3.5 out of 5 stars
Ebook. 105 pages. Published November 21st 2012 by Dreamspinner Press
Blurb:
When artisan ice cream maker Jericho Brown first meets food writer Cameron Clay at a charity tasting event, they get along like strawberries and chocolate sauce. Jay’s unique flavors thrill more than Cameron’s jaded palate, but after a delicious encounter in Jay’s delivery truck, where extra-creamy frozen treats are not the only delights sampled, Cameron loses Jay’s contact info—and any hope of a real date.
Desperate, Cameron convinces his editor to host an artisanal ice cream contest in hopes of drawing out the elusive genius. But more complications threaten to intervene. Will Jay even enter the contest? Or will the chance of a happily ever after melt away?
Likes:
- Interesting plot.
- Short.
- Hot sex scenes.
- Versatile couple.
- The distance Cam went to find Jay.
- Ice cream.
Dislikes:
- Lack of physical description at the start.
- Most of the women were either annoying or mean.
- Eric is a sociopath.
- I don’t understand why Eric and Cam repeatedly tried to get their relationship to work.
- Cam and Jay spent most of the story apart.
I enjoyed the plot of this story. As a fan of desserts of all kinds, a story about an artisanal ice cream maker and a food critic caught my attention right away. Jay and Cam are both interesting guys, and I was rooting for them. Especially since so many people and events conspired to keep them apart.
The novella’s short length meant that the story started off like a shot. The first sex scene happened within a few pages, and while it was hot, the sex happened way too early in the story. Cam had barely been introduced and Jay didn’t even get a physical description before they were naked. And unfortunately, their time together was mostly spent in carnal pursuits, both in that scene and in the story overall. This is especially noticeable since the men spend the bulk of the story apart.
The lengths Cam went through to find Jay again made the story interesting. As were the brief point of view moments from Eric as he tried to mess everything up. I thought the ice cream contest was a great idea. But in terms of typical ‘getting to know you’ romance, this story was lacking.
In a way, Eric played the most important role since he was the one who kept Cam and Jay apart. Eric was great as a bad guy, but his actions as a regular person didn’t really make sense. The one question I kept asking myself was why Eric was so hung up on Cam. For that matter, why did Cam try to make his relationship with Eric keep working? They obviously weren’t a good fit, neither was in love, and both could easily find other guys. So why was Eric so hung up on Cam that he had to wreck everything between Cam and Jay?
Eric’s part in the story wasn’t even wrapped up well. After he finished messing with Jay, he completely disappeared. Even when Cam realized what Eric had done, we didn’t get to see him actually do anything about it. It was a little disappointing.
The women in the story, with the exception of Elaine, were also disappointing. Maya and Kimmy were dumb, giggly stereotypes and Dorothea was a vindictive bitch. In a story with few characters, they stood out in a bad way.
In the end, this story’s short page length saved it. A longer book couldn’t have pulled off keeping the romantic leads apart for all but the first and last chapters. The smut was hot, but I wanted something more from the romance. At least the men were versatile. And I chuckled when one of the characters snapped his phone shut. That was a dead giveaway about the story’s age. Luckily, the rest of it aged well, and I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.
Be sure to check out the reviews for An Intoxicating Crush and Gingerbread Palace.
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