Giveaway + Release Blitz: Recipe for Romance by Ari McKay

Ari McKay & Signal Boost Promotions stopped by the blog today to promote Recipe for Romance, a collection of four short stories all involving cooking that's out now! Find out more & enter in the giveaway for a backlist ebook from the authors. Good luck!

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Blurb


Four couples, four different stories -- and one spicy Recipe for Romance from author Ari McKay!


Welcome to Montgomery House, Charleston’s finest restaurant. When you walk in the front doors of the stately former mansion, you’ll be surrounded by true Southern charm. Owner Rhys Montgomery will personally welcome you, while the tantalizing scents of Executive Chef Stephen Pierce’s latest culinary masterpiece linger in the air. Enjoy a walk in the gardens or an elegant meal in the dining room, as you watch the love stories play out around you...


Bay Leaves and Bachelors -- Clay Turner’s heart was broken by a wealthy man who said he was boring. When rich, outgoing restaurateur Rhys Montgomery sets his sights on the quiet academic, drawn in by Clay’s intelligence and sex appeal, he finds he has an uphill battle to win Clay’s trust. Can Rhys burrow his way into Clay’s heart, or will Clay’s insecurity become a wall between them that not even true love can break down?


Fennel and Forgiveness -- Seven years ago, Max Boyd broke Darius Cooper’s heart. Darius wanted a commitment, and Max wanted to focus on his career in Georgia’s television industry. Their ten year difference in age and experience tore them apart, but fate throws them back together when Max arrives at the Montgomery House, where Darius now works. Will Southern Wedding Belles bring them a second chance for love or is Darius’s trust too shattered for Max to heal?


Ginger and Gentlemen -- Ian Pierce has lived in his older brother Stephen’s shadow his entire life, always feeling second best. His best friend, Matt Davis, is the only person he trusts to be on his side. Despite being in dire financial straits, Ian wants to refuse Stephen’s request to film an episode of Mouth of the South at Ian’s restaurant, but the bonus money offered in the contract is too much to resist. He accepts without knowing the hefty bonus comes from Matt, not the production company. Will Ian feel betrayed by the one person he trusts above all others when he finds out, or will Matt’s desire to help Ian succeed even at his own financial risk take them from friends to lovers at last?


Cinnamon and Seduction -- Chef Stephen Pierce has talent and a determination to succeed that is matched only by his fierce temper and prickly personality. Yet his long-suffering personal assistant, Robert Logan, has carried a torch for Stephen since the day they met. Everyone around Montgomery House knows Robert is in love with Stephen -- everyone, that is, except Stephen himself. Can Rhys, Clay, Darius, Max, Ian, and Matt find a way to make Stephen see that Robert is the perfect man for him, or will even Robert’s legendary talent for matchmaking fail to win him the man he loves?

Ari McKay is the professional pseudonym for Arionrhod and McKay, who have been writing together for over a decade. Their collaborations encompass a wide variety of romance genres, including contemporary, fantasy, science fiction, gothic, and action/adventure. Their work includes the Blood Bathory series of paranormal novels, the Herc’s Mercs series, as well as two historical Westerns: Heart of Stone and Finding Forgiveness. When not writing, they can often be found scheming over costume designs or binge watching TV shows together.


Arionrhod is a systems engineer by day who is eagerly looking forward to (hopefully) becoming a full time writer in the not-too-distant future. Now that she is an empty-nester, she has turned her attentions to finding the perfect piece of land to build a fortress in preparation for the zombie apocalypse, and baking (and eating) far too many cakes.


McKay is an English teacher who has been writing for one reason or another most of her life. She also enjoys knitting, reading, cooking, and playing video games. She has been known to knit in public. Given she has the survival skills of a gnat, she’s relying on Arionrhod to help her survive the zombie apocalypse.


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Review: The Color of Summer by Anna Martin

Tattoo artist Max Marshall races into his hometown of Sweetwater, West Virginia—and is promptly pulled over for speeding. Max’s luck isn’t all bad, though, because he recognizes the deputy, Tyler Reed, Max’s childhood best friend’s older brother.

Reconnecting with Tyler helps Max settle back in, and it also leads to attraction. But when he tries to explore that connection at the grand opening of his tattoo studio—by kissing Tyler—awkwardness ensues. Max wants more, but has he misread Tyler’s signals?

