Kitchen Affairs (Riverside Trilogy #1) by Brooke Cumberland

Shelly rates this book 3.5 stars

Synopsis:

"Drake Stagliano is a high maintenance man from a wealthy empire family in Chicago. He managers The Riverside Hotel/Restaurant where he only expects the absolute best. With a past filled with being used and heartbreak, the last thing he expects is to find a woman he can't control himself around... a chef intern.

Molly Woods is not your typical 23 year old. She's a single mom in her last semester of culinary school and interning at Drake's restaurant. She's closed dating off her list - her only priorities are finishing school & her 4 year old daughter. When Molly is pursued by Drake, she does everything she can to deny the chemistry and sexual tension. However, that doesn't last long & she finds herself completely mad over him.

When an intimate video goes public, Molly's internship and credibility is threatened. She's lusts for the one man she's been able to connect with after the sudden death of her late fiancé - but can Drake hold on for the emotional ride? Molly will need to let go of her past in order let Drake in. Fall in love with this steamy, funny, & romantic story of two people who find each other just when they both need someone the most.

~For mature audiences, 18+"

(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17972973-kitchen-affairs)

Review:

This book was alright.  Not good, not bad, just mediocre.  I think that Molly character is very strong, but not very deep.  Drake is deep, but not very strong.  I love Molly's interactions with Stella and her BFF Michael, but her relationship with Drake was very rushed.  

Enter Travis, this is why I say her relationship with Drake was rushed.  She has feelings of some sort for Travis, and if she was truly in love with Drake she wouldn't have questions concerning Travis.  

Kendra dying before she could really even interfere with Molly and Drake much kinda was a buzz kill.  I was hoping for a little more drama there, but didn't get it.

My thoughts are I give Brooke 2 thumbs up for this being her debut novel, and for her first book, it was decent.  Im hoping that Kitchen Scandals will be better, and her first stand alone, Spark, has some good reviews, so I'll let you all know my thoughts on that soon.