If you’re really lucky, you have a best friend who pushes you to do the stuff that scares you. We have this whole thing where we challenge each other to take some (calculated) risks and do everything we’re terrified to do. Of course, when you avoid love at all costs, that means doing the unthinkable: being vulnerable.
So for one night, I’m going to be completely and brutally real about who I am…to a complete stranger, whose mischievous and ridiculously dark eyes promise all kinds of trouble. I’ll open the darkest corners of my soul to him. I’ll admit I run from love. That I believe in mind-blowing sex, not soul mates. Hell, I’ll even tell him why.
The problem is that instead of running screaming—the way I (and any level-headed commitment-phobe) would—the hot Greek guy is actually intrigued. I shouldn’t want to kiss him. I shouldn’t want more.
But I do.
It was just supposed to be a one-off thing. Bare my soul, flee at the stroke of midnight, and never see him again. But FML, I just discovered he’s the genius chef at my favorite organic kitchen and is single-handedly responsible for keeping me, and my stomach, so happy these past few months.
He’s the perfect Greek hero.
The only problem is that when it comes to romance…I might be the perfect villain.
Content Note: abusive parents
Dear Mary Ann Marlowe,
I was hooked by the blurb and intrigued by the heroine being the committment-phobe of the relationship. I do like a hero in pursuit.
Chelsea Abbott had a difficult home life growing up. Her father was abusive (mostly emotionally but there was some hitting and even more throwing things) to both her mother and herself. Her mother developed alcohol problems after her dad eventually left, and blamed Chelsea for the leaving. Her dad came back from time to time and her mother took him back but each time it got worse. Naturally, Chelsea has a lot of trauma about this. She’s been getting therapy and is self-aware but she does not wish to be emotionally vulnerable in a romantic relationship. She doesn’t believe that lasting love, caring love, really exists and if it does, she’s sure it’s not for her.
Chelsea loves to travel but there’s a large element of “running away” to this; her therapist has challenged her to be present and enjoy the here and now.
“Adventure is always right around the corner.” Instead of running away, she’d challenged me to live every day authentically.
Part of this is a list of things which are outside of her comfort zone. Her best friend, Elizabeth, is, in many ways the opposite of Chelsea so between the two of them, they come up with a list of things which would challenge each of them. They have a points system for each successfully completed challenge – the higher the points the better their next holiday and the further away they will travel. Each has collateral on the other; for Elizabeth is the manuscript of her first novel to be sent to a publisher for Chelsea is a letter her therapist had her write to her father. If one of them refuses a challenge, the other can send the manuscript/letter. Which means they never refuse a challenge.
As the book opens, Elizabeth is challenged to have a 100% bullshit conversation with a stranger she’d be DTF and Chelsea to have a 100% honest and authentic conversation with a stranger she’d be DTF. And the stranger she chooses is chef Basil Stavros. Bas is gorgeous and in the looks department he is entirely Chelsea’s catnip. However, he’s a local and the idea of hooking up with him is risky. Chelsea likes sex and has meaningless one-night stands regularly – preferably with someone she’s unlikely to see again.
After their deep and meaningful conversation, Bas is deeply smitten. His friend, Evan, calls Bas “Easy Lover” because he has a reputation of falling in and out of infatuation quickly. Will Chelsea be different? Will Chelsea give Bas something she’s never given anyone else before – a chance with her heart?
Bas is going through some things of his own around his career and pressure from his family to stick with something and succeed. Bas loves cooking but his current job as a chef behind the scenes at an organic market is unfulfilling. What he really likes it to see people enjoy his food. But roles at restaurants are hard to come by. The one he had before the market ended when the restaurant had to close due to the economy. Bas’s uncle in Greece has a restaurant and has offered for Bas to run it for him but Bas has been reluctant to even consider it. (It’s still not clear to me why.)
Chelsea, as it happens, loves the food at the market and via his cooking, Bas is able to find a way into Chelsea’s orbit.
The tension in the book and the entirety of the conflict is Chelsea’s fear of being hurt. It factored into the entire book. I admit I got a bit tired of the “will she or won’t she” – it just felt like it went on too long. There were times I wondered why Bas put up with it. Then Bas would do something stupid (like propose (!) to prove he’s serious about her) and my sympathies would shift. I felt for Chelsea’s trauma but she fell hard for Bas from the start. To push him away out of fear only brought the kind of heartbreak she wanted to avoid. Nobody really pointed that out to her either.
Chelsea realised the no-win situation Bas was in and, by extension, the no-win situation she was in in Chapter 9:
When he lost interest, he moved on. Why wouldn’t that apply to women, too? His casual answer reinforced my certainty that he’d leave me if I didn’t yeet him first. And if I let him charm me with his easy warmth, I’d be the fool with the broken heart.
On the other hand, what if I was wrong? Would he pass muster only if he showed he could pursue me until we were both dead? Wouldn’t that be the saddest of victories?
And wouldn’t it be stalkerish as hell if he promised to stick around through round after round of rejection? Shouldn’t I laud him for his self-respect?
What did I want from this poor guy?
Dear Chelsea: I had the same question. Unfortunately, this realisation did not lead to any decisive action until Chapter 21 and even then, it came from Basil. (I don’t count the proposal as “decisive action”.)
There were some choices in the book I didn’t understand – either in terms of authorial choice or character (the proposal!). At times they felt like a “something needs to happen here” prompt rather than organic to the story.
Evan and Elizabeth’s relationship took up a larger amount of real estate than I expected. This was unsatisfying because there was too much time taken from Bas and Chelsea and not enough given to Evan and Elizabeth. (Also Evan was a real jerk when he found out about the girls’ challenge list and made some wildly misogynistic assumptions and I don’t feel he groveled anywhere near enough. It was around this point that Chelsea also acted in an out-of-character way in her response which had me puzzled, given her – very reasonable – fear of loud angry men.)
There were some sentences/paragraphs were phrased in such a way I had to read them multiple times to get it. Maybe that’s on me.
“I can’t lie and say I don’t want a future with you, if that’s what you ultimately want, but you say you don’t, and I trust you mean it.”
Holding Out For A Gyro had promise but ultimately it was just okay for me.
Grade: C
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Kaetrin
Kaetrin started reading romance as a teen and then took a long break, detouring into fantasy and thrillers. She returned to romance in 2008 and has been blogging since 2010. She reads contemporary, historical, a little paranormal, urban fantasy and romantic suspense, as well as erotic romance and more recently, new adult. She loves angsty books, funny books, long books and short books. The only thing mandatory is the HEA. Favourite authors include Mary Balogh, Susanna Kearsley, Joanna Bourne, Tammara Webber, Kristen Ashley, Shannon Stacey, Sarah Mayberry, JD Robb/Nora Roberts, KA Mitchell, Marie Sexton, Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, just to name a few. You can find her on Twitter: @kaetrin67.
