4.5Abby Coates owns and operates The Coates Inn in Cape Cod, but business isn’t doing so well. She needs a chef and an infusion of cash to do renovations to get her lovely inn back in the black. If she can’t do either she’ll have to declare bankruptcy.Enter Storm Dupre. A very talented chef from California, Storm needs to get away from the atmosphere of fakeness that surrounds him. When he spies Abby’s ad in the back of a food magazine he falls instantly in love. With The Coates Inn. He senses the owner is desperate and he plots to buy out the inn and make it his own. But we all know about best-laid plans, right?Ah, Emma Holly, how I love thee, let me count the ways. While this book was originally published in 1998, I didn’t discover Emma Holly until about seven years ago. She has a way of putting the reader right there among her characters and when the scene gets smokin’ hot, well, a voyeur would be right at home.Take Abby and her sudden need to dump her long term boyfriend who just wasn’t doing it for her just before Storm rolls into her life. Storm loves cooking and sex and he’s made it his life’s passion to be the best at both. He unlocks something in Abby that she didn’t even know was there and now she’s free to explore. And boy does she explore, with Storm and with others. *fans self* I loved Abby taking charge of her sexual exploration. Some might call her a slut for it, but how can a person know what they like if they don’t experiment? If she were a man no one would raise an eyebrow and that double standard pisses me off. Go, Abby, go!I didn’t expect to love Storm and his cocky attitude, but underneath it all he has some vulnerabilities that he has to deal with and it makes him an endearing character rather than an irritating one.Secondary characters are well-fleshed and add a lot to the quality of the story. I wouldn’t mind seeing more stories involving everyone mentioned. All-in-all a smokin’ hot romance.*Book source ~ My home library.
WOW. That's really all I can say. You know, I read everyone's reviews and they all claimed this book was just something you HAD to read to experience it. And I went into it thinking, eh it can't be that over the top....Boy was I wrong.After I read this book, I realized I've never properly read erotica before. I have read a lot of what I call "dirty romance" which is click-lit with some heavy sex scenes. I've even read some kinkier "dirty romance" books. But those are NOTHING compared to this book.For my first taste into the true erotic fiction category, I have to say this was a good choice. I first thought this was a "dirty romance" book and put it on my to-read list a year ago because it was set on the Cape and I have spent many summers there. The book had great characters and despite how much sex was going on, I really liked the story. As for the actual content of the sex scenes, it was probably a little past my personal comfort zone in several of the scenes. I just kept thinking, "there can't be people who really have this.much.sex are there?"Maybe so, maybe not.As another reviewer said - would I read this again? No. Am I glad I read it? Yes. I won't be rushing out to find another erotic fiction book to read, but if I did (slash maybe if I DO), I'll look to another Emma Holly book because I thought she did a GREAT job!
What do You think about Cooking Up A Storm (2007)?
Si buscáis una historia de amor, aquí NO la encontraréis. Si buscáis una protagonista que se pasa toda la novela acostándose con un chico y después con otro, y después con otro, y después con otro, y entre medias, con su sexy y dispuesto al compromiso cocinero, entonces si es la vuestra. ¬¬
—Mayu
Before I went to work one day, I decided to check out the new fiction shelf at work. Among all the bestsellers,I saw this book. Now when I first saw the cover of "Cooking Up a Storm," it was just showed a woman carrying a basket of fruit and label as an "erotic romance".What does that mean? I figured that it was just one of the boring, plotless books that the library buys. Boy, was I wrong. Before I began reading, I found out some things about the author. Emma Holly is an author for Cheek Press, a publishing company out of London.This piqued my interest and I wanted to see how a Englishwoman would write about Americans.She impressed me a great deal.Now,on to the book. As I began to read this book about a french chef with plans to take over a small Cape Cod restaurant, I was completely drawn into this book. Not only are the characters well written, but the sex scenes are spectacular. I loved this book so much, I ran out he next day and bought all of Emma Holly's books. Yeah, they're that racy. Abby is a character that I really enjoyed. She is like a lot of women I know, including myself. She is the type of woman that is full of untapped potential and is afraid of her fully exploring her sexuality. However when Storm is finished with her, she is more than ready to fully embrace any experiences that come her way be it professional or sexual. Storm is portrayed as a cad when the book first begins. I really felt that he was a guy who was willing to do whatever he had to in order to reach his goal. It is only seen later in the book that we find out the source of his behavior. I can't stress enough how much I love this book. Not only is it a well written story with a great plot, it also has enough hot scenes to get anyone's pulse racing.
—Tamara Evans
From this book, I learned that I don't want to read any more Emma Holly except her paranormal stuff. I saw no plot, just a series of loosely related events punctuating a series of sex scenes. Now, I like steamy well-written sex scenes when the promote character growth, move the plot forward, or help the characters realize something about their feelings for each other. This was none of the above; it was just sex for the sake of thrills, and I felt dirty reading it. Me, who can read a Jaid Black or a Lora Leigh with relish.What kind of happily ever after is it when the protagonists never commit to monogamy? This book was not for me. I'm surprised I finished it.
—Mollie *scoutrmom*
