Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: The Missing Ingredient
SERIES: Dreamspun Desires #63
AUTHOR: Brian Lancaster
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 220 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 7, 2018
BLURB:
It can take losing everything to realize what you had all along.
Up-and-coming London chef Marcus Vine is poised on the edge of success, but the only men courting him are investors. That leaves Marcus with some free time—which is fortunate, because his godchildren need him.
A year ago, a horrible accident killed Marcus’s best friend, Raine, leaving her children without a mother and her husband, Tom, without a partner. Consumed by grief, Tom has been going it alone, refusing help, but when Marcus sees him out with the children, it’s obvious that Tom and his two daughters need someone. His persistent caring finally wears Tom down, allowing him to accept the comfort Marcus offers. Soon Marcus is up to his elbows in homework, home-cooked meals, and after-school activities. Over time he helps them rebuild their world, until soon their lives are approaching normal.
Then the unexpected happens: Tom confesses he has romantic feelings for Marcus, and nothing can ever be the same.
REVIEW:
I had gotten into a Chef sub-genre after reading several books about Chefs lately and this one sounded interesting. Glad that I tried it out.
Marcus Vine is the new and up-coming chef and the one to go to in London. Now he is branching out more, including trying his luck across the pond in New York City, to fill his time. He has his one-nighters but knows that there isn’t much more for him. He had seen the perfect life with his life long best friend Raine, her gorgeous husband Tom and their two daughters (his two goddaughters). But that perfect bubble was popped when Raine was killed in a senseless automobile accident and Tom had become a somewhat recluse, asking for space. That space came crashing down when Marcus accidentally runs into the small family at a fast-food restaurant. Marcus knows he has to step up to the place and fulfill his godparent duties. All is going great until Tom starts to act a bit strange and is backing off their friendship. When finally confronted, he blurts out that he his attracted to Marcus and having “feelings”. Can a straight man form a loving, lasting relationship with his dead wife’s gay best friend?
I am a sucker for the gay-for-you trope. I love watching the “can I be attracted to him when I was married to a woman and have never looked at a guy that way before” wheels spin. When Tom finally kisses Marcus and states:
“Well. That’s one mystery solved,” whispered Tom as he lowered Marcus back to earth, his lips tickling Marcus’s ear.
“What do you mean?”
“I wondered if my attraction to you was all in my head” came Tom’s husky voice before he thrust his substantial rock-hard groin into Marcus’s own arousal. “Apparently not.”
These two had tiptoed each other in fear of causing problems for so long it was finally great to see it all transpire.
I fell for Marcus hard. He is caring, loyal and a great guy. My worse fear was that he would get hurt badly again by Tom pushing him away once too often. Even though he was named London’s best looking and most eligible bachelor I don’t really think he thought that highly of himself. He was all about his restaurants and Tom’s family. And, even though Tom was confused about his attraction to Marcus, he irritated me with his sudden on/off moments. I really felt like he had made Marcus his “dirty little secret” and that was completely unfair because Marcus did everything for him and his daughters. The bright moment was when Tom finally humbled himself and went all out to show his love and commitment.
All in all, it was a quick paced, sweet love story and I enjoyed it. I am looking forward from this new-to-me author.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: