REVIEW: All Fired Up by Kate Meader

All Fired Up (Hot in the Kitchen #2) by Kate Meader: Cara DeLuca, the perfectionist, the cold, hard, “Lemon Tart” that everyone refers to her as, only appears perfect. But looks can be deceiving.

“I’m Cara and I’m a perfectionist. I manage like noboby’s buiness and I also happen to be related to Jake Kilroy

One crazy night in Vegas at her cousins batchlorette party Cara does something wild, something crazy, something totatally not herself…..she marries a total stranger, Shane Doyle. Now back in reality land, she wants an annulment, but the more time that she spends with Shane, the more she gets to know him, the she begins to question her decision to end their sham of a marriage, and make it the real deal.

“I’m Shane and I’m an idiot. I make pasteries for a living, and I happen to be related to Jake Kilroy.

Shane Doyle, pastry chef, hot Irish hunk, cannot believe that after one night in Vegas he is married to Cara DeLuca. Shane has secrets that he has not shared with anyone, he has a plan. But when he is with Cara, he feels something that he has not felt in a long time. Being with Cara makes him want all of the things that have been missing in his life, a home, family, friends,……his wife. When the secrets come to light, Shane and Cara will have to make decisions about what is important and that their life, their love is worth fighting for.

Ok, All Fired Up by Kate Meader is the second book in the Hot in the Kitchen series. I have to say that I fell in love with the first book, and the second book makes me want to keep coming back for more. What I loved about this book you might wonder, well let me tell you.

The characters. I knew that there was more to Cara DeLuca than what meets the eye. But as this story unfolds you start to see her in a new light. Yes, on the outside she projects a cold, hard, “Lemon Tart” shell, a perfectionist who has expectations for herself and everyone around her, but on the inside, she is a scared, wounded soul, trying to make up for mistakes she made and secrets that she is afraid to share with her family. Not until Shane, does she start to open up, let someone see beneath the hard shell, to see the real person that she is.

Then there is Shane. He has held onto a secret that he has kept close for over 12 years. Beaten and abused by a drunk father, finding out that he has family that never knew he existed, he comes with a lot of baggage and a big chip on his shoulder. But at the story unfolds, Shane begins to realize that things are not what they seem, and that opening up might just be the salvation that he is so desperately looking for.

“Jack is the reason I walked into your life, Cara, but you are the reason I stayed.

There is a lot of humor, love, laughter, some heartbreak, but in the end, a WONDERFUL HEA. I would totally recommend All Fired Up, as well as the all of the other books in the Hot in the Kitchen series to anyone looking for a great story by a wonderful author.

Book Info:

Published November 5th 2013 by Forever | (Hot in the Kitchen #2)

Her sweetest mistake . . .

Cool as a Chicago winter, private events planner Cara DeLuca is a model of self-control . . . until she meets the one temptation she can’t resist: Shane Doyle. The sexy, Irish pastry chef is too hot, too sure, too young, and after a crazy night in Vegas – her new husband. While at first Cara wants nothing more than a way out of her sham marriage to Shane, she soon finds that beneath his farm boy demeanor lies a man who can match her drive, both in and out of the bedroom. How can the wrong guy feel so deliciously right?

. . . Tastes so, so good

Shane has carefully structured his career and life around one goal: connecting with the family that doesn’t know he exists. Marrying a woman with more issues than a magazine stand wasn’t part of the plan, but melting Cara’s icy exterior is so worth the detour. Now as the annulment date nears and long-buried secrets are revealed, Shane will have to fight for the one thing guaranteeing the perfect life he craves . . . the current Mrs. Shane Doyle.