Matched by Masala - Mona Shroff (HSE #2919 - July 2022)

Series: Once Upon a Wedding (Book 2)

He cooks for their customers
…but he'd rather cater to her heart!
 
One impetuous, slightly drunken kiss has turned up the heat on chef Amar Virani's feelings for Divya Shah. He's been in love with the sexy pastry chef -- his sister's best friend! -- since they were teenagers, but a painful tragedy in his past keeps Amar from revealing his true emotions. As they work side by side in Divya's tiny food truck, she realizes there's more than just business simmering between them. For the first time, she's tempted to step outside her comfort zone and take a chance on Amar -- even if it means risking more than her heart.
 
A terrific friends-to-lovers story complicated by being best-friend's-brother/sister's-best-friend, too. Divya and Amar have been friends since they were kids and had crushes on each other in high school but never said anything because of Anita. Now they are all grown up but still holding out on each other.
 
Divya is a talented pastry chef. She also tends to be impulsive and adventurous. She survived a bout of cancer in high school and now lives each day like it could be her last, worried that cancer could return. She's never met a challenge that she's turned away from.
 
Amar is also a talented chef. He was fired from his last job because he took a chance on improving the head chef's dish. He now runs his catering business out of the kitchen of his family home. That kitchen is falling apart, but he won't renovate it for fear of losing the memories he associates with it, including some guilt and regret. Amar is organized and methodical in his work and his life.
 
I enjoyed watching the relationship develop between Divya and Amar. When Divya buys an old school bus and turns it into a food truck, she invites Amar to join her in forming a catering business. There are conflicts as Divya's "anything goes" approach clashes with Amar's more conventional methods. I loved the cooking scenes as they learned the art of compromise and cooperation. I loved how they poked at each other, but never in a mean way. They quickly become an in-demand duo, and their teamwork is impressive. I loved how they were there for each other during crises and how they encouraged each other to follow their dreams.
 
When Amar's sister, Anita, forces the issue of the kitchen renovation, Divya invites Amar to stay with her across the street and share her kitchen. Now that they are working and living together, the constant proximity makes it impossible to ignore the sparks between them. Complicating matters is the drink-induced kiss they shared several months earlier that neither can forget. Besides the whole sister thing, Amar hesitates to get involved with Divya because of baggage from his past trauma. Just as she seems to break through his walls, trouble from her past rears its ugly head. The emotional ending had me in tears, while the epilogue made it all worth it.
 
Besides the romance of the story, I loved the culinary theme. I'm not familiar with Indian food and found myself googling almost everything. My mouth watered throughout the book, and I look forward to trying some of these dishes in the future. I also enjoyed the family theme. Besides the characters' closeness to their immediate families, I enjoyed the intertwined connections with those whom Amar and Divya cooked for. I also liked seeing Anita and Nikhil from The Five-Day Reunion again.

A Chef's Kiss - Nina Crespo (HSE #2886 - Jan 2022)

Series: Small Town Secrets (Book 1)

A welcome second chance…
Or a recipe for disaster?
 
After their ill-fated fling quashed her dreams, small-town chef Philippa Gayle's onetime rival-turned-lover Dominic Crawford upended her life. But when Philippa's forced together with the celebrity cook on a project that could change her life, there's no denying that the flames that were lit years ago were only banked, not extinguished. Can Philippa trust Dominic enough to let him in…or are they just cooking up another heartbreak?
 
Good second chance story. Philippa and Dominic knew each other six years ago when both competed for a sous-chef job in the Caribbean. Despite the competition, they became good friends, sharing dreams and having fun outside the kitchen. But when a distracted Philippa made a mistake with the wrong customer, she lost her chance at the job. After receiving some advice about distractions and priorities from the head chef, Philippa broke things off with Dominic and moved on.
 
Now, after a varied path of cooking jobs and an unexpected course change, Philippa is head chef at her own restaurant in Maryland. She has good friends, loves her work, and is preparing to cater a high-end film premiere on the property. So she is stunned to arrive at work one day to discover that she's been replaced for the event by a celebrity chef. Adding insult to injury, that chef is Dominic.
 
Dominic's path had been very different. He went from being a chef in a restaurant to being picked for a reality cooking show. His charisma, charm, and talent made him very popular, leading to his own cooking show, cookbooks, and restaurants. He's looking forward to working with Philippa again and is furious when he finds out that no one has given her a heads up about the change in plans.
 
Philippa and Dominic are caught between a rock and a hard place. If they don't work together, the rumors won't be good for either one. But if they do work together, they risk stirring up old feelings. I liked their honest conversation about their expectations but laughed at their belief that their past wouldn't matter. It was fun to watch them work together. Their styles are complementary, with each having particular strengths. Neither one is big-headed, and I especially liked Dominic's easy way with all of the kitchen employees. I loved watching him go to bat for them when the publicist tried to take over the cooking demo.
 
