Burning Up (Harlequin Blaze) [Mass Market Paperback]

Australian heartthrob Lucas Grant is not pleased when he discovers that some lowlife journalist has written a tell-all biography about him. The story includes Lucas's history of being raised in group homes, his lack of knowledge about his biological family, and the other horrors he endured as a child growing up in the system. As a confident (sometimes arrogant) celebrity, Lucas doesn't want anyone's pity. He's so angry after he reads a preview copy of the book that he kicks something in his backyard and winds up injuring his ankle. Because of his stupidity and irrational anger, Lucas is forced to stay in the mountainside mansion of a friend while he recuperates. Used to being surrounded by groupies, his managers, and hundreds of other "yes" people, Lucas knows he's going to have a miserable time. That is, until he meets the hot tamale in the guest house who is serving as his personal chef...

Sophie Gallagher is a woman who follows the rules and likes things to stay the same. She's been with the same man for 14 years, she's worked as head chef at the same restaurant for nearly that long, and she's made changes to neither her relationship nor her menu during her tenure in both. When her boyfriend shatters her world by breaking up with her, Sophie doesn't know what to do. She jumps at the opportunity to serve as the private chef to Lucas Grant in a remote, mountainside estate only because it will give her time to get away from the memories of her failed relationships and plan what she's going to do next. What she doesn't expect is that it will be so difficult to resist the charms of the practiced seducer. And then after a while, she wonders why she's resisting at all...

Burning Up is the first Harlequin Blaze novel I've read, that I can recall. I have nothing against serials, I just like a longer story with more opportunity to get in touch with the hero and heroine. Well, Burning Up delivered that in spades. Lucas and Sophie were both interesting characters who had complete background stories, intense emotions, and wants and desires. This was not your typical "quick" romance, that I was expecting. In fact, at the end of the book, there was a moment when I got this pang in my heart because I wanted them to be together, and that usually only happens with longer, more drawn-out stories. I guess I'll have to keep an eye out for more work by Sarah Mayberry, but Burning Up comes highly recommended for its $5 price tag.

Reviewer's note: I do have to admit that I find it aggravating that the cover of this book has Sophie with long hair, when the book describes her as having a pixie-ish short haircut. But that's my only gripe, so I'll leave it to the publishing department to actually read the book before creating artwork next time.

This is the second book with an actor hero by Sarah Mayberry that I've read. Unfortunately, her other book with an actor hero All Over You, worked much better for me than Burning Up did. And the actor hero trope is one of my very favorites!

I've been a fan of Sarah Mayberry's books for a couple years now, but she's always been a little hit or miss for me. Occasionally she just gets too angsty for me, but, while both protagonists had big traumas in their pasts, that wasn't really my main issue with the book.

As much as I love an actor hero, I generally have a hard time finding good actor hero books because, inevitably, the author makes the hero so arrogant and self-centered at the beginning of the book that I just can't warm up to him. That was my issue with the hero of this book, Lucas. He's a big name movie star, used to women falling at his feet, and he thinks the heroine Sophie should do the same. In the early chapters I just got really sick of Lucas' "god's gift to women" spiel, and I never really warmed up to him even after he became less of a jerk. There was also a really bad creeper moment where, before he's even met Sophie, he watches her get dressed through an open window. That just hit all my squick buttons because it really seemed like a huge invasion of privacy and, for a hero I already didn't really like, this incident kind of exacerbated the problem.

Sophie, the heroine, was all right just a little bland. After the death of her sister when they were both teenagers she decided she was never going to take big chances and has been playing it safe in her life ever since-- until she meets ol' Lucas that is. It seemed to me the idea of Sophie's aversion to risk was a bit belabored, and the speed with which she jumped into bed with Lucas after ending a long term committed relationship with someone else kind of worried me. Mayberry did try to establish that her other relationship had been limping along for years, but I really felt like the wound would still be too raw for Sophie to safely enter into another serious relationship so soon. I also would have liked Sophie's profession as a chef to come into play even more than it did because I find cooking and chefery fascinating. I also would have liked the cooler aspects of Lucas' job to come into play more. It's a bit of a tease to have a movie star actor hero and then never let the reader see him working. Or maybe that's just me.

All in all this was a quick read. Not a wall-banger by any means but not a keeper either. If you're thinking of trying Sarah Mayberry, though, I suggest you skip this one and give her other "actor" book All Over You a try instead.

Grade: C+

The characters were not romantic and there was not much chemistry. I hate reading a book and all that needed to be said isnt said until the last two pages. The ending felt like it was cut too short. The only thing I would say for this book is that the sex seemed great.