Kiss the Cook

Author: Jacquie D'Alessandro
Published: May 2000 (Kensington)
Category: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 8/10

Melanie Gibson (Yes, she's called Mel for short...) owns a growing takeout and catering business. She's applying for a loan that will be instrumental in taking the Pampered Palate into the upscale catering world. On her worst day at work ever, where she can't deliver fifteen gourmet meals because of a canceled order, her car won't start, her heel breaks off, it's pouring rain, she meets an irritated man she's blocked in with her double parked car that won't start.

Christopher Bishop is an accountant, but not like the ones you imagine. He looks like he stepped out of a Ralph Lauren ad, drives a Mercedes and a Harley, is nice to Melanie's grandmother, has a sense of humor, and knows how to fix things like garbage disposals and cars. That last part is very hot and manly, coming from the viewpoint of someone who had to fix her toilet because her boyfriend didn't know anythinga bout the inside of a toilet tank. After his father died suddenly, he took on the responsibility of sending his siblings to college. At the age of thirty, he's finally finished with that duty and wants to enjoy the freedoms of bachelorhood. But Melanie hurtled into his life and he fell for her and her grandmother's fried chicken.

The blurbs available for this book, including the one on the back cover, are slightly off. Chris does work for the accounting firm evaluating Melanie's business, but he's not the accountant assigned to the case. When he overhears that another eatery is opening close to Pampered Palate, his ethics won't allow him not to tell his coworker working on Melanie's case. And there is the crux of the obstacle-to-HEA. Chris figured he wouldn't tell Melanie about this because he didn't want to worry her for the two weeks that it would take for the bank to evaluate the application, and it could very well be approved despite the info he supplied. Then she got mad at him for not telling her and sleeping with her when he knew about this threat to her business.

There is no unnecessary dragging out of the couple's estrangement after the revelation of the truth, which I really appreciated. People said sorry and marriage proposals were made in the most adorable of fashions. I thought Chris and Melanie were the cutest couple and I laughed more than once, as I find I do when I read a D'Alessandro book.

Definitely pick this up for a quick funny read.