Dirty Cooking

by Carley Mercedes

[chymerra]

When I read the blurb for Dirty Cooking, I was intrigued. Dirty Cooking is the second book that featured a live-in chef turned lover that I have read. I wanted to see if the book lived up to the promising blurb. It did.

Dirty Cooking’s plotline was straightforward. Melanie wants to do more than work at a greasy diner. Her best friend tells her about a live-in chef position and she interviews for it. Sparks fly between Eric and Melanie. They try to keep their relationship professional, but it spirals into a sexual relationship. But Eric has secrets. These secrets have the power to tear their relationship apart.

I didn’t like Melanie, but I understood why she acted the way she did. Her ex hurt her bad. She was afraid even to try dating again. Her attraction to Eric scared her, and she used food and sarcasm to cover it up. I did think that Melanie was immature at times. Like when she found out about Eric’s past. I understood that there was a “no secrets” part of the relationship but seriously? They were dating for two weeks!!! He didn’t know her enough to trust her.

I did like Eric, and I did feel bad for him. I couldn’t imagine growing up as a foster child and not having a permanent home. He did the absolute right thing in taking Hunter and running. I did think he was a little over the top during Melanie’s interview. I also believe that he was in the right for not telling Melanie about his past. Like I said above, they had been dating for two weeks. That is nowhere enough time to get into that stuff.

My mouth watered while reading this book. I wanted to eat Melanie’s cooking for myself. Everything she made sounded so good.

The sexual tension was through the roof. The author did a great job of keeping that sexual tension at such a high level. Same with the sexual attraction. When Melanie and Eric finally did have sex, it was one of the hottest scenes I have read to date.

I want to mention the storyline with Eric and his past. My heart broke for him. He was only seven years old!!! All I have to say about that.

The end of Dirty Cooking was your typical romance HEA. Everything ended with no dropped storylines. There was no lag in the plotline, and all the characters stayed in the book. No one went poof.