Smexy Books

Romance and Urban Fantasy Reviews

  • Review Request
  • Contact
    • Smexy Reviewers Profiles
    • New Reviewer Application
    • Contact
  • Advertising
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • By Genre
      • BDSM
      • Contemporary
      • Erotic
      • Fantasy
      • F/F
      • Historical Romance
      • Historical PNR
      • LGBTQ+
      • M/M Romance
      • New Adult
      • Urban Fantasy
      • Paranormal Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Romantic Suspense
      • Young Adult
    • By Letter Grade Rating
      • A Reviews
      • B Reviews
      • C Reviews
      • D Reviews
      • DNF Reviews
  • Features
    • New Releases
    • Smexy Deals!
    • Retro Review
    • Weekly Wrap-Up
    • Blog Tour
    • Scenic Sunday
    • To Be Read
    • Guest Post
    • Top Ten/Happy Friday
    • Smex Scene Sunday
  • The Psy/Changeling Channel
You are here: Home / Contemporary Romance / Review: Beauty and the Feast by Julia Barrett

Review: Beauty and the Feast by Julia Barrett

April 15, 2010 by Mandi 10 Comments

Beauty and the Feast
Beauty and the Feast by Julia Barrett
March 16, 2010
Contemporary Romance
E-Book, 220 Pages
Resplendence Publishing
Reviewed by Mandi


Why I read: Author asked for a review.


Favorite Quote: “Try to look at it this way, absence makes the cock grow harder.”

Eva Raines is a top-rate chef working for ATAP, or All Things to All People, a company that provides chefs, house cleaners, interior designers – anything you need to host a party or keep your house running smoothly. Eva loves the people she works for, and has yet to disappoint a client. Her bosses receive a request to cater a dinner party for two for a very well off winery owner, Gabriel Abbott. Gabe enjoys fine things and wants to impress the very beautiful Stephanie, a voluptuous woman he recently met. But his plans for dinner soon change after he speaks with Eva on the phone. Her voice ignites a passion in him, much more than attractive, yet flat Stephanie.

Eva puts many hours into prepping dinner, and she can’t help but be intrigued by his beautiful house. She wonders what kind of man lives here and how he spends his time. As soon as Gabe brings Stephanie back to his house, he has a change of mind, and decides he would much rather eat Eva’s scrumptious meal by himself. He drives the disgruntled and confused Stephanie back to her house, and eats his succulent meal – all the while becoming aroused.

By chance, they meet, after Eva has a bad bike fall. Gabe takes her back to her house and helps her with her injuries. They have an instant attraction and both want to move forward with the relationship – but they forget Stephanie is a bit put out for being dumped and she wants revenge.


Beauty and the Feast is a cute love story, a little sappy at times, but I very much enjoyed how Julia Barrett combines food and romance. The preparation of the food and the consumption very much mirror foreplay and sex and it was very erotic how she combines them both. As Eva says,

“Good food should be like great sex. Nuanced. Seductive. Smooth. Satisfying. The more care used preparation, the deeper the flavor, the more lingering the outcome.”

Eva is a little bit on the perfect side, besides having a potty mouth. She is your classic heroine who does not have a lot of sexual experience – but she has great chemistry with Gabe. I like both of their easy going attitudes and there are many scenes that steam up the pages. At first Eva feels a little awkward, having feelings for her client. She kind of sees her self as the “help” rather than the girlfriend. But Gabe is there to put all those notions out of her head. He is rich and powerful, but very sweet to Eva.

It was a little hard to buy into Stephanie’s part as the villain – she had absolutely no history with Gabe, only “dating” him if you can call it that for not even one night. Gabe is a good catch, so I can see how she is hurt, but I don’t know if I bought entirely into her motives for revenge.

There was also a part after they have had sex several times where Eva says – oops I’m not on birth control and we haven’t used protection. Gabe assures her if there are consequences, he will be there for her. This just seems a little silly that neither one of them realized after several occasions that they forgot protection and really didn’t need to be mentioned in the book.


Beauty and the Feast does a cute job of combining two of people’s favorite things – sex and food.


Rating: 3/5

Recent Reviews:
Goodreads

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • More
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Filed Under: Contemporary Romance, Julia Barrett, Three Stars

Comments

  1. Blodeuedd says

    April 15, 2010 at 2:33 pm

    Oh your quotes are killing me ;)

    Loading...
    Reply
  2. Julia Rachel Barrett says

    April 15, 2010 at 2:38 pm

    Thanks, Mandi, glad you enjoyed the book. Yup, a little sappy, but then it's kind of a happy book – not too much drama. I do love your favorite quote!

