Customer Reviews

Cooking Up a Storm (Black Lace Series)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This novel by Emma Holly is set on Cape Cod, and boy oh boy you have to look at the Cape differently after reading Cooking Up a Storm. Thee is more sex here than you can imagine regular working people having, but not only do both Emma and Storm have each other, they have numerous other partners. This is ma modern erotic romance where the woman has traditionally masculline traits, and the hero has more feminine traits in some respects. While that may be disconcerting to some, it makes for a different, interesting read.

Storm comes looking for a job but really for a business he can take over. He is not sympathetic at all. Abby has a failing restaurant and needs help, both in the restaurant and in finding her sexual side. Storm unleashes a monster. Abby finds herself witha a number of people before deciding to make her way back to the aphrodesiac laced cooking, and loviong, of Storm.

I started our liking Abby and not caring much for Storm, but ended liking Storm much more but still not rooting for either one. I thought, by the end of the book, that they deserved each other.

Would I buy it? Yes. Would I keep it? No. The ses is to ordinary and the plot not interesting enough for it to go on my keeper shelf. Good beach or bathtub read where you don't care if it gets wet.

This was my first Black Lace Series book and I was looking for this relatively newer genre in writing to be an "erotic adventure" in reading. This book did not disappoint. I've always been a fan of romance novels (since back when Kathleen Woodiwiss first wrote the Flame and the Flower) and decided to see if these erotic romances would be as escapist and interesting. There is more sex than story and more action than allure but even the more solid romance writers seem to lean towards becoming bolder in their bedroom scenes (Linda Taylor) and a mature audience appears to enjoy the extra spice. It looks more and more like the type of novel offered by the Black Lace Series people, the erotic style in writing, is becoming mainstream. What was probably once only available in an underground book outlet is now available through a very reputable company like Amazon. Thanks Amazon for opening up a whole new avenue in reading adventure. I couldn't take a steady diet of this type of reading material, but I appreciate your open minded approach to making it available in the mainstream and protecting our right to have access to mature subject matter. I kind of wish they would change the book covers ... they aren't mainstream enough to make me comfortable reading them in public. Lest I make this book sound like pornography, let me say it is NOT. It was well written erotica.

This is not only the best book yet by Emma Holly, it's my absolute favorite Black Lace book.

I wish there were more like this - erotica doesn't have to have five people having sex in different places while tied up to be interesting or arousing - two people with the right chemistry and a good plot would be my choice (most of the time). It starts with several encounters between two virtual strangers, and plays on the ages-old theme of a 'bad boy' who's really a nice guy, once he finds the right woman.

There are several other key characters, and some not-so-vanilla scenes, though it's mostly M/F with less S/M than in Menage (my second favorite!).

Emma Holly's "Cooking Up A Storm" reminds me of the old adage, "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen." Ms. Holly, one of the best romantica writers around, serves up a sensual treat of pure heat with this novel of haute cuisine and gourmet pleasure, likely to bring thrills to even the most jaded palate. However, if you prefer your romance reading to be a bit less explicit, you should look elsewhere.

Abby Coates, manager and part-owner of the Coates Inn Restaurant, needs a new chef and more customers if she is going to save her failing business. When her father became ill, Abby left a promising career and came home to Cape Cod to help him run the restaurant. He left the business to Abby and her sisters when he died, and took out a life insurance policy to be used for future investments in the enterprise. The money is not stretching far enough to meet payments and allow for necessary renovations. Bankruptcy seems inevitable. In a funk, Abby breaks up with her longtime boyfriend because, ultimately, there is no chemistry between them. And she places an advertisement for a chef in a trade paper.

Master Chef Storm Dupré sees Abby's ad along with a photograph of the property. He is motivated to move from LA to MA to apply for the position personally. With his talent and experience, he never doubts the job will be his. Dupré is tired of California and is drawn by the coastal New England setting and the inn's atmosphere. He plans to eventually buy Ms. Coates out and own the lovely seaside property and restaurant himself.

Chef Dupré claims to have a "secret weapon," an aphrodisiac menu Abby's patrons will find irresistible. After the job interview and immediate hire, Storm and his new boss find each other irresistible. For the first time in her life straight-arrow Abby becomes a sensualist, as well as a businesswoman. And she is tutored by a chef who excels at loving as much as he does at cooking.

