Beauty and the Feast [Kindle Edition]

Julia Barrett (Author), JW Manus (Editor), Winterheart Design (Illustrator)

Book Description

Eva Raines is an uncomplicated country girl who’s all about food. Eva moves to the Napa Valley where her culinary skills come to the attention of the owners of a start-up and Eva finds her niche as a personal chef. Now all she needs is a man as perfect as her cooking, but she has serious doubts such a creature exists.
When wealthy entrepreneur, winery owner, and noted lothario, Gabriel Abbott, makes plans to seduce his flavor of the month, his assistant hires All Things to All People to cater a gourmet dinner. Eva expects to use her way with food to showcase the startup. What she unexpectedly discovers is that her culinary skills showcase far more. Gabriel Abbott finds himself seduced by her voice and the sensual flavors and textures of her food and his previous plans are quickly forgotten. He begins to obsess about meeting his little chef in person. He’s not alone. Once Eva hears Gabe’s voice and spends time in his home in the Napa Valley, she begins to wonder about the real man and her dreams of him are so hot they could ignite a barbecue.
When Eva and Gabe finally come face to face, the question is, how hot will their fire burn?

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Beauty and the Feast is a plain old fun romp through the Wine Country. I drew upon my own experiences as a personal chef - no I didn't meet Gabriel Abbott in person, but he sure came to life in my head. The book is delicious. Eva's a great cook and she's even given me some of her recipes - look in the back of the book!

About the Author

I'm J.R. Barrett aka Julia Barrett aka Julia Rachel Barrett.  I write because I love to write - nonfiction, fiction, romantic fiction, poetry. If you're reading this, thank you so much. Hope you'll try my  books.

Product Details

• File Size: 1037 KB
• Print Length: 333 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007T1O374
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #156,024 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Beauty and the Feast by Julia Barrett May 29, 2010

By A. Schreiner TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Kindle Edition

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. However, Beauty and the Feast does a cute job of combining two of people's favorite things - sex and food.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Make Sure You Have A Glass Of Wine Before You Start This One April 14, 2012

By N. R. Borromeo

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Review for Beauty and the Feast (by Penelope's Romance Reviews)

I first reviewed this book in May 2010. This is for the newly revised edition.....

I love foodie books. As soon as I saw the blurb for this one, I knew I had to read it.

The heroine is a caterer and the hero falls in lust with her before they've ever met, just by tasting the incredible meal she has prepared for him. Holy Mother...the food descriptions in this book are to die for! Check out the first course...chilled melon soup: "...pureed honey melon, a tiny bit of sea salt, a few splashes of a light German Riesling, a squeeze of lime, half a seeded Serrano chili, cilantro and a bit of palm sugar..." Starving yet? You will be if you read this baby. Make sure you have a gourmet snack and a nice bottle of wine on hand. I am not kidding.

I love the fact that Barrett has these characters becoming interested in each other without them even meeting. Just the sound of their voices over the phone piques their interest. Then, Gabe smells Eva's scent on his pillow and knows she's lain down on his bed. He starts falling for her after eating the sensual meal she has created for him. This is a great way to start the romantic tension in a book....using other senses to create an attraction between two characters.

Here's a quote that sums it up best...."His interest in Eva Raines had once again grown in direct proportion to the size of his erection, the erection induced by the images tasting her food brought to mind."

I really loved this sexy book...I loved the characters, the setting, the food descriptions (of course). It was adorable, right down to the recipes at the end. Bravo, Julia Barrett!

Grade: A-

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Delicious hot Read! June 1, 2010

By SusiSunshine

Format:Kindle Edition

I read this book a while back in my exams period and I just discovered that I totally forgot to review it in all the stress. And it totally deserves a review. I got this book from Julia and I'm so thankful she send it to me. It really made my day better and let me forget all the stress of the exams for a few hours.

What makes this book so special? I loved that the characters felt this huge attraction to each other even before they met. I think we all know that situation when you hear the voice of someone and start thinking about what he or she will look like. Or perhaps that is just me because of my job at the directory assistance.

Eva is a wonderful character. She works for a catering firm and is a really independent woman. She seems perfect and prim as in how can she be that perfect but after a bit of time we discover what makes her a real human. She has a seriously dirty mouth from time to time and I had to laugh so often just cuz of the stuff that came out of her mouth. She loves to cook and it mostly felt like foreplay what she does with the food. I really liked her from the start.

When Gabe hears Eva's voice for the first time he is smitten and it gets even worse when he tastes her food for the first time. I really thought that food couldn't be such a turn on but Gabe showed me that I was wrong. He really "likes" her food and OMG how I wished I were the cook. He is one hot man and I completely understand what Eva finds so interesting and sexy about him. He has a way to talk and gesture that just makes you crave him. He's a millionaire but is still such a nice guy.

Together these two are one nice pair. They are made for each other. They have these easy conversations and funny banters but they know how to turn up the heat, too. I'm always totally blown away how Julia creates this matching couples. I love how her couples are together and how they seem to be so real.

One thing I didn't like is the old condom story. I know it is an old rant but I really can't get how you can forget any protection for so long. Not good at all!!!

The story around our couple was okay but I think that the whole Stephanie and her revenge thing was a bit too much. I don't think a woman would be that way without having any real connection to the man before. It could be that I just haven't met such a girl but I'm happy I didn't. LOL

All in all Beauty and the Feast was a wonderful book to give your mind a rest from a stressy time. I couldn't put it down and I enjoyed not only the steamy part but also all the food. Be aware that this book will make you hungry and not only in the literal way. *wink*

More About the Author

What can I say about me? I'm married to the love of my life. We have three amazing children. I don't just write; I'm a registered nurse, I've owned a catering company and restaurant, worked as a nanny, a secretary, a pastry chef, a waitress, an art teacher and a soccer coach - you name it, I've probably dabbled in it. I love to travel and I believe I've visited all fifty states and a few places outside of the U.S.

So, besides hiking with my dog and riding horses (yum!), I love to cook and bake, read and write and sell books.