RELEASE DAY REVIEW: 'A Full Plate' by Kim Fielding
Title: A Full Plate
Author: Kim Fielding
Published: April 17, 2018
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Bree Archer/Bree Archer Designs
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 206 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; Chef; Lawyer; Opposites Attract; Humor; HEA
About A Full Plate
Opposites come together for a spicy surprise.
Bradford “Tully” Tolliver has everything—money, a beautiful condo, and a promising career as one of Portland’s hottest young lawyers. Sure, he puts in long hours and has no social life, but who needs romance when corporations pay top dollar for his expertise? When a colleague asks if her cousin can live with him, he’s hesitant, but the arrangement will last less than a year, and then the cousin—Sage Filling—will return to his tiny hometown.
But Sage is handsome and intriguing, and his cooking makes Tully swoon. Sage has obligations back home, though, and Tully has offers from a persistent—and very wealthy—ex that he might not refuse. Tully and Sage each have a full plate, but will they make room for a side of love?
4 HEART READ
REVIEW: Kim Fielding's A Full Plate kept me up past my bedtime despite a very busy next day. While I rarely enjoy light novels, I consumed this one like cotton candy, sweet and airy, yet such an indulgence as the time spun away.
Though Bradford "Tully" Tolliver’s parents were rich, they ignored him. He basically raised himself. And when he came out, while in law school, his parents summarily disowned him. In defiance he took menial jobs and became an attorney on his own.
Student loans killed Tully’s dream of a career with a conscience. Now he's a successful corporate lawyer, with shiny toys and a hollow, reclusive workaholic existence. Even his model-handsome, wealthy ex-boyfriend barely recognizes him. Love is a foreign concept.
So when Tully's only close friend begs him to let her cousin stay rent-free in his never-used guest room, Tully can't say “no.” But he sure hopes they'll stay out of each other’s way. Can he find any meaning in life?
Trouble sticks to Sage Filling like gnats to a sweaty man. He lost his close-knit family’s three-generation restaurant in rural Oregon, paying for cancer treatments that didn’t save his dad’s life. While he’s in grief his mom still needs knee replacements. Plus there are other unknown strains; a full plate, indeed. In order to get out of debt, he’s forced to leave his beloved home and work as a line cook in Portland for a year. Will his luck ever change?
Only a gifted writer could set readers up, knowing the punch lines, and still evoke chuckles!
In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a foodie, and Fielding's descriptions of meals were so scrumptious I felt full! It’s not just the gastronomical delights she mentions, but also how she describes Sage’s joy in creating them.
I'm equally a sucker for humor. With a name like "Sage Filling," I expected to roll my eyes at the inevitable chef jokes. Only a gifted writer could set readers up, knowing the punch lines, and still evoke chuckles!
And yet these treats were mere appetizers. Fielding is true to her characters. For example, when Tully realizes he's attracted to Sage, she explains, "Tully wished he could recite some charming poetry to articulate his feelings, but all he could think of was the rule against perpetuities."
I identified when Tully's big realizations came in mundane moments. When Sage discusses the fulfillment of cooking, Tully realizes he'd stopped seeking satisfaction. Except, in true Tully fashion, Fielding dryly explains, "He hadn't realized that making your own cheese could conjure that emotion."
A Full Plate pressed all my sensory happy zones, leaving me thoroughly sated.
Ms. Fielding manages to dispense pithy observations: "If something's worth it, we pull on our boots and start digging," and "How was it possible to be so heartbroken and heart full at the same time?"
A Full Plate pressed all my sensory happy zones, leaving me thoroughly sated. A delectable low-simmer, 4.5 heart read, perfect for spring break. I wish my review could match Fielding's simple eloquence. Instead, I'll steal from advertising and suggest you read a page. Betcha can't read just one!
A copy of A Full Plate was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by Dreamspinner Press, at no cost and with no expectations in return. We offer our fair and honest opinion on behalf of our readers.
Looking for more sweet romance? KEBB recommends Shira Anthony’s Swann’s Revenge from the Dreamspinner Press Dreamspun Desires collection.
Meet the Author
Kim Fielding is the bestselling author of numerous M/M romance novels, novellas, and short stories. Like Kim herself, her work is eclectic, spanning genres such as contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, and historical. Her stories are set in alternate worlds, in 15th century Bosnia, in modern-day Oregon. Her heroes are hipster architect werewolves, housekeepers, maimed giants, and conflicted graduate students. They’re usually flawed, they often encounter terrible obstacles, but they always find love.
After having migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States, Kim calls the boring part of California home. She lives there with her husband, her two daughters, and her day job as a university professor, but escapes as often as possible via car, train, plane, or boat. This may explain why her characters often seem to be in transit as well. She dreams of traveling and writing full-time.
For more from Kim be sure and visit her website!
