Taste

Don’t Forget To Download The Free Bonus Scene Via The Link At The Back Of The Book.ABOUT THIS BOOK:While this book is a standalone, it is interconnected, and fans will be thrilled that is a next-generation Cloverleigh Farms book. There is a cast of characters that harken back to the Cloverleigh Farms books as well as others.Ignite was Dexter Matthews and Winnie MacAllister’s spicy next-generation story. Winnie is Ellie’s best friend since kindergarten and is a big part of Ellie’s story.Although they don’t really play a role here, Declan “Mack” MacAllister and Frannie (Sawyer) MacAllister are Winnie’s father and step-mother. Their story is told in Irresistible, book one of the Cloverleigh Farms series. In this book, Winnie’s older sister Felicity, who is twenty-seven, plays a small role.Chip Carswell just retired from playing for the White Sox after his engagement to Mariah. He is Dex’s best friend from high school and Winnie’s cousin from her step-mother’s side. Tyler Shaw and April (Sawyer) Shaw are Chip’s birth parents. Their story is told in Unforgettable, book five in the Cloverleigh Farms series.Lucas Fournier and Mia Devine Fournier are Ellie’s parents. Frenched, book one of the Frenched series, is their story. Their story gets a brief addition in Yanked (Frenched: Mia and Lucas 1.5).Gianni Lupo is a celebrity chef like his father, Nick Lupo, had been. Nick’s story with Coco Thomas Lupo is told in Forked (Frenched: Coco and Nick). Related to that, Joey Lupo’s story is told in the Speak Easy duet – Speak Easy and Speak Low.FROM IGNITE:This story opens in August in northern Michigan, in the town of Traverse City. It is home to Cloverleigh Farms and Abelard Vineyards.Dexter Matthews, thirty-four, is grumpy and soured on love. He is rebuilding his life since his marriage ended two years ago. After twelve years serving his country in the Navy and surviving the grueling demands of being a Navy SEAL, he had left the military in the hopes of being a better husband and father. He had married Naomi ten ago. It was during a trip home to Michigan to visit with his dying mother that he hooked up with his former high school sweetheart. They tried to make it work, but it was always a challenge. As a SEAL, Dex was often away for months at a time, and Naomi claimed to be alone in their marriage. She complained he wouldn’t open up and talk to her, and he didn’t care for her nagging. She asked him to move out two years ago, and last week she announced she is remarrying.Winifred “Winnie” MacAllister, twenty-two, recently moved home to Michigan after her graduating from Michigan State. She has a sunny personality and makes friends wherever she goes. She is a hopeless romantic, always on the lookout for her happily ever after. She might take it a little further than most, however, as she falls in love too quickly and too often. It is a bit of a problem. Her counselor links it to the fact that her mother walked out on her family when she was just two; those feelings of abandonment left her craving attention. But in spite of it all, Winnie had a wonderful childhood, thanks to her loving father. He was a great single dad to her and her two older sisters – Millie and Felicity – and when he remarried Frannie two years later, she became the mother Winnie and her sisters never had. The three sisters had played matchmaker at the time, nudging their father to fall in love with their nanny, who is a decade younger than him. Unfortunately, Winnie’s personal track record for finding love has been a complete failure.When Winnie notices a handsome man moving in next door, she knows she is in trouble. Dex turns out to be twelve years older than her and a single dad of two adorable girls. Things get awkward quickly between the two, and their chemistry is insane. The close proximity puts temptation at their door, and when Dex kisses her that first night, any idea of restraint is doomed. Both think they can play it safe, but love eventually comes into the picture. Dex and Winnie each have issues to deal with, though, and a real relationship doesn’t seem to be in the cards for them. They eventually find a well-earned happy ending.Dex and Winnie’s neighbors-with-benefits age-gap romance is an adorable single dad story. It is amazingly realistic. Dex is not a billionaire. His marriage failed. He missed a lot of milestones in his daughters’ lives, thanks to his career. But he is determined to be a good dad and is devoted to that goal. He is grouchy and prickly, but he is a softy underneath the bluster.IN THIS BOOK:Note that Gianni and Ellie’s story gets a start in Ignite, and their enemies-to-lovers dynamic is toxic. Their heated exchanges are intriguing – it makes you want to find out what happened during their seven minutes together in the closet. They get their own story here in Taste, but what happens in Ignite really sets the stage and is worthwhile.This story opens in January in northern Michigan, in the town of Traverse City. It is home to Cloverleigh Farms and Abelard Vineyards.Gianni Lupo, twenty-three, is restless and bores easily. The Lupo brothers are known as devils, and as the oldest, Gianni really earned that reputation. He is constantly on the move, trying to achieve something new. In his youth, it got him into trouble, but as an adult, it drives his success. His father owns a restaurant, Trattoria Lupo, so cooking is in his blood. He left his small Michigan hometown at eighteen and headed for New York, where he started out washing dishes for a living. His hard work ethic and drive led him to rise until he, like his father, landed a role on reality TV. His personal charm and charisma made him an instant celebrity chef – but he had the cooking skills to back it up.He had just finished filming when his dad shared the news about his mom’s cancer, so despite the offers rolling in to his agent, Gianni returned home to help run the family restaurant until his mother was back on her feet. She beat the cancer and was on the mend when he got an offer from close family friends. His mother’s long-time best friend, Mia Fournier, and her husband Lucas hoped to sign him to a six-month contract at the new and exclusive restaurant they were planning to open at their establishment, Abelard Vineyards. And for some reason, he decided to stick around a little longer.Ellie Fournier, twenty-three, is a little set in her ways. The former beauty pageant contestant is smart and comfortable in front of a crowd, but she prefers a conservative dress to anything stylish or flashy. She strives to be perfect like her mother, but Mia (as she calls her mother) is a hard act to follow. She has adopted her mother’s idea of a list of accomplishments to aim for, but so far, she hasn’t gotten very far. Marriage and kids made her list, but she has lots of time for those later. She graduated from Michigan State – her one big accomplishment – and returned home to work at her parents’ Vineyard. She loves her work as a sommelier pairing food and wine, and she prides herself in helping bring their company to the next level.With her brothers, Henri and Gabe, both away at school, her parents are finally at the point in their lives where than can consider spending some more time in France, where her father was born. Toward this, Winnie, Ellie’s best friend, has recently been hired to take over Mia’s duties as the guest services manager and event planner at Abelard. Before leaving, however, her parents had needed to hire a chef to help launch Abelard’s new restaurant. Unfortunately for Ellie, her parents heavily favored hiring her childhood nemesis, Gianni Lupo, and despite his growing fame, he had accepted.Gianni has never been able to resist giving Ellie a hard time. It began when they were six-year-olds and has never stopped. It did, however, slow down during their senior year of high school after that episode of Seven Minutes in Heaven had landed them in a closet together. They refused to speak about it afterward, and Gianni left town following graduation. After five years of growing up, Gianni is back in town and the teasing doesn’t stop. And Ellie, for her part, always responds. Neither seems capable of self-control when they are in the same room. Their heated exchanges hint at some pent-up frustrations in need of an outlet, but neither seems fully cognizant of that fact. But as the pair finally begins to spend a little time together and they get to know just a little about one another, that chemistry they share comes to the surface.Gianni and Ellie don’t have an easy road, however. They don’t exactly like one another, to begin with. Gianni is fiercely competitive and driven, although there is a protective side that he hides. Despite leaving home for years, he values his family. Ellie, too, is competitive and driven. She is excellent at her job, but when Gianni takes to the limelight, it only exacerbates the divide between them. Their story takes an emotional turn, but they earn a happy ending.The next generation of Cloverleigh Farms continues with Felicity MacAllister and Hutton French’s story in Tease. They both appear here as a lead-in to their romance.Gianni and Ellie’s enemies-to-lovers romance is a great addition to the Cloverleigh Farms world. It is well-written. I must say that I was super excited about this book after reading Ignite. I was a bit disappointed at the beginning of this book because the intense dynamic of the duo as represented in Ignite didn’t live up to my expectations here. The beginning felt slow. There was a lot of explanation, and it didn’t start out with a bang. That said, I was already invested in Gianni and Ellie from their appearances in Ignite, and I did enjoy their story here. The plot is fairly simple. The characters are well-developed realistic. The story is written in first person. The POV alternates between Gianni and Ellie. I rate this book 4.5 stars.

