Reviewed by Carissa

TITLE:  In the Distance

SERIES:  In the Kitchen #3

AUTHOR:  Nikka Michaels and Eileen Griffin

PUBLISHER:  Carina Press

LENGTH:  257 pages

BLURB:  

Tyler Mitchell has worked hard to rebuild his life after his family kicked him out. A culinary student and sous chef who spends his spare time volunteering with kids, he’s happy enough even though he has no time to consider a relationship.

Trevor Pratt is finally getting over losing his best friend and the one person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, but it’s taken screwing every cute guy in Manhattan to get there. He’s vowed to repair the friendship he endangered, but that’s hard to do when his friend’s new employee catches his eye. Despite being warned to stay away from Tyler, Trevor knows the sous chef is more than just a hookup.

Romance is a terrible idea. Trevor is ten years older and a relentless playboy. Tyler is still unsure of his place in the world. Neither of them is ready for life-changing love, but as things heat up, their chemistry in the bedroom might just take that decision out of their hands.

REVIEW:  

I took a deep breath as I watched Tyler make up his mind, my hope slipping away, when he finally looked at me and said, “I want you to come up. Not because of anything or anyone else, but because I don’t want you to leave.” Tyler blurted out.

I couldn’t contain my smile when those irresistible hazel eyes were back on me. Unable to stop myself, I slid my hand across his shoulder to cup the back of his neck. “I’d love to.”

When Tyler’s family threw him out of the house after being caught kissing a guy, he lost everything. It wasn’t until Jamie and Ethan took him into their weird little family of crazy chefs that he started to find pieces of himself that he thought were lost forever. Now, as a sous-chef-in-training at Jamie and Ethan’s restaurant, Bistro 30, Tyler is coming back together; piece by piece. But for all that he loves his job, his opportunity to go to culinary school, and his slightly-overprotective big brothers, Tyler still can’t trust that one wrong move will shatter him all over again.

Trevor has never wanted for money, companionship, or family. He genuinely loves his job managing the careers of celebrity chefs, and now that he is no longer pining for his friend Jamie, he is ready to get their friendship back to the way it once was. But when his feelings for Tyler grow–into something he never planned on–he starts to wonder what exactly he has been missing all his life–and if it matters if he has, because there is thousands of miles and a world of difference between Tyler and him.

When I first saw that there was going to be a third book in this series, I kinda panicked a bit. It took a whole lot of fighting and like a thousand angsty moments to get Jamie and Ethan together, and I was sort of horrified that Nikka Michaels and Eileen Griffin were going to go at them again. Then I read the blurb and felt all kinds of relief. Not only were the authors not going to traumatize me by splinting up Jamie and Ethan (again), but they were instead writing a story about Tyler. And Trevor–must not forget that asshat (all judgements made pre-reading are still valid, if a bit harsh).

This was my second ‘got to love them assholes’ book that I read this week. Totally not on purpose, but since both of them were great reads I am so not going to complain. Trevor, when we meet him in In the Fire (book two in this series), does not show his best face. He manipulates Jamie and Ethan’s relationship, leading them to splitting for 8 years. He was someone who I was totally willing to stab with a spork if I ever met in person. But like all good characters he is not just some bad guy. He has (bad) reasons for what he does, and once you spend a little time with him, you start to understand why Jamie was his friend for so long.

And when he starts interacting with Tyler you can’t help but start to fall in love with him. Because these two are just…awesome. There are all kinds of mixed signals and screwups. Tyler has trust issues about his trust issues. Trevor doesn’t know how to fix things w/o throwing money at it. They really are a hot mess for most of this book. But there is something about them that makes you certain that they belong together. Trevor sees Tyler. Like, really sees him; the good, the bad, the awesome. And Tyler, despite having to deal with Ethan’s constant issues with Trevor, gets that Trevor is more than just a trustfund.

By far my favorite part of this book (and what makes it my favorite of the series) is that there is no bad guy this book. There is no shadowy figure in the background trying to ruin their lives. It is just the mistakes and misunderstandings that these two make that are pulling them apart–and back together. They are drawn together like magnets, but at times they are too similar and they can’t quite figure out how to bridge the gap between them. Money, age, trust, and just plain geography are what they have to fight. And those are not things so easily beaten.

If there is one thing I had issue with in this book (and really, it is the only thing I can think of that I had problems with) it is that these two had way too similar names. Tyler and Trevor…dear lord, those two ‘T’s just screwed with head something fierce before I got a handle on ’em. It doesn’t help that this was a similar problem I had in the two previous books (and at least Jamie and Ethan had totally different looking names). I got it, finally, but man, it was not fun sitting there and going, ‘wait, which one was which?’

If you liked the two previous books in this series, I honestly think you are going to love this one. And if you haven’t yet read them, I would say that maybe you should give this one a shot. I wouldn’t say that it is completely stand alone, but there is a lot here that can be enjoyed even if you don’t know the back-story in detail. I liked all three books, though, so you know what…just read the whole series. The angst of the first two books totally pays out in this book and makes it really enjoyable.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

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