Books & Spoons Review for COOKING WITH KANDY by Peggy Jaeger

13/4/2017

Kandy Laine built her wildly popular food empire the old-fashioned way—starting with the basic ingredients of her grandmother’s recipes and flavoring it all with her particular brand of sweet spice. From her cookbooks to her hit TV show, Kandy is a kitchen queen—and suddenly someone is determined to poison her cup. With odd accidents and threatening messages piling up, strong-willed Kandy can’t protest when her team hires someone to keep her safe—but she can’t deny that the man for the job looks delicious. . .

Josh Keane is a private investigator, not a bodyguard. But with one eyeful of Kandy’s ebony curls and dimpled smile, he’s signing on to uncover who’s cooking up trouble for the gorgeous chef. As the attraction between them starts to simmer, it’s not easy to keep his mind on the job, but when the strange distractions turn to true danger, he’ll stop at nothing to keep Kandy safe—and show her that a future together is on the menu. . .

The story is built from three components. There are the love and passion Kandy has for cooking and everything culinary. There is the attraction and fascination Kandy has with Josh. And then there is the suspense, the kind of creepy suspense where you know that the culprit has to be someone who is close to you, someone you trust, someone who has a possibility to hurt you deeply, even deadly. And they violate your own space, your own safe harbor, your home, and that is the kind suspense that gets to me every single time.
I liked how the harassment case was built and plotted. The escalating attacks and the tension heightening brought a different kind of energy to the story. The intensity escalated, the threats being severe, and with so many people around Kandy, the guilty was kept hidden amongst the crowd till the end.
I love when food and romance are mixed together, my two favorite things! The author knew what she was talking about when it came to Kandy's actions in the kitchen. It was a joy to read about her creations and prep work. The story showed the sensual and intimate side of cooking while Kandy was in the kitchen working with Josh, I enjoyed how those details were highlighted.
The details are plentiful throughout the story, and maybe the escalating tension from the suspense would have been even more intense if Kandy and Josh wouldn't have been cleaning the kitchen so often with every move listed. It was a bit distracting to know every time when they were setting or clearing the table, and when doing the dishes, and where they put the plates...
The attraction between Kandy and Josh was evident to everyone around them. I enjoyed the fervor and fire that was in the air when they were in the same space. Josh was a great wounded hero. He had a past of disappointments and hurt, yet he was driven, confident, and kind. His bossiness was equal to Kandy's, and the clashes between their power struggles brought up the passion to another height. There were times I wished Josh could have communicated more clearly to save others around him from unnecessary hurt and turmoil, but his intentions were never harmful, more like honorable.
Kandy was as driven as Josh, they were a lot alike, but Kandy's personal character development was noticeable in the story. She learned to see people around her in a new light, from a different point of view, and she took a note and corrected her fierce and dominant actions.
Cooking With Kandy is an entertaining, fun, flirtatious story where family matters above anything else, where love hits you like a lightning and changes your life. There is danger, there are threats and a big family meddling. There is cooking, great food, passion for love and life, and to everything that really matters in life. A marvelous mix of chilling mystery, frightening threats, joie de vivre, enthusiasm for life, love, and devotion.
~ Four Spoons with a teaspoon on the side