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A review by infogdss29
The Slowest Burn by Sarah Chamberlain
5.0
Love The Bear? Here’s another take on the culinary world and fine dining. When Kieran, a reality cooking show winner, aka Happy Pirate Leprechaun, gets a cookbook deal, it’s dependable, super-organized young widow Ellie who gets saddled with the job of managing a reluctant “author” who just wants to be taken seriously, and not just seen as the chaotic fun guy as he struggles with his ADHD and dyslexia. Ellie is used to taking care of people, from her little brother to her still-grieving mother-in-law, smoothing things over and saying yes and making other peoples lives tidy as a kind of mitzvah. It is serving her or helping her to achieve her own dreams of a place to cook and write, and a cookbook of her own?
Kieran’s attraction is almost instantaneous, but when he fails to respond to emails, and then tries to show off by inviting Ellie and her best friend, a food photographer named Nicole, to a high-end Valentines Day dinner, Kieran and Ellie’s public fight over the shallowness of his cuisine goes viral, forcing the publisher to send them on retreat to his Sonoma cabin for a week to start hashing out the cookbook. On the road, they trade a question for a question in an effort to get to know one another.
When they finally subccum to their passion, Ellie sets a boundary that her place is for work and Kieran’s place is for fun, and they have to keep the relationship on the down low, as she could get fired for having a relationship with her cookbook author. The tension builds when they are discovered kissing during the food photography sessions.
Chamberlain’s food writing is outstanding; cookbook writing, recipe testing, the ghostwriting process, and a glimpse into restaurant industry are all lovingly rendered and fascinating. Judaism is a subtle thread of family, food, love, obligation, and service throughout, though Ellie isn’t traditionally observant (she doesn’t keep kosher or attend services).
The chemistry is there, Chamberlain expertly draws out the sexual tension, and the consummation includes consent, safety, and boundaries. Their childhoods, trauma, and struggles are portrayed in a way that shows they are ready for healing, and for each other with a maturity and grace and depth that is refreshing and heart-wrenching. The way they build each other up and support each other is lovely, from Kieran pushing for a writing credit for Ellie to Ellie showing up as Kieran’s fake girlfriend at a family function. Kieran, a red-head, is trying to uncouple himself from the caricature he’s been saddled with. A little younger, and a little shorter than curvy, world-weary Ellie, he is the one who makes her snort with laughter and feel joy again in a world she was just bleakly existing in, even as she made her plans for a life that moved forward, apart from her marriage.
Secondary characters are drawn in 3-D. Ellie’s support for her Jewish in-laws and the strain it puts on her is balanced with their care for her, and their memory of their son Max. Her best friend Nicole’s flirtation with Kiernan’s front-of-the-house bestie Jaye has just enough tease to make the reader want them to get their own novel, next.
I received an advance reader’s review copy of #TheSlowestBurn via #NetGalley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press.
Kieran’s attraction is almost instantaneous, but when he fails to respond to emails, and then tries to show off by inviting Ellie and her best friend, a food photographer named Nicole, to a high-end Valentines Day dinner, Kieran and Ellie’s public fight over the shallowness of his cuisine goes viral, forcing the publisher to send them on retreat to his Sonoma cabin for a week to start hashing out the cookbook. On the road, they trade a question for a question in an effort to get to know one another.
When they finally subccum to their passion, Ellie sets a boundary that her place is for work and Kieran’s place is for fun, and they have to keep the relationship on the down low, as she could get fired for having a relationship with her cookbook author. The tension builds when they are discovered kissing during the food photography sessions.
Chamberlain’s food writing is outstanding; cookbook writing, recipe testing, the ghostwriting process, and a glimpse into restaurant industry are all lovingly rendered and fascinating. Judaism is a subtle thread of family, food, love, obligation, and service throughout, though Ellie isn’t traditionally observant (she doesn’t keep kosher or attend services).
The chemistry is there, Chamberlain expertly draws out the sexual tension, and the consummation includes consent, safety, and boundaries. Their childhoods, trauma, and struggles are portrayed in a way that shows they are ready for healing, and for each other with a maturity and grace and depth that is refreshing and heart-wrenching. The way they build each other up and support each other is lovely, from Kieran pushing for a writing credit for Ellie to Ellie showing up as Kieran’s fake girlfriend at a family function. Kieran, a red-head, is trying to uncouple himself from the caricature he’s been saddled with. A little younger, and a little shorter than curvy, world-weary Ellie, he is the one who makes her snort with laughter and feel joy again in a world she was just bleakly existing in, even as she made her plans for a life that moved forward, apart from her marriage.
Secondary characters are drawn in 3-D. Ellie’s support for her Jewish in-laws and the strain it puts on her is balanced with their care for her, and their memory of their son Max. Her best friend Nicole’s flirtation with Kiernan’s front-of-the-house bestie Jaye has just enough tease to make the reader want them to get their own novel, next.
I received an advance reader’s review copy of #TheSlowestBurn via #NetGalley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press.