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Reviews
for
Anthology
 
***** 5
Stars Review!!!!
SUSPICIOUS MINDS - Leanne Burroughs - With
her whole world coming down around her Darcy
Sanders knew she had to keep it together,
for the tiny babe her sister Janna's death
had left in her care. With baby Emma's dad a
casualty of the Iraq war and now her mom's
death, Auntie Darcy was all the babe had
left. On top of that Darcy had promised
Janna to keep her dream restaurant Beale
Street alive -- only Darcy had no idea how
to cook. More than anything, Darcy needed
someone to lean on and when Ross Grayson,
owner of the building, stopped by to fix a
minor problem, he became more than just Mr.
Fix-it, but a stalwart friend with an
impressive shoulder to lean on.
Burroughs starts this impressive anthology
off to a great start with her SUSPECIOUS
MINDS story. In combining all the elements
needed for an emotional, passionate story,
with a wee dram of humor in special moments
when lines from Elvis Presley songs would
mysteriously pop out of a spooky juke box at
the precise moment needed to keep everyone
on track. Darcy had an immense amount of
stress to deal with including a broken heart
for trusting the wrong man. Only Ross knew
she was perfection personified, from the
first moment he met her and wanted nothing
more than to lift the world off her
shoulders and her pert little body into his
bed for the rest of his life. A truly
delicious start to this anthology with a
bonus recipe at the end of this story for
Butterscotch Squares looking awfully yummy
too!
A SPAGHETTI KIND OF LOVE - Michelle McGinnis
- Dave Cipelli and Meggin had a brief
romance, but when it got too comfortable,
Dave called it off. Meggin after crying her
eyes out for over a month was finally free
of the big dumb lug and ready to start
living life on her own, and part of that way
to new life was to take up cooking classes.
Mama Mia, or better yet Great Grandma
Carmella's red sauce; you have to admit if
the way to a man's heart is through his
stomach, shouldn't women have equal rights
too? Well it wasn't just for Dave's
grandmother's sauce recipe, but I loved the
pure honesty of how Dave went about showing
and telling Meggin how much she meant to him
and how he wanted their future to progress.
This one was short, sweet story complete
with a beautifully romantic declaration of
love.
A HEART'S HUNGER - Anne Elizabeth - Carolyn
left to pursue her dreams leaving behind the
only family she had and a plethora of angry
friends. In San Francisco she achieved
career advancement and financial success,
but for all her success, true happiness
eludes her. With a missive from Aunt Polly
to visit she returns home and along with
best gal pal Tina, she recalled old memories
and news of those left behind while putting
together a family dinner. Special were the
memories and updates on Bennett, the boy
she'd left behind, made her realize what was
truly missing in her life.
Memories are like stealthy fun loving
puppies, biting you on your heels to remind
you to remember what is best not forgotten.
The author uses this vehicle with Carolyn
and her friend Tina as she and her best
friend chat over shared memories as well as
sharing the chores of putting together a
family meal. The reader sees how no matter
how much Carolyn wanted to forget her roots,
they were always there, especially when
every prospective male she met was measured
up against Bennett and they all fell short
of expectation. This was a sweet story, with
a lovely romance stirred into the pot.
KISSING KATE - Jaquelin Lorin - When Nick
Ballard surprisingly showed up at the
Minerva / Ballard family gathering, Kate
suspected that his grandmother had a hand in
it. After leaving ten years ago, abruptly
letting Kate know he wasn't interested, her
sixteen year old heart had broken. Now he
was back, successful and gorgeous as ever
and Kate wasn't about to let him trample her
heart again.
While this is a very common plot line where
the boy runs away from home to seek fame and
fortune leaving behind a trail of broken
hearts, the authors puts a very sentimental
and heart tugging emotional spin on it to
reveal facts of the true reasons why Nick
left and what events led him to stay away.
She revealed Kate's inner turmoil over still
loving him so much, in such a way that this
reader shed tears as if I were the one left
behind who didn't want to get hurt again.
This was a perfectly lovely story, and I
can't wait to try out Kate's `peach cobbler'
recipe!
