Taste by Melanie Harlow A Grand Romance

Taste by Melanie Harlow

Taste by Melanie Harlow

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Taste is a Fun and Spicy Treat

5 Stars

What you need to know about “Taste”:
✔ Spicy (One Bed! Snowstorm!)
✔ Dual Points of View
✔ Enemies to Lovers
✔ Ellie Fournier, sommelier, 23
✔ Gianni Lupo, chef, 23
✔ Opposites Attract
✔ Cloverleigh series #7
✔ Can be read as a Complete Standalone

Melanie Harlow has a gift for making characters feel real and the situations they find themselves in seem organic. In “Taste”, Ellie and Gianni feel like real people and the circumstances they find themselves in have a distinct truth about them. Ellie and Gianni are characters that you root for and celebrate.

I have read all of the Cloverleigh novels and this extension of the series into the next generation is fantastic. “Taste” surpassed my expectations with its fun and flirty spirit, its deft and nuanced handling of the tropes and its low level of angst and longing throughout.

The plot and pacing just flowed and the solid characters and world-building from the previous novels were only enriched with Gianni and Ellie’s romance.

In “Taste”, Gianni Lupo likes to get under Ellie Fournier’s skin. He’s been doing it since they were kids and he knows how to push her buttons. Now, they work together at Etoile at Abelard Vineyards as chef and sommelier.

As much as they are different (Ellie is a perfectionist who wants home and stability and Gianni is a restless soul who never wants to stay in one place too long) there is an undeniable tension between them.

On the way back from a dinner and wine tasting event they get stuck in a snowstorm and have to stop at a motel for the night. There is only! one! bed! (These are two of my favorite tropes!)

After playing a few games of Truth or Drink with the leftover wine from the dinner, things get heated. They call a truce for a while…and their flirty antagonism explodes.

The story lingers at the motel during the snowstorm and it’s a fun and steamy couple of days. Gianni and Ellie really start to get to know one another in a meaningful way. They learn things about their pasts that draw them closer together.

But Gianni screws things up again and they leave the motel with Ellie feeling angry and regretful. How are they going to continue to work together? Or will they continue to work together since Gianni has an offer to host a reality show and Ellie insists that he take it and leave? Shortly, the consequences of their time together during the snowstorm become apparent.

I absolutely loved “Taste” and Gianni and Ellie’s love story. I will definitely be revisiting this book in the future. I recommend this low angst, enemies to lovers, opposites attract romance for readers who love Lucy Score, Amy Daws, Penny Reid and Claire Kingsley.

I received an advance copy of this book and this is my honest opinion.

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Purchase link: Taste by Melanie Harlow

Synopsis

The last person on earth I want to be stranded with is Gianni Lupo.

But thanks to the blizzard of the century, I’m trapped in a roadside motel room with that cocky bastard for two straight days.

With one small bed.

Some women might thank Mother Nature for delivering a polar vortex that maroons them with six feet of solid muscle, those deep blue eyes, that sexy grin–but not me. I’ve known Gianni Lupo all my life, and he’s never brought me anything but bad luck and trouble.

So when the tension between us explodes with enough fiery heat to melt my icy defenses, I should have known what the disastrous end result would be–

A big fat plus sign.

After the snow melts, I’m left with more than just memories of the night we spent keeping each other warm. And he might be a rising star on the culinary scene, but he’s got no idea how to handle this bun in the oven.

He says he wants to do the right thing, but I’m not about to spend the rest of my life feeling like someone settled for me.

But just when I think I’ve got Gianni Lupo all figured out, he gives me a taste of the man he could be, of the family we could become, of the way he could love me if I let him.

I’m terrified of falling for him.

But one taste might be all it takes.

About Melanie Harlow

USA Today bestselling author of sweet and sexy romance. Lover of cocktails, high heels, and history with the naughty bits left in. Michigan girl. INTJ. Always seeking ginspiration…