Feel The Heat (Hot in the Kitchen, #1) by Kate Meader
Romance Contemporary
Paperback
January 28, 2014
Forever

Review by Tori

Favorite Quote: “Oh, please don’t raise your standards for me, Kilroy. Just like I won’t be lowering my standards to a fame-hungry megawhore like you.”

Lili DeLuca, daughter to a temperamental Italian chef,  wants to attend the MFA but her family comes first. When tragedy strikes close to home, Lili finds herself putting her dreams on hold and managing their small restaurant. Lili sees a change to change things when famous celebrity chef Jack Kilroy challenges her father to a televised cook off.

Jack Kilroy has learned the hard way that being a celebrity is nothing but constant headaches. Meeting Lili puts a spring back in his step when he realizes this beautiful woman isn’t even remotely impressed with his fame and fortune. But Lili sees him as the enemy and proving her wrong will be the hardest job Jack has ever undertook.

Making Lili his though proves to be difficult when his rabid fans plaster inaccurate and unflattering pictures and gossip about Lili all over the internet. Can Jack convince Lili to follow her dreams with him by her side? Or will she decide the heat is just too much to handle.

Feel The Heat is the first in Kate Meader’s Hot In The Kitchen series. A comedic foodie romance with an enemies to lovers trope that sparks more heat than a flaming flambe in the battle for love. Meader brings the public’s love of reality cooking shows to print with a hero when the personality of Gordon Ramsay matches wits with a heroine whose full body figure and love of food appeals to the temperamental celebrity. Multiple storylines are defined by humorous content, witty repartee, and naughty hijinks.

“I can’t believe I’m finally getting to touch it,” she whispered in mock awe. “Jack Kilroy’s illustrious member.”
“My what?”
“It’s just that you’ve been so stingy. Not letting me play with it, telling me I had to wait. I assumed it must be gold-plated or bejeweled-”

Lili was a contradiction. She excels in naughty talk and sexy clothing but has a low self esteem when it comes to her body. Bullied as a child for not conforming to what society deems attractive, she has learned to settle for less throughout her life. Jack’s intense attention leaves her confused. A gorgeous sensuous man who has dated some of the world’s most beautiful woman…she can’t seem to grasp why he wants her. Her family doesn’t help with their lack of support concerning her photography and dreams of graduate school.

I really liked Jack. A testy, flamboyant, emotional drama queen, he lives like he cooks-with flair. Lili’s animosity towards him in the beginning confuses him. He knows his larger than life persona on the internet and TV isn’t the most flattering but it’s not him. He’s worked very hard for what he has achieved and as he has gotten older, the limelight doesn’t shine as bright anymore. He has his own dreams and wants to find someone special to share them with. And that someone special to him is Lili.

The secondary characters are a rambunctious bunch whose own wants and needs cause some heat of their own. Lots of giggling and eye rolling is involved when these characters come into play. Lili’s sister Cara, who is also producing Jack’s show, has her own reasons for getting Jack into their parent’s restaurant and learns a lesson about minding one’s own business. Lili’s dad is a stereotypical Italian dad whose own imagined failings make him resent having to rely on Lili so much. Jack has his own problems with a younger sister who won’t stay put and an adorably cute manwhore of a sou chef who wants his own career out from under Jack’s shadow. Several potential story lines are set up in here, waiting for a book of their own.

One aspect I found interesting and appealing is the fact that Jack is the one who refuses to settle for a commitment free affair. He’s the romantic in this book. Lili comes on to him strong after some heavy duty flirting, hinting for some vigorous bed sport and he gently but firmly shoots her down. She, of course, believes it’s due to her looks and flounces away angry and hurt.

“I didn’t stop you because I’m not attracted to you or to teach you a lesson […] A lot of women who meet me are only interested in screwing me because I’m on TV. After a while, casual sex becomes really old.”

Jack refuses to be “used and then discarded.”

The romance blends well with the storyline. Jack is trying so hard to win the hand of the daughter of the man he’s trying to beat in a cook off. There is drama that can only seem to be found in restaurants and a few side plots that pop up and place our lovers on opposite sides of the stove. T

Though I enjoyed the story over all, the constant push and pull from heroine become repetitive and dragged the story down at times. It seemed Jack spends lot of his time chasing after Lili and explaining himself. They get together, they separate, they get back together, they separate again.

The ending wraps everything up nicely and our couple is finally able to let go of their past issues in order to embrace a future together. Feel The Heat is a quick enjoyable romantic contemporary that heats up nicely.

Rating: B-

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