Kate Jenkins doesn’t believe in fate. She believes in a clear vision, meticulous planning, and hard work in order to achieve her culinary dreams. On the cusp of opening her own Parisian restaurant, Bistro Exotique, she isn’t even concerned when her standoffish—and annoyingly sexy—neighbor dismisses her as a crazy American tourist or when she meets the wildly eccentric Garrance, the self-proclaimed Spice Master of Paris, who ominously warns her of the previous owner’s failures.
Confident and optimistic, Kate keeps calm and cooks on. Until a series of unfortunate events derail her plans and her entire staff quits.
Kate is about to throw in the kitchen towel on her lifelong dream when Garrance offers to use her mastery of scents and spices to help her, but it comes at a price: Kate must work with Garrance’s son, Charles, a world-class chef and total jerk. After Kate hesitantly concedes to the deal, she slowly learns to open her heart and mind to new concepts, not quite sure if the magic she’s experiencing comes from Garrance’s spices, from within herself, or from the growing chemistry with Charles. One thing is certain, though: her kitchen is getting increasingly hot.
Release Date: Dec 6, 2022
Heat Level: Sensual
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Berkley
Price: $9.99
Kate Jenkins is finally ready to open her own restaurant in Paris. She just has to get through her own challenges, and boy does she have a lot. When she finally loses her staff and her dreams, she must rely on Chef Charles (this reclusive rich guy) to help her succeed in Pairs. The only problem is she can’t stand Charles.
Chef Master Charles is the complete opposite of Kate. He finds her A personality to be kind of annoying. However, he can’t deny that the more time they spend together in the kitchen, the more he likes her.
If you are a foodie and love to travel, this is the perfect cozy romance to read. The author gives beautiful descriptions of Paris and all the places to eat. I can’t wait to travel there one day. The author adds a few recipes that I can’t help but to try one day.
Here is the thing with this story it has a lot of the elements that I typically love, but they somehow fall short. The romance is a bit lighter than I had anticipated. Kate has a lot of anxiety and issues around intimacy that I just couldn’t buy into, but at the same time, there is this lustful spirit of hers. It just takes entirely too long for them to fall in love the way that I had hoped.
The author uses a lot of French in the story. While that normally wouldn’t bother me, I think I would have enjoyed the audio version of this story much more. To hear the author’s words in my ears would have made the story come to life.
Overall, if you love food and cute, funny romance, The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique is for you. I look forward to trying other books by Ms. Verant.
~ Samantha
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