I enjoyed seeing the rekindling of the relationship between Philippa and Dominic. It was clear from the start that the sparks between them were still there, but Philippa was wary of risking her heart again. They spend as much time as they can together, both in the kitchen and out of it. There is a heartwrenching scene where Philippa shares some of what happened after they parted, but it goes a long way toward healing her heart also. I enjoyed the scenes where Dominic involved Philippa in his world, such as her guest appearance on one of his shows.
 
Though they are honest about their feelings for each other, their lives are very different. The tension builds as the day of the event draws near, and Dominic is called away because of his other commitments. A near-disaster almost derails things the night of the event, but Philippa works her magic, and all ends well. But their plans for Philippa to join him in California hit a snag when she realizes what she'll be giving up. I ached for both of them as choices had to be made. I wanted to shake Dominic for assuming what he did and hurt for them both as it seemed there was no way to fix it. I loved when Dominic was told to take a few days off to get his head together and the effect that being away from the pressure had on him. His solution didn't surprise me, and I loved his big moment at the end.
 
The setting of the story, involving the chefs of high-end restaurants, plus the reality and cooking show aspects, gave the story an added depth. I loved the behind-the-scenes looks at the kitchen activities and what goes into the shows. I especially enjoyed Dominic's reaction to the sudden appearance of his reality show "girlfriend" and what it meant to him and Philippa. 

The Five-Day Reunion - Mona Shroff (HSE #2891 - Feb 2022)

Series: Once Upon a Wedding (Book 1)

They ended their marriage but they never fell out of love…
 
Law student Anita Virani hasn't seen her ex-husband since the ink dried on their divorce papers. Now she's agreed to pretend she's still married to Nikhil until his sister's wedding celebrations are over -- because her former mother-in-law neglected to tell her family of their split! The closeness they share during the marriage act gives Anita new insight into the man she once loved so deeply. And reignites Nikhil's feelings for her…
 
Terrific second chance romance. Anita and Nikhil married young and divorced after just two years. They haven't seen each other in the three years since then. When Nikhil arrives at his mother's home for the start of his sister, Tina's, five days of wedding festivities, he is shocked to find his ex-wife there. Furious, he confronts his mother, who confesses that she never told the rest of the family about the divorce. Afraid of the news's effect on her elderly father, Nikhil's mother begs him to pretend they are still married until the wedding is over.
 
Nikhil is very reluctant to play along. He's still hurt and angry over the way Anita walked away from their marriage. Anita is also dubious, but his mother made her an offer she couldn't refuse. Forced to spend time together to keep up the deception, it doesn't take long for old feelings to resurface. But both of them have significant baggage from their past that must be dealt with before they can think about giving in to those feelings.
 
Nikhil is the odd man out in his family. All of the others are lawyers, while he is a writer. Despite being a best-selling author, Nikhil gets no respect from his family members. I ached for him because it's obvious that it hurts. I lost count of the number of times he was put down, asked when he'd get a "real job," or just plain ignored. Meanwhile, Anita, who is in her third year of law school, gets all of the attention he doesn't, which adds to his frustration. I could feel Nikhil's determination to show them all, even though he did the same things he blamed them for.
 
I liked how the time they spent together brought back memories of the good times, which helped make their forced proximity easier to carry off. With a little more maturity under their belts, they also begin to see that neither one was blameless in the failure of their marriage. I loved seeing them open up about their feelings and perceptions during those last days and realize that they'd still be married if they'd been better at communicating. It gave me hope for them when I saw Nikhil's pride in Anita's community law work and Anita's vocal support of him when his family's cluelessness/obnoxiousness got out of hand.
 
When Nikhil's ex-girlfriend shows up and wants him back, she doesn't take well to being denied. I could tell she would be trouble, especially when Anita got involved. In this case, Nikhil's brother had his back, and I loved seeing them deal with her quickly and decisively. Unfortunately, she didn't go quietly and stirred up quite a storm in her wake. I loved Anita's response.
 
With the cat out of the bag, Nikhil and Anita have some soul-searching and decisions to make. I loved Nikhil's advice from his brother and mother, which helped him realize he couldn't let history repeat itself. I loved his big moment and seeing that they've both learned from their mistakes. The epilogue was fantastic.
 
I loved the setting of a traditional Indian wedding. The information about the clothes, food, and entertainment was fascinating. I'm not familiar with the ceremonies, and I loved how each part was shown in a way that I could easily understand. I also liked how each event that Anita and Nikhil participated in brought back memories or gave them the chance to clear up something from their past.
 
The family dynamics were complex. Nikhil's feelings of being the black sheep were understandable because of how he was treated. His backstory made his insecurity when it came to anything to do with the family law firm heartbreaking to witness. Nikhil's mother irritated me through most of the book because she was one of the worst offenders, mainly to "save face" with her relatives. I liked Nikhil's grandfather. He was kind, funny, and more with-it than most gave him credit for. Nikhil's aunts were a pain and busybodies of the worst variety. I loved his sister, Tina, and her support of Nikhil. His brother Rocky bugged me for a long time but redeemed himself. I liked the younger couples, who seemed more relaxed and fun-loving.