As a single father raising a six-year-old daughter, Tyler doesn’t have much time to date. He’s ignored his attraction to men for years, but he can’t stop thinking about the kiss he shared with Max. If he can handle the complications of dating in a small town and the possible consequences to his career, this romance could blossom with all the colors of summer.

Anna Martin stories are always so easy to read regardless of the subject matter. She’s the kind of author where the words just flow so I forget I’m actually reading as the story just moves and before I know it I’ve read 200 pages. The Color of Summer is the same and while Max and Tyler’s story could have been angst filled it wasn’t and I was happy for that, the ease of everything matched with the characters personalities well.

The lack of conflict will make this story less memorable than others in the long run though. Tyler had a lot to reconcile with his sexuality, but he rolled with it pretty easily, almost too easily, but as I said, that seemed to fit with his personality, so he would have had to have been constructed differently to add angst and I really liked him as he was. He had an ‘everyman’ quality to him that was refreshing to read for a change. He was a nice guy from a nice family with a nice little girl and there’s nothing wrong with that and it’s probably more true to real life than a lot of characters.

Max is edgier than Tyler with his full sleeve tattoos and the opening of his tattoo shop in the small town he grew up in. He always wanted to open his own shop, and his catalyst for opening it in his hometown now is so that he can be close to his mom after she suffered a stroke. He may seem a little cooler than your average small town cat, but he’s also a good boy who loves his small family.

The best parts of the book were the conversations between Max and Tyler as they got to know one another (again) after not seeing one another for years. Tyler is Shaun’s older brother and Shaun is Max’s best friend since childhood. So the two had a relationship as much as that setup would allow so the chemistry of their new relationship could realistically be accelerated a bit and that worked well. They had history but also the newness that is so fun to read.

I had a tough time wrapping my head around Max and Shaun’s friendship. I was told they were besties but Shaun didn’t have much page time so I didn’t really know him and I definitely didn’t have a feel for the two of them together. So, when Max and Shaun had a confrontation in the kitchen about Max dating Tyler, Shaun’s reaction seemed really terrible and then over. I felt like I was watching from the periphery though without the subtext of their relationship to be able to understand what happened. It really could have been no big deal, but without the extra info, it seemed way more over the top than necessary. But maybe it wasn't, I just don't know.

The buildup was really well done. The feel of the story to me was that I was going to read a “quietly” romantic story. I love those. They are more subtle and believable to me and when it comes time for the feelings I can buy into them pretty easily. The last third of the book felt rushed though. A lot happened and there was some external drama that threw wrenches at the characters heads and served as an unnecessary impetus for things that would have happened eventually anyway. It was kind of a lot to introduce and then wrap up in a short-ish amount of pages. I would have been fine with more focus on the family dynamics as Max and Tyler really started to commit to one another and lost their final hangups. There was too much big stuff crammed into the epilogue that should have had more pages dedicated as what transpired were life changing decisions and declarations.

It was really nice to read a story with families that loved and supported one another and minimal drama. Communication is a lovely thing to read and Max and Tyler were very good at it so while I may not remember the subtle specifics long term, I will remember how the story made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**

Review: Rules of the Chef (Southern Charm #1) by Nicole Dennis

When hotelier Samuel Ashford arrives to change things, Southern Charm chef Dakota Mitchell fights against it and nothing will be the same.

Learning about the sale of his beloved home – The Southern Charm, chef and co-owner Dakota Mitchell is having a hard time with the potential changes. He wants nothing else to alter.

Chosen by his family's company Ashford Hotels to re-create the Charm into the latest chain of boutique hotels, Samuel Ashford enters the Deep South. Inside the overgrown, run down appearance, he learns the Charm is run by people who care and love the building, the delicious food, and their guests.

Can these two put aside differences and arguments to save the Charm? Even if it means they find a little love along the way.

I really loved the premise of this story. I was expecting enemies to lovers, southern charm, quirky secondary characters and a small town I wanted to visit on vacation. The story started out well, Dakota is slightly cantankerous, but given the news his business partner is selling his half of the business to a big hotel chain I could sympathize with him. When Samuel shows up the metaphorical fur flies and of course there is attraction. The tension was delicious and when Dakota stopped an argument with a heated angry kiss I was like “woohoo, here we go!”

