Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Blue Plate Special

SERIES: Table for Two (Book 2)

AUTHOR: Layla Reyne

PUBLISHER: Layla Reyne Publisher

LENGTH: 145 pages

RELEASE DATE: January 24, 2023

BLURB:

Giving orders in the kitchen is chef Noah Becker’s specialty. He’s made a name for himself dishing up seasonal, farm-to-table comfort food at the local diner. A name that isn’t really his.

The last person Ezra Rosin expects to find while he’s on sabbatical in a small town is his son’s best friend. The one he helped disappear thirteen years ago. The one who’s grown into a hauntingly beautiful man.

Noah and Ezra grow closer, reconnecting over their shared love of food and wine until their friendship smolders into more. They agree to explore the unexpected dynamic, to enjoy each other while Ezra finishes the semester, but when past and present collide, Noah and Ezra must decide if their chemistry across the table and between the sheets is enough to cook up a delicious future together.

Blue Plate Special is a stand-alone M/M foodie romance novella in the Table for Two universe. It features an age gap romance between mature characters, family finding their way back to each other, and lots of noshing.

REVIEW:

I first read Layla Reyne  and fell in love with her writing with her MMF What We May Be. I didn’t realize that this book was set in the same town and I was going to get to connect with past characters. What a treat.

Noah Becker has finally settled down for a breather in the Hanover, North Carolina. Hopefully his abusive and homophobic father has forgotten about him after 13 long years on the run in fear of his life. A life he wouldn’t even been still alive for if not for his best friend Tyler and his parents The Rosin’s stepping in to help him escape. So imagine his surprise when Abel’s friend Professor Sexy is Mr. R sitting in the both at his restaurant. The same Mr. R that he discovered was a bit kinky the same night he was saved. The same Mr. R who’s sexy as can be! And the same Mr. R that he has made sure to steer clear of, along with his wife and his former best friend, for their safety sake. That Mr. R! Now what is he to do???

Noah/Hudson’s story crushed me. His alcoholic and abusive miserable excuse for a father should have been taught a lesson years ago. I know that Hudson made Ty promise not to say a word to his parents after he discovered the abuse that was going on across the hall to his best friend but that night was scary and both boys are lucky they made it out of there alive. And then to discover that all he really wanted, when he was trying to chase him down, was Hudson’s trust fund from his dead mother! That man really needed a beat down of his own for what he put him through the last 13 years.

Ezra and Noah story was so great though. I loved that the Rosin family accepts that love is love and you are allowed to go after what you want and need without judgement. And neither men let the age difference be a problem. I understand Ezra’s mental conflict of Hudson as a boy growing up and Noah the man that he wants and desires was confusing and conflicting. And I love that it was his dear friend Abel, the sheriff from What We May Be, that helped to calm his fears and conflicting thoughts of what was okay. I think even the change in identity/name might have made that a bit easier for Ezra to separate. I know that all the Rosin’s felt guilt for how Hudson had suffered right under their noses and that night was a hard, bitter pill to swallow but I loved that Noah never saw it that way. In fact they were his heroes and saved him. And the fact he worried that he had to protect them so kept away from them was truly hard to read.

As I said, we caught glimpses of Abel and also references to Dram, Greg and Tony’s restaurant in New Orleans that it sounds like Ty invested in, and the fact that they now might have a son (??) named Amos that Ty’s Mom Al alluded to? I know the next book in this series is her story. I did enjoy the first book in the series that introduced us to Greg and Tony.

Again, I really enjoy Layla Reyne’s writing style and even though this is a novella it doesn’t feel like one. And knowing how these books interconnect with books in other series or standalone books makes that all come together even more. Although it isn’t necessary to read all those books I will say that I have really enjoyed each one.

RATING:

BUY LINK:

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