Waiting on Wednesday: Too Hot to Touch by Louisa Edwards

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

I love Contemporary Romance, and Louisa Edwards has consistently delivered great books.  Her heroes are smart and sexy, and her heroines are too.  It's a bit strange how much I enjoy this series, considering I hate to cook. Perhaps that's why I married a great cook?  I don't know.  All I know is I cannot wait to get Too Hot to Touch into my hot little hands!!!

Too Hot to Touch
~Louisa Edwards

Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Publish Date: August 2, 2011
ISBN-10: 031235648X
ISBN-13: 978-0312356484
From the author's website:
Welcome to the Rising Star Chef competition, where today’s hottest chefs battle it out on national TV for a chance at fame, fortune and culinary supremacy. Every contestant hungers to win, but only one will take the prize...

HE’S GOT THE SIZZLE
When it comes to competitive cooking, Max Lunden is no stranger to winning...though he’s never been great at working with a team. A master chef—and major hunk—he’s traveled the world, picking up new cooking techniques as well as beautiful women. But when the prodigal chef returns home to his family’s Greenwich Village restaurant, he discovers one too many cooks in the kitchen—and she’s every bit as passionate as he is...

SHE’S GOT THE FIRE
Juliet Cavanaugh used to have a crush on Max when she was just a teenager, hanging out at Lunden & Sons Tavern, hoping to catch a glimpse of the owner’s oldest, and hottest, son. Now a chef herself—competing in the biggest culinary contest in the country—Juliet will be cooking side by side with the one man she’s always admired...and desired. But despite their simmering attraction, Juliet is determined to keep her cool—no matter how hot it gets...

Read an excerpt.

What are you waiting for?

Review: Can't Stand the Heat by Louisa Edwards

This book falls into my New Author Reading Challenge.

The cover of this book caught my eye - I don't know why but I think it's really sexy. I think it's the bare feet and long jeans (sorry, Hannah, I know how you are about feet!). Maybe it's that the model looks tall - you know how I am about tall men.

Miranda Wake is a food critic. She's apparently very good at what she does, and has a reputation as a tough cookie. Adam Temple is a chef who's finally opened his own restaurant. At the press soire a few nights before the grand opening, Miranda has a few too many drinks and starts to insult Adam, who replies with a challenge to come into his kitchen to see what it's like from the other side of the table. He doesn't expect her to accept, but she does. The PR people for both Miranda and Adam love it - all the free publicity - and the challenge turns into Miranda spending a month in Adam's kitchen. Miranda plans on writing a tell-all book about her experiences in the kitchen, using the proceeds from the book to finance her younger brother Jess's college tuition.

After a very prickly start, Adam and Miranda realize they're attracted to each other. The scene where he takes her to his home to teach her to cook was soooo sexy! I really liked Adam's character and didn't want Miranda to publish her book. Every time she started having second thoughts, I thought to myself "Don't do it! Don't do it!".

This book had an unexpected secondary romance that I absolutely loved - Miranda's younger brother Jess. He's 19 (I think) and comes home from college due to an unexplained difficulty. As it is revealed that Jess is gay, the romance that blooms between Jess and Frankie, Adam's very good friend/manager, was a delight to read. Miranda's reaction to the relationship was realistic and the events that followed had me rivited. I think I liked the Jess/Frankie storyline as much as I liked Miranda/Adam's!

I thought the very end of the book was a *teensy* bit over the top in a spectacular way, but other than that I really, really enjoyed this book - I give Can't Stand the Heat 4 1/2 stars.

Her next book, On the Steamy Side, just released and I plan to read it very soon.