Just Desserts

Too Many Cooks ? #3

by Jeannie Watt

Always proper Layla Taylor never expected to need her childhood nemesis. But when she's stranded in a blizzard after breaking up with her cheating ex, Justin Tremont is exactly what she's missing. Well, Justin and his car's snow tires.

Justin's more than okay being the rebound guy. A little fun, no strings—that's his kind of relationship. But Layla Taylor? She's by the book, to put it mildly. Justin, on the other hand, hardly ever follows his own recipes for the spectacular cakes he's become known for. This woman is making him feel protective and possessive, of all things. And she sees right through him. That he can't have. After all, no chef likes to tell all his secrets….

Genres: Romance, Harlequin, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Fiction, Category Romance

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Jeannie Watt lives on a small cattle ranch and hay farm in southwest Montana. When she's not writing, she enjoys making mosaic mirrors, sewing, and pretending that the house is neat and tidy.

Jeannie loves to hear from readers. Please contact her via her website www.jeanniewatt.com.

Reviews

[audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Anybody who tells you that money won't buy you love, hell, they ain't never been to Reno. I was at the buffet table. This gal comes up to me, and I flash them dimes and we went right up to her hotel room... well, it was a car." --Out Cold

Synopsis: Strait-laced Reno school-teacher falls for old friend, asks him to unlace her. He refuses because of his epic MANPAIN.

Yup, it's a Harlequin.

Layla Taylor -- her parents have a Clapton fetish, so she has brothers named Derek and Eric and a sister named Sam ("Formerly Belle Blue, from the song 'Bell Bottom Blues.' She renamed herself when she was five because the kids called her Ding Dong.") -- is a school-teacher of the strait-laced variety because that's how all school-teachers are.

Yet when the book opens she's dead drunk at a Lake Tahoe bar, having discovered her boyfriend Robert has been cheating on her with the obligatory Hot But Devious teacher at her school. Justin The Cake Decorator is dispatched to take her home by the aforementioned Ding Dong, which is lucky because Layla's at the porcelain-prayer stage of the evening.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a barfing Harlequin heroine.

Layla's luck pretty much goes downhill from there, and she decides to make over her life with snark, burglary and hot sex with Justin The Cake Decorator. Unfortunately, as much as she throws herself at Justin, he um...ducks. A lot.

BECAUSE OF HIS EPIC MANPAIN.

The whole last 1/3 of the book was devoted to Justin The Cake Decorator's Tragic Secret (which is now my favorite name for a made-up band), and honestly, it got hella old. Justin winds up fleeing into the wilderness, where Layla dutifully follows and basically pins him to a camp bunk with her vagina. It is not exactly the sexiest of sexytimes.

BECAUSE OF HIS EPIC MANPAIN.

Of course, a couple more applications of magic-vag and Justin is ready to face his tragic secret and tell his sisters about it and possibly wreck another car on the strength of it. It's a pretty weird book, I won't lie.

But 2/3 of it is not at all terrible. Layla is likeable, Ding Dong's at least interesting and Justin's snarky. There's a whole evil private school subplot that I really dug, and the Reno and Lake Tahoe setting was nicely done even if, having myself been to Reno, it really felt like the whole thing was set in Tahoe. Whatever, it's fine.

Precious little cake decorating gets done throughout the book, so I do have to award it the Hannah Swensen Award for Running A Small Business By Never Showing Up, an award usually reserved for heroines of culinary mysteries who rip around investigating murders instead of running their bake shops. But I am sure Justin can simply blame that on his epic manpain as well.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book. I loved seeing Justin finally find someone to love. He had been so intense through the other two books, that I was happy to find out why. He was so determined not to get close to anyone, that having Layla see right through him was freaking him out. He couldn't understand why she got under his skin and why he felt so protective of her. I loved the part at the school. Layla was so used to doing things by the book, and having a plan, that when she decided to break out of that mold, she wasn't quite sure how to do it. Her time with Justin gave her the chance to be different. She was amazed by the fact that she ended up feeling so much for him. I loved the way that she was there for him without judging him. I loved her part at the awards dinner. I just wish the school had backed down.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those rare category romances where I wish the book was longer because I wanted to learn more about what happened to the characters and see some of the themes develop more fully.

