Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Summer Kisses

SERIES:  Kiss Me

AUTHOR:  Charlie Novak

NARRATOR:  Dan Calley

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  6 hours and 27 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  April 15, 2022

BLURB:

Two chefs. Two summers. One shot at a second chance.

Aaron’s Plan

Then:

1. Get a better job
2. Learn more skills
3. Get money for restaurant
4. Don’t fall in love with Josh

Now:

1. Finesse menu
2. Stop being angry at Josh
3. Swear less (Ben’s idea)
4. Stop wanting to kiss Josh
5. Get Michelin stars
6. Stop being in love with Josh

Josh’s Plan

Then:

1. Start new job
2. Try not to burn out
3. Don’t fall in love with Aaron
4. Seriously. Don’t. It will only end badly…

Now:

1. Survive the summer
2. Get a new job?
3. Don’t get involved with Aaron again
4. Don’t think about kissing him
5. Don’t think about his smile
6. Don’t think about how much you still love him

Summer Kisses is a contemporary MM romance featuring two chefs with a complicated history, clashing egos, cheese toasties, and two summers that will change everything. It is part of the Kiss Me series and can be listened to as a stand-alone.

Content warning: This novel contains mentions of drug use and issues of alcohol abuse.

REVIEW:

Aaron and Josh are two chefs who met in London.  They went from hookups to friends with benefits to more fairly quickly as they were both working hard making their way in the London restaurants.  Aaron always had the dream of opening his own place with elevated pub food with his friend Ben.  But as their time together rolls on, Aaron’s more and more dependent on alcohol and drugs to keep up his busy schedule and wind down.  Josh calls him out on it and of course he’s defensive.  Only after Ben tells him he knows Josh was right does Aaron figure out he’s gonna have to do something about it.  So he does.

Fast forward a few years and Josh answers an add for a pub/restaurant needing a sous chef.  Ben is taking care of the business side and the pub is doing well so they need to expand the staff.  He realizes that this is the same Josh from London.  But he doesn’t want Josh to know that this is Aaron’s place before he has a chance to interview him.  Aaron is still pretty angry and Josh doesn’t think that they will be able to work together, but Ben knows that Josh would be a perfect fit for the job.

Josh takes the job and of course he and Aaron pick at each other constantly, much to the chagrin of the staff.  Well except for Ben who just takes it as par for the course.  Eventually things blow though and they are on each other.  They know this could be disastrous for the business if they can’t work together because their personal relationship goes south.  So they keep it on the DL and keep up their Bickersons personas at work.  Until they get found out 🙂  Ben is furious because he and Aaron have everything invested in their restaurant and if things blow up and Aaron’s hard won sobriety is gone and the food goes to hell, well where they all be?

This second book in the series definitely has a bit of a darker tone than the first.  The book goes back and forth from Aaron and Josh’s previous relationship and present day and it’s clear what time period we’re in so there is no getting lost 🙂  It’s clear Aaron is spiraling down a bad path and when Josh calls him on it, he’s completely defensive as anyone in position would be.   A more subjective third party, Aaron’s best friend Ben clears the daylight and forces Aaron to confront what is really happening.  Aaron’s sobriety is fairly hardwon and he does it without a lot of support. He’s got some pretty serious anger issues and it’s good that that doesn’t get glossed over at the end he realizes that maybe it’s time for him to stop taking everything on his shoulders and maybe get some help dealing with things.  Josh always really cared for Aaron – he just didn’t want to watch him self-destruct.  These two really are made for each other and once they get out of their own way, things go down the right path 🙂  I really like all the characters in this story – especially Ben and I can’t wait for his story next 😀

Dan Calley again does his usual good job here.  There are some nice scenery chewing scenes here because of Aaron’s short fuse.  He’s a mini-Gordon Ramsey in the making with his yelling and bossiness, but he really does care about everyone and the success of the business.  Mr. Calley did a great job differentiating the voices of Aaron and Josh and the other characters in this one.  I’m looking forward to the next book in this series.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

Audible