    Loading...
    Reply
  3. The Queen B says

    April 15, 2010 at 2:48 pm

    Love the quote.
    Am I the only one that gets kinda annoyed when the man or woman goes, "oops we didn't use protection all weekend," and the other partner is like, *shock and gasp* "I didn't even realize." I'm like, really? You didn't realize, at all? There are signs, ya know? LOL
    Sounds like a cute book. I may check it out.

    Loading...
    Reply
  4. Mandi says

    April 15, 2010 at 2:53 pm

    Blodeuedd – :) Sometimes it is hard to choose just one!

    Julia – it is a happy book :)

    B – It didn't really even have to be mentioned on the page. It could have been an off page conversation :) It did show that Gabe is serious about Eva..but it threw me. Otherwise it is a cute one. Made me hungry while I read :)

    Loading...
    Reply
  5. Penelope says

    April 15, 2010 at 3:21 pm

    This book sounds totally right up my alley. I gotta get it! Sappy! Food stuff! Yay!

    Loading...
    Reply
  6. Melissa says

    April 15, 2010 at 4:48 pm

    That quote just cracked me up! Love your review. Such a great way to get us interested! :)

    Loading...
    Reply
  7. Erotic Horizon says

    April 15, 2010 at 7:34 pm

    This does sound cute – I love easy going story like this…

    Sometime all I want to know is that they end up together – no drama to cloud the issue..

    E.H>

    Loading...
    Reply
  8. A Buckeye Girl Reads says

    April 15, 2010 at 9:32 pm

    Simple romances are needed every now and then! I'll have to remember this one.

    Loading...
    Reply
  9. Smokinhotbooks says

    April 15, 2010 at 10:33 pm

    I wrote that quote on a post it – next time hubs and I are away, I'm going to use it.

    Loading...
    Reply
  10. SusiSunshine says

    April 16, 2010 at 5:48 am

    LOL…I totally agree with your review. Thought the same about the oops birth control thing.

    Great review hon and this quote really made me snort!

    Perhaps I should write it down too. ROFL

    Loading...
    Reply

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Welcome to Smexy! If you are reader feel free to use our search feature to find a specific book or browse through our features to find Smexy Deals, New Releases, and book news!

As an Amazon Associate, we do earn from qualifying purchases. We also earn a small commission on affiliate links to Apple, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords,  Booksamillion, and Bookshop,org.

 

Shop our Affiliates!

Amazon

B&N

Apple

Smashwords

Booksamillion

Angela

Melanie

Jen

Kate

Iby

Kate H.

Sign Up for Daily Emails


Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

.

Follow Us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on Instagram

Top Posts & Pages

  • Smexy Deals- Deals for books by Opal Wei, Hannah Bonam-Young, Maisey Yates, and more!
    Smexy Deals- Deals for books by Opal Wei, Hannah Bonam-Young, Maisey Yates, and more!
  • New Releases- Week of May 12-16, 2025
    New Releases- Week of May 12-16, 2025
  • Smexy’s Top Ten Favorite Sex Scenes of 2012
    Smexy’s Top Ten Favorite Sex Scenes of 2012
  • Review: Manacled by SenLinYu
    Review: Manacled by SenLinYu
  • Steamy Excerpt from Everything's Better With Lisa by Lucy Eden
    Steamy Excerpt from Everything's Better With Lisa by Lucy Eden
  • Review: The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros
    Review: The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros
  • Review: The Finish Line by Kate Stewart
    Review: The Finish Line by Kate Stewart
  • Review: Pen Pal by J.T. Geissinger
    Review: Pen Pal by J.T. Geissinger
  • Smex Scene Sunday
    Smex Scene Sunday
  • Smexy Deals- Deals for books by Brynne Weaver, Lori Wilde, Jo Goodman, and more!
    Smexy Deals- Deals for books by Brynne Weaver, Lori Wilde, Jo Goodman, and more!

Disclosure

The majority of the books reviewed at this site have been provided for free by publishers, authors, or other third parties like NetGalley or Edelweiss. Acceptance of a free copy does not guarantee a review or a positive review.

As an Amazon Associate, we do earn from qualifying purchases. We also earn a small commission on affiliate links to Apple, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and Booksamillion.

Shop our Affiliates!

Amazon

B&N

Apple

Smashwords

Booksamillion

 

Find Our Reviewers

Angela @fv-angela.bsky.social l Goodreads

Melanie @melonreads.bsky.social l  Goodreads

Jen .@thebooknista l Goodreads

Kate  @kateminasian l Goodreads

Iby Instagram l Goodreads

Kate H. @Naranjadia l Goodreads

Copyright © 2025 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

%d