If You Can't Stand The Heat

If You Can't Stand the Heat is the first book I've read by Taryn Kincaid and I enjoyed it for the most part. This was a cute story and a quick read. I really liked the dynamic between Lu and Derek. She wasn't afraid to stand up for herself when he comes into her restaurant after writing a review that was making the place go under, and he was willing to stand there and take what she was dishing in order to talk with her. Both characters had strong personalities, but they blended well as a couple. I wanted to like this story more than I did tho. Unfortunately there was a lot of telling instead of showing in this story. I found myself wanting to see events play out instead of being told how they played out between various characters. If that had happened this book would have received 4.5 stars from me. The way it is, I can only give it 3 stars, but still recommend reading it because the story was good. *Note: A complimentary copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review.

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Derek Dunne is a Cordon Bleu-trained food critic for the prestigious New York Monitor, whose scathing review of a popular Italian bistro has driven away all but the most loyal neighborhood patrons.
Lucrezia Serafina DiCicco is a clumsy business school drop-out, working as a chef and scrambling to keep her family’s restaurant afloat, after her father develops diabetes and is banned from his kitchen for his own good.
Now, with The Monitor folding, Derek is searching for his next career path and longing to get back to his first love—cooking—while Lu is desperate for an influx of cash to save the struggling restaurant even as her father puts his foot down regarding non-family employees.
Derek and Lu embark on a marriage of inconvenience to save the restaurant. But can Lu ever really trust the man who nearly destroyed her family and once noted her initials spelled “LSD” and her food was like a “bad trip?”
Or will it be their hearts on the chopping block?