Customer Reviews

Just a Taste (Wheeler Large Print Book Series)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Deirdre Martin pens an emotional, tender and sexy story in Just A Taste.

Chef Anthony Dante is still mourning the sudden loss of his policewoman wife over a year ago. He visits her every Sunday for a chat at her grave. His family thinks he needs to move on but Anthony isn't sure if he is ready just yet. Moving in across from the family restaurant is a new little bistro called Vivi's. At first Anthony is worried that this new place will cut into his clientele. But upon meeting Vivi Robitaille and her sister Natalie his worries are put somewhat to rest. Vivi stirs in Anthony a feeling he thought was long over for him.

Vivi Robitaille chef at the new bistro Vivi's has come to America for a fresh start for her and her sister. She really didn't want or need any type of romantic entanglement while trying to get her bistro up and running. Vivi is drawn to Anthony's quiet strong ways. Their bickering over who the better chef is turns into really steaming up the kitchen.

Anthony is slowly warming up to the idea of finding love the second time around. But when Vivi gets scared will he be willing to wait for her? Plus Anthony's extended family has to put in their two cents worth on what he should do with his love life as well as the restaurant.

Anthony and Vivi are two peas in a pod, their squabbling is just a step in their dating ritual and its fun to watch. Their chemistry is fun and exciting and is put to the test when old ghost come to haunt them.

Just A Taste is everything I have come to expect from a Deidre Martin book. It makes me laugh, cry and sigh. These characters become like family and you hate to say goodbye.

I've read all the NY Blades book, and you really want to keep on reading about them ( Is Natalie's story coming next?). Anthony and Vivi represent all you can ever imagine about chef... they are both crazy yet really lovable. I'd really recommend this book :)

Vivi and her half-sister Natalie have just moved to the US from France
in search of a dream. Vivi, a chef, wishes to open a bistro in New
York and hopes to make a huge success of it. Natalie is running from a
scandal caused by a relationship gone bad and has come along to start
a new life and fund Vivi's dream with their father's inheritance.

Anthony, a widower, runs an Italian restaurant across the street from
Vivi's. She's intrigued by him and his wonderful hands. As both are
chefs, they clash from the beginning on how things should be prepared
and made But while they are clashing, something bigger is building
there. And while Anthony may not be ready for another woman in his
life yet, sometimes a person can't avoid love even with the best laid
plans.

The stepsisters find they have issues to work through in their
relationship with each other and many problems to overcome in setting
up a new restaurant in a country fairly new to them. Both Vivi and
Anthony go through cold feet phases in the mating ritual they go
through. But in the end love overcomes all. I completely enjoyed Just
A Taste and how Deirdre Martin made this romance realistic. Everything
from arguments over whether something contained butter or shortening,
to making up over the kitchen island was completely delightful in this
story. I Joyfully Recommend Just a Taste as I loved Vivi and Anthony's
quest for love and think you will too.


Raine
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Author Dierdre Martin does such a good job of creating a sense of place in JUST A TASTE that the reader almost can smell the tomato sauce served by the book's hero in his family's restaurant--or as Anthony, that hero, would call it, the "gravy."

For a woman who, according to the blurb at the back of the novel, lives in Ithaca, New York, Ms. Martin has a marvelous sensibility of the energy of Bensonhurst, the Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn in which she sets her tale.

The love story is predictable, but well-done: Two neighborhood chefs, one with a large, established restaurant serving the Italian cuisine of the community, the other with a tiny new cafe serving French food, take each other on as rivals and, inevitably, as lovers.

Yet the plot is charming, the setting is authentic and the sex is hot, hot, hot. Finally, one practically can smell that wonderful sauce. What more could a romance reader ask?

I loved Deirdre Martin's previous hockey-themed novels, and was a little skeptical about this one at first. But the plot was good, and I had a hard time putting it down. I also like how the characters from previous novels are somehow worked into the books that follow.

I do hope that Mrs. Martin will return to the world of hockey in future books, but either way, her talent is evident. Pick this one up and enjoy a good storyline.

This is the story of Anthony and Vivi. Anthony has been a character in previous books because he is the brother of Micheal (NHL hockey player from Fair Play) and 1/2 owner and chief of Dante's restaurant. In this novel Anthony is struggling with the death of his wife and new French Bistro opening across the street. Vivi and Anthony have great tension. I really like this novel it made me laugh , cry and had a nice mix of romance, hockey and great characters. Another winner - Enjoy!

Vivi Robitaille gives up on making it as a Parisian chef after a few years of rejection. So she chooses to do what perceives is the next best thing by opening a bistro in Brooklyn's Bensonhurst neighborhood across the street from Dante's Italian restaurant. Feeling they are not competitors as they offer different fare, Vivi introduces herself to the Dante family, who welcome her to the neighborhood.

She is immediately attracted the head chef and part owner Anthony. To his chagrin he feels the same way. However, as they compare menus and great food, Vivi knows she loves Anthony, but she cannot compete with his late wife, a police officer who died in the line of duty. For his part Anthony believes he has met his food mate, but feels as if he is betraying his deceased spouse.

This sequel to FAIR PLAY is a wonderful contemporary romance in which the puck never drops; instead pots and pans are the main course, recipes included. Vivi is a lively extrovert while Anthony is much more reserved. His efforts to keep his partner, his retired hockey player sibling Michael, out of the restaurant adds humor to an entertaining culinary romance.

Harriet Klausner

I many ways I felt the surrounding story/stories in this book to be some of the strongest Ms. Martin has included in her series. I enjoyed learning more about Michael Dante and also about chefs and cooking. I even like the main characters and most of the romance plot line. However, while I won't give away plot points, I couldn't understand Vivi's reaction to Anthony the last third of the book. I guess Ms. Martin finally explains it, but I would have liked a little more...something. I ended up unsatisfied somehow. And man, I couldn't stand Vivi's sister Natalie. I am not the least interested in the follow-up book about her.

I was shocked that Deirdre Martin wrote this. It's just average. Maybe it's because she got away from the sports in this book to introduce romance to Michael Dante's chef brother, Anthony. I don't know, but it didn't have the spark that her books normally have. It was a good book but didn't have that wow factor. I found Vivi to be wishy washy and not easy to read. However Anthony retains his normal self from the other books in the series. This can be a stand alone book because it doesn't really delve into the other characters other than Michael and Theresa. However it always helps to read them so you know what's going on. Obviously, I found them to be more enjoyable. This is a good quick and easy read for the beach.

Put two gourmet chefs--one from France and one from Brooklyn--in restaurants across the street from each other and what do you get? Lively, hilarious dialogue, mouth-watering descriptions of food, and romantic sparks!

Deirdre Martin proves that the hockey rink isn't the only place where competition brings out the passions in her characters. Anthony Dante, co-owner and head chef at Dante's in Brooklyn (where the New York Blades still hang out even though brother Michael has retired from hockey), goes spoon-to-spoon with the new chef on the block, Vivi Robitaille, a Frenchwoman with a flair for mangling American slang.

As you might imagine, food plays a large part in their burgeoning romance. If you're trying to stay on a diet, you shouldn't read this book. Ms. Martin's vivid descriptions of the dishes the two chefs cook up as they compete with each other will send you racing to the refrigerator. Their verbal sparring adds spice to each encounter and the contrast between Vivi's French accent and Anthony's down-to-earth Brooklynese will keep you chortling all the way through to the end.

Anthony's visits to his first wife's graveside bring extra emotion to the book as do Vivi's efforts to establish a relationship with her half-sister Natalie.

Ms. Martin knows how to create characters you'll love and laugh with. Another great book from a terrific writer!