Cooking up a Storm [Paperback]

Emma Holly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2004

A tale of sensual foods and gourmet sexual appetites from the ever-popular Emma Holly. The Coates Inn restaurant in Cape Cod is about to go out of business when its striking owner, Abby, jumps at a stranger's offer of help - both in her kitchen and her bedroom. Storm, a handsome chef, claims to have a secret weapon: an aphrodisiac menu that her patrons won't be able resist. It certainly works on Abby - who gives in to the passions she has denied herself for years. But can this playboy/chef really be Abby's hero if her body means more to him than her heart, and this initial plan was to steal her restaurant from under her nose? Storn soon turns the restaurant around, but Abby's insatiable desires have taken over her life. She's never known a guy into crazy sex like him before, and she wants to spend every spare mooment getting as much intense erotic pleasure as she can. Meanwhile, her best friend Marissa becomes suspicious of the new wonder-boy in the kitchen. Before things get really out of control, someone has to assume responsibility. But can Abby tear herself away from the object of her lustful affection long enough to see what's really going on?

Editorial Reviews

Review

'[Black Lace books] create cult heroines.' - The Observer Life Magazine --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

About the Author

Emma Holly is the most popular author of women's fiction in the US who is now making a name for herself in the UK. She is the author of Cooking up a Storm, In the Flesh, Menage, The Top of Her Game and Velvet Glove, all available from Black Lace.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Virgin Cheek (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0352338970
• ISBN-13: 978-0352338976
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,096,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Emma Holly is the USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty very hot romantic books, featuring werewolves, faeries, and just plain extraordinary ordinary folks. Her favorite things are reading, coffee, long daydreamy walks, plus whatever show she's currently infatuated with on tv. She loves sinking into the worlds of her stories and hopes you do too!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cooking in the Bedroom, not Just the Kitchen, June 18, 2004

By 

The Cooking and Reading Fiend "wild-cooking-w... (Greensboro, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cooking up a Storm (Paperback)

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.

42 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HOT! HOT! HOT!, June 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cooking Up a Storm (Black Lace Series) (Paperback)

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.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best One Yet!, January 1, 2000

By 

Bec "bec16" (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cooking Up a Storm (Black Lace Series) (Paperback)

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!).