Reviewed by Amber
TITLE: Devil’s Food at Dusk
SERIES: Just Desserts #3
AUTHOR: M.J. O’Shea & Anna Martin
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 200 pages
BLURB:
Joe Fitzgerald hates New Orleans, but he’s stuck there until he convinces one stubborn local family to sell Lumière, the crumbling French Quarter restaurant they’ve owned for generations. The place is a wreck, and it’s hemorrhaging money. Joe figures he’s their best chance for survival.
Remy Babineaux despises Pineapple Joe’s and everything the chain stands for. He refuses to let Lumière become some tacky corporate tourist trap. Theme drinks and plastic beads in his restaurant? Yeah, right. Over his dead, rotting corpse. The last thing Remy wants is a meeting with the restaurant chain’s representative, but his father agreed to at least listen to the proposal. There’s nothing Remy can do about it.
Remy figures an anonymous hookup is exactly what he needs to decompress. When he ends up across the table from his fling the next morning, real sparks fly. Joe refuses to give up his prime location; Remy refuses to give up his legacy. It’s war, and they’re both determined to win at any cost. Neither of them counted on falling in love.
REVIEW:
These two authors together are a match made in heaven. They really do create magic together. The details in this story actually made you feel like you could feel the humidity of New Orleans, taste the spices in the air, and the richness of the Devils food cake. The romance between these two was set a slower pace even though their first sexual encounter was early on in the story and was suppose to be a one off.
Remy Babineaux was born and raised in New Orleans. He runs his families restaurant and it’s his love and passion. Creating new delicious recipes with his brother Andre for their loyal patrons is his true love. He’s not blind however to the fact that years of neglect to the centuries old building has put the family in a financial bind. Remy is all too aware of the chain restaurant interested in buying them out. He’s adamant however that he’s not interested in selling.
Joe Fitzgerald is a business wiz. He’s trained for years in the corporate world and his specialty is closing sales. His boss sends him to New Orleans with the sole purpose of buying out the Babineaux family.
The day before his first meeting with the Babineaux family Joe goes out to a bar to unwind and meets a beautiful man. They enjoy a night of fiery passion.
The following day Joe enters his meeting and realizes his one night stand is Remy Babineaux. Needless to say sparks fly during the meeting and not in a good way. But unfortunately for Remy and Joe the attraction is still there burning as bright as ever.
Remy struggles with knowing Joe is the “enemy” but still wanting him. Joe struggles with the fact that fraternizing with Remy isn’t in his companies best interest. They both can’t seem to help themselves.
Even though they enter into this tentative relationship without the best intentions, feelings develop on both sides.
The conflict you feel building from the very beginning but you can also see the lust and attraction turn into something more.
I enjoyed this story. The writing was exceptional, like always. I think this was a great addition to the series.
RATING: 
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