This is an entertaining, erotic romp, with some engaging characters, including a 50-something artist/photographer, a funky waitress, and a trio of local men who are all Abby admirers. A steamy read & lots of fun!
JANA

I have read just a few Black Lace books before this and didn't enjoy them. Not having read much erotic fiction, I wasn't sure if it was the specific books or the genre I didn't like. COOKING UP A STORM did something the other Black Lace books I read didn't do; it made me care about the characters and what happened to them. Not just Abby and Storm, but also the secondary characters, were likable and sympathetic and I wanted things to turn out well for them. This book convinced me that erotic fiction is not for me, that may seem strange because I'm giving the book a positive review, but in this case I know it's the genre, not the book.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to try this type of book or who already knows they like erotic fiction. This is a book with an interesting premise and great characters that are very easy to care about and root for.

I'm picky about my erotica. I expect all that I expect out of my usual fiction PLUS hot sex tailored to my kinks. This woman keeps writing erotica far beyond most authors in her field--and she's not trying to be Lit'rary or elegant or Moral-of-it-all--she's always taking interesting people, interesting situations, throwing them together, and making them hot. No innocent is betrayed, everyone in the right gets their jollies, and there's actually ordinary human interaction here. No artificial constructs, nothing yells "Staged!".

I will read what this woman writes. However, this just happens to be almost as good a story as Menage. I happen to be a foodie, so this is up my alley. I am not likely to run a B&B myself--way too much work, but they're fun to read about. It was a lot of fun watching Storm conquering his own shadows, and squirming when he needed to realize he wasn't running things, but still achieve an HEA, after several steamy scenes.

with a touch of bad boy and erotic sensuality that makes one hot package. After another lack luster sexual conquest, Storm ( a very talented chef) decides to leave california and head east after reading an ad for a chef wanted at the Coates Inn. Abby Coates (one of the owners of the Inn) hires Storm and thus begins a sexual adventure of awakening and long pent up desires for both Storm and Abby. Although I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others, I have to say that Abby put me off a bit with her constant need to sample sex with different partners after tasting Heaven with the gorgeous Storm who has fallen for and wants to make a life with her.

I loved Emma Holly's second book as much as Menage! Some erotic novels just give you sex. Holly gives you romance. She really develops her characters and gives them personalities, not just a libido. She also knows how to steam up the page. She has a great balance of sex and romance. I am looking forward to her next novel.

This was one book, where I was interested in the plot along with the very entertaining sex scenes. I hope Emma Holly will create a sequel to this book. I loved the way Storm was very at home with his own body. I also loved the way he brought out the heroines own sexual feelings but at the same time fulfilled his own fantasies. I think if my husband was this much fun, all I would want to do is stay in bed. I have read about 50 of Black Lace's books and I am a very harsh critic, but this book was so good I've read it a couple of times. If there is a sequel I will be the first to but.

Ms Holly has recently been reissuing several of her earlier erotic stories, beginning with the terrific PERSONAL ASSETS. I decided to check out this story as well, but I must say that I did not enjoy this one nearly as much as I did PA. I'm no puritan, but I think casual sex can be taken too far! One of the things I liked best about PERSONAL ASSETS was the relationship within each of the couples and the fact that there were feelings involved along with the sex. But here I found next to no romance - just lots of gratuitous, incredibly casual sex under the guise of a woman "exploring her sexuality".

The book started out great! Jaded Storm Dupre is a hot, sexy LA-based chef looking for a fresh start and new challenges. A help-wanted ad for a chef to work in a small Cape Cod inn grabs his attention and soon he has uprooted his life and moved across the country intent on eventually buying out the inn's owner. She is Abby Coates who is hanging onto the inn by a thread. She hopes that the additional business a hotshot new chef will bring in will allow her to get the inn back on firm financial footing. Abby has just ended her relationship with a longtime boyfriend with whom she had a less than satisfactory sex life. Of course she and Storm are immediately attracted and she finds that sex with Storm has opened her eyes to lots of possibilities. Unfortunately, from there things went downhill for me, as Abby proceeds to have sex with just about everyone in town! Meanwhile the love-em-and-leave-em Storm begins to fall hard for her.

But I have to say that toward the end I really disliked Abby (...)! On the flip side, I began to like Storm more and more. I would have liked this book much more if it had concentrated on Abby and Storm as a couple rather than Abby's sexual exploits. And in the end, I have to say that I had no faith that their relationship would survive. But that's just me. For those who like erotica for it's own sake, this story may work. It didn't for me.