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Chef Showdown
Eight chefs. Twelve days. The toughest judge imaginable.
Toby Brutus is a country boy who calls himself the Crawdad King of Mississippi.
Kacie Lee is a Korean-American from Jackson Heights, Queens who runs a burger joint.
The attraction is immediate – but can they trust each other? Can they find love and still strive to win? Will their hearts survive --- a chef showdown?
Nina Lestrade, known as Madame Queen, is a formidable judge who pulls no punches and backs down from no one. She and she alone will determine the fate of all the contestants — but when young love is also at stake, what role does this powerful and temperamental culinary expert have to play?
Chef Showdown features the thrill and stress and intrigue of competition – the excitement of new love with all its obstacles – and so much mouth-watering cooking and eating that you’ll want to give up your diet!
HEA. Trigger warnings: profanity, sex, amazing food!
MJ Post is the co-author of five contemporary romance novellas with Mysti Parker and the author of numerous novels and non-fiction works under another name.
Go ahead and connect with MJ on Facebook. MJ is very friendly and easy to find. Check inside the book for links.
Toby Brutus is a country boy who calls himself the Crawdad King of Mississippi.
Kacie Lee is a Korean-American from Jackson Heights, Queens who runs a burger joint.
The attraction is immediate – but can they trust each other? Can they find love and still strive to win? Will their hearts survive --- a chef showdown?
Nina Lestrade, known as Madame Queen, is a formidable judge who pulls no punches and backs down from no one. She and she alone will determine the fate of all the contestants — but when young love is also at stake, what role does this powerful and temperamental culinary expert have to play?
Chef Showdown features the thrill and stress and intrigue of competition – the excitement of new love with all its obstacles – and so much mouth-watering cooking and eating that you’ll want to give up your diet!
HEA. Trigger warnings: profanity, sex, amazing food!
MJ Post is the co-author of five contemporary romance novellas with Mysti Parker and the author of numerous novels and non-fiction works under another name.
Go ahead and connect with MJ on Facebook. MJ is very friendly and easy to find. Check inside the book for links.
429 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 22, 2018
About the author
M.J. Post
7 books14 followersFormer romance author, no longer active. After covid-19 struck, I just couldn't write romance anymore. Maybe someday...
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 25, 2018
A delicious love story in the kitchen, on the TV, in the bedroom, over the pass and over the moon! MJ Post may not be a master chef in her household, but she's quite a master author in her own right!
Tobias Brutus hailed from Mississippi and he could cook a mean crawdad meal that'd surely melt in your mouth. Toby always loved cooking and has pursued this passion in college when he decided to take culinary instead of engineering which his parents had preferred. He got his own food truck when he couldn't take his parents dismay anymore .
Yookyung Lee preferred to be called Kacie, as in KC for Korean Chef. She'd never been confident about herself as she'd always been bullied when she was in high school. Like Toby , KC's parents we're against her pursuing a career in cooking. When a reality tv casting director came looking for possible contestants for a Chef Showdown, KCs dream to be a renowned chef might just come to fruition. Could she make it on TVmust
I must admit I am not really a reality tv enthusiast, except for Amazing Race which I've fervently watched during the first five seasons then I stopped. I don't watch much cooking shows either , except for those shows by Gordon Ramsay and Anthony Bourdain. But somehow, reading a book about a cooking showdown a la Master Chef and Iron Chef definitely intrigued me.
Chef Showdown features 8 distinctive chefs vying for that Master chef title and proving their worth to be a top notch judge. Toby and Kacie are caught in a delicious crossfire of love and ambition, both formidable chefs and talented in their own rights but only one would reign supreme.
I can't tell you how much I love this two together even if they're competitors. Kacie's sometimes naive attitude often got her mouth into trouble, but that's what made her adorable to me. Toby's competence and equal treatment to all races and personality made him swoon worthy.
The food ..., omg the food! I couldn't even begin how to describe the deliciousness and ingenuity of everything the chefs had served. I wish I could taste them all. The behind the scenes interactions seemed true and possible, I wondered if it were all real. MJ Post made it all feel as the real thing and I love it!
