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Reviews for Recipe for Love
by Multiple Authors
Rating: 5*
SUSPICIOUS MINDS – Leanne Burroughs –Burroughs starts this
impressive anthology off to a great start with her SUSPICIOUS MINDS
story. In combining all the elements needed for an emotional,
passionate story, with a wee dram of humor in special moments when
lines from Elvis Presley songs would mysteriously pop out of a
spooky juke box at the precise moment needed to keep everyone on
track. Darcy had an immense amount of stress to deal with including
a broken heart for trusting the wrong man. Only Ross knew she was
perfection personified, from the first moment he met her and wanted
nothing more than to lift the world off her shoulders and her pert
little body into his bed for the rest of his life. A truly delicious
start to this anthology with a bonus recipe at the end of this story
for Butterscotch Squares looking awfully yummy, too!
A SPAGHETTI KIND OF LOVE – Michelle McGinnis - Mama Mia, or better
yet Great Grandma Carmella’s red sauce; you have to admit if the way
to a man’s heart is through his stomach, shouldn’t women have equal
rights, too? Well it wasn’t just for Dave’s grandmother’s sauce
recipe, but I loved the pure honesty of how Dave went about showing
and telling Meggin how much she meant to him and how he wanted their
future to progress. This one was short, sweet story complete with a
beautifully romantic declaration of love.
A HEART’S HUNGER – Anne Elizabeth – Memories are like stealthy fun
loving puppies, biting you on your heels to remind you to remember
what is best not forgotten. The author uses this vehicle with
Carolyn and her friend Tina as she and her best friend chat over
shared memories as well as sharing the chores of putting together a
family meal. The reader sees no matter how much Carolyn wanted to
forget her roots, they were always there, especially when every
prospective male she met was measured up against Bennett and they
all fell short of expectation. This was a sweet story, with a lovely
romance stirred into the pot.
KISSING KATE – Jaquelin Lorin – While this is a very common plot
line where the boy runs away from home to seek fame and fortune
leaving behind a trail of broken hearts, the authors puts a very
sentimental and heart tugging emotional spin on it to reveal facts
of the true reasons why Nick left and what events led him to stay
away. She revealed Kate’s inner turmoil over still loving him so
much, in such a way that this reader shed tears as if I were the one
left behind who didn’t want to get hurt again. This was a perfectly
lovely story, and I can’t wait to try out Kate’s ‘peach cobbler’
recipe!
BIRTHDAY BLUES – Amy Blizzard – This was a very sweet, witty and
clever story. Claudia was an extremely up-tight and suspicious woman
who was surprised at her door by a very handsome dude who could have
been a molester or burglar and her reactions to him were completely
plausible. Nick, the chef, wasn’t quite sure what he’d gotten
himself into by doing a favor for her friend Dawn but when Claudia
let her hair down, he was ready to prepare any dish she wanted. The
dialogs were yummy as is the recipe for Sweet N Simple Fruit Salad.
CLAM CHOWDER FOR SAMANTHA’S SOUL – by Jill and Julia – Well, I’m not
sure about the recipe for ‘Whitaker’s Clam Chowder’ recipe at the
end of this delightful short story, but the story itself was mighty
tasty. Admittedly, Mitch acted like a real ass when he assumed all
the wrong things about Samantha, but thankfully the introduction of
a delightful wise-cracking gnome-chick by the name of Lola, gave him
the inspiration to save his butt and not let Samantha, the next best
thing to ice cream, get away!
THE TROUBLE WITH BELGIAN WAFFLES – Kristi Ahlers –
I so enjoyed this story! Not only was the author able to make you
laugh out loud with Claire’s disastrous attempts in the culinary
arts, but you had to love her klutziness as well. Detective Drake
definitely noticed his neighbor, obviously not for her culinary
talents, but as one very sexy looking young woman he would really
like to taste. The pacing was just right in this, the dialogs were
lovely and the obvious attraction both felt for one another was
‘smoking’ – just like Claire’s attempts at cooking! Loved the
proposal and had a tear in my eye. Superb!
