2016 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: King of the Kitchen by Bru Baker (346-08-30-2016)

[reviews_and_ramblings]

1) I'm hesitant to give any book a perfect score of 40, but really, there wasn't anything about this book that I didn't like. The writing was solid from start to finish. The characters were likable, the story compelling, the banter genuinely fun. I'm not keen on sex scenes in general, as they can be quite laborious and difficult to get through, but those in the story were well-written and kept me reading. Restaurant life and cooking were detailed smoothly and believably. This was an enjoyable read from the first page to the last.

2) The book is fun. It was well written and the characters are very well developed. They are real and their tension is palpable as you read the book. Unfortunately, the writers don't follow through with their third person point of view and I was confused several times asa to who "he" was. But I really liked the book and would recommend it to anyone who loves cooking and gay men.

King of the Kitchen by Bru Baker
Gay Contemporary General Fiction
Paperback: 200 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (November 6, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1634766474
ISBN-13: 978-1634766470
Amazon: King of the Kitchen
Amazon Kinlde: King of the Kitchen

Rising kitchen talents Beck Douglas and Duncan Walters have been on the foodie paparazzi radar for years, since their status as heirs to two of the biggest celebrity chef empires around makes them culinary royalty. Beck is known for his charm and traditional food as cohost of his uncle's popular TV cooking show, while Duncan earned himself a reputation as a culinary bad boy, both for his refusal to work in his father's restaurants and his avant-garde approach to cooking.

They're also heirs to a food rivalry that could put the Hatfields and McCoys to shame, and when they're photographed in the middle of a heated argument, the press goes wild with speculation. Damage control ensues, with a fake friendship engineered by PR cronies that leaves both of them secretly pining for more.

Beck chafes under his uncle's micromanagement, and Duncan's relationship with his homophobic father becomes even more tenuous when Beck and Duncan start getting closer. It's hard to hide their chemistry on national television when Duncan joins Beck's cooking show, but they won't be able to take their relationship―or their careers―to the next level without breaking a few eggs.

Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2016.html