Tobias Brutus hailed from Mississippi and he could cook a mean crawdad meal that'd surely melt in your mouth. Toby always loved cooking and has pursued this passion in college when he decided to take culinary instead of engineering which his parents had preferred. He got his own food truck when he couldn't take his parents dismay anymore .
Yookyung Lee preferred to be called Kacie, as in KC for Korean Chef. She'd never been confident about herself as she'd always been bullied when she was in high school. Like Toby , KC's parents we're against her pursuing a career in cooking. When a reality tv casting director came looking for possible contestants for a Chef Showdown, KCs dream to be a renowned chef might just come to fruition. Could she make it on TVmust
I must admit I am not really a reality tv enthusiast, except for Amazing Race which I've fervently watched during the first five seasons then I stopped. I don't watch much cooking shows either , except for those shows by Gordon Ramsay and Anthony Bourdain. But somehow, reading a book about a cooking showdown a la Master Chef and Iron Chef definitely intrigued me.
Chef Showdown features 8 distinctive chefs vying for that Master chef title and proving their worth to be a top notch judge. Toby and Kacie are caught in a delicious crossfire of love and ambition, both formidable chefs and talented in their own rights but only one would reign supreme.
I can't tell you how much I love this two together even if they're competitors. Kacie's sometimes naive attitude often got her mouth into trouble, but that's what made her adorable to me. Toby's competence and equal treatment to all races and personality made him swoon worthy.
The food ..., omg the food! I couldn't even begin how to describe the deliciousness and ingenuity of everything the chefs had served. I wish I could taste them all. The behind the scenes interactions seemed true and possible, I wondered if it were all real. MJ Post made it all feel as the real thing and I love it!
June 12, 2018
This was a great book. It kept me up late reading because I couldn't put it down.
June 12, 2018
This was a great book even though I have no clue what half the stuff is. It made me very hungry and now I want to try Korean food. :)
June 27, 2018
Romance and Cooking Show Junkie’s Delights!
This story is about 8 chefs who are recruited due to their skill in their own style of cooking to compete on The Kitchen Network. The judge is a renowned chef who decides to call herself Madame Queen. Two of the contestants have an attraction immediately, but they are both leery of the other. Toby Brutus is the self acclaimed Crawdad King, from Mississippi. This is his first trip to New York, and he is feeling completely out of his element until he gets to the kitchen. Kacie (Yookyung, the Korean Chef or KC) Lee is chef and co-owner of her own Korean Burger Restaurant in New York. The other chefs each have their own personalities and reasons for wanting to win the competition, and it’s a true completion as all chefs are very good.
I found myself very confused initially with all the characters and the various names for them. However, as I read further, I started to figure out the characters and their roles in the TV Show as well as in the plot of the book. I did find the book somewhat repetitive as each competition was fully described. I. Watching episodes on TV, there’s usually a week between each episode. Here, the next competition started soon after the previous. I enjoyed reading about Toby and his attraction to Kacie, but I found Kacie to be quite immature. I realize a lot of this was due to never having a boyfriend, but knowing these Chefs were beginning their careers, she seemed much more emotionally stunted than I expected for a strong woman in the kitchen.
I found this a good start to MJ Post authoring on her own, and look forward to her next book. If you like reality cooking shows and romance with HEAs, you’ll enjoy this book too!
I received a complimentary copy of this book and am voluntarily reviewing it.
This story is about 8 chefs who are recruited due to their skill in their own style of cooking to compete on The Kitchen Network. The judge is a renowned chef who decides to call herself Madame Queen. Two of the contestants have an attraction immediately, but they are both leery of the other. Toby Brutus is the self acclaimed Crawdad King, from Mississippi. This is his first trip to New York, and he is feeling completely out of his element until he gets to the kitchen. Kacie (Yookyung, the Korean Chef or KC) Lee is chef and co-owner of her own Korean Burger Restaurant in New York. The other chefs each have their own personalities and reasons for wanting to win the competition, and it’s a true completion as all chefs are very good.
