Is it possible to fall in love with someone in less than a month, especially if you don’t like him? Camilla Lopez is an executive chef from California, cooking for wealthy people and catering their parties. An accident involving a guest’s jacket leads to Camilla’s business being blasted on social media. Disgraced and struggling to find work, Camilla feels blessed to land a job, hired to cook for a billionaire for a month at a posh private villa. Then she learns the billionaire is the guest whose dinner jacket was damaged at that disastrous party. James Brenton has been struggling with the sudden death of his brother a year ago. Following a blowup on reality TV with his remaining siblings, he is sent off to spend a month at a private estate. Only then does he recognize the pretty, hotheaded chef from a party last month. Now Camilla and James have twenty-eight days to make peace and play nice…. Or fall in love.
This is a fresh twist on the plethora of billionaire stories. Camilla’s friend Gypsy is a live-wire breath of spring air that everyone would want for a bestie. Mechanically, the story carries a strong creative weight, with great characterization and motivation and honest, raw emotion. Drawbacks are the frequent overuse of the same words and using body parts—especially eyes—as the subject and a final conflict on James’ part based on a weak misunderstanding. The attraction between James and Camilla is pure, and readers will flip pages to see what happens when their twenty-eight days in paradise end.
Emerson Matthews