Welcome to the Rising Star Chef competition, where today’s hottest chefs battle it out on national TV for a chance at fame, fortune and culinary supremacy. Every contestant hungers to win, but only one will take the prize...
HE’S GOT THE SIZZLE
When it comes to competitive cooking, Max Lunden is no stranger to winning...though he’s never been great at working with a team. A master chef—and major hunk—he’s traveled the world, picking up new cooking techniques as well as beautiful women. But when the prodigal chef returns home to his family’s Greenwich Village restaurant, he discovers one too many cooks in the kitchen—and she’s every bit as passionate as he is...
SHE’S GOT THE FIRE
Juliet Cavanaugh used to have a crush on Max when she was just a teenager, hanging out at Lunden & Sons Tavern, hoping to catch a glimpse of the owner’s oldest, and hottest, son. Now a chef herself—competing in the biggest culinary contest in the country—Juliet will be cooking side by side with the one man she’s always admired...and desired. But despite their simmering attraction, Juliet is determined to keep her cool—no matter how hot it gets...
This is my first official book of Louisa Edwards that I've read. It's been mentioned to me many times that i need to read her and as all readers know there are way more books that there is time. I never got a chance until now. I have never read a book where cooking was the back drop to the story. I wasn't sure what to expect. I am kind of a simple cook. Mostly use salt and pepper for seasoning. I have a houseful of boys and they aren't interested in anything beyond basic right now. I do love to watch cooking shows on TV so i thought this would be interesting. It was. Max Lunden left town in a huff when the arguments between himself and his dad over the family restaurant got to be to much. He's been gone for 10 years learning all kinds of cooking techniques. A urgent call from his mom changes all that. He's needed at home to help the restaurant get into a big cooking competition, The Rising Star. Juliet or Jules as she's called now found a home with her best friend Danny Lundens family 10 years ago right after Max left. She escaped a scary situation with her mom and the Lunden's have treated her like family ever since. Max is back now and the crush Jules had on Max is still there but of a more mature nature now. Things sizzle whenever Max is around Jules. Everyone is keeping a secret from Max though. His dad collapsed in the middle of dinner service a while back and his health might be in jeopardy. Gus Lunden might now be able to see eye to eye with his son but he loves Max and doesn't want to stand in the way of his happiness. Gus is hoping he'll be ready to take Max's place in the competition once they qualify and Max can move on to his next big culinary dream. Max wants Jules and talking her into doing something about it takes him a while. It's supposed to be a temporary thing but after a while Max isn't sure if he can walk away from Jules. All the while Jules tried to protect her heart. Grab what she can of Max while she can and hope it's enough to survive when he leaves. This was a really good book. The Lunden's are a really close family for the most part. Caring and loving of each other as well as other people. They take Jules in and treat her as one of their own. Jules tries really hard to give back to the family that gave her everything. The relationship between Max and Jules is hot and heavy with many bumps in the road. I grew to Love Max by the end of the book and am really fond of all the secondary characters. I wanted to meet these people. lol The cooking parts were good but not as much fun for me only because i am not much of a cook. I mean just all the technical cooking stuff not the competition parts. There are some really great recipe's included at the end of this book also. As a whole i give Too Hot to Touch 4 out of 5 Modokker Book Pick stars. A fun and HOT cooking adventure for all!
Find out more about this series and Louisa Edwards on her website www.louisaedwards.com . Don't forget to read a excerpt for this book while your there and the latest book in this series comes out March 27th. Hot Under Pressure will be reviewed on this blog next week. Watch for it!
wow i can't wait to read this... You sure got me hooked on so many other books by different authors since I found your blog.
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