Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Soufflés at Sunrise
SERIES: Just Desserts #2
AUTHOR: M.J. O’Shea and Anna Martin
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 206 Pages
BLURB:
“Welcome to a new season of Burned, where we find fresh new cooking talent… and a few culinary disasters! Every season we do something a little different, and this time it’s all about the sweet things in life. Get ready in week one as twenty pastry chef hopefuls and dessert connoisseurs compete for the thirteen coveted workspaces in our *Burned* kitchen. With stakes this big, we ask the one question on everyone’s mind: Do these chefs have what it takes to rise to the top? Or will they get Burned?”
Burned contestants Chase and Kai are attracted from the start and can’t wait to spend more time getting to know each other… until they see the first episode treatment and realize the producers intend to portray them as bitter enemies. At first it’s fun to pretend to bicker—enemies on film, lovers when the cameras stop rolling—but soon it’s hard not to take the faux rivalry seriously. It’s only when their choice is to band together and bake their way to the final or get burned that they find where their real loyalties lie.
REVIEW:
Judge me if you will, but I’m an absolute slave to reality TV. And when reality TV is paired with m/m books, well shit, it’s like Christmas and my birthday have come at once. I’ve read my way through all the ones I know of – the singing shows, the dancing shows, the dating shows, but I think that this is the first cooking show story that I’ve come across. If somehow I’ve missed an m/m version of Survivor or I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, I’d be forever indebted to the person who points me at it!
Burned brings together thirteen aspiring dessert chefs who are looking for fame and glory and a nice cash prize. Eight men and five women, housed together in a luxury penthouse apartment, forced to share bedrooms and bathrooms – I really wish there’d been a little more bitching between the contestants. Each week they’re forced to battle it out through themed eliminations, while three celebrity judges critique the creations they produce…yada yada yada, well, you all know how these cooking shows work. I don’t know why, but I particularly liked the skeevy host. I got and image in my head of Caesar Flickerman (from the Hunger Games) and I just loved it every time he made a brief appearance.
Our two main characters are Chase and Kai. Chase is a wholesome farm-boy who owns his own organic ice-cream store back in his home town. He’s not at all confident to be up against trained chefs but he really wants the recognition for his small business. Kai, on the other hand, oozes confidence and enters the competition pretty much expecting to win. He knows that he’s better than most of the others and he’s prepared to play the game. When Chase is flustered and falling behind during their elimination round Kai offers to help, knowing it will win him popularity points. The two men are attracted to each other right from the start, and see no reason not to secretly start dating, even though it’s against the rules of their contract.
This story was a little slow to start as the contestants work their way through the various weekly challenges. I know sometimes books with chefs can cram in too much food info, and it’s possible that some people may think that about this book but, for me, the authors did a fab job of skating that line between too much and not enough. In fact, I think I’d be more likely to whine if we saw less of the show, that is the point of the book after all.
I totally enjoyed the way the relationship between the men developed. At first I wondered why the authors included the domination games the men began playing in the bedroom. I thought it was completely out of character and to start with I didn’t really like it. But then as Chase found some confidence in the kitchen the reasons the authors included it made sense and I actually liked that twist. Usually if a story includes “the big misunderstanding” I want to knock off a few stars on principal. It’s one of my pet hates. But I must say that I was impressed with the way the…fight, for lack of a better word, between Chase and Kai was written.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Now I just need to go back and read the first one and then wait patiently for the next. Oh, yes. I forgot to mention that this is part of a series, but no worries, they’re all standalone stories.
Bonus points for the croquembouche, because what’s a reality cooking show without one, and for this epic line,
“This week you chose to make something wholesome and traditional. It’s the best thing this judge has had in his mouth since your dick.”
RATING: 
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