BIRTHDAY BLUES - Amy Blizzard - Claudia
Mackay fought her way to her front door
while almost being run over by children
hanging dearly onto birthday balloons when
she remembered it was her birthday too. It
was also a day she'd like to forget, but her
best friend Dawn wasn't about to let her.
Dawn had sent her a private chef to cook her
up a special birthday dinner. Unfortunately,
she neglected to tell him that Claudia was a
vegetarian; or was her friend trying to cook
something else up besides Claudia's dinner?
This was a very sweet, witty and clever
story. Claudia was an extremely up-tight and
suspicious woman who was surprised at her
door by a very handsome dude who could have
been a molester or burglar and her reactions
to him were completely plausible. Nick, the
chef, wasn't quite sure what he'd gotten
himself into by doing a favor for her friend
Dawn but when Claudia let her air down, he
was ready to prepare any dish she wanted.
The dialogs were yummy as is the recipe for
Sweet N Simple Fruit Salad.
CLAM CHOWDER FOR SAMANTHA'S SOUL - by Jill
and Julia - It was not the most auspicious
event when Mitch Whitaker met Samantha and
he accused her of stealing clams, from HIS
private beach. It also didn't help that he
assumed she was just another one of his
playboy neighbor's gold-digging lovers. It
would take several more insults added to
injury before `Lola' a `gnome chick' set him
straight and on the right path to redeeming
himself.
Well, I'm not sure about the recipe for
`Whitaker's Clam Chowder' recipe at the end
of this delightful short story, but the
story itself was mighty tasty. Admittedly,
Mitch acted like a real ass when he assumed
all the wrong things about Samantha, but
thankfully the introduction of a delightful
wise-cracking gnome-chick by the name of
Lola, gave him the inspiration to save his
butt and not let Samantha, the next best
thing to ice cream get away!
THE TROUBLE WITH BELGIAN WAFFLES - Kristi
Ahlers - Since the divinely handsome
detective Drake Hunter moved into the
apartment across the hall, Claire had made
several attempts to cook up something
wonderful as a housewarming gift. This was
not a great idea - Claire was a disaster in
the kitchen! Knowing it was now or never,
Claire bought a food basket and screwed up
her courage to knock on the door to see if
the way to a man's heart was really through
his stomach.
I so enjoyed this story! Not only was the
author able to make you laugh out loud with
Claire's disastrous attempts in the culinary
arts, but you had to love her klutziness as
well. Detective Drake definitely noticed his
neighbor, obviously not for her culinary
talents, but as one very sexy looking young
woman he would really like to taste. The
pacing was just right in this, the dialogs
were lovely and the obvious attraction both
felt for one another was `smoking' - just
like Claire's attempts at cooking! Loved the
proposal and had a tear in my eye. Superb!
KEEPING HANNAH SAFE - Billie Warren Chai -
If you never learned how to cook like our
heroine, then it's a good thing you live
next door to a fireman who turns out to more
of a hero than one could imagine. Brian got
turned on and off very quickly by Hannah,
but after an initially bumpy start, he came
through to save not only the day, but
captured Hannah's heart.
In one short story this author managed to
grab hold of your attention with a very
funny kitchen disaster, spark it up with a
wild attraction, toss in a twist or two with
a little bit of suspense and have it all
come together in one totally enjoyable and
heady romance. Excellent characterizations
and with so much going on in this tale, I'd
love to have seen this as a full length
story!
RECIPE FOR DISASTER - Bobbi Dumas - Chef
Jason is on the cover of a popular magazine,
declared the most eligible hot bachelor who
mentions a special someone he's in love
with. Sara has guilt enough over having
inheriting half of the house Jason and she
now share, but is she now screwing up his
lovelife?
The author paints Jason as all that is kind,
considerate and loving - anyone's ideal of a
special person in their life. She also
paints a complex guilt ridden heroine who
has loved Jason from childhood and relished
her summer vacations to visit. This was very
good, sweet and emotionally touching story
where the author explained and showed the
guilt parents could load up on a young
child. Thank goodness for happy and
wonderfully romantic endings.
SOUP d'AMOUR - M.J. Sager - When an
inheritance comes through giving Maximilian
Conner Tristam a building; Conner - as he's
known to friends - goes to check it out.