I found myself very confused initially with all the characters and the various names for them. However, as I read further, I started to figure out the characters and their roles in the TV Show as well as in the plot of the book. I did find the book somewhat repetitive as each competition was fully described. I. Watching episodes on TV, there’s usually a week between each episode. Here, the next competition started soon after the previous. I enjoyed reading about Toby and his attraction to Kacie, but I found Kacie to be quite immature. I realize a lot of this was due to never having a boyfriend, but knowing these Chefs were beginning their careers, she seemed much more emotionally stunted than I expected for a strong woman in the kitchen.
I found this a good start to MJ Post authoring on her own, and look forward to her next book. If you like reality cooking shows and romance with HEAs, you’ll enjoy this book too!
I received a complimentary copy of this book and am voluntarily reviewing it.
July 6, 2018
I love "Good Eats". I'm not so much for all the other cooking shows, much less the competitions. But, this book may just change that. We get some background on our two major characters to start off the book. After the introductions everyone gets into that pressure cooker that is TV competition shows. Insert a Judge that is about as ruthless as Chef Ramsey and you'd got a hit on your hands. The romance does a very slow burn, you know it's gonna happen, but when cameras are running 24/7 'everywhere', it's kinda hard to get that spark to ignite. The settings are well described, behind the scenes is about what you'd expect from film and TV. While I'm not a foodie, there's tons of cooking and aroma's to savor over while you read. The book does run a little longer than most in the genre, but it's worth it.
June 26, 2018
A refreshing and mouthwatering read
I am a cooking show junkie and this book caught my attention much like I was watching it all play out on TV. With enough romance to satisfy you needs Chef Showdown provides dramatic ans humorous interactions between all characters. There is enough will they or won't they to keep you guessing about the relationship, include the suspense of who will come out on top, and this is a fine showing by M. J. Post. The concept is refreshing, the characters so realistic, the plot enjoyable, and the food descriptions so mouthwatering I had to look up some recipes to try. I am looking forward to more from this author using this cast, specifically, Eliose, Lilian and Jinwoo.
I am a cooking show junkie and this book caught my attention much like I was watching it all play out on TV. With enough romance to satisfy you needs Chef Showdown provides dramatic ans humorous interactions between all characters. There is enough will they or won't they to keep you guessing about the relationship, include the suspense of who will come out on top, and this is a fine showing by M. J. Post. The concept is refreshing, the characters so realistic, the plot enjoyable, and the food descriptions so mouthwatering I had to look up some recipes to try. I am looking forward to more from this author using this cast, specifically, Eliose, Lilian and Jinwoo.
December 2, 2018
I usually don't enjoy books involving cooking, but I enjoyed this book quite a bit :) ...The characters are believable, and it didn't end on a cliffhanger, giving us a nice epilogue to wrap up the book. (I hate cliffhangers lol) This is a boy-meets-girl love story. The two main characters are joined by 6 other chefs and they compete to see who will win the top prize. The two main characters also wonder if they will end up together...but you will have to read the book to see if they do :) The writing flowed smoothly and there was very little that was confusing. I did get two of the characters mixed up a couple times, but overall, I don't think it hurt the story any :) ...I may have even learned a bit about cooking, though I will never actually try to cook any of it, since I'm a horrible cook. But whether I do or not, I thoroughly recommend reading this book :)
November 18, 2018
Eight chefs compete in a TV reality cooking show. There's lots of spicy language and adult situations. But the story is engaging, and I certainly learned a lot about foods I'd never heard of or encountered before. I enjoyed reading about Kacie and Toby, two cooks from totally different worlds. The writing shows a lot of talent, as well as a thorough knowledge of (or intense research into) several different cuisines. The ending was somewhat unexpected, but satisfying. I'll look for more from this relatively new author.
May 25, 2019
Cute read
Like the author, I am a food show addict which made me a bit skeptical about reading this book. But..... I was wrong! Chef Showdown is an entertaining and fun read. I really enjoyed it.
Like the author, I am a food show addict which made me a bit skeptical about reading this book. But..... I was wrong! Chef Showdown is an entertaining and fun read. I really enjoyed it.
November 25, 2018
Great story
I really enjoyed these story and it was well written. It was a page turner and it kept my interest.
I really enjoyed these story and it was well written. It was a page turner and it kept my interest.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews