Breakfast in Bed
Rochelle Alers     
December 2021 Releases

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Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: The Innkeepers
Book: 2
Heat Level: Hot

Bestselling author Rochelle Alers welcomes readers back to romantic New Orleans in her warm and sexy series about four very different women embarking on a new adventure . . .

Sometimes you go in search of a new beginning. Other times, it finds you. Tonya Martin enjoys her job as a professional chef for a Wall Street bank, her East Harlem walk-up, and the freedom to live and love by her own rules—right up until the day she finds herself suddenly downsized. But a spontaneous trip to New Orleans opens up a new opportunity. With time on her hands and her daughter soon graduating college, Tonya has the chance to reach for her own long-cherished dream—opening a restaurant on her friend Hannah’s beautiful Garden District estate.

While Hannah and her new husband work on transforming the DuPont House into a luxury inn, Tonya explores local cuisine, taking an apprentice role at famed restaurant Chez Toussaints. Gage Toussaint’s mix of Creole, Cajun, and African ancestry is deeply attractive, and the sexy chef clearly wants their friendship to become much more. Drawn to him yet hesitant given their previous unhappy marriages, Tonya wonders if it’s too late to leap into love again. Could Gage be just the ingredient she needs to make this delicious new life complete?

Includes New Orleans Cuisine Recipes!

I haven’t read a book by Ms. Alers in such a long time. It is so refreshing to come back to something so familiar and comforting. I forgot that Ms. Alers has such a descriptive way of story teller that lures you into the world she created on the pages.

Tanya Martin vows to never allow someone to lay her off in her career again. When the opportunity to move from New York to New Orleans to run her own restaurant, she jumps on it.  She is grateful to her friend, Hannah, for affording her this monumental opportunity. Her good friends, Jasmine and Nydia are in tow for Hannah’s wedding.  

Her first few days there, she meets Gage Toussaint, another chef and part-time musician. He is attractive and alluring, but Tanya been down the path of matrimony before and she is not willing to step out in the romantic department just yet. She is in New Orleans for one reason only, and no matter how tempted she is, she will not be distracted.

I liked the fact that both characters are older. I try to seek a few romances with more mature characters every once in a while so this is definitely a treat. Gage experienced a lot of pain due to his ex- wife. As I read his journey, I felt myself feeling sorry for him. The marriage affected him in such a negative way and his son. Tanya is also deeply affected by her past marriage and she barely escaped him. She basically raised her daughter as a single mother.

The relationship moved very slowly as Gage and Tonya forged a friendship first. They shared a love of cooking and music. If you like food like myself, then the dishes described will have your mouth watering. Side note: the author provides the recipes for the dishes at the end of the book. Eventually, Gage turns up the heat in both the kitchen and the bedroom. I came to appreciate their relationship more.

While I didn’t read the first book in the series, I was not lost one bit. I look forward to going back to reading Hannah’s story. I really want to read the next two books in the series. Are the ladies ready to leave New York and join the rest of the girls in the Big Easy?

~ Samantha