Title: The Missing Ingredient
Series: Dreamspun Desires 63
Author: Brian Lancaster
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (220 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (7th August 2018)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: 💖💖💖💖 4 Hearts
Blurb: It can take losing everything to realize what you had all along.
Up-and-coming London chef Marcus Vine is poised on the edge of success, but the only men courting him are investors. That leaves Marcus with some free time—which is fortunate, because his godchildren need him.
A year ago, a horrible accident killed Marcus’s best friend, Raine, leaving her children without a mother and her husband, Tom, without a partner. Consumed by grief, Tom has been going it alone, refusing help, but when Marcus sees him out with the children, it’s obvious that Tom and his two daughters need someone. His persistent caring finally wears Tom down, allowing him to accept the comfort Marcus offers. Soon Marcus is up to his elbows in homework, home-cooked meals, and after-school activities. Over time he helps them rebuild their world, until soon their lives are approaching normal.
Then the unexpected happens: Tom confesses he has romantic feelings for Marcus, and nothing can ever be the same.
ISBN: 978-1-64080-274-2
Product Link: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon US | Amazon UK
Reviewer: Prime
Review: The Missing Ingredient is not exactly the most light-hearted book in the Dreamspun Desires line, but it is one amazing book. Brian Lancaster is a new author to me, but I do like the whole friends to lovers and the storyline reminded me of the Stormy Glenn book The Ties that Bind from her Cade Creek series. Seriously, if you know what I’m talking about, loved it and you weren’t yet sold on the friends to lovers’ thing, you really should give this a go.
The only cloud in chef Marcus Vine’s life is that he lost his best friend in a car accident a year ago. At the moment his professional career has taken off in a way that means that he is now being recognized on the street and his restaurant in London is so close to gaining a Michelin Star.
However, his personal life is not so good. He’s never found his perfect man, over the years he has compared many men to his best friend’s husband. After the death of best friend Lorraine, he was told by her husband Tom that he and his daughters needed space. Marcus never got a call back and didn’t want to intrude, so it has also been almost a year since he last saw his god children.
Tom has been struggling with life since his wife killed in a car accident, he has doubts in every corner of his life. He is can hardly keep his head above water when it comes to looking after his daughters, one of them has severe asthma, as well as trying to be a productive partner in his business. When Marcus accidentally comes into his life again Tom realizes that he can ask for help and learns that it’s ok if there is more between him and Marcus. The problem being is that it’s not a simple lesson and the men have a very bumpy road to their HEA.
Although it’s a fairly simple plot, this is choc full of emotion and I loved it. Both guys have a lot to get over but they have a chemistry that is impossible to deny. The depth and development of their characters makes this a wonderful read. The only criticism I have is that I didn’t really like that the epilogue wasn’t clearly ear-marked as being 10 years later. A minor complaint, so all in all, nothing bad at all.