This is one of those books that I was SO SURE was going to be an easy 5-star rating for the first half... and then the second half unraveled a bit. I absolutely LOVED the forced proximity, playful teasing, frenemies banter, chemistry, and blizzard banging. This hero is all kinds of sweet and caring, and these two just feel so young and (almost) in love. The first half is all about them evolving from frenemies to something more, and almost the entirety of it is spent with them alone together. LOVED that. So how did this lose a star for me? That bubble burst when they returned home, and this lost its luster. There was too much time apart in the back half, and I never fully felt the swoons - that true sense of love vs. history, appreciation and circumstances. I still loved about 75% of it though, and it was great being back in this world.The story follows Gianni and Ellie, two people who have been in each other's lives for years. Their parents are friends, but Gianni and Ellie have never been close - they're not friends, not enemies, but something in between. They never seem to stop bickering. So when they get stuck in a blizzard and are forced to stay in a motel room overnight (with only one bed, of course), it's the perfect opportunity for them to work out their differences. The time together puts their history and relationship in perspective, and they find themselves connecting in unexpected ways. They heat up the sheets during their amazing encounter, but it's just supposed to be one night... until Ellie discovers she's pregnant.I love diving into Harlow's work, and look forward to it every time. This easily reads as a standalone, with appearances by characters from a variety of series, but most of the focus being on Gianni and Ellie themselves. These characters are much younger than I'm used to from Harlow (23), so they felt a little naive and more carefree than other couples. They were all about the lust, with raging hormones that couldn't be contained any longer. Gianni definitely felt very young - very much like a 23-year-old, sex-obsessed dude - and that added to their troubles along the way. I really liked Gianni though; he's such a good guy, with a playful personality and a loving streak. Ellie was easy to like during the blizzard, but I had a tougher time with her in the back half, and she's the main reason this loses a star from me. The forced proximity was so good, and the richness of their history just added another layer of depth to this romance.Audio note: The audio was excellent. Dual narration with two great performers who made it easy to binge. The vibe is light and sexy in the first half, with plenty of conversation and some steam along the way. The back half is a little angstier, but not too heavy for audio. And the runtime was perfect for listening in one day. Not necessarily a book that I would recommend for the office - it doesn't take long before things heat up - but this is probably one of the least steamy books I've read by Harlow. The focus is conversation and connection, at least in the first half. Overall, definitely a solid audio listen, and I recommend the book as a whole.

