was completely wrong! I was thrown off a little trying to picture him as being older. Regardless, he is a mostly silent but fun character!BOTTOM LINEI loved DEEP AUTUMN HEAT! If you like romance mixed with suspense and drama, this should be on your TBR list!RATING: A (5 stars)Note: I received a review copy of this title courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.