"A compilation of mouth watering short romantic love stories"
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
Reviewed by Marilyn Rondeau
Posted April 26, 2008
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