After a critic’s review attacks both Chef Liam Walker’s culinary skills and his personal life, Liam can no longer take the heat of the cutthroat New York City restaurant scene. He needs to get out of the kitchen—at least long enough to cool down and regroup.
At the Overlook Resort in North Carolina, Liam meets owner Carter Galloway. Carter has a passion for the hospitality business to rival Liam’s own, and it’s not hard to see where their shared interests—and attraction—could lead. But Carter has no interest in a fling, and Liam has no intention of walking away from the career he fought so hard for. If they want a taste of happiness together, they’ll have to find the courage to break the bonds threatening to pull them apart.
Narrated by: Dorian Bane
Listening Length: 5 hours and 26 minutes
I LOVE chefs, cooking, cooking shows, the whole nine yards. One of my favorite movies is Chef with Jon Favreau because of that scene. You know the one.
That shit cracks me up every single time!
Anywhat, I mention all this because this book is very chefy and Liam had a Chef moment that landed him at an upstart resort in North Carolina on a sort of forced vacation. The resort is owned and operated by Carter Galloway. In short order, Liam takes over the kitchen because they're serving "swill" *cackle break* and things start to turn around for the resort quickly. If you're not big on the food biz this may not be your cuppa. Obviously, I thoroughly enjoyed that part and could talk your face off about the whole celebrity chef/NYC thing versus making a name for oneself outside of the Big Apple, but I'll be good and refrain. However, the romance kind of took a backseat, in my opinion
At one point I actually thought Rocky was going to be Liam's love interest rather than Carter. However, I did really like both of Liam and Carter and Rocky, for that matter. Carter and Liam become friends mostly because Carter isn't the hook up kind and he can't envision being happy in a long distance relationship since Liam in New York and Carter in North Carolina which I respected. He knows his limitations and was upfront about them, didn't play games but was also honest about his attraction to Liam.
This is definitely a slow burn, so slow I think I missed the burn part but somewhere in there they became attached. There's only one sex sect at the end that, honestly, I could've done without but I'm glad they got their HEA and I wouldn't be averse to continuing on with this series.
With regard to Bane's narration, I really like it! His Liam was great and I kept thinking he sounded like someone I know and then it clicked: Fred Thompson. Loved that guy's voice! All the characters were distinct and he brought enthusiasm to his narration. He's got kind of a rumbly thing happening that I dig.
Lastly, I'm not really sure how to word this but there were parts of it that felt patched(?) in, like, it wasn't all recorded continuously? The volume would vary during these times as though these passages were recorded elsewhere. IDK maybe somebody else who's listened to it can articulate it better than I, but it was kind of... odd and usually took me out of the story.
Nevertheless I still enjoyed this audiobook and would recommend it to foodies.
A review copy was provided.
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