Monday, December 31, 2012

Deep Autumn Heat, #1 of the Star Harbor series (by Elisabeth Barrett)


Release Date:  July 9, 2012
Autumn Heat rating:  3.5 out of 5 stars
Star Harbor series rating:  N/A (haven't read them all)

"Deep Autumn Heat" is book one of the Star Harbor series

How are the sex scenes?
Warm at best, not particularly sizzling, but nicely written.

How are the story lines?
The story lines are still developing. 
They were interesting, and fairly predictable. 
There will be another three stories to come, so I presume we will learn more about the other characters’ stories worlds then.

Would you read it again?
Probably not. 

Back of the Book

In this sexy new Star Harbor romance series, featuring the too-tempting Grayson brothers, a celebrity chef turns up the heat for a local café owner—and things start to sizzle.

Lexie Meyers decides there’s nothing sweeter than watching Sebastian Grayson’s perfect, wicked mouth devour her coconut cake. He’s hot, he’s hungry, and he’s sizing her up like she’s the best thing on the menu. But she’s been burned in the past and flings just aren’t her thing. Too bad Sebastian can’t resist a challenge.

Worldly, famous, and notorious with the ladies, Seb had planned a weekend of fishing and relaxation with his brothers. Until Lexie, with her kissable lips and frosty “get lost” attitude, makes him want to forget his culinary empire and create some magic with her. After he fires up his charm—including challenging her to a televised cook-off to break through her resistance—it’s now hotter in the bedroom than it is in the kitchen and Lexie isn’t sure whether she’s lost her mind . . . or just her heart.

Review

Deep Autumn Heat by Elisabeth Barrett is her debut contemporary romance set in a picturesque, sleepy fishing village in New England.  It is the first book in her Star Harbor series, which revolves around four, dangerously gorgeous brothers, and their journey towards love.

Our first sexy heartthrob brother is Sebastian Grayson; handsome, arrogant and renowned Master Chef. Amongst his brothers he is just Seb, one of the Grayson ‘bad boys’ when young. In many ways, he has the world at his feet with his hugely successful career almost justifying his borderline obnoxious behaviour. Yet, he has not completely embraced his true potential, and is largely directed by his entourage of ‘staff’, rather than showing initiative. Tall, powerfully built, bright green eyes, and devilishly seductive, women have always fallen at his feet, (among other places I suspect!) until he meets Lexie.

Fabulous fire-cracker, Lexie Meyers; our heroine with spunk, wit and kindness in abundance. She is the owner of her own restaurant LM Kitchen, and has a heart filled with warmth and generosity, despite being been badly damaged in the past. Emotionally scarred, she is understandably guarded and careful around men. As Sebastian enters and creates havoc in her ordered world, maintaining her tight hold on resistance to his well-perfected charms became increasingly difficult. He is known as a womanizer  but, as happens in romance novels, he ‘finally meets’ the one woman who can challenge his solo outlook on life, a woman he craves and wants to possess.

The sparky repartee between the two Chefs was wonderful. It was delightful and frequently funny to see Seb put in his place by the feisty Lexie. They also challenged each other to overcome vulnerabilities, to move forward from their ‘safe’ worlds, to take chances, on life and in love.

With their common love of creating food and owning their own restaurants, it was believable that Seb and Lexie’s culinary passion would overflow into their physical passion. Their love-making is written beautifully, with a scarce amount of detail.
They made love slowly, content to let the slide of their bodies do the work this time….
After several long minutes of his slide and release, Lexie was growing frantic. She abandoned the kissing and her head tossed from side to side….
He groaned into her neck, and then stroked faster and faster, harder and harder, crushing her into the mattress as he pumped his body into hers. Lexie gasped with relief. She thrust her hips against him equally hard, lifting them off the bed with her desire”
“She was ready. More than ready. In one swift movement, he spread her folds and sank into her waiting depths”
Books starring siblings always attract me. I love to see how family dynamics are captured, especially when it’s brothers. These boys are all drop dead gorgeous, of course, but also very emotionally intelligent – an extremely rare (and a tad unbelievable) quality in men.

As is often the case with the first book in a series, time taken to lay future books’ foundations, can often be at the expense of the novel’s story. Deep Autumn Heat was a delicious, easy read. Despite trying to create tension with a few nefarious sub-plots, it was light, predictable, and not particularly challenging. However, I’m confident this will only get better, the more Elisabeth Barrett writes. I am looking forward to reading the next installment, Blaze of Winter, which will be the story of Theo, Seb’s twin.


Learn more about Elisabeth Barrett and upcoming titles on her website, Facebook and Twitter.

This review provided by: 




Published by LoveSwept
Disclaimer:  No compensation was received for this review.  
ARC received from author in exchange for honest review.


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