Title: Chef on Top
Series: Sizzling in the Kitchen 03
Author: M.J. O’Shea
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (126 pages)
ASIN: B07V6FRDNZ
Publisher: M.J. O’Shea
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: 💖💖💖 3 Hearts
Reviewer: Prime
Blurb: Chef Jake Casey has never been what you’d call… liked. By anyone. He was the odd outcast son of the town drunk, and he’s spent his adult life doing everything he can to be nothing like his father. If that meant stomping on a few dozen toes, so be it. But contrary to popular belief, he is human. It gets a little old being alone all the time. When he lands a new job on the other side of the country, Jake decides he’s going to change. New city, new restaurant, new Jake.
It’s going pretty well until his first and only friend’s ex shows up with a fiancé in tow. Ty is horrified. Jake might not have much practice with the friend thing, but he decides he’ll do what everyone in the movies always does – he offers to be Ty’s fake boyfriend. It can’t go wrong. Right?
Ty Caldecott knows better. His life isn’t a teen rom-com and situations like these always end up in humiliation. But the prospect of seeing Taran every day with that ring shining on his finger makes Ty want to vomit. Ty doesn’t want to look like a pining loser, so he tells Jake he’s in.
Purchase Link: Amazon US | Amazon UK
Review: Chef on Top is the third book in MJ O’Shea’s self-published series, Sizzling in the Kitchen. Unfortunately, at the time I read this series I read another series (Recipe for Love by Ari McKay), and so I mixed things up and only just realised that I did a review for one series and not this one. Which sucks, because this won’t have as much detail as I usually try to put in reviews since it’s been almost two months since I read these books.
While I enjoyed the story, I felt that there was a certain spark missing from the story that meant that I did not enjoy this one as much as I had thought I would, or as much as I had wanted. It wasn’t so much that there was a HFN end, instead of an HEA (that doesn’t bother me so much, especially if there is meant to be a fourth book). It was more that the end seemed rather abrupt. This also felt odd because this book is significantly shorter than previous two books. No idea if that makes sense or any difference, but there you have it.
This book follows the man who was originally introduced in book 1 as celebrity chef Baldwin Powell’s arch-rival, Jake Casey. Things aren’t all what they seem when it comes to Jake Casey, though he has a great passion for food which led him to be one of the biggest chefs in New York, he wasn’t exactly happy. The most recent development was when Baldwin offered Jake a job in his new restaurant in Las Vegas. Jake grabs the opportunity and is ready to turn his life around. The next big shift in his life is when his best friend in world, Ty, needs help. Jake takes it upon himself to save Ty from humiliation when he has to face his ex, suggesting to be fake boyfriends.
This is a really light and breezy type of romance, there isn’t too much drama or angst, and despite the story not having a heck of a lot of spark, Ty and Jake have got enough chemistry bringing the story along. I strongly recommend reading this series in order, while each book features a new couple the story picks up after the previous book and there are a lot of references that require knowing the background to fully get the storylines.