Spooning Leads to Forking

Kilby Blades

Apr 2020 · Hot in the Kitchen Book 2 · Luxe Press

About this ebook

From USA Today best selling author Kilby Blades, the next installment of the Hot in the Kitchen series..

Leaving her name—and her job as a top food critic—behind in New York, Shea Summers seeks respite in Sapling. Her borrowed mountain getaway seems perfect for writing her opus. It’s also perfect for riding out a messy divorce and hiding the roomful of cash she kind-of-sort-of stole from her ex.

Too bad Sapling is a remote, three-restaurant town with food that leaves much to be desired. Sexy grocer, Dev Kingston, may be Shea’s saving grace. The way he looks at her with his aspen-green eyes shows her everything her marriage was missing, and he can special-order every delicacy she craves.

But Shea’s not the only one who isn’t what she seems. Dev moonlights as a sheriff’s deputy, a fact she finds out too late; a string of suspicious crimes finds newcomers under scrutiny; and her ex is going to extremes to find out where she is.

Taking the money and living under an assumed name might be on the right side of wrong, but dating Dev is a dangerous game. She's still running and he's still the law.

Ratings and reviews

A Book in Search of a Focus While eventually a lot happens in this book, it starts off very slow, so slow that I considered DNFing it because seeing a woman have a semi info dump telephone call with a good friend and then going to the store—followed by another semi info dump from the potential love interest who happens to be working at that store—just b0red me. This took up almost the first 10% of the book. I wondered when it would get interesting… and eventually, if it would. Unfortunately, when it did become less slice of life, it almost felt like there were too many things going on, like the potential romance, the town’s mysterious happenings, and all the balls that the heroine had to juggle as she was trying to hide from her manipulative husband she was trying to divorce. Some plot threads were dropped. While the members of the community were individual and sometimes quirky, there seemed to be too many to keep track of. Despite what felt like navel-gazing at the beginning, I didn't feel like I was able to truly get to know and connect with the hero and heroine. Their romance felt more fizzle than sizzle. The heroine was juggling so many alternate stories and lies with different people that I wondered how she could keep it all straight. Ultimately, the book felt unfocused to me, a book in search of a genre that didn't quite succeed. I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

The town of Sapling and its very limited food, whatever source, at the healthy grocer, the baker, the pub, or the one restaurant, the Big Spoon, are very unfulfilling for Shea Summers, until recently of NYC and well-followed food critic, Kent, for the Times. But the small town certainly has been an opportunity for Dev Kingston's talents: he is owner/manager of both the grocery and the Spoon, as well as acting sheriff and leader of the town's developmental council. First, the story focus is on Shea, her hiding from her husband from whom she is seeking a divorce, and the fact that she has bags of cash stashed in the glasshouse she is living in. But then the focus shifts to other crimes being committed against the sawmills that provide the means for most of the town to earn its living. In the end, the spotlight lands on Dev as he falls in love with Shea and solves his heritage problems as well as the crimes as his plans for acquiring and redeveloping the sawmills finally come to pass in a very emotional and satisfying way. I enjoy Ms. Blades' books and this is another good one.

The premise was there but I think the plot is just too heavy which caused a lot of busyness with slow progress on each dilemma. I did finish reading it but I couldn't really connect with the characters so it was just an ok read to me. I was sent a free book and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

About the author

Kilby Blades is a USA Today bestselling author of Romance and Women's Fiction. Her debut novel, Snapdragon, was a HOLT Medallion finalist, a Publisher's Weekly BookLife Prize Semi-Finalist, and an IPPY Award medalist. Kilby was honored with an RSJ Emma Award for Best Debut Author in 2018, and has been lauded by critics for "easing feminism and equality into her novels" (IndieReader) and "writing characters who complement each other like a fine wine does a good meal" (Publisher's Weekly).