Review: Recipe for (Murder) Love by Dyann Love Barr (A Taste of (Murder) Love #1)


Tilly Danes and Jordan Kelly are renowned celebrity chefs who only have two things in common: their love for cooking and their dislike for each other. They've exchanged barbs before and try to stay away from each other when they're not forced to be in front of the cameras as judges for a reality cooking show, but when they stumble upon the dead body of their fellow judge, catching the killer has them unexpectedly joining forces. Now, they're searching for clues the cops may have missed, and they're also beginning to see each other in a whole new light--one that may involve a whole lot of heat moving from the kitchen into the bedroom. Will they be able to solve the crime before one of them falls victim to murder or heartache?

Recipe for Murder Love is the first novel in the Dyann Love Barr-penned Taste for Murder Love series and is a romantic suspense story about two celebrity chefs turned amateur sleuths searching for the killer of a celebrity food critic. Tilly Danes and Jordan Kelly are an interesting combination--she with her down-home comfort food recipes and he with his high-brow gastronomical delights--and they do have a tendency of irritating each other with their thinly veiled barbs. The thing is, you don't really see a lot of sexual tension between the two, though Tilly isn't blind and notices just how hot Jordan is, until they're working as consultants on the murder case. I would definitely classify theirs as a very slow burn romance.

As I was reading the story, it was clear that Jordan was the first to acknowledge his developing feelings for Tilly, which, I will admit, surprised me. Between the two of them, he was the far more acerbic and Tilly's being a woman didn't stop him from lobbing an insult her way every now and again. Of course, Tilly's preoccupation with the police detective in charge of the case may have captured her attention and left her with little time to notice how Jordan's feelings toward her were shifting. There was certainly much more to Jordan than being the seemingly snobbish chef that he was while with Tilly, it was a case of "what you see is what you get." The verbal back and forth between the two was quite entertaining and at times, hilarious.

The murder mystery led to a number of potential suspects, and my instincts were proven spot on when the truth was finally revealed. Almost everything played out quite well, though I do find it strange that Detective Tyler Jericho was so quick to take Tilly and Jordan on as consultants on the case. Plus, you would think that there was some sort of rule against an active officer of the law who was in charge of a murder investigation showing a personal interest toward someone who was involved, in one way or another, to the case he was handling. Still, the whole potential love triangle angle kept things interesting between Jordan and Tilly. Recipe for Murder Love was a fun romantic suspense read and gets four stars. ♥

Date Read: 14 August 2015

Learn more Dyann Love Barr here.

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