REVIEW: Recipe for Kisses by Michelle Major

Recipe for Kisses by Michelle Major: Chloe Daniels has escaped an abusive marriage only to find herself running a toy store. She uses the toy store as a way to help other women who escaped from abusive relationships, providing them jobs and support to get them back on their feet. Her generosity, however, has caused her to be months behind in paying her rent, and now the new building owner wants her out.

Ben Haddox is a chef, famous from being on a cooking reality show where he’s known for yelling at the contestants. He tells Chloe he wants her out so he can open a restaurant, but it’s more than that; he made a promise to his brother to close the toy store where his brother is convinced his downward spiral started after a childhood incident that occurred there.

Chloe was a great character. She’s taken her experience in her marriage and used it to help other women, even if it meant digging into her bottom line.

Despite what Karen probably thought, Chloe wasn’t totally inept as a businessperson, but that hadn’t been her biggest priority in running the store. This had been a safe haven for her when she’d needed it most, and Chloe had wanted to make that true for every person who walked through the front door.

She wasn’t really upset at the prospect of losing the toy store–it wasn’t her dream job–but she was upset at the possibility of losing the chance to help women.

Ben comes across as brash, and the man can’t seem to speak in a normal tone. He’s always yelling, but he’s truly a good guy. He quickly realizes by Chloe’s reactions to him and the yelling that she had been victimized and tried his best to tone down his volume. He also makes sure move in a ways that Chloe wouldn’t find threatening.

Ben had returned to town to help his father raise his brother’s children after Cory winds up in jail. Throughout the book he struggles between fulfilling his brother’s wish of closing the toy store and doing what’s best to help Chloe and her cause. He also struggles with connecting with his niece and nephew. He wants what’s best for them considering everything they had gone through, but he didn’t really know how to interact with them without being his normally gruff self. Chloe could tell he wanted to connect with them and tries her best to help him with that.

While this is a standalone, there’s another book by this author in which Chloe was introduced called Kissing Mr. Right. That book is about Chloe’s best friend, Kendall, and also introduces her other friend, Sam, both of which make appearances in this book. In this book there’s also a reference to Jenny, an employee of Kendall’s fiancé, and her relationship with Owen, which was started in Kissing Mr. Right as well. If you’re interested in learning more about Kendall and Jenny, and a little more about Sam, you might want to check that book out. It is not necessary to read it before this one though.

Recipe for Kisses is a sweet book about a woman who just wants to help people and a man who wants to do what’s right. I would recommend it.
 

Book Info:

 February 2, 2015 | Montlake Romance |

Chloe Daniels doesn’t need a man—after escaping a marriage gone bad, she guards her heart as closely as the details of her past. So when hot-tempered celebrity chef Ben “the Beast” Haddox storms into her struggling toy store, Chloe is determined not to be drawn in by his broad shoulders…or baby-blue eyes.

In his hometown, Ben’s culinary career is almost as famous as his bad-boy rep. He’s out to prove to naysayers he’s a success by opening a new restaurant—and the only thing standing in his way is Chloe’s store. But before he has a chance to convert her space into his signature eatery, she cooks up a plan to show him that her shop is worth saving.

As things start to sizzle between them, Chloe must figure out how to avoid getting burned. Can she trust herself to love again, or has she jumped out of the frying pan and into desire?