The Rebel Heir by Niobia Bryant

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I bought The Rebel Heir back in May because I was intrigued by the concept of romance between two high end chefs. This is described as an upstairs/downstairs romance and while Jillian may not have come from a chef dynasty like Cole she's built a pretty impressive resume as a food blogger turned private chef. While Cole is the rebellious brother opting to run his own food truck over being heavily involved in the family corporation. 

Jillian works as a private chef for the Cress family who run a culinary dynasty. She and Cole have had a friends with benefits relationship going on for a year now that they've kept secret. Or at least they thought they kept it secret until Cole's mother Nicollette pulls up at Jillian's condo and reveals she's know Jillian is sleeping with her son and she's not paying her for that. So while she fires Jillian she offers her a job as an executive chef at one of Cress Inc's West Coast restaurants. And Cole having heard the entire exchange, is upset when Jillian tells him she can't afford to be homeless and decides to take the job. 

Jillian and Cress realize they can't stop thinking about each other while they're apart and realize their feelings for each other are stronger than they thought. But while they reunite and Jillian moves back to NYC, Cress can't fully commit to her because he's afraid of being betrayed. His father cheating on his mother years ago has stuck with him. On top of that both his parents are so controlling he's constantly at odds with them. While Jillian and Cress know they're perfectly compatible in the bedroom it's outside of it where they're still figuring things out.

This is a multicultural romance. Cole Cress has a Black British father and a White French mother.  And there's plenty of French sprinkled throughout as the Cress family often switches between speaking French and English. I get a little weary of how biracial men are written in romance because sometimes they're written like their mixedness is what makes them sexy.  And colorism and featurism is highlighted. Other than finding it a little odd how every brother's look were compared to a famous biracial celebrity(The Rock, Daniel Sunjata, Lenny Kravitz) I was happy this story didn't play into that.

Niobia Bryant knows how to bring the steam. This might have been the hottest Harlequin Desire story I've read yet. And she brings the drama too. Jillian and Nicollette sparing certainly got my attention. And then you have Cole fighting with his father Phillip over family secrets. So if those are things you like in your romance then definitely check this out.