For delizioso pasta, go to Dante's. For a sumptuous Cordon Bleu, go to Vivi's. To really heat things up… get them together.Since his wife's untimely death, Anthony Dante has thrown himself into his cooking, making his restaurant, Dante's, a Brooklyn institution. So far, his biggest problem has been keeping his retired hockey star brother out of the kitchen. But now, a mademoiselle is invading his turf. And you know what they say: too many chefs spoil the neighborhood…
Stunning Vivi Robitaille can't wait to showcase her tastebud-tingling recipes in her brand new bistro, Vivi's. Her only problem is an arrogant Italian chef across the street who actually thinks he's competition. The table is set for a culinary war - until things start getting spicy outside of the kitchen
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I didn't know where I was going to fall on the Deirdre Martin bandwagon, but Just a Taste has added at least one check mark in the plus column. The first Martin I tried was a rare DNF for me, but I just could not warm up to Theresa and Michael. Ack, bleck, no way no how - she was unlikable and he was such a stereotype that every page had something that irked me.
There was still a bit of the stereotypical character stuff going on between Ant and Vivi but at least the two of them seemed to be real people whose motivations I could understand. As a widower Ant doesn't want to have anything to do with Vivi - he just wants to run his family's restaurant and get his nephew out of having to play a sport he hates. When Vivi walks in with her dreams and aspirations of running of a French bistro across the street, he's not exactly jumping for joy. Things unfold kind of as you'd expect with their initial sparks turning into love but all in all it's a fun read and I recommend it (especially if you do what I did and check it out from the library).
Overall Feeling - C+
Series - ...7) Just a Taste 8) Power Play 9) Double the Heat 10) Icebreaker 11) Breakaway