What followed was a push and pull of emotional whiplash. Honestly, Dakota became a little exhausting. I get that he is passionate about his restaurant and I can forgive artists for a little crazy behavior and I do see a chef as an artist. But to me he read as just plain unstable and I kind of felt bad for Samuel. Dakota had a reaction at one point that was just over the top and it took me out of the moment. There was begging on knees involved. Samuel just kept commenting about what a good kisser Dakota was though, so lucky for Dakota or Samuel may have lost his patience and hightailed it back to New York.

There were a few practical things that threw me off. I can usually be pretty forgiving with one or two licenses with reality when it comes to moving a story along, but these just didn’t make sense to me, especially given the fact that the whole crux of the story is the business of the hotel. Samuel Ashford is part of the Ashford family who owns the powerful Ashford hotel chain. So, I was a little surprised that Samuel spent so much time on his own sorting paperwork. Seriously, that was most of what he did, sorting and filing. At least that is how it was described. It sounds nitpicky, but it seemed like a waste of resources when someone, anyone could have helped him. I know he was waiting on Chandler to come down from Corporate (more on Chandler in a minute), but come on somebody could help the guy and move the process along.

Then, when Dakota was telling Samuel about one of his employees who had a sick mother and Samuel makes a comment about employees getting health insurance (good, obviously) and then “I’ll see what we can do to waive the time (to wait to join the health care plan) for Dorian and his mom and figure out a way around her pre-existing condition.” Hmmm. I don’t think that is how insurance works. I even did a little research (yeah, I geeked out a little, plus I’ve done HR work) and apparently it is VERY difficult and VERY rare to add a parent to health insurance much less one with a very serious pre-existing medical condition, you don’t just “find a way around it”. So, yeah, sorry, I geeked out a lot. But when stuff is thrown out so casually and it’s so not accurate, the whole “business” aspect of the story loses credibility. I need the basics to be a little believable and at least ballpark accurate.

 There was repeated reference to a character that I kept waiting to meet. Chandler sounded intriguing and when he still hadn’t been introduced by the 70% mark I was getting a little concerned he may never show. Apparently he is a whiz with numbers and Samuel’s best friend, but he has some anxiety issues that make travel difficult. He could really be a great character, unfortunately he was never introduced in this story so that was a bit of a letdown. There were some great secondary characters though, Mal, one of Dakota’s assistants, Cecile, the hostess and Elise, the front desk manager. I liked all of them a lot and conversations with them were much more organic than conversations between Samuel and Dakota.

The conversations between Samuel and Dakota were honest in that they told exactly what they felt, but that was part of the problem, I was told, not shown how they felt for each other. As their relationship progressed it became even more so. Quotes like:

“I want to hold you like I did our first morning together. It was the first time being true to ourselves and our desires.”

That doesn’t sound like a natural part of a conversation and if I’ve been shown that, I don’t need to be told, the second sentence makes the declaration sound awkward and soap opera-ish. A little editing would have helped the conversations.

During the last quarter of the book a lot of new characters were introduced and serious drama happened. I wasn’t sure how it was all going to get wrapped up in the small portion of the story left. We met a contractor, sheriff, doctor, and we are led to believe we will meet a landscaper and accountant. And guess what, they are all gay and all hot. Although I’m assuming the gay and hot on the landscaper and assuming the hot on the accountant, because we know he is gay from Samuel’s description. The contractor, sheriff and Dakota are all quite tall apparently and it was pointed out repeatedly in comparison to Samuel’s more diminutive stature. They were referred to as “the taller males” and at one point Samuel “flushed under the wonderful masculine attention”. During the whole story Samuel was the one with the voice of reason and strength and in a sentence or two and with the introduction of a couple of characters it seemed he was emasculated before my very eyes. I get he was flattered, but he’s a grown man and not a blushing virgin bride. That kind of bummed me out.

The story ends with a HFN, sort of as Samuel has only committed to extending his stay, the mystery of the shoddy bookkeeping was not solved, the other late breaking drama was not solved and a lot of doors to sequels were opened, but this one gave no closure. I’m totally fine with sequels and series, I love them, but this just ended so I felt a little gipped at the end. I’m curious to see who the sequel will be about and will look into it when it’s released because I still love the premise of this series. I’m hoping the next story will get a little bit more traction because I know that sometimes it takes a book or two for a series to find its groove. I hope the Southern Charm series finds its own groove in the next book.

A copy of this story was provided in exchange for an honest review