(Review) Taste

Taste by Tracy Ewens

Publication Date: October 19, 2015

Pages: 320 (kindle)

Genre: Contemporary Romance

My Goodreads Rating: 2 Stars

Goodreads Synopsis: 

If only life were as simple as following a recipe.

In her twenties, Kara Malendar found herself at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Paris, thousands of miles away from the harsh media coverage of her political family. But Paris ended abruptly when she was summoned home to Los Angeles and expected to stand in again as the senator’s perfect daughter.

Now, thirty, Kara has made a different kind of life for herself. As a food critic for the Los Angeles Times, she casts a critical eye on other people. That is, until her past finds his way back into town and opens a new restaurant.

Logan Rye, the youngest son of the Ryeland Farms family, is a chef and knows exactly what he's doing with his life. After a few years spent getting his head and heart together, he's opened a new farm-to-table restaurant, The Yard, in Los Angeles. It’s his passion, but according to the LA Times, he’s a trend.

Kara and Logan haven't seen each other since she left him in the lobby of her Paris apartment building, but when she is asked to write a feature on him, it's not long before they are rediscovering the delicious parts of each other. As things heat up, all recipes are forgotten, and Kara and Logan realize nothing was what it seemed in Paris.

If Logan can only find a way to trust, he may be exactly what Kara needs . . if she's ever going to taste life again

My Review: 

I went into this one ready for swoons and smiles, but I was a little disappointed. This is the third book in the Love Story series, but it is the only one I have picked up so far. 

Kara is a ruthless food critic and Logan is a chef/restaurant owner. Kara gets asked to do a feature on Logan and the success of The Yard, his business. Fun ensues, right? 

Meh. 

Apparently Kara and Logan have a history from when they were in Paris together and she broke his heart when she left. I thought this was a great plot point, only nothing ever happened with it. We got barely any peeks into their time in Paris together, nor was there an actual explanation as to why Kara was whisked away so suddenly. 

Kara's father is a senator, so she was in Paris under a fake name. A fake name that she also uses in the present day story to create lamps. What? 

There were so many things going on with both of the characters that I hardly felt like I got to know either one of them. Logan was a chef, farmer, restaurant owner, family caregiver. It was like they had so much going on with themselves that they didn't even have time to fall in love withe each other. 

When the two of them first met it was all sniping and bitchiness on both sides, and then suddenly they were kissing and in love again. I didn't see the process of it, and that's what I love to read. 

I did like that Kara (a food critic) hadn't enjoyed eating because of her job and Logan brought that back to her. This story had a lot of potential, but I felt that it focused on way too many different things. The family drama, the side characters, the teeny tiny little details about everything could have been replaced by conversations where they were learning more about each other and sharing their lives rather than being rude to each other. I just felt like the romance was lacking form this title. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) for the ARC.