What he did not expect to see was a thriving
community center and at its head a woman
whose very presence seemed a balm to his
soul!
Both the Connor and Layla were very well
defined and giving Layla a gift of sight
where she immediately saw herself married
and making love to this stranger made this
short story all the more enjoyable. What
Connor's matchmaking Uncle Leo couldn't do
in his life was to arrange to have the two
people he knew were soul-mates to get
together once and for all after his death.
Well-written, humorous and sensual with a
wonderful recipe for my favorite soup!
SWEET SAUERKRAUT - Gerri Bowen - At a
gathering at White's Nicholas, Viscount
Wharnecliffe and his war-time comrades were
discussing how Nick should find a wife with
a large dowry, but that might be impossible
when she found out he was raising five
nephews, who were out of control.
Discovering that Major Reese's sister
Elizabeth (Beth) had a large dowry and loved
to cook, Nick was tempted to make a proposal
- sight unseen - before she laid eyes on his
nephews, that is!
There's nothing more I like than a sweet
Regency tale and though this was short and
sweet it combined all the elements I look
for in a historical read with humor and a
little bit of silliness to toss in the pot.
The idea of a Regency lady wanting to cook
was clever and original. During that period,
it was one thing to cook privately in the
home, but to enter a contest where the
judges would be from the upper echelons of
society, now that is original! Very well
done, but just can't say I have a fondness
for sauerkraut, sweetened or otherwise!
THE MAN HAS A SWEET TOOTH - Diane Davis
White - Sadie the Shady Angel and her mentor
Pricilla are back into the swing of things
to help two strangers make a match. How they
take the two diverse personalities of sweets
loving Joe Spellings and Leonora Cullpepper,
a complete health food addict makes for a
sweet tasting morsel of a story!
Bottom line on this story is that the author
has a marvelous sense of humor and though
not the leads in this story, the reader is
definitely going to remember Sadie the Shady
Angel and Pricilla as these two angels argue
over how to get Joe and Leonora together!
The dialogs are witty, and the sexual
attraction is strong making the reader smile
from start to finish and the recipe for Easy
Raspberry Brownies sounds positively
decadent!
THE PUMPKIN PIE MURDER - Victoria Houseman -
As a detective in the Charleston, S.C.
homicide department, Sara Stone was sent to
question the owner of the bakery, where a
supposedly mob hit had occurred. Sara had
heard Silas Edwards was the baker of the
stars for his incredible wedding cakes and
petit fours, but what Sara wasn't expecting
was to have him look as gorgeous as the
creamy concoctions set out in his display
cases!
Shall I say this was sweet, with all the
beautifully described pastries that came in
only second to this "love at first sight"
story? Well, it was sweet, and the old
cliché of `love at first sight' was
beautifully played out under this author's
well-written hand. Both characters were very
well fleshed out and with a tad bit of humor
added into the pot, you couldn't ask for
more - except maybe one of Silas's pastries!
CHICKEN WHAT DU HELL - DeborahAnne
MacGillivray - Remy (aka Royce Torqhill
Remington Kinross, the 13th Marquis of
Dunmoor and Seafeld) and his cat Bubba were
not scoring points with the gifts Bubba was
dropping off at their beautiful neighbor
Catonia's house. Although Bubba, who kept
bumping his head in adoration of Catonia's
beautiful boob seemed to be getting a lot
further along in the romance department than
his master; Remy was bound and determined to
change that right quick!
What a wonderful story Ms. MacGillivray
submitted to end this beautiful collection
of short stories all featuring some fabulous
recipes. I absolutely adored Bubba the cat,
whom Remy thought could have been a rogue in
another life and been turned into a cat by a
jealous witch - he seemed so human and was
getting all those booby caresses! Remy when
he turned on his Cajun accent was a sensual
delight, with his wonderfully delicious
`pick-up' lines. All the characters were
well-developed and this short story was
simmering with sensuality.
All in all, I don't think the reader will
find a better compilation of mouth watering
short romantic love stories than in RECIPE
FOR LOVE! This is a highly recommended
volume - perfect for beaches, doctor's
offices, or anywhere you've a few minutes to
read.
Marilyn Rondeau, RIO - Reviewers
International Organization
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