I received this book for free from Greys Promotions in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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All is fair in love…and food truck war.

OMG. It's him! TV celebrity chef Antony Renard! And he wants my food truck falafels? Hard pass.

I've spent my whole life being judged by my dad. I don't need another bossy/grumpy chef meddling in my food.

What's he doing in Calico Cove anyway?

Oh, I bet he's hiding out because of that viral video of him losing his cool at his fancy Michelin-starred restaurant. Talk about needing a timeout.

Also wow...it's true. His eyes are, in fact, that blue! Not that I care about his eyes, or his wide shoulders or his beefy biceps. Or the way his eyes get dark when he looks at me. Like he wants way more from me than just my falafels.

Which makes no sense. We're total opposites. He's all about control and I go where the wind blows. Except now he's challenging everything I ever thought I wanted in life.

When a runaway teenager shows up in town, reminding Antony and me about our own past, it changes the game for us. Because Antony is starting to make me believe in something again...Family.

After reading ‘Happily Ever.. Maybe?’ by Hailey Shore last year, I knew I wanted to read more books by this author. So when I received a message on Instagram with the question if I wanted to read their new book, I couldn’t resist. And although I had a very busy reading schedule, I started reading as soon as I could.

In ‘Can’t Take The Heat’ we read the story of Birdie and Antony. Birdie owns a food truck, and makes delicious falafel sandwiches in the small town of Calico Cove. The last person she expects wanting to have one her sandwiches is the handsome and TV celebrity chef Antony Renard. But there he is, standing in line waiting for her to serve him her food. But the last thing Birdie wants is to serve someone who is going to critic her food. How handsome and charming, and rather grumpy at times he might be.

‘Can’t Take The Heat’ was a fun story I definitely enjoyed reading. Starting with the setting of Calico Cove. Not only do I just love reading about a small town, this town just is something special. I love reading about the small town setting, the fishing everyone seems to do, the poker nights with alle these different characters. And above all the food and restaurants. It just sounded so much fun.

Since I love cooking and baking myself, which I haven’t been doing as much lately, I really loved the food element in this book. Reading a romance story about two people who love food and cooking was just a lot of fun. And although in the beginning it definitely wasn’t a positive conversation point between Birdie and Antony, I just loved how intense they both where about their cooking.

The romance between Birdie and Antony was fun and sexy. And I loved how they both changed each other’s life for the better. They both had these issues with their pasts they had to overcome, and they both helped each other in the end. Add the cute side character of teenager Nick and I definitely enjoyed this read.

The one thing I didn’t love as much in this book was Birdie’s character. I found her a bit frustrating and immature at times. The way she always seemed to leave at sudden moments. And how she just kept denying Antony her sandwich. I mean really? I understood why, but still it irritated me a little. But luckily I loved Antony’s character so much it totally made up for my little issues with Birdie.

‘Can’t Take The Heat’ was a fun read I definitely enjoyed. I really hope to read more books set in Calico Cove soon.

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Check out my review of ‘Happily Ever.. Maybe?’ here:

About Hailey Shore

Hailey Shore believes in hot coffee, cold wine and HEA's. She is the combined talents of two besties who have been writing for over 20 years. 

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I received this ARC through Grey’s Promotions.

Maureen Bakker

Maureen is a mom, wife, nurse, and Ravenclaw living in the Netherlands. She spends her days juggling mom-life, reading, blogging, planning date nights with her husband and working as a nurse. Maureen also is a big Anglophile, loves cooking, Gilmore Girls, Bridgerton and Harry Potter.. Always!  Facebook | Instagram