Title: Ginger and Gentlemen
Series: Recipe for Romance 03
Author: Ari McKay
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novella (113pgs)
Publisher: Torquere Press (24th July 2013)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4 Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: Ian Pierce has always resented growing up in the shadow of his older brother, executive chef Stephen Pierce. But when Stephen asks Ian appear on his television special, “Mouth of the South”; Ian has no choice but to accept in order to save his diner from bankruptcy. However, not even the encouragement of his best friend and business manager, Matt Davis, can make Ian happy about it.
Matt has been in love with Ian for years, and he would do anything to help Ian save his diner. Ian won’t accept Matt’s money, so Matt secretly puts up the cash for a bonus in Ian’s contract with the Gourmet Network. With Ian and Stephen crossing verbal swords and a series of mishaps plaguing the filming, the success of the entire project is thrown into doubt. When Ian learns about the bonus and accuses Stephen of manipulating him, Matt is faced with a choice: does he let Ian’s rift with his only sibling stand, or does he come clean and risk destroying all hope that their friendship might ever become something more?
Purchase Link: http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=96&products_id=3950
Review: Ian has worked hard to prove that he can go it alone without his family. He always resented growing up in the shadow of his older brother Stephen and never being able to please his father, but when Stephen asks Ian to appear on his television special Ian begrudgingly accepts because he has to save his diner. Matt is Ian’s best friend and business manager but he is also the man who secretly loves Ian, Matt knows that Ian would never accept his help to save the diner so he works out a way to secretly help. With a verbal war ongoing between Stephen and Ian and a series of near disasters plaguing the filming, the reconciliation between Stephen and Ian is rocky and Matt will have to come clean to Ian and risk rejection if he is to save the tenuous relationship between the brothers.
This is a great story set in the culinary world where two brothers have always been treated differently by their father. Ian and Matt have been best friends for years but have both loved each other secretly, neither man wanting to ruin their friendship so they both kept quite. When Ian has some difficulty with the diner it is Matt he turns to and Matt will do anything to help Ian, but things become difficult when Ian’s brother Stephen shows up and Ian’s resentment is barely held in check. Matt finally comes clean and to his surprise he gets the one thing he has always dreamed of. Ian has always had Matt to lean on but has always been scared to take the final step but, finally, during a confrontation, Matt admits his feelings, and Ian has to accept that maybe his brother isn’t all as bad as he always thought.
I thought this story was great, I loved how Ian and Stephen clashed with both of them seeing things only from their own point of view and Matt and Robert (Stephen’s PA) acting as buffers and trying to point the in the right direction. The friendship between Matt and Ian is deeply rooted but what they both really feel for the other has always been kept hidden, but when things go wrong and the truth finally comes out, they are explosive together. This was a very nicely written story that has the angst of family drama mixed in with friends trying to do the right thing, with a good dose of longing love and some wonderful hot sex and then finally a reconciliation of brothers, which gives us a wonderful story that is enjoyable to read.
I recommend this to those who love difficult family relations, admitting your feelings, accepting you don’t need to stand alone and getting your happily ever after.