TASTE, an all-new sexy, stranded enemies-to lovers rom com from USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling author Melanie Harlow is live now!
The last person on earth I want to be stranded with is Gianni Lupo.
But thanks to the blizzard of the century, I’m trapped in a roadside motel room with that cocky bastard for two straight days.
With one small bed.
Some women might thank Mother Nature for delivering a polar vortex that maroons them with six feet of solid muscle, those deep blue eyes, that sexy grin–but not me. I’ve known Gianni Lupo all my life, and he’s never brought me anything but bad luck and trouble.
So when the tension between us explodes with enough fiery heat to melt my icy defenses, I should have known what the disastrous end result would be–
A big fat plus sign.
After the snow melts, I’m left with more than just memories of the night we spent keeping each other warm. And he might be a rising star on the culinary scene, but he’s got no idea how to handle this bun in the oven.
He says he wants to do the right thing, but I’m not about to spend the rest of my life feeling like someone settled for me.
But just when I think I’ve got Gianni Lupo all figured out, he gives me a taste of the man he could be, of the family we could become, of the way he could love me if I let him.
I’m terrified of falling for him.
But one taste might be all it takes.
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Audio: Coming Soon
Excerpt
I sat at the foot of the bed and dialed Winnie’s number. She picked up immediately.
“Ellie?”
“Hey.”
“Thank God! You guys okay?”
“We’re fine.” I watched Gianni unwrap a candy bar and lean back against the headboard. “We found a motel with a vacancy.”
“You mean you’re staying in a motel room together?” she asked, loud enough for Gianni to overhear.
“Yeah. And there’s only one bed.”
She laughed. “How’s that going?”
“Fine.”
“You guys are getting along?”
Gianni made a lewd gesture involving his fist, his tongue, and his inner cheek. I gave him the finger. “As well you’d expect.”
“I can’t wait to hear about it.”
“We’re going to try to get out of here as soon as we can in the morning. I’ll let you know when we’re on the road.”
“Sounds good.” She laughed again. “Sleep tight.”
“Oh. We will.” I eyed the length of the bed. “We have no choice.”
After ending the call, I opened the Truth or Drink app on my phone and picked up my wine. “Ready to play?”
“Hit me.”
I scrolled through the options. “Do you want to play normal mode, party mode, or dirty mode?
Gianni looked at me like I was crazy. “Duh.”
I sighed and reached for my wine. “Okay, fine. I feel like I’m going to regret this, but dirty it is.”
“Can I take my pants off?”
“No. What’s your age range for a one night-stand?”
“Hmm.” Gianni thought for a moment.
“Please say at least eighteen.”
“No teenagers. I’ll say twenty to forty-five.”
“Forty-five? Really?”
He shrugged. “I think mature women are hot. But I can’t go near fifty because that’s my mom’s age and then it would be weird.”
“Right.”
“So what about you? Same question.”
“I’d have to say . . . thirty to forty.”
He looked offended. “Why thirty? You’re only twenty-three.”
And so was he, which was why I’d said it. “I know, but I think older men are just better in bed.” (I’d actually never been with anyone over twenty-eight.)
“In what way?”
“Just . . . more patient. More knowledgeable. More generous. Guys in their twenties think they’re all that just because they have younger bodies, especially if they’re—you know—well-endowed. But it’s not just the size of the boat. It’s definitely the motion of the ocean.”
He harrumphed. “You’ve been in the wrong boats.”
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Another, right down the middle read for me.
Taste is Melanie’s next book in her Cloverleigh Farms series. I have not read any of the other books in this series and easily read this one without any previous knowledge.
This was my third enemies to lovers book in a row and each one was written differently by each author. This book had a few other tropes thrown in (close proximity and surprised pregnancies) that made it not fit the norm.
Ellie and Gianni grew up together as their parents were very close. They weren’t exactly hateful to another but they also were not nice either. And it seems as though that animosity has continues on into their adulthood.
These two find themselves stranded in a hotel room due to a snowstorm and that is where things get interesting. These two find themselves slinging insults and then their bodies at one another. Then they find themselves in another predicament.
Melanie tried showing readers the past between Ellie and Gianni to get a better understanding, but I wanted more of that. I felt that their story was rushed – we got some of their past, then for most of the book, it was them stuck in the hotel for two days, then return home to drop the mother of all bombs on their parents and then it’s the end. Gah! Just too fast for my liking.
Overall, it’s a good story. I just wanted more depth and growth from the two of them and for their story to be more than 50% romps in a a hotel bed.
About Melanie Harlow
USA Today bestselling author Melanie Harlow likes her martinis dry, her heels high, and her history with the naughty bits left in. When she’s not writing or reading, she gets her kicks from TV series like Ted Lasso, Schitt’s Creek, and Fleabag. She occasionally runs three miles, but only so she can have more gin and steak.
Melanie is the author of the BELLAMY CREEK series, the CLOVERLEIGH FARMS series, the ONE & ONLY series, AFTER WE FALL series, the HAPPY CRAZY LOVE series, and the FRENCHED series. She lifts her glass to romance readers and writers from her home near Detroit, MI, where she lives with her husband, two daughters, and pet rabbit.
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