Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Recipe for Romance
AUTHOR: Ari McKay
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 455 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 28, 2019
BLURB:
Welcome to Montgomery House, Charleston’s finest restaurant. When you walk in the front doors of the stately former mansion, you’ll be surrounded by true Southern charm. Owner Rhys Montgomery will personally welcome you, while the tantalizing scents of Executive Chef Stephen Pierce’s latest culinary masterpiece linger in the air. Enjoy a walk in the gardens or an elegant meal in the dining room, as you watch the love stories play out around you…
Bay Leaves and Bachelors — Clay Turner’s heart was broken by a wealthy man who said he was boring. When rich, outgoing restaurateur Rhys Montgomery sets his sights on the quiet academic, drawn in by Clay’s intelligence and sex appeal, he finds he has an uphill battle to win Clay’s trust. Can Rhys burrow his way into Clay’s heart, or will Clay’s insecurity become a wall between them that not even true love can break down?
Fennel and Forgiveness — Seven years ago, Max Boyd broke Darius Cooper’s heart. Darius wanted a commitment, and Max wanted to focus on his career in Georgia’s television industry. Their ten year difference in age and experience tore them apart, but fate throws them back together when Max arrives at the Montgomery House, where Darius now works. Will Southern Wedding Belles bring them a second chance for love or is Darius’s trust too shattered for Max to heal?
Ginger and Gentlemen — Ian Pierce has lived in his older brother Stephen’s shadow his entire life, always feeling second best. His best friend, Matt Davis, is the only person he trusts to be on his side. Despite being in dire financial straits, Ian wants to refuse Stephen’s request to film an episode of Mouth of the South at Ian’s restaurant, but the bonus money offered in the contract is too much to resist. He accepts without knowing the hefty bonus comes from Matt, not the production company. Will Ian feel betrayed by the one person he trusts above all others when he finds out, or will Matt’s desire to help Ian succeed even at his own financial risk take them from friends to lovers at last?
Cinnamon and Seduction — Chef Stephen Pierce has talent and a determination to succeed that is matched only by his fierce temper and prickly personality. Yet his long-suffering personal assistant, Robert Logan, has carried a torch for Stephen since the day they met. Everyone around Montgomery House knows Robert is in love with Stephen — everyone, that is, except Stephen himself. Can Rhys, Clay, Darius, Max, Ian, and Matt find a way to make Stephen see that Robert is the perfect man for him, or will even Robert’s legendary talent for matchmaking fail to win him the man he loves?
REVIEW:
Note: This is a re-release of 4 stories previously released in 2012-2013. The first story has been revised extensively from the original version.
Bay Leaves and Bachelors:
Well this started off with such promise and I liked it much better than the original version. However, I was still a bit disappointed.
Clay Turner is out on his thirtieth birthday with his sister and her husband and the rest of his family at a lovely restaurant in an historic house in Charleston. The owner of the restaurant, Rhys Montgomery, takes an interest in him. But Clay has been burned is extremely insecure – in both his qualifications and also in his ability to be a interesting companion. Nevertheless, Rhys manages to entice him with their shared interest in history and preservation. They bond over historic preservation of the restaurant and Clay asks to write an academic article about Rhys’s project. But Rhys takes their courtship slowly as he is aware of Clay’s ex and lack of confidence.This pace feeds into Clay’s lingering insecurities that Rhys isn’t really interested in him for the long run. Other people further fuel this seething inferiority complex that Clay has going on with unsolicited comments. A compromising scene between Rhys and another man then seems to be the final nail in the coffin and Clay walks out. Then comes the big (well in this case not that big) reconciliation.
