October 22, 2012

Review: Too Darn Hot by Pamela Burford

Author - Pamela Burford
Genre - Contemporary
Series - N/A
Format - Ebook (144p.)
Rating - 4/5 stars
Read the excerpts

Rule Number One: Never mix business with pleasure. New York restaurant reviewer Lina Holland learned that lesson by watching her beloved mentor self-destruct, and she's not about to make a similar mistake, even if the chef and owner of the restaurant she’s secretly reviewing is the most sexalicious hunk who ever seared a T-bone. It's not enough to be scrupulously impartial, she must avoid even the merest whiff of favoritism. Date a restaurateur? She can't allow herself to even think about it. Okay, she thinks about it, but that's all. Really!

Chef Eric Reid is a widower struggling to raise twin boys and keep his fledgling Long Island restaurant afloat long enough for word of mouth to lift it out of the red. Little does he suspect that the intriguing new customer groaning in ecstasy over his bourbon pecan tart is none other than the legendary Lina Holland, the reviewer whose thumbs-up could spell the difference between colossal success and the extermination of his lifelong dream. No one in the industry knows what Lina looks like, but he's convinced she's a brash, zaftig shrew who applies her makeup with a putty knife. When he finds out how wrong he is, the fun really starts!

Throw in a buttinsky roommate, a lecherous ex-husband, bribery by chocolate, and the fishing excursion from hell, and the result is, well, too darn hot!

• Review •
TOO DARN HOT was a great read. I enjoyed almost every aspect of my time spent with it. There was great tension between the H/h, a quirky side character that made for decent comic relief, excellent pace. The story was believable even if a bit predictable and very dated. Although, I really wish I had gotten more of the romance between Eric and Lina. I liked these two and I was disappointed being left out of the joys of them falling in love.

Basically, all the reader is shown is them meeting, sniffing around each other for a few weeks and then having sex. Jump ahead several months (4 iirc) and they're madly in love and quickly approaching the 'Big Misunderstanding' and subsequent resolution/HEA. I didn't see that love play out and grow, so I find it hard to believe at the end. For that reason, despite giving a decent grade, I won't be adding this book to my keeper shelf for future rereads. I look for romance in my romances and don't feel TOO DARN HOT delivered on that front.

Cover musings:

Hate it. But it's been my experience that Pamela's hideous covers contain really good reads.

Favorite moment:

- When Eric brought Lina breakfast… Silly and fun and cute.

★★★★

2 comments:

  1. Many thanks for your review of my book Too Darn Hot, Tina! I'm happy to say it's still free for a limited time. I'm thinking of changing the cover. Suggestions appreciated! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The type of covers I prefer, unfortunately, aren't very popular. I'm a fan of the more bright and kitschy/cartoony type covers. Either way though, my thoughts on covers are non-factors in my ratings of the books themselves =)

      Delete

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