If You Can't Stand the Heat by Taryn Kincaid [Review]

If You Can't Stand the Heat (Give Me a Taste #3) by Taryn Kincaid
Format: ebook
Source: provided for review
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: January 5, 2015

Give Me a Taste
1. Pinch of Me, Dash of You
2. Ember's Secret
3. If You Can't Stand the Heat - Kindle
4. A Taste of You
5. Melting Into You

Taryn Kincaid
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Synopsis (Goodreads):

Derek Dunne is a Cordon Bleu-trained food critic for the prestigious New York Monitor, whose scathing review of a popular Italian bistro has driven away all but the most loyal neighborhood patrons.

Lucrezia Serafina DiCicco is a clumsy business school drop-out, working as a chef and scrambling to keep her family’s restaurant afloat, after her father develops diabetes and is banned from his kitchen for his own good.

Now, with The Monitor folding, Derek is searching for his next career path and longing to get back to his first love—cooking—while Lu is desperate for an influx of cash to save the struggling restaurant even as her father puts his foot down regarding non-family employees.

Derek and Lu embark on a marriage of inconvenience to save the restaurant. But can Lu ever really trust the man who nearly destroyed her family and once noted her initials spelled “LSD” and her food was like a “bad trip?”

Or will it be their hearts on the chopping block?

Thoughts on If You Can't Stand the Heat: You know when two people have plenty of chemistry, but they let their head get in the way of acting on it? Or, well, they might act on it initially but then have some serious OMG!WHAT HAVE I DONE?!?! moments after? And then they get so stuck in the loop of trying to play it cool that they don't know how to reach out to the other person even though they REALLY want to?

BOOM. Derek and Lu. Yeah, there were times when I wanted to give Lu a good shake for being afraid to take Derek up on everything he was offering, but I also got it. It's really easy to get trapped by doubt and not know how to move forward. Especially when Lu took into account how badly Derek wanted to get into her kitchen. FYI, that's not a euphemism. He really wanted to do some cooking in her restaurant.

What I'm trying to say is that I get it. Lu had to find the courage to trust herself and her feelings for Derek before she could break out of her rut. I totally give Derek credit for continuing to push Lu when she threw up all sorts of walls. The man is definitely persistent. And very good at making breakfast.

The romance moves quickly (up until Lu made it come to a screeching halt, that is) and the food does more than fuel the body. All in all, a satisfying read.