Rating: 3.5 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Blaze Best runs a wedding business with his brothers and he is the caterer. The men have landed a demanding, wealthy client that can make or break their business and everyone is on edge. When the baker walks out, Blaze has to turn to the only person he knows that can pull off the job with finesse, but also the last person he wants to ask, Evan. Blaze and Evan have history that goes back to an incident from culinary school that both men would like to forget. But Evan has made a name for himself and Blaze needs his help.
Evan and Blaze have kept up a rivalry on social media and they don’t think they like each other much. But spending days together in a busy kitchen has emotions flying and it’s only a matter of time before the men have to relieve a little tension. The pressure of the wedding is at an all time high and if the men don’t execute this wedding flawlessly, their happy ever after could be in jeopardy before it gets started.
The third book in the Best Men, Inc trilogy, Best Served Hot, offers some similarities as well as some differences to the first two books in the series. Blake is a Best brother that is the caterer for the wedding business. He has had an ongoing rivalry with Evan since culinary school. This book is different in that the men don’t like each other to start based on a bad incident at school and then professional jealousy. The similarities include seeing the same Walker wedding from Blake’s POV, with the same countdown to the wedding and how choices affected the culinary aspect of the event. I usually like seeing all sides of a story, but it got a little repetitive here throughout the three books. The Walker wedding did not make for interesting reading this third time around and the wealthy Walker family became more caricature with each book.
Evan wants the job making the cake for the high-profile wedding, but the men have no idea how to work together without the constant snark that has been their language for years. And now there is a definite attraction that the men try to get under control until they realize they can’t and don’t want to.
Evan and Blake both take on an incredible amount on their own. While it is finally addressed that Blaze does need some help in the kitchen, it was impossible to believe that he had been handling every aspect of the kitchen, from ordering to menu planning, tastings, preparation, and service for the weddings all alone. The men don’t fall in love as fast as the other brothers, but once they accept their feelings, the early days of the relationship is just as fast.
The Best Men, Inc. trilogy would be one to look to if you are looking for a no-angst, light series set around a family business with a formulaic setup throughout.
