Table for Two
Summer Desserts and Lessons Learned

Nora Roberts

Nora Roberts is one of the Grande Dames of the romance novel and has earned accolades from the Romance Writers of America Association and many others. These days she writes mystery romances with deep plots with many a twist and turn. But she has also written numerous light romance books, especially under the Sihlouette series. Two books about haute couture chefs have been brought together and reissued in this collection.

In Summer Desserts, chef Summer Lyndon specializes in gourmet desserts. She flies around the world, joining other specialized chefs, to create specialities for others. In the beginning she is finishing the dessert for an engagement party in Italy, flies back to Philadelphia.

Blake Cocharan wants to hire Summer to be the chef in the restaurant of his hotel in Philadelphia. He is aware she doesn't have a specific kitchen for her work, but rather has worked on her own schedule, accepting the jobs she wants, rejecting those that don't interest her. But he wants to raise the standards of this hotel in the Cocharan chain. He won't take no for his answer.

Then, in Lessons Learned, Summer's friend chef Carlo Franconi is in America on a publicity tour. He has a restaurant in Rome, and has published another cookbook. His new publicist, Juliet Trent, meets him in Los Angeles. From there, they travel across the country selling his cookbook. Carlo is an admitted womanizer. But he had told Summer in the first book that if the right woman came along, he would snatch her up and become a happily married man immediately. Would he recognize that woman?

Juliet, on the other hand, refuses to mix business with pleasure. She is climbing the corporate ladder and hopes to own her own publicity firm within a few years. Getting mixed up with Carlo could jeopardize her hopes. Still, he is an Italian charmer she finds hard to resist.

Both of these are light froth, with strong women as protagonists. They fight back with the men and stand their ground. Love triumphs, though. None of the four have to give up their strengths, but instead learn how to meld them. There aren't any surprises for a romance reader. There is the sweet satisfaction when a romance novel blooms. Fortunately none of the characters are overly stupid as they find their way to love.

Notice: Explicit sexual content

Catering to Nobody by Diane Mott Davidson