Too Hot to Touch by Louisa Edwards

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 travelled 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...

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Too hot to handle? More like too boring to read. I started reading this book and after three nights of reading before bed I realised I hadn't moved past page 45. It really should tell you something when sleep sounds like more fun than continuing a book. To put it bluntly - I was bored.

The characters were one dimensional, boring and yet still managed to irritate and annoy me. Well, to be fair, Juliet was so bland that I barely even remembered her from one page to the next. I know this is down to personal preference of what you like in a hero but I just couldn't like Max either, I'm afraid. He was cocky, smarmy and far too self absorbed for my tastes.

I've never really watched any of those American chef competitions like the one described in this book but if I had liked the other elements then I'm sure that wouldn't have mattered one jot. I just couldn't get into the competition and the passion and excitement was missing. The author just didn't sell it to me, I'm afraid.

I know I've been pretty harsh about this book but that's simply because the writing style, story and characters just really weren't to my taste. I will now put the other side of the argument forward and say that I have read of many, many people who not only liked but adored this book and all the things that I wasn't keen on. I really do hope that you like it if you've bought it but unfortunately I just can't bring myself to recommend it. Not my cup of tea. 1 star.

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352 pages

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