Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Seth Mason’s life as a macaroni and cheese food truck owner in Austin, Texas, is pretty good.  His food truck is popular, business is good enough to consider branching out and the program he helped start to deliver left over restaurant food to the hungry has take off.  One of the stops Seth’s makes at the end of the day is to the Austin City Mission.  There Seth meets the one person who just might complete his life, Ben, the new case manager at the shelter.

Ben’s just moved to Austin from Connecticut to take a job as a case manager at the Austin City Mission, the first time he’s left home and family.  He has a new apartment, long hours and not much else.  Until he meets the hot food truck owner delivering the left over food of the day.

The attraction between them is instantaneous and hot. And both Seth and Ben are looking for something permanent and lasting.   As they grow closer, both must decide if they have the necessary ingredients for lasting love, or if the relationship will go up in smoke.

Melting Into You by Cassandra Carr was a very cute and sweet story, full of promising elements, not all of which came to fruition.  The very best part of this story resides in Seth Mason and his food truck,  which sells hot macaroni in all variations. This is where Cassandra Carr and this story excels.  Seth, his love for cooking, his passion for his life and food truck, complete with recipes, adorable employees, and home kitchen all come across in vivid descriptions, nuanced character portraits and authentic references to the Austin food scene. Particularly the life of a food truck operator in general.  Seth was real, his food offerings came across as mouthwatering and irresistible.  I wanted a Mr. Romance (macaroni and seafood selection) just like everyone else standing in line in section of this story…it felt that real.

Unfortunately, the other elements don’t rise up to the same thoroughness and depth of characterization.  Ben, naive and starting out in his first job, remains throughout the story a bit of a puzzle.  There really is no depth to his character or to their relationship which is along the lines of Hello-I love you. And the city mission where he works is given short shrift when compared to the well-researched descriptions of the food truck/food service industry.  Really, Carr should have continued to concentrate on the food trucks because the complex problems and issues that come with a city shelter are so varied and numerous that this story had not the length to do it justice or was described too superficially for it to be a powerful element here.  That shallowness was really highlighted by an event that happens toward the end of the story.  It felt as though it came out of  nowhere as the author never bothered to lay any foundation for such an event.  It felt out of place, and frankly just created because the  author needed a sense of drama.

Melting Into You is part of a series but the only story of that series I have read.  I think it works as a stand alone and as a quick sweet romance.  Based on the recipes alone I am going to be checking into the other books in this series which was written by multiple authors (see note below). I will let you know what I find.

Cover artist Scott Carpenter cover actually works because it’s just sweet, simple and only the addition of the food truck saves it from being generic.

Sales Links:    Fated Desires Publishing    All Romance (ARe)        Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 104 pages
Expected publication: March 31st 2015
ISBN139781623221997
seriesGive Me a Taste #5, Savor #1

Give Me a Taste series

5 works, 5 primary works, 5 authors

The Give Me a Taste Line is a delectable line where the main plot is centered on food and everything that comes with it. We’re serving up authentic and delicious ideas and plots where the heat is not only in the kitchen but out of it. Our characters are immersed in foods and the mouthwatering plots make us want to dig in.