{Ahoy ye maties, slight spoilers ahead}

Our heroine, Layla Taylor, is a straight laced teacher who gets stinking drunk after she learns her boyfriend cheated on her with her biggest work rival. Her sister sends her childhood nemesis, Justin, to make sure she safely gets home. Unfortuantely, someone from her school snaps a picture of her barfing in the bushes before they get to the car. Social media takes over and she loses her job within the week.

Loved the heroine in this story. As the story develops she sees how this tightlaced personality of hers has hampered her life choices - so she tries new things out. Dressing sexy, standing up for herself, pursuing the man she wants even when he rebuffs her.

Justin's a wonderful hero . He help runs a catering business and specializes in cake decorating. He's comfortable with who he is and ignores those wh omake fun of his chosen career. And he's not a cop, cowboy, tycoon or fireman! Woo hoo!!

His major obstacle to love was a little too much for me at times. He got his high school girlfriend pregnant, but her parents made him sign away the rights in a closed adoption. This decision eats away at him and does not allow him to get close to women. Everytime things look serious, he runs away. He does research and finds there are other birth fathers like him that feel the same way. What bothered me is that this aspect of the story line felt to planned, or perhaps over researched to me. The author had done her homework - but it felt like that aspect of the story was being driven so she could get her research in or something.

Apart from that - it was a delightful story. I hope to read more of Jeannie Watt's romances.


Rated on my 5 star romance scale. Read in about 3 hours.

[Megan]

Lots of elements that are just different from other romances: the hero is a baker who bakes and frosts cakes (and there's not one swipe at his masculinity the entire book!), the heroine asks the hero to help her commit a crime--for good reasons--and they proceed to commit the crime in a fairly funny scene, and the hero may have been the heroine's brothers' best friend growing up but their childhood/teenage relationship was NOT one of secretly pining after one another. More like annoying one another and misreading one another all the time out of impatience and not out of suppressed lust. But now that they're grown up, and their lives are what they expected them to be? Their history is now something they use to create some unexpected intimacy. It was a fun dynamic, and there was so much fresh and vivid in their interactions.

On the other hand, I was a bit "ugh, too much angst" about the hero. He had too much going on in such a short space of text and time that it got to be a bit too stressful being in his head sometimes. It didn't always flow so well with the sparky chemistry he had with the heroine. (That, and after all the stuff that you don't have in your average romance, one of the most ridiculous romance tropes a secret baby! is trotted out. It harshed my buzz.)

[Fedora · Rating 4 out of 5]

VERY enjoyable read. Layla's the straightlaced teacher who's always been the responsible one. Justin's the same grade as her younger siblings, and their history has all been about them tormenting her with all kinds of crazy escapades. Well, it's been a few years since they've had much interaction, and now they're finding that the other person has grown up in ways that make him/her quite intriguing...

I liked Ms. Watt's characters--they felt very realistic and three dimensional. Justin's not just a free-spirited playboy, even though he plays at being one. And Layla's got some cutting loose to do. It was great to read how Ms. Watt developed their stories (I especially enjoyed Layla's foray into breaking-and-entering ;)) and surrounded them with a strong and enjoyable supporting cast.

I realize now that Just Desserts was the third in a series; I'm guessing the first two were about his sisters? Will need to go back and read those now :)

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

After discovering her boyfriend is cheating on her with a colleague, a teacher goes on a bender that ends up threatening her career but reunites her with a childhood frenemy (a pastry chef!) who is himself dealing with his issues over having fathered a child given up for adoption. It was refreshing to read about a birth father coming to terms with this sort of thing; usually the focus is on the women. The characters were well-developed, and the plot was engaging. I thought the ending was a bit abrupt, but overall (as usual for Watt), a recommended book.

[Darlene Torday · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good romance story between two people that have their own problems to face and resolve. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to face up to your own mistakes and move forward. This author took some unusual problems and tossed in two people who knew each other from childhood that didn't get along. I found myself hoping they could work through their problems and end up together.

[E_bookpushers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two wounded people finding each other and learning how to heal and let the rest of their personality emerge. One of the things I like about this line is that it brings up real world issues and challenges.

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: Too Many Cooks?
Category: Heart & Home

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: Too Many Cooks?
Category: Heart & Home

[Chica]

12/20. Pas mal mais pas renversant, un peu déçue.. :/
C'est dommage le début était bien mais après je me suis un peu sentie perdue par les choix de l'auteure...

[Lex Leandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 sur la fin

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

love love loved this book. Really feel sorry for Justin with everything that has happened to him in his fast. Glad that things finally worked out for him and Layla