There is nothing wrong with this story and I didn’t dislike either main character, but I didn’t really like them either. In fact I didn’t have any feelings at all and that was the problem. I found myself predicting everything that happened in this story and that’s not a good thing. There just wasn’t enough about the characters or the plot to draw me into the story and in the end, I just didn’t really care about what happened to them. But I really wanted Stephen and Robert to get together 🙂
Fennel and Forgiveness:
Darius is the maitre ‘d at Montgomery House. He left his last position in Atlanta after a breakup with a younger man. When a reality show presenting Southern weddings comes to Charleston and Montgomery House, who should be the Director, but Max, the director he broke up with. Their age difference is still an issue, but it seems that maybe Max has grown up and his priorities have shifted.
Max has never stopped loving Darius, but he was afraid to settle down when the suggestion of moving in together happened 7 years ago. He was focused on his career and didn’t think he was ready for such. However, in the intervening time, he’s realized that work isn’t everything and that he would really like to have someone to come home to and the only person he’s ever pictured in that role is Darius. But Darius is obviously still hurt and doesn’t trust him not to break his heart a second time.
Luckily Max is patient and he also has some help from Robert and Stephen who do a little bit of maneuvering to make sure that both men realize what they have right in front of them. Stephen is even involved in helping Darius to realize he might be wrong in letting Max go a second time.
I enjoyed this story and Max and Darius’s second chance at love. Clay and Rhys also appear as supporting characters in this story as well. Stephen and Robert really should be matchmakers though 🙂
Ginger and Gentlemen:
Ian Pierce is Stephen’s younger brother. Stephen has agreed to a TV reality show and he’d like to feature his younger brother’s restaurant on the show. Being in rather dire financial straits thanks to a conniving business manager makes it almost impossible to resist, but he doesn’t like being in his brother’s shadow. His best friend Matt, who has come to his rescue on the business end of the restaurant thinks he should do it.
Matt has a lot of motivation to help Ian’s place, The Filling Station, get back on track. Not the least of which is his unrequited attraction to his best friend. He’s never let Ian know he extent of his feelings. He’s encouraging for Ian to take the plunge with the TV show because he knows that with Ian struggling, he’d never be open to anything else. Stephen and Ian have a difficult relationship stemming from their upbringing. Ian is still a bit resentful about it and that plays into his reluctance as well.
Both Robert and Matt have a vested interest in making the show a success with the added incentive of getting Ian and Stephen to bury the hatchet and build some sort of a relationship. They each have made a lot of assumptions about the other and that has led to the current state of detente. Behind the scenes though, Matt has been doing whatever he can to help Ian indirectly since Ian would never take any support directly. This leads to more misunderstandings and accusations, until finally Matt has to come clean. Ian is shocked, but also glad that it’s been Matt all along 🙂
I enjoyed the fireworks in this one. Ian and Stephen are hell-bent on thinking the worst of each other and not seeing anything but their own points of view. Their best friends/confidants do their best to lead them to water, but they aren’t much interested in drinking 🙂 When everything comes to a head, it’s fun to see Matt and Ian admit their feelings. It’s also good to understand where Stephen has been coming from all these years with the family pressure built into his life, career and success.
Cinnamon and Seduction:
This was the story I wanted to read since book 1 and is by far my favorite in the series. Stephen was easily the most compelling character in this series and I’ve been waiting for his story all along. Robert has been waiting patiently as have the readers of this series 😉
While Stephen is mostly bluster and snark, we get a glimpse of what drives him to keep everyone at arm’s length in this story. Robert is beginning to think that nothing will ever change and he needs to figure out if this is really what he wants out of life. It was cute how all of his friends try to come up with suitable dating material to encourage him to move on from Stephen..
I enjoyed how the couples that Stephen and Robert helped bring together decide to return the favor and nudge Stephen and Robert together. Even Ian gets into the act and tells his brother the way things really are. That was especially nice to see after the fireworks of the previous story.
In addition to this most satisfying story in this series, there were some descriptions of some really good food. In fact, I just might have to make the recipe for the cinnamon chocolate cake with cinnamon frosting or the ginger snaps 😉
Overall, each story in this series for me was stronger than the previous story. The first book was defnitely the weakest, but it sets us up for the rest of the series.
RATING: 
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