Raised among women who taught him to cook at his family’s Buenos Aires restaurant, master chef Paolo Santos deftly works his culinary wiles—and his gypsy charm—on posh Flamingo Island’s female clientele.
The tastiest tidbit on the island, though, is cool, elegant Michaela Willoughby. The redhead’s slender curves are as enticing as her rabbit-food menus are maddening. And she’s his main competition for the chance of a lifetime.
Michaela overcame her own weight issues to become Flamingo Island’s premiere spa chef. Now she has a chance to share her innovative recipes for healthy living on a new cooking show—if she can somehow outshine Paolo. His sizzling, Latin-lover looks are more heart stopping than his decadent cooking. And she’d love nothing better than to stick a fork in his outsized ego.
When the stage lights ignite, so does the competition…and a sexual chemistry no one—least of all Paolo and Michaela—saw coming. Suddenly, separating business from pleasure is as impossible as separating a scrambled egg. And the big question isn’t whose knife cuts fastest…it’s whose heart can take the most heat.
Product Warnings Contains two hot chefs duking it out in a lively showdown of sexy rivalry. Mix in family drama, luscious recipes and spicy mischief, and there’s more than just steam rising out of the kitchen. May cause lusty cravings for midnight indulgences.
When I read the synopsis for this book, I knew it was one I had to read. Two chefs battling it out for a chance at their own cooking show with sparks flying left and right….yep, a must read. I’m so glad I requested it to review; I found it to be entertaining, fun, and extremely sexy.
Paolo Santos is a well known chef on Flamingo Island. His customers include A-List celebrities, powerful dignitaries, and the Miami elite. His Italian and Argentine heritage gives him scorching good looks, a sexy accent, and attitude in spades. He’s dedicated to his mother and sisters. He feels he owes his late father to take the very best care of them he can.
Michaela Willoughby is an accomplished chef as well. She works in the spa on Flamingo Island serving up delicious meals minus the fat and calories. Overweight as a child and teen, Michaela is determined to win the Miami Spice contest proving food doesn’t have to be laden with fat to be good. Michaela dropped out of law school much to her parent’s dismay to pursue a career as a chef. She feels she must win so she’ll be able to pay them back for the money they spent on her education and to prove to them she’s made something of herself.
When Paolo and Michaela meet, he tries to charm her and she immediately gives him the cold shoulder. She knows he’s a player. She’s been there and done that and has no intentions of doing it again. However, the sexual tension between these two is thicker than you can cut with the sharpest knife. During this story both Paolo and Michaela have family emergencies that interrupt their planning and preparing for the contest. What they discover is that they don’t always have to do it all on their own. Their connection grows deeper and eventually they succumb to their growing feelings. I also loved that these two who thought themselves so very different at the beginning realized they had much more in common than they thought. This is a romance story pure and simple and it’s delicious.
I thoroughly enjoyed Grill Me Baby from beginning to end. I will say that early on in the story there were a lot of cooking terms thrown out and I let out a little groan. I was afraid the whole story was going to be like that, but it wasn’t. There was also some unfinished storylines with secondary characters, so I’m putting it out there Sophia…I hope you have a sequel planned!
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8 comments
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DiDi
June 5, 2012 at 10:30 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
This sounds like a book right up my alley
Great review!
Maria D.
June 5, 2012 at 1:14 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Good review! I have a weakness for romance books with chef’s as characters…lol…Thanks for sharing
MaryC
June 5, 2012 at 6:31 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Love watching the cooking challenges on Food network – this book sounds fun!
Slick
June 5, 2012 at 9:56 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thanks for stopping in and commenting everyone. It really is a fun read!
Timitra
June 5, 2012 at 11:00 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thanks for the author recommend Slick!!!
Sharon Bridwell
June 6, 2012 at 10:51 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Sounds like a must read!
Kathleen O
June 6, 2012 at 11:34 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
This book sounds delisously tasty.. Can’t wait to read it.
Sophia Knightly
June 8, 2012 at 2:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thanks very much for the wonderful review! I am planning a sequel