A review by mldavisreads
Stirring Up Love by Chandra Blumberg

adventurous lighthearted slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Adult contemporary romance.  This is second in a series but can be read on its own as well.  Simone has come back to her hometown of Hawksburg, Illinois after years in Chicago.  She is handling the day-to-day operations at Honey and Hickory, her grandfather's BBQ restaurant.  She also has ideas about expanding the community businesses and making the town more of a shopping destination.  Finn Rimes is a cook trying to sell his brand of barbecue sauces to finance his own dreams.  Finn gets invited to sell his sauce at the local farmer's market and Simone freaks at the competition.  They both get the idea to pitch their product on a Shark Tank style show.  

There was a lot of great banter between the two characters, and I liked that they brought out the best in each other.  The show situation added some tension and a bit of a timeline to their relationship development, and the road trip offered some forced proximity.  The book did move fairly slow, but I enjoyed reading it and I hope there is at least one more story about Finn's friend Darius.