Guilty Pleasures (Harlequin Blaze, No 59)

Rating:
Summary: Romantic Times Review
Review: Guilty Pleasures ( Harlequin Blaze- intro copy) by Cathy Yardley

Cathy Yardley's latest, GUILTY PLEASURES , will enthrall readers with the hopes, dreams, and disappointments of Mari and Nick, sprinkled liberally with behind-the-scenes tidbits of the gourmet world. Mari Salazar decides to take control of her life and opens a restaurant. At the request of a former teacher at the culinary school, she agrees to take on a new chef, Nick Avery, who left his last job under suspicion of theft. While they butt heads in the kitchen, their charged attraction in the bedroom is absolutely divine. Readers will be thrilled with this tempting, scrumptious, compelling love affair.

Rating:
Summary: ick....
Review: Her San Francisco restaurant Le Pome failed because Mari Salazar lacked the confidence to adhere to her convictions on the menu. Thus the meals by committee led to a public flogging by a disingenuous reporter seeking a name. Her Nob Hill parents blame Mari. They demand she leave the kitchen to lowlifes and return to her upper crust lifestyle. An angry Mari walks out on her unsympathetic parents vowing she will make all the decisions on her next restaurant.

Seven years later, Nick Avery learns how far and fast the mighty can fall when whispers and innuendoes accuse a person of wrongdoing. He was recently the head chef at the four-star Le Chapeau Noir. Now he begs Mari for a job of second stringer at the chaotic GUILTY PLEASURES. Though she tells him his credentials are too high she hires him due to a common reference, but warns him that she controls the menu alone. As he offers advice and begins to fit amidst the motley crew, Mari and Nick fall in love. However, she knows that he is a super chef that New York will be calling on soon.

This is a pleasant tale starring two likable characters and a group of eccentric secondary players who provide the tasty dessert for the audience. Though this may be a Blaze, readers will feel that Mari and Nick kiss too quickly and jump into bed too fast for two individuals who have no reason to trust one another. Still, the main course is fun and the delectable restaurant ensemble adds the finishing touches to a heated seven course reading experience.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: pleasant tale starring two likable characters
Review: Her San Francisco restaurant Le Pome failed because Mari Salazar lacked the confidence to adhere to her convictions on the menu. Thus the meals by committee led to a public flogging by a disingenuous reporter seeking a name. Her Nob Hill parents blame Mari. They demand she leave the kitchen to lowlifes and return to her upper crust lifestyle. An angry Mari walks out on her unsympathetic parents vowing she will make all the decisions on her next restaurant.

Seven years later, Nick Avery learns how far and fast the mighty can fall when whispers and innuendoes accuse a person of wrongdoing. He was recently the head chef at the four-star Le Chapeau Noir. Now he begs Mari for a job of second stringer at the chaotic GUILTY PLEASURES. Though she tells him his credentials are too high she hires him due to a common reference, but warns him that she controls the menu alone. As he offers advice and begins to fit amidst the motley crew, Mari and Nick fall in love. However, she knows that he is a super chef that New York will be calling on soon.

This is a pleasant tale starring two likable characters and a group of eccentric secondary players who provide the tasty dessert for the audience. Though this may be a Blaze, readers will feel that Mari and Nick kiss too quickly and jump into bed too fast for two individuals who have no reason to trust one another. Still, the main course is fun and the delectable restaurant ensemble adds the finishing touches to a heated seven course reading experience.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Very passionate, sexy and compelling!
Review: I really like Nick. He is the kind of man that cares for the needs of the woman he is with and takes pride on satisfying them. He is sexy, determined and tender. My type of man! The heroine of this story, Mari, is no less that the hero. She is a confident, determined woman at peace with her own sexuality. I recommend this book and Nancy Warren's Whisper.

Rating:
Summary: ick....
Review: I was attracted to this because of the storyline....the chefs and food. What got off to a good start fell apart about a third of the way through and became nothing but a graphic sex story. They slept together asap with no setup that made sense, and then pages upon pages detailed their sex scenes. I am no prude, by any means, but this read more like erotica than a good story. I kept getting jolted out of the story by graphic details ..., etc. Very bizarre. I enjoyed her last book, the driven snowe, but his one has veered way off course.....