Eve McGrath has decided that her family’s new bourbon tasting center will open without a hitch, and nothing is going to stand in her way. When the contractor she hired suddenly stops showing up for work, she takes matters into her own hands and shows up at his house. Eve learns that her contractor has been hospitalized, so to keep the project on schedule, her only choice is to convince his son to finish the job.
Nick Baker doesn’t do commitment. He takes life as it comes – one day at a time. He’s not too thrilled to be back home, taking care of a father who never took much interest in taking care of him, but when sassy, spunky Eve shows up to demand that he take over his dad’s job, he realizes he’s gotten himself in over his head. All he knows is that, as a recovering alcoholic, a bourbon distillery and tasting center is probably not the ideal work environment. There’s something about Eve, though, that makes him want to prove that he can commit. That he can work at a distillery without succumbing to temptation. That he can be the person she needs.
I actually really loved this book! I was a bit nervous going in because I somehow missed that this is #3 in a series when I requested it. There’s no backstory necessary to enjoy this plot, though, so I was able to dive right in without feeling like I’d missed something.
I thought that both Eve and Nick were great characters – particularly Nick – and their struggles and conflicts didn’t feel contrived at all. Their relationship seemed to develop naturally, without any instalove or manufactured angst. Now, don’t get me wrong – there’s plenty of drama in this book. Don’t get the impression that it’s all smooth sailing! Eve and Nick go through their fair share of disagreements and setbacks, but it all felt like it could happen in real life, which is something that I most definitely appreciated.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, my first by Teri Anne Stanley, and I would love to go back and read the other two books in this series. If you like contemporary romance, you could do a whole lot worse than A Taste of You.
Final rating: ★★★★☆
I received a free advance copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
The Bibliophagist 