Review: A Taste of You by Sorcha Grace

Posted June 7, 2013 by Karen in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

taste of youTitle: A Taste of You
Author: Sorcha Grace
Genre:  Foodie Erotica
Publisher:
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:

Beautiful and talented Catherine Kelly is starting over as a food photographer in Chicago. With her painful past buried over 2000 miles away, she’s focused on her career and is hungry for little else. Until she meets a wealthy bachelor with arresting blue-grey eyes filled with enough tragedy to match her own. William Lambourne is a gourmand who takes great pleasure in food and in women. He’s rich, powerful, and gorgeous — and as talented in the kitchen as he is in the bedroom. From the moment they meet, William is determined to discover the perfect recipe to unlock Cat’s resolve, awaken her senses, and make her his own. He urges Catherine to step out from behind her camera and fully taste all that life has to offer, stirring an appetite in her she never knew she possessed – and it’s one only he can satisfy. As Catherine begins to fall for the stormy-eyed billionaire, she knows she must reveal her own dark secrets. But first, William must win Cat’s heart to ensure their pasts don’t undo them.

Book 1 in The Epicurean series, A Taste of You will leave you ravenous for more of Cat and William’s story!

 **This book is intended for ages 18 and up**

Review:

          We start this story meeting Cat- short for Catherine- and Beckett, her best friend in the heart of Chicago.  As we meet Cat, we learn she’s recently moved to the Windy City all the way from the sunny side of California.  We’re not quite sure what prompted this move, especially during some nasty cold weather, but she’s here now and determined to start her life over and currently in a cab on her way to a promising new, last minute job.  She’s an up and coming photographer and being one of many in a new city it certainly helps having a bff who’s a pastry chef turned food stylist. Its Beckett’s connections in this industry that help propel her through the weeds because she lands a job on the fly and there’s hope that it will pay off. Big time.

          It’s upon her first entrance into Willowgrass, a new and much talked about high end restaurant on the cusp of an opening, that we see her take her first few steps into photographers dream.  Between her skills behind the camera, Beckett’s skills with food, and a chef with an imagination behind the menu, it’s easy to see how this dream team can turn any food “sexy” and that’s exactly their plan. What we don’t see is the intriguing man, whom she names Stormy Eyes, and who basically all but plows her over as she exits the restaurant.  She has no idea who he is but is drawn to him instantly.  Hmmm, where have I read this before?

“I knew men like this existed- with perfect lighting, makeup, and a little airbrushing- but this guy was the real deal. I couldn’t seem to catch my breath, and I reeled, unable to catch my balance either.”

          We learn later that Stormy Eyes was in fact William Lambourne III. The most enigmatically powerful bachelor in all of Chicago not to mention one of the richest as well who’s basically got his hands and money in every business venture there is to have.  She finds herself pulled to him like a powerful magnet and the sparks fly whenever they’re in close proximity. He’s very alpha and knows exactly what he wants, and he wants Cat.  She loses most control of her body whenever he’s near and whenever he’s not, he’s never far from her mind. Hmmm, where have I read that before?

           They find themselves fighting urges and then caving to them all the same.  He wants her, she wants him and before long they get exactly that.  There are some dark things in his past that he’s hesitant to share and she too carries her own burden of guilt that she fears to be judged by.  They struggle to come to terms with this new and powerful relationship that seems to have a mind of its own and then there are the outside forces that also threaten to tear them apart.  Ok…I’ve definitely read this one before.

          This story started out with some potential for me. Yes it has a female and male who are attracted to each other but it was set under different circumstances and there was the element of food and photography thrown in that, in the beginning, gave it promise.  Where I hit my problem with this story was its uncanny parallel to The Crossfire series by Sylvia Day.  I was somewhat enjoying where the story was going and then before I knew it we took a hard right into dejavu land and I could barely remember it was still supposed to be William and Cat instead of Gideon and Eva.  I get that it’s difficult to separate yourself in a sea of romance/erotic stories but here I felt like the author mirrored way too much of other characters instead of allowing William and Cat to carve out their own niche out there.  There were so many possible ways to take this story and unfortunately, the road taken has been paved and driven over several times before.  Anyone who enjoyed the Fifty Shade or Crossfire series and can just allow them to bleed into the next would probably enjoy this series as well. I, unfortunately, need more dynamic differences in my characters in order to keep me interested.

          On another note, the food that was used in this story was decent and not far-fetched or generic  in nature. The menu items as well as the food served or eaten were enticing but the only speed bump I found in this story was the word “taste”.  I kept feeling like the same things were being repeated so for my curiosity, I did a word search. 68 times the word “taste” appears in the text. I know that doesn’t sound like a lot to anyone when you consider total word count of some stories however, when you hear things like “I can’t wait to taste you” and “You taste so good” I couldn’t help the cringes or eye rolling that happened the next time the word appeared…on the next page.  There are many ways to describe the act of eating or the act of tasting or experiencing foods or flavors. This story needs to explore those options as well. It will only help add to the experience instead of diluting it.

**This book was given to me by the publicist for an honest review.

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???????Meet the Author:

Sorcha Grace is an adventurous eater, beach lover and author of scorching contemporary erotic romance. She is also the nom de plume of a nationally bestselling author who publishes in another romance genre. Visit her website or follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Connect with Author:

http://www.sorchagrace.com/

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Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book directly from the author or publisher I was not paid to read or review this book. All opinions are my own, and I was never influenced by anything or anyone.

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