KEEPING HANNAH SAFE – Billie Warren Chai – In one short story this
author managed to grab hold of your attention with a very funny
kitchen disaster, spark it up with a wild attraction, toss in a
twist or two with a little bit of suspense and have it all come
together in one totally enjoyable and heady romance. Excellent
characterizations and with so much going on in this tale, I’d love
to have seen this as a full length story!
RECIPE FOR DISASTER – Bobbi Dumas – The author paints Jason as all
that is kind, considerate and loving – anyone’s ideal of a special
person in their life. She also paints a complex guilt ridden heroine
who has loved Jason from childhood and relished her summer vacations
to visit. This was a very good, sweet and emotionally touching story
where the author explained and showed the guilt parents could load
up on a young child. Thank goodness for happy and wonderfully
romantic endings and a terrific dessert.
SOUP d’AMOUR – M.J. Sager – Both Connor and Layla were very well
defined and giving Layla a gift of sight where she immediately saw
herself married and making love to this stranger made this short
story all the more enjoyable. What Connor’s matchmaking Uncle Leo
couldn’t do in his life was to arrange to have the two people he
knew were soul-mates to get together once and for all after his
death. Well-written, humorous and sensual with a wonderful recipe
for my favorite soup!
SWEET SAUERKRAUT – Gerri Bowen – There’s nothing more I like than a
sweet Regency tale and though this was short and sweet it combined
all the elements I look for in a historical read with humor and a
little bit of silliness to toss in the pot. The idea of a Regency
lady wanting to cook was clever and original. During that period, it
was one thing to cook privately in the home, but to enter a contest
where the judges would be from the upper echelons of society, now
that is original! Very well done, but just can’t say I have a
fondness for sauerkraut, sweetened or otherwise!
THE MAN HAS A SWEET TOOTH – Diane Davis White – Sadie the Shady
Angel and her mentor Pricilla are back into the swing of things to
help two strangers make a match. Bottom line on this story is that
the author has a marvelous sense of humor and though not the leads
in this story, the reader is definitely going to remember Sadie the
Shady Angel and Pricilla as these two angels argue over how to get
Joe and Leonora together! The dialogs are witty, and the sexual
attraction is strong making the reader smile from start to finish
and the recipe for Easy Raspberry Brownies sounds positively
decadent!
THE PUMPKIN PIE MURDER – Victoria Houseman – Shall I say this was
sweet, with all the beautifully described pastries that came in only
second to this “love at first sight” story? Well, it was sweet, and
the old cliché of ‘love at first sight’ was beautifully played out
under this author’s well-written hand. Both characters, Detective
Sara Stone and Silas Edwards were very well fleshed out and with a
tad bit of humor added into the pot, you couldn’t ask for more –
except maybe one of Silas’s pastries!
CHICKEN WHAT DU HELL – DeborahAnne MacGillivray – Remy (aka Royce
Torqhill Remington Kinross, the 13th Marquis of Dunmoor and Seafeld)
and his cat Bubba were not scoring points with the gifts Bubba was
dropping off at their beautiful neighbor Catonia’s house. Although
Bubba, who kept bumping his head in adoration of Catonia’s beautiful
boobs seemed to be getting a lot further along in the romance
department than his master, Remy was bound and determined to change
that right quick!
What a wonderful story Ms. MacGillivray submitted to end this
beautiful collection of short stories all featuring some fabulous
recipes. I absolutely adored Bubba the cat, whom Remy thought could
have been a rogue in another life and been turned into a cat by a
jealous witch – he seemed so human and was getting all those booby
caresses! Remy when he turned on his Cajun accent was a sensual
delight, with his wonderfully delicious ‘pick-up’ lines. All the
characters were well-developed and this short story was simmering
with sensuality.
All in all, I don’t think the reader will find a better compilation
of mouth watering short romantic love stories than in RECIPE FOR
LOVE! This is a highly recommended volume – perfect for beaches,
doctor’s offices, or anywhere you’ve a few minutes to read.
Marilyn Rondeau, RIO - Reviewers International Organization
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