If ever a main character invites you to a festival ask if his name is Gianni. There is a revelation of maleness that is awakened in this book as the author takes us step by step through the evolution of a male douchebag becoming a man. One chapter I was rooting for him then the next I wanted him to drown in a dunk tank. Excellent writing when you love to hate a protagonist.

Finally I got to read Taste. I’m really glad I read the previous books first. Even though it is a stand-alone book, I do suggest to read Cloverleigh Farms & Frenched series, to get to know everyone ☺️Ellie and Gianni have known each other since they were born, as we all know their parents are Mia/Lucas and Coco/Nick.He loved teasing Ellie when they were children. That’s probably the main reason why Ellie doesn’t trust Gianni. Everything is a joke to him.They end up spending the night (or nights should I say) because of a blizzard. There’s definitely been an attraction between them and thanks to a one bed motel, they even act on it.Ellie tries to push him away after that as much as she can, to protect her heart.She knows that they are not meant for each other.He loves his freedom and independence. She wants family and commitment.But what they don’t know is that everything has consequences. And what they’ve done in that motel is definitely going to change their life forever.Let’s not forget to mention the epilogue. It was cute, funny and emotional at the same time.Melanie didn’t disappoint me with this book. It was funny, it was sweet and oh so sexy.I can’t wait to read 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 ( it’s coming to us on 𝟏𝟏 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 )

Taste by Melanie Harlow.Oh how I loved this book. I loved the banter and sniping from Gianni and Ellie when we saw glimpses of them in Ignite, and I was so excited to see them set the kitchen on fire in Taste.Gianni was instantly likeable. Cheeky, self assured, but with a heart of gold.. there was nothing you couldn’t like.Ellie was a smart, take no prisoners heroine who refused to be bowled over by Giannis charm.Watching their chemistry explode in this book was crazy satisfying. The first half of the book was super hot, and the second half tugged all the heartstrings for me.I could not put this down!

Ellie has known Gianni all her life and they have always pressed each other's buttons. She works at her family's wine estate as a taster, and he has come to help as the chef whilst he is in between contracts. He is one of those guys who lives life to the full, he doesnt want to be tied down and enjoys the ladies to the full. He likes to move around and doesnt see the need to settle anywhere. He insists on driving Ellie to a party she has been booked for because the weather is not looking good. It's a disaster because the host is more interested in the famous chef. They end up in a hotel and Gianni wants her. Ellie gets hurt when she finds out he lied about his car breaking down and then there is news that going to make his life suddenly change and its whether he wants to step up and grow up.

I loved this book so much, I stumbled across this series and fell in love.-one bed trope-enemies/Friends to loversGianni and Ellie have grown up together with their mums as best friends. Ellie always has had a love to hate relationship with Gianni but she thinks she will never have a chance,but once you hit his POV you realise that the feelings mutual.When Ellie has to drive to a work meeting in the snow Gianni takes the chance to go with her, they end up at a motel stranded and of course there’s only one bed, one room.When things get carried away and heated, you know it’s gonna get good.I loved seeing the snippets of the other couples in the series.

After reading Tease didn’t think the next book Taste would be as good. WRONG - the author has a brilliant writing mind, and the humour throughout was absolutely great. Onwards and upwards to the next one. No housework done and doesn’t look likely it will happen in the future 😂 Luckily my husband is only slightly aware of my reading obsession - thank you Book Bub and Kindle Unlimited🙃