With No Reservations Review!

Posted by abakersp in Contemporary / 2 Comments

Yay! The lovely and talented Laurie Tomlinson’s debut novel was so fun to read. So glad I got the opportunity to read this, and I hope there is more from Laurie in the future. Please join my in congratulating Laurie on this wonderful book!

Purchase your copy at Amazon!

About the Book

What could well-known and wealthy Graham Cooper Jr. have in common with a blogger like Sloane Bradley, a woman with secrets she’s kept firmly out of the public eye? That is, besides a love of food. Sloane still can’t believe Cooper’s the chef at the restaurant she’s been assigned to promote. But she’s boiling to prove to him that her “little blog” can put his place on the map. She can also fall head over heels for the guy, who has secrets of his own, it turns out…except for one thing. She can’t get past the post-traumatic stress disorder that keeps her walled up in her home studio.

My Perspective

What is not to like? Food blogger, new restaurant, good food, secret pasts, love, swoon worthy moments, and meddling parents. Need I say more? This book was so sweet, so charming, and made me hungry!! I will definitely be looking forward to more books from this author. It did not seem like a debut novel to me at all, seemed like a seasoned pro!

I loved the way that Cooper and Sloane’s character met, and almost feel perhaps mamma had a hand in that! Here were two people that were just trying to get by without letting their past consume them. In reality I don’t think either character was great at that, until they realized they had a reason to look towards the future. Although their pasts were different, the way they were handling it was similar and I thought this was a great way to have them connect. It was very innocent, sweet, and for the most part professional, although I have to admit I wouldn’t have minded a few more romantic scenes!

What I enjoyed the most was the fact that Sloane was a blogger, and I felt a little connection to her because of that. But she had all these weird quirks that didn’t even both Cooper, and I loved her for them! It’s great to have a female lead have some quirkiness to her instead of being “normal” because she feels more human. But I think for the most part she embraced them which I found wonderful. If she were a real girl, you may want to consider purchasing stock in sanitizer!!

Now, I do have to warn you. There is a lot of talk about food. I mean, we have a food blogger and a restaurateur so that seems pretty obvious. But, the way it was discussed, and the author described it made my mouth salivate a little bit. Good thing I wasn’t too hungry while reading otherwise bad things might have happened! What I’m getting at here is the author is extremely smart about flavor pairings, food descriptions, and even food blogging information. Whether that was researched, or she just has experience not know, but it was very well presented.

All in all this was a fantastic book. I do hope you’ll give this sweet author a chance!! I’m certainly glad I did ?. I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

About the Author

Laurie Tomlinson is an award-winning contemporary romance author living in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her stories are fueled by faith, steaming mugs of tea, and her belief that life should be celebrated with cupcakes and extra sprinkles. When she’s not writing, she enjoys baking with her two little sous chefs and testing new recipes on her husband—especially if she doesn’t have to do the dishes.