OMG, this book was good. The absolute PERFECT culmination of this wonderful trilogy. I have fallen in love with these characters and can guarantee you that I will re-read these books again and again!!!Review reposted from my Smitten with Reading blog...My Review:The absolute PERFECT end to this wonderful trilogy. These books blend the perfect combination of fun quirky characters, wonderful insightful story lines, mind-blowing heart-wrenching emotions, and absolutely wonderful food and recipes. It is such a fun combination. All three of the books have been set in the New York restaurant, Market, and have centered around the characters that work there. Like any good restaurant needs good ambience to be successful, these books have used this restaurant's ambience for a lush background and setting that creates a warm and homey mood for the entire series. And it's homey feeling because the crew that work there are really family. They spend very long stressful days together, go out and let off steam together after hours, and are there for each other when one of them has a problem.Latecomer to the family is Wes, the extern from the Academy of Culinary Arts, who first showed up in book #1. In this book, we get to see him come fully into the fold and love of this "family." And he needs this family because he was raised by a father who was a con-man. He raised Wes teaching him the art of the con so that he would benefit his father until Wes got caught pulling a con for dear old dad at the age of 15 which got him sent to Heartway House. It was here that Wes found a love for food and hopes for a different lifestyle rather than running a constant con. But being raised as a con, Wes is pretty comfortable in his own skin and fairly relaxed and laid-back in pretty much any situation...or at least able to cover it if he's not.The complete opposite of Wes is Rosemary. She is a complete and totally socially awkward geek. She graduated from high school at age 12, graduated from college at age 14, and has an IQ of 180, but is totally clueless as to how to interact with others. She is also completely obsessed with Star Trek, chemistry, and has a total recall of every single thing that she has ever heard or read. She's so totally out of her element with simple conversation, but she makes these little statements or thoughts which are flipping hilarious. She has a totally unique view on the world and Wes adores her.I loved their love story- so perfectly written and in the background, we are finally gifted without the final chapter of Jess and Frankie's romance. This gay romantic story has played in the background of all three novels in this trilogy and it has been gorgeous. I have really enjoyed their love story- so much emotion- LOVED IT!I may be biased because I worked in a restaurant throughout college, but this has been an amazing trilogy and it's not over yet. There is a brand new cooking trilogy coming from Louisa Edwards and I hear that some of these familiar faces from Market are going to show up again...Yippee!! Great character definition, but the author didn’t show enough action using the characters’ talents and weaknesses.STORY BRIEF:Wes was raised by his con-artist dad who scammed people for a living. As a result Wes has a knack for reading people – to see their weaknesses and desires. He never went to college and wishes he had been a better student. They traveled a lot and he was pulled out of school to help his dad with scams. At one point Wes was placed in a halfway house for juvenile offenders. This was the catalyst for Wes to stand up to his dad and refuse to be part of any future scams.Dr. Rosemary Wilkins was a high-IQ child prodigy. She obtained her degrees at an early age and does scientific research. Her weakness is people. She has difficulty reading facial clues and doesn’t understand why they do what they do. She had a lonely childhood with high achieving parents who were too busy to spend time with her.Wes is now a student at the Academy of Culinary Arts. Rosemary was recently brought to the Academy to do research. Wes is immediately drawn to her. He takes his dog to Rosemary’s office thinking to charm her. Cornell (the President of the Academy) walks in. He is furious and threatens to punish Wes for breaking the rules by having a dog. Rosemary sticks up for the dog, so Wes tells Cornell that the dog is Rosemary’s and that he is helping her with a research project. Cornell asks what they are researching, and Wes (on the spot) comes up with “aphrodisiacs.” Rosemary is a little shocked but agrees. Then Wes begins wooing her with sensual foods. A few weeks later something bad happens, and Wes has to leave school and stop seeing Rosemary. He doesn’t tell her why. Since then he has been doing his externship working as a chef at Market restaurant – the scene of the previous two books.REVIEWER’S OPINION:There is a lot of potential with these two fascinating characters – each having skills the other lacks. This was a fun idea, but the author doesn’t do enough with it. I wanted more scenes showing Wes’ knack for reading people. I loved the early scene where his fast thinking saved the day with Cornell. I wanted more of that and to see Rosemary admire it.I had a problem with two major relationship conflicts. This is book 3. At the end of book 2 Frankie broke up with Jess for Jess’ own good. That story continues in this book with both Jess and Frankie miserable. I was disappointed that not more happened with their story. It was a fun story in book 1, but it was just touched upon in books 2 and 3. It wasn’t rewarding enough.The second conflict was Wes leaving Rosemary for her own good and not telling her why. Later when she came to him, he still didn’t tell her – at least not for a while. Both of these conflicts bothered me. A loves B. A breaks up with B and doesn’t tell B why. A’s actions don’t fit A’s motivations which is a problem.I was annoyed with “the big misunderstanding.” Wes kept another secret from Rosemary. She overheard him say he was lying to her. When she confronted him, instead of telling her the truth, he said nothing. So she left him. I didn’t believe it. His secret was no big deal. She would have been sympathetic and supportive. Instead he’s going to allow a break up? Not interesting.CAUTION SPOILERS:I was unhappy with Wes’ stupidity. He wanted to confess to Rosemary that his dad was a con-man. He felt his dad should be there in case Rosemary didn’t believe him and wanted to do a DNA test. So his dad said he would not meet Rosemary unless Wes paid him $5000. He also said he would stay away from Wes for the rest of his life if Wes paid him the money. Wes stupidly borrowed money to pay him. The dad has been coming to Wes for years, always asking for money. Wes should have known better than to believe this. This won’t keep the dad away. It’s not even an interesting con. It’s just stupidity on Wes’ part, which did not fit with his “people smart skills.” If you’re going to have a story about con-men, I’d like to see an interesting con. But there were none.I was also unhappy with Wes’ actions when he left Rosemary the first time. He claims Cornell forced him to write a dishonest letter to Rosemary. It would have been easy for Wes to call her afterwards and tell her the truth and how Cornell forced him. He could have asked her to keep it a secret or “whatever” he was worried about. He claims he did it for her own good? I didn’t buy it. This was no fun. I want believable conflicts. I’m ok with a smart person doing something stupid if there’s a reason. Everyone does something stupid sometimes. But give me a believable reason. DATA:Story length: 331 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words. Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: 2. Approximate number of sex scene pages: 25. Setting: current day New York City and upstate New York. Copyright: 2010. Genre: contemporary romance.OTHER BOOKS:I’ve read two other books in the Recipe for Love series and gave them both 3 stars: “Can’t Stand the Heat” (Book 1) and “On the Steamy Side” (Book 2).
What do You think about Just One Taste (2010)?
I got a little frustrated with the characters but all in all, a good romance novel.
—misanred
Food, romance, and a puppy. What's not to like?
—Ash
it was okay, I was expecting a lot more. blah.
—Chikap3psi
