Some Like it Hot (Rising Star Chef #2)
by Louisa Edwards
Published by St. Martins Griffin on November 29th, 2011
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit
Format: eBook
ADD TO GOODREADS
A sizzling blend of food, passion—and searing romance—the Rising Star Chef competition brings together the world’s hottest chefs for an all-star cook-off that’s sure to stir up excitement...and melt some hearts.
HE’S FEELING THE HEAT
Sexy, single, and even sweeter than the treats he bakes, New York pastry chef Danny Lunden is trying to stay focused on food—not females. With the Rising Star Chef competition approaching, he doesn’t have time to get all steamed up over the gorgeous woman he encounters on the plane to Chicago. Even if she is Eva Jansen—the billionaire heiress in charge of the contest...
SHE TAKES THE CAKE
Danny assumes that “Eva the Diva” is a spoiled rich girl who doesn’t share his passion for food. But when the two meet up again in an elevator—alone—they share more than just passion. They share a kiss hot enough to start a kitchen fire—and they’re hungry for more. To indulge their new secret craving, Eva and Danny have to break every rule in the cookbook. But—like chocolate and caramel—some ingredients are are so sinfully good together, one scrumptious bite is never enough...
Some Like It Hot is a good read, but not something I would want to return to. This would be my 5th Louisa Edwards book, and I am slightly unhappy at how this book turned out to be. (Even if the cover is a huge bomb of deliciousness)
In this second installment of the Rising Star Chef series, Daniel Lunden travels with the crew to Chicago to represent the East Coast in the Rising Star Chef Competition moderated by the spoiled, rich princess Eva Jansen. The competition gets hotter and heavier with eliminations and Danny plans to make sure his team makes it to the finals for the sake of his family and the business.
Danny Lunden looks after everyone. Despite being the second Lunden brother, he acts like the eldest, always putting other people first before himself. And it's always been that way. In every crisis, he's the one who stays sane and watches out for the welfare of every one in his team - and even other people.
So when the fancy Miss Eva managed to delay a flight's departure and made his teammate uncomfortable, he knew he was supposed to loathe her lifestyle and probably her personality. But why can't he keep away after a night of pure bliss?
Meanwhile, Eva Jansen, she may be a spoiled brat, but not for the reasons Danny thinks. She's an insecure motherless daughter with the sole dream of making her father, the real bossman of the competition, proud. She may be the wild child, but she's working on a change. Upon stepping up to be the producer of the Rising Star Chef competition, she vows to get the cooking competition on the national big screen, the way her late mother would have wanted it. But the moment she laid eyes on Danny, she knew she had to have him, even for just one night.
Despite their extreme differences - Danny a low-key family man and Eva the awfully gorgeous yet rude princess (with daddy issues)- they are attracted to each other, that they fall into bed a little too quickly.
Insert concern: Eva is the producer of the show and she's sleeping with Danny, a contestant. But the book reminds that she is not a judge... YET, she takes part in the food tasting. Isn't fraternizing romantically with the contestants supposed to be against the rules? But it was neither mentioned nor discussed properly, just a brief chat between her and her father. And with Danny showcased as someone who's a family man and that he aims to win for the family, why would he risk his team's standing in the competition? The secret affair between them both would have made the perfect conflict, or rather, an addition to the actual conflict mentioned in the story.
Their attraction to each other was not as appealing as I expected. I was expecting their relationship to be an entirely secret love affair, with high risks of getting disqualified from the competition once they've been found out. But instead, their relationship had been so obvious that even Eva's close friend and somehow "mother", Claire, also knows about it. AND EVEN HER DAD! And these people are the mind and body of the soul, with Claire being the head judge and Mr. Jansen, the army head of the competition. In fact, with these two knowing, it should pose as a total threat. But unfortunately, this was not one of the dramas included.
The way the food was written in the book was something I was fascinated in, because it felt truly realistic, and I could imagine a real reality cooking show in my head as I read. The dishes and the methods were elaborated properly, like a true chef was actually dictating a recipe for me.
But if I were to minus the food and cooking from the book, the whole story plot of Eva and Danny was truly bland that it did not appeal to me, unlike Max and Jules's relationship from Too Hot To Touch. For me, the characters lacked consistency, ergo, the relationship resulted to be too mixed up that it grew apart from what should have been the main conflict in the first place.
What actually got me to continue reading this book after a really long hiatus (probably like almost two weeks) are the auxiliary characters: Claire and Kane. With their extreme differences, from age, attitude, personality, lifestyle and what not, they make the are beautifully paradoxical. Claire is the angel, while Kane is the devil. A beautiful, classy, French woman of high status and a devishly gorgeous rockstar. What I wish was that these two should have had their own separate book. Oh the intensity of these two are absolutely beyond extreme. Even without elaborated sequences, I preferred their relationship to Danny and Eva's. And such a cliffhanger at that! Perhaps Ms. Edwards would talk about their relationship more in the third book.
Social Icons