Reviewed by Ro
TITLE: Chef Under Cover
SERIES: Sizzle in the Kitchen #5
AUTHOR: M.J. O’Shea
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 172 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 30, 2024
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REVIEW:
Sean is a former foster kid who never really had anything but has managed to get himself educated. He is now a therapist, living in the amazing carriage house of his fantastic landlord/friend, Percival, and now has friends. He is also exhausted and in dire need of his first-ever vacation. Except when his boss calls, ten minutes before Sean would have been free to leave, it falls to dust because Sean has to treat the hometown football hero, Will, who hurt his shoulder and hasn’t been able to return to the game.
For his part, Will fell into playing football and has been the unwilling star. His parents, coach, friends (except Jamie) and seemingly everyone in town is invested in this man getting into the NFL. It’s a lot, particularly when you realize he doesn’t even want to play. “I had a long childhood of being everything my mother didn’t want.” He’s in the closet to all but two people, and he is desperately unhappy.
Sean and Will get off on the wrong foot, primarily due to Sean, but they quickly get it straightened out and start over. They end up randomly seeing each other outside the clinic and become friendly. Sean has boundaries about client/patient, so they get to become friends before anything else. “But he was also Sean – the guy who’d grown up with nobody.” He is careful but he is lovely.
The story is very low-angst and, in fact, the most angst comes from the fact that Will’s mom is homophobic and really not nice at all. It is unfortunate that we don’t get to see the conversations that happen, we are just told they happened. I would have liked to know what mommy dearest said and how Will responded.
What kept my rating from being a little higher was Will’s actions towards the end. I tried to make allowances because he is young, but still was a douchey move. Other than mom, the characters are great, especially Percival and Jamie. I loved both of them. Oh and there’s a quick Easter egg about cake!
RATING: 
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