Publisher: Beth Bolden Books
Cover Artist: Angsty G Book Cover and Media Design
Release Date: August 26, 2020
Genre/s: Contemporary gay romance, opposites attract, work romance, foodie romance
Heat Rating: 4 flames
Length: 83 000 words
A standalone story.
When Tony Blake walks into what might be a blind date, he’s surprisingly intrigued despite his irritation with his meddling brother. But when Lucas turns out to be a new employee for their food truck, Tony’s usual charm deserts him.
Lucas might be fantastically creative in the kitchen, but to Tony’s disappointment, he’s not interested in more than a casual hookup. Old Tony would have loved the lack of strings, but New Tony is finally ready for it all.
He’s ready to find love, and to help the food truck thrive. What he needs is Lucas next to him, revolutionizing their carnivore menu with his vegan point of view, and what he wants is Lucas underneath him in bed, turning his life inside out.
As the kitchen heats up in the Los Angeles summer, can Tony figure out how to drive Lucas crazy enough to change his mind?
Excerpt
Tony was muttering as he climbed back into the truck.
“Gabriel’s here,” he said, “and so is Ash. And the fucking picnic truck.”
Lucas didn’t know who Gabriel or Ash were, but he had heard of the famous—or apparently in Tony’s mind, infamous—picnic truck. It was called Basket, and it specialized in all kinds of stuff you’d bring to a picnic or a cookout: ribs, hot dogs, potato salad, deviled eggs. Lucas had ordered from it once and had been surprisingly impressed by their macaroni salad. Macaroni salad, that fucking mainstay of middle-class American potlucks and grocery store delis. Completely reimagined and absolutely crazy delicious.
But it sounded like Tony was not exactly thrilled they were here, which kind of made sense, because they definitely seemed to grab the lion’s share of attention wherever they went.
“They’re new,” Lucas said. “A novelty.”
“Ross is a dick,” Tony grumbled, “and Aaron is an even bigger dick.”
That surprised Lucas. Tony didn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d trash his competition. “Really?”
“They stole our onion dip recipe,” Tony said. “Well, Wyatt’s onion dip recipe. And he thinks it’s funny, but it’s really not, because then we had to take it off the menu.”
“Why?”
“They claimed theirs is an ‘old family recipe’ which is total bullshit, but somehow it was basically identical to ours, and Wyatt didn’t want us to look like we were copying them, even though we’d had it as a side, nearly from the start. That was when we decided we’d do more salsas, lean into the fish tacos and stuff.”
“You should make it for me sometime,” Lucas said. He hadn’t intended for it to sound like an invitation or, god forbid, a date, but Tony glanced over in surprise, like he’d just propositioned him. Over onion dip, for god’s sake.
“Next big event, we’ll add it as a special. At least if freaking Basket isn’t around.”
Lucas told himself that he wasn’t disappointed in the way Tony dismissed him. He probably wouldn’t be around for the next big event, and Tony knew it.
Returning to his final set of prep, Lucas tried to let it go, but the way Tony had said it was weird. Stole. Money and a recipe were totally different beasts, but there was a weird similarity there that kept bothering him, piquing his curiosity. Finally, even though he knew better than to bring up what was clearly a sore subject, Lucas put his knife down and turned towards Tony, who was working on the spinach artichoke mixture for the grilled cheese, wilting spinach in a huge pot on the stove.
“What do you mean, they stole it?” Lucas asked.
Tony looked up, surprise etched on his face.
“Like, did they break into the truck and steal the recipe?” Lucas continued, gesturing to where the vague recipes were written out in bold, slashing letters that he’d discovered was Tony’s handwriting. “Or did they just buy some and duplicate it?”
“I don’t know,” Tony said. “I wish I did, but fuck if I know how they got it. I guess they could have recreated it. But . . .”
“It was totally identical,” Lucas finished. “Fuck, that sucks.” He knew how hard it would be to recreate a recipethat closely. It’d take dozens of attempts, and tons of time. Not the kind of time that anyone would waste in the food truck business. Tony was probably right; somehow the Basket guys had stolen the recipe.
3.75 out of 5 stars
Drive Me Crazy by Beth Bolden spotlights Tony Blake and his adventures with his What a Catch food truck in Los Angeles. Discovering that his brother and truck co-owner has hired entrepreneur and personal trainer Lucas Barnes to help out in the truck complicates matters when sparks fly, thefts occur, and secrets threaten to derail their new relationship.
This adult gay contemporary romance is the first book in the 'Food Truck Warriors' series but also has connections to the author’s ‘Kitchen Gods’ series. The food truck is busy enough that Tony needs help, but between his friend, Jeremy, and Lucas, the man foisted on him, Tony’s not sure whether things will work out.
I was a little dismayed by Tony’s deliberate blindness and unwarranted loyalty, which made the “mystery” a little obvious, and I was frustrated by the lack of repercussions when the villain was finally confronted. The interaction between Tony and his brother, Wyatt, is a little uneven but I really enjoyed seeing how Wyatt and his famous hubby, Ryan, are doing. There are also encounters with other food truck operators that waffle between friendliness and frenemies, so I suspect some of those guys will appear in stories of their own.
The story is told in alternating points of view between the main characters, and it provides brief insights into the challenges of operating a mobile self-contained mini-restaurant. I was entertained by the glimpses of areas of Los Angeles, which was fun for me, and was frequently made hungry by the descriptions of the dishes being prepared. This is a low-angst light romance, and it can be read as a stand-alone story, although I have no doubt it would be better appreciated if the other series has been read as well. I look forward to reading other stories in this series.
A copy of this title was provided for review
Sounds like a good read.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed it, Rita! I hope you get a chance to read it. Thanks for visiting!
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