Guilty Pleasures, by Cathy Yardley

After the last couple of Blaze books that I've read, I was almost afraid to try Cathy Yardley's Guilty Pleasures.

Mari Salazar has to get her act together — otherwise her backstreet restaurant will quickly become a been-there, done-that kind of thing. She risked everything to create her place, Guilty Pleasures, and she's willing to risk everything all over again just to save it. She doesn't have a plan, but she does have...

Nick Avery is a supersexy chef looking for a second chance. His once-four-star reputation is now no-star, thanks to a longtime rival. When Nick shows up on Mari's doorstep she knows it means trouble, and not just for her restaurant, either! Soon she's not only sampling his delectable dishes, she's sampling the chef himself.

Together they cook up a sinful menu that garners many new patrons, but when opportunity knocks on Nick's door, with high-class offers, he must decide, as will Mari, what and who they truly desire...

This was better. A B-.

The main thing I liked about this book was the food angle, though I have to say that the type of cooking in JAK's books usually sounds more tempting to me than the one here ;-) Still, this was a fascinating glance into the world of high-class cooking, with its contests, its rules and its cutthroat rivalries.

The romance was a bit more ho-hum. I didn't get all that emotionally involved in it, even though I liked both characters. I must say I liked the ending, which dealt realistically with the issues of sacrificing one's ambitions for love.