Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: Stronger Than Passion
SERIES: Chesapeake Days (book 2)
AUTHOR: Katherine McIntyre
PUBLISHER: Hot Tree Publishing
LENGTH: 251 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 11, 2022
BLURB:
Hudson West is the enemy. Nico Shah is trouble. However, when they’re forced to collaborate on a town project, they can’t stop the passion from burning.
Hudson West is the enemy.
The calm, arrogant, stupidly hot owner of the rival restaurant in town never fails to push Nico Shah’s buttons. So when he and Hudson are invited to collaborate to cater the Chesapeake Days festival, he wants to say hell no. But with his mother’s upcoming transplant, he needs that money.
Nico Shah is trouble.
Hudson’s noticed the gorgeous, witty flirt and has veered far away. He’s looking for commitment while Nico’s looking for his next flavor of the night. Except now that they’re working together, neither can ignore the chemistry that’s one spark away from burning down a forest. And when they finally collide, the connection is beyond anything either has experienced.
But with Nico still terrified of the word “boyfriend” and Hudson needing someone who belongs to him, this can only end in heartbreak.
REVIEW:
I couldn’t wait to see what made Linc’s best friend Nico tick!
Nico Shah is a strong businessman that owns the Port of Call Restaurant and bar where his friends support him and hang out for a fun night out. But, with his dear mother’s impending pancreas transplant surgery and it’s cost, he has to make his 5-year anniversary celebration a huge success so he can help out with her bills. The only thing is that some how Hudson West, owner of his competition Harbor Pointe, has stole his band that he needs to make the night a huge success monetarily. When Gale, the woman that is heading of the Chesapeake Days Festival, summons him to her office he has no idea that her plan is to have him to collaborate with Hudson and they run Chesapeake Eats together. How in the world can he turn down an offer like that but can he work together with the surly man that fights him every time they meet?
I love a misunderstanding from the first meet kind of book and this one was perfect. Both men are strong-headed and can pull off resting bitch face like an art! But that fierce exterior is just a mask for the hurt they both individually carry. When that mask begins to crumble and trust starts to wiggle its toe in it was hold on to you hat because you are in for a swift and bumpy ride!
My heart hurt for both men but for opposite reasons. Nico losing his dad at such a young age shaped his gruff persona of a one-and-done kind of guy. Love and relationships hurt too much as evidence every time sees his mom look at his father’s picture. And poor Hudson. His family, barring his sister, were pretentious and controlling Snobs! Who the hell has a child sign a promissory note when they offer to pay for college? That is if they follow every single rule their father sets forth. He could have cared less about Hudson and his wants and needs. Everything has to look perfect and following your father, brother and sister into medicine was required…even if it drained his very soul!
I loved this book and this series. I love that these aren’t always perfect men and that their relationships are strained. Life happens and it makes you leery. But learning to move on is a theme I can grab hold of. These aren’t easy romances but men that struggle with their demons and have to learn to trust and live again. I can’t wait for Nico’s little brother Taran’s story. There is something definitely up with Nico’s old buddy from high school that just showed up in town and I can’t wait to find out that story!
RATING: 
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