Friday, November 4, 2016

ONE MORE TASTE by Melissa Cutler



Publisher:     St. Martin’s Press
Published:    October 4, 2016
ISBN:        978-1250071873
Genre:       Contemporary Romance
Format:     Print
Obtained via:  Publisher  
Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com

FOUR HEARTS
 

Chef extraordinaire Emily Ford is about the face her greatest challenge.  It’s not so much that new partner in Briscoe Ranch, Knox Briscoe wants her to prove she’s the best chef around by cooking him dinner for a month.  It’s not so much that she’s on the brink of having her own five star restaurant.  It’s something much more – it’s putting her heart on the line.  And putting it on the line for someone she thinks is everything she’d never want. 

Knox Briscoe may be a blood relative of the family at Briscoe Ranch, but he’s not a close one.  Before he was born his family was banned from the ranch, a “rift” that no one will tell him about, but one that has him bent on revenge against those very same blood relatives.  He arrives at Briscoe Ranch with plans to appear as the saviour for their money problems, then piece by piece dismantle the family legacy.  His prior successes go before him and while he pretends, convincely so, that he’s there for his family, he is more than willing to break their hearts.  The one thing he didn’t count on was Emily and how she would affect him.  But can the love of a good woman…a woman who doesn’t necessarily want to care for him, change a lifetime of anger?

I got hooked on Melissa Cutler’s writing in book one of her One and Only Texas series, ONE HOT SUMMER and eagerly awaited her latest, ONE MORE TASTE.  She did not disappoint.  On the surface Emily and Knox seem like two totally disparate people.  A couple that has no business being together…but in reality they do.  They each have their issues, issues of a lifetime and until the point they meet they have coped—survived their issues, but never dealt with them.  Cutler does a fabulous job of bringing those heart wrenching issues to light.  She then brings her characters a needed healing, both as individuals and together as a couple.  She not only takes Knox and Emily through their own personal growth—but other secondary characters as well.  Those secondary characters aren’t there just to shore up Knox and Emily – they have their own stories told against the backdrop of a very real world.  Some of the characters, like my favorite, Granny June, carry over from book to book. 

I’m not much for cooking myself, but I have to say that I found myself wishing Cutler would have included a few of those recipes at the end of the book—in particular that peach soup. Something for her to consider in future reads that focus on the food served at the ranch.

In ONE HOT SUMMER readers meet part of the Briscoe family and learn a bit about the magic of the ranch.  Cutler builds on that in ONE MORE TASTE, making the reader want to visit their themself.  The setting becomes as much a part of the story as the characters.  In turn it opens the door for a good many stories in the years to come.

Rich in characters and setting, Melissa Cutler’s ONE MORE TASTE is definitely one to add to your gotta read list.




This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

 

No comments: