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