Just One Taste by Kimberly Kincaid

Just One Taste by Kimberly Kincaid is the next book in her Pine Mountain series. While I still haven't found time and read the first two, the ones that I have read keep getting better and better.  After reading, Fire Me Up, I was impatient to read Jesse's story and was really thrilled to find that it was up next.  I was slightly sad to discover that it is a novella but it certainly holds up.

Here's the summary:
Jesse Oliver was a medic in Afghanistan, but back home in Pine Mountain he's happy to switch gears as the Double Shot bar's new sous chef. When his apartment floods and his old Army buddy offers the family's dilapidated lake house as temporary quarters, Jesse thinks a little remodeling on the creaky duplex sounds like a fair return favor. That's before he sets eyes on the gorgeous woman moving into the other side of the cabin—and discovers she's his buddy's kid sister, a.k.a totally off limits.

Kat McMarrin has fought hard for her space, and she's not too interested in sharing it. Of course, her job as a physical therapist means she won't see much of Jesse, even if he's a few thin floorboards away—unless she seeks him out. And with his sculpted body and slow-burn gaze, she might be tempted. Maybe the fixer-upper projects she has planned for the cabin will keep her mind off him. Or maybe her instincts to strip the place down will get out of hand…

This little story was really perfect in every way. Kat and Jesse are both strong, independent people. They are capable and happy in their own way, and when they get together they hit that perfect note of loving each other, but not being dependent on each other.  They both have a fairly sad childhood (what is with that lately? All the Maisey Yates characters had a sad childhood too!) but while they are shaped by it they aren't hiding it away or trying to use it as an excuse.

The very best part of the book tho, is the relationship between Jesse and Kat's older brother. They are military buddies and trust each other to the core. Gabe's trust is such that he insists that Jesse share a duplex with his baby sister, and Jesse is determined not to break that trust. This is always always a favorite theme of mine, and it did not fail me here.  If I had any quibbles with the book, it's that it takes place over a very short time period (but then, it IS a novella.)

I'm really happy to be finding new contemporary authors to glom onto and can't wait to read the next in this series.

Fire Me Up by Kimberly Kincaid

Last fall I read Kimberly Kincaid's Stirring up Trouble, and while I wasn't quite sold on it I was pretty sure I'd try another by the author. This winter Fire Me Up appeared on NetGalley and since I remembered loving the brief glimpse of Adrian we had in the first one, I requested it. While the two books take place in the same town, there is very very little overlap, and in fact neither of the main characters from Stirring up Trouble appear. There were two other books in the series, which I have not read, that tie them together.

So, what's it about?
Here's the summary:

If You Can't Stand The Heat. . .

Teagan O'Malley can handle a crisis. She's a paramedic, it's her job. But she never expected to land in the kitchen of her father's pub, with no notice, no cash, and no room for error. The kitchen is not her favorite place. Lucky for her, she just scraped a bad-boy chef off the pavement after a motorcycle accident--and something about him says he can turn up the heat in more ways than one.

Adrian Holt has had a rough few years, and he's not eager to get tangled up in anything more complicated than a good risotto. But with a broken arm and a head full of bad memories, he needs a challenge to keep him sane. Teagan's dare-me attitude and smoldering mess of a bar are just what the doctor ordered. And the two of them together might cook up some even better medicine. . .

The entire series revolves around a restaurant in a small resort town. Adrian is  sous chef there, except now he isn't since he broke his arm and is temporarily off work. His best friend and boss not so gently forces him to take an extended time off to get his life on an even keel, but on the way home he crashes his motorcycle and meets Teagan. Adrian is big and bad and has made some mistakes in his past. He is currently walking on a very tight straight and narrow and can not afford to take one step to mess it up. With the (temporary) loss of his job and now his broken arm, he despairs of keeping his sanity. When he meets Teagan a second time at her father's bar he knows this is a bad, bad idea.

Teagan is strong, resourceful and determined. She's completely unexpectedly thrown into managing the bar on a more than full time basis, and while she's in way over her head, she's never anything more than focused on fixing the problems. She holds it all together for a very long time. She trusts Adrian immediately, not that she has a choice, and works hard with him. As it turns out, there's more to the problem than simply a failing bar, and Adrian's past makes things delicate in more ways than one. I thought this line was very well written.

I could so easily see Teagan fall in love. I'd have fallen in love. I might have asked for more explanation of his willingness to help, but I'd have loved him for his strength and determination. The attraction between them was solid, if not explosively so, and by the end I could completely buy the romance. Any quibbles I'd have had were with some minor details in his past, and the degree of seriousness of the bar's trouble (I can't say more, it's not even hinted at in the synopsis!)

With this second book, Kincaid has earned herself a place on my list. I'll certainly be looking for more of  the Pine Mountain series. I really hope we get to see the two other bar employees soon.

Fire Me Up was released on January 20, 2015.