Reviewer's Rating:
5
5.0Overall score
A great start to a new series.
Melting for You By A.M. Arthur
Genre: Contemporary Romance, GLBTQ, MM
Released: June 13, 2019
Publisher: Briggs-King Books
Series: Neighborhood Shindig, Book 1
Cover Design: Sloan J Designs
After his father’s heart attack, Isaiah Morrell gave up cooking in his own high-end Atlanta restaurant to return home to Reynolds, North Carolina, in order to help his father Thomas heal and to keep an eye on his business Neighborhood Shindig. A collection of food trucks and other small businesses, Shindig is a popular destination in this college town, but Isaiah longs for the fast pace of a big-city kitchen. Until he meets Joel…
Joel Fisher has been out of commission from a serious illness for the better part of a year, but now he’s ready to reclaim his life—except his apartment has been sublet, his partner is missing, and their shared food truck is stripped of everything not attached. In short, Joel has nothing. After an uncomfortable night sleeping on the food truck floor, Isaiah and Thomas Morrell give Joel an offer he can’t refuse: a rented room in their house, as well as their help creating a new food truck concept. Joel hates accepting charity, but he’s hit rock bottom and has nowhere to go but up.
Working with seemingly uptight Isaiah is actually pretty fun, and the pair bonds over a challenge to create a unique grilled cheese sandwich. Light flirting melts into a deeper connection neither man expects, but Isaiah isn’t in Reynolds for much longer, and Joel can’t get attached to the gorgeous professional chef. As Isaiah’s feelings for Joel strengthen and grow, he entertains the idea of staying in Neighborhood Shindig for good—but Joel hasn’t asked him to…
Welcome to Neighborhood Shindig, a friendly place where you can snack on a lamb kebab while getting your hair done, pick up your favorite herbal tea blend, and then go listen to live music under the pavilion. We’re happy to have you.
Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003
A great start to a new series.
Melting for You is the first book in A.M. Arthur’s new Neighborhood Shindig series and I loved the lighter tone of this story. I appreciate a good angsty book but sometimes it’s refreshing to read something that’s just light and easy to read. That’s not to say that there is no conflict at all in Melting for You because there is, but the overall tone is lighter than more recent A.M. Arthur books.
I read this one straight through, in just a little over 3 hours. At 38,000 words it’s a long novella – one of my favorite length books simply because I can usually sit and devour that length book in an evening.
The blurb is a long one with great detail about the story so give it a read. I loved all of the main characters in the book. I truly felt the connection between Joel and Isaiah. While their attraction to each other happened quickly, this was definitely more of a slow-burn romance with not a lot of explicit sexy time. While I absolutely appreciate a hot, sexy story I also enjoy reading ones that leave more to the imagination. Since Joel is recovering from a serious illness, going slowly made perfect sense for this one.
Several secondary characters were introduced but I can’t guess who the next book will be about. A.M. has announced her intention to release the next two books quickly so I won’t have long to find out.
One final note. Joel’s ex is one of two bad guys in the story. I almost always love to see a bad guy get redeemed. I think it would be interesting for him to get a story! ?
♥♥♥♥♥
O Factor: Spicy
A.M. Arthur was born and raised in the same kind of small town that she likes to write about, a stone’s throw from both beach resorts and generational farmland. She’s been creating stories in her head since she was a child and scribbling them down nearly as long, in a losing battle to make the fictional voices stop. She credits an early fascination with male friendships (bromance hadn’t been coined yet back then) with her later discovery of and subsequent love affair with m/m romance stories. A.M. Arthur’s work is available from Carina Press, Dreamspinner Press, SMP Swerve, and Briggs-King Books.
When not exorcising the voices in her head, she toils away in a retail job that tests her patience and gives her lots of story fodder. She can also be found in her kitchen, pretending she’s an amateur chef and trying to not poison herself or others with her cuisine experiments.
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