A BITTER TASTE (#2 STEAMY CHEF SERIES)
A morally grey former cooking show producer meets a grumpy, Floridian chef, and their unwanted sexual tension leads them into a fake-dating scheme that might ruin both their reputations.
*****
Grace Gallagher was disgraced by her demeanor towards famous chef Béatrice Balzac, so she flies back to her hometown of Sarasota, Florida, to start all over. Problem is, her bad reputation follows her there, and causes nothing but trouble - whether it be with old friends, future employers, or her big-wig, nosy lawyer parents.
When Grace lands a gig as a front-desk person at an up-and-coming cooking school, she celebrates by sleeping with a grumpy but gorgeous woman she found at a bar - and later discovers that this woman, Melinda Monroe, is none other than her new employer: the owner & lead chef of the cooking school.
As a close friend of Béatrice's, Melinda obviously loathes Grace. But in order to save the school from ruin, she needs Grace's help: for her to pose as her girlfriend to convince her ex--an investor for the school--to donate more money.
Grace also has to deal with the aftermath of her actions in L.A., and try to prove to all that she was manipulated just as badly as Béatrice; all while balancing her growing feelings for a woman who will never like her back.
Can Grace redeem herself all while enabling more schemes, and hiding her true self yet again? Or is she destined to take the fall and forever be known as "Grace the disgrace"?
