Title: The Saucy Minx
Author: Manda Olie
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy / Romance
ISBN: 978-1-62798-403-4
Length: Novella (60 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (January 29th, 2014)
Heat Level: Low
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3.5 Hearts
Reviewer: Thommie
Blurb: With a touch of the magic that gives his recipes a culinary kick, Jack Killian has been running his restaurant, the Saucy Minx, for nearly a decade—almost as long as there’s been a spell out there promising to knock him off his feet should he ever meet the other half of his whole. Each day Jack delights his clientele by magically imbuing his food with taste and emotion, even as he slowly loses hope that the man of his dreams even exists.
But when he hires a new dessert manager, his whole life turns upside-down, because his dream man does exist—and he just strolled into the restaurant on someone else’s arm. While conducting business as usual, Jack struggles through what it means when destiny hands you the perfect man on a platter you’re not allowed to touch.
Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4637
Review: Okay, so the blurb confuses you a bit here and I kept expecting the pastry chef to knock Jack on his feet. So not so.
We here got a case of two best friends since college who once they figured out they were both special they became joined at the hip. They even cast a spell to throw those strings that would capture their other half when they were young, stupid, and drunk.
You’ll come and say: why are you calling them stupid? Well, imagine being twenty and casting a soul-mate spell. Every other man in your life would be completely flat, every emotion with any one completely hollow, and the yearning for that one and only elusive, slippery fish in a big ocean would become crushing as the years go by. Because while your soul mate might exist, he could very well exist on the other half of the world.
If you look deeply at this read, it is so very well thought and so very the universe has strange ways kind of theory behind it; it made my evening that’s for sure. I so love the inevitable fatalistic stories woven in a plot with charming characters.
But I went off track here. So we have two best friends, working a restaurant together, both waiting for their other half, and… Boom! Their other halves walk through the door and… they are in a relationship with each other. Talk about fate laughing in your face. Where does that pastry chef comes in? Oh, he’s the guys’ best friend, of course.
Yeah, I’m not sure how much I’m conveying that this novella was one fun ride. It had a touch of magic that didn’t require much elaboration, it had a touch of despair that came from longing something for so long, it had a touch of humor that came from Fate being a bitch and she’ll always play with mortals, and it had sensuality. It had such a heavy punch of sensuality that I was waiting and reading like frantic to reach the point when the pair finally, finally joins in mutual lust and desire. When they did, well beside hot it was also so freaking hilarious.
Overall, this was a great quick read, meant to make you smile and grin like crazy. Definitely recommended!