Ella delightfully shakes up Steele’s world when she storms in trying to convince him to save her restaurant by plying him with food … well, before she starts throwing meatballs at him instead. She’s spunky and caring and just what he needs to break him out of his cold existence. And it’s great, for a while. Then the hot/cold routine got a little old as I waited for them to figure things out. I enjoyed the characters enough though that I was more than willing to be patient with them. And it was worth it. Steele was his typically bumbling self when it comes to things like emotions, but he’s got a good heart under all that armor and the ending (and epilogue) more than made up for the twisting path to get there.

Readers, give these two a little grace & understanding, especially Steele (with his background, he needs it). Their story is both amusing and frustrating, filled with great secondary characters, a heroine with a too big heart, and a hero whose softer side is hidden but known to those who are close to him. It may take them a while to figure things out, and there is more than one wrong turn and some serious assumptions & miscommunications, but they are worth the wait.

(I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)