Steamed

Chloe Carter is a food connoisseur. She's now a grad student due to a wacky clause in her uncle's will. Before she can touch her inheritance, she has to get a master's degree of her choice. When she gets burned by her neighbor and boyfriend, she signs up with an online dating service. She's known as GourmetGirl on the Internet. Reluctantly she accepts a date with DinnerDude. The food is good, but Eric's a bore. When he doesn't come back to the table, Chloe finds him stabbed to death in the men's room. When she attends Eric's funeral, his parents show up with the opinion that she was his fiancée. Not wanting to upset them at the funeral, she plays along. What she doesn't know is this isn't the only interaction she'll have with them! Her next date is with a yummy chef, but unfortunately Josh's the prime suspect. She doesn't think he did it, so she sets out to find the real killer. She has ulterior motives, because she wants Josh out of jail so she can continue to date him. Can she find the killer without becoming the next course? I really enjoyed this book. Chloe was such a fun character. The authors did such a great job that I often forgot two different people wrote this. Her interaction with her dates and sister were great. Plus her classes and her internship really added to the story. Don't read this when you're hungry. The food descriptions are yummy! Her many forays into the dating and restaurant scenes were entertaining. I found myself chuckling and laughing out loud when reading this book. This is a great light chick lit mystery. I highly recommend it.

Twenty-five-year-old Boston food connoisseur, Chloe Carter, would love to spend all of her time dining out at the top gourmet hot spots, and watching daytime TV. But, alas, due to a wacky clause in her Uncle Alan's Will, Chloe is forced to complete a Master's Degree program in the field of her choice, before she can even think about touching her inheritance. Which is how she finds herself in the throes of life as a Freshman in Social Worker school, and participating in an internship program at the Boston Organization Against Sexual and Other Harassment in the Workplace, where she is the only other employee aside from Naomi Campbell (whom she has appropriately nicknamed Braids). As if attending classes three days a week weren't problem enough, the amount of coursework she's stuck with on the weekends is seriously hindering her already unsuccessful love life. After various failed relationships, however, Chloe believes that it's time to throw in the towel. That is, until her older sister convinces her to sign up with an online dating site where Chloe (aka GourmetGirl) meets and accepts a date with someone titled DinnerDude (aka Eric Rafferty), who sounds too good to be true. Sadly, when she meets up with the fellow food lover, she learns that he's just that - too good to be true - and can't wait to escape the portly bore who is not only pompous, but a cheapskate to boot. But escaping this deadly date isn't as easy as she originally thought, when Eric turns up dead in the men's bathroom - stabbed to death. Luckily, while attending the bore's funeral - where his parents seem to have an extremely wrong impression about her - Chloe meets up with a sensitive, sexy chef named Josh Driscoll, who knows the exact way to win her heart - through her stomach. But when she learns that Josh is the prime suspect in Eric's death, her thoughts turn sour. Chloe can't believe that someone as talented as Josh could possibly stab someone to death - even though the murder weapon was one of his knives - and is determined to clear her lover-boy's name before he's locked away in a jail cell - along with his fabulously delicious recipe for Baby Bok Choy Slaw. So, enlisting the help of some of her social work classmates, as well as her drop-dead gorgeous best friend, Adrianna, Chloe turns in her chef's hat for a trench coat, and steps into the shoes of Sherlock Holmes, investigating everyone around her. But, as she gets closer to the killer, Chloe begins to realize that the restaurant industry is more cutthroat than she originally believed, and if she's not careful, the next main course on the killer's menu will be her. As an avid viewer of the Food Network, and a wannabe detective myself, I couldn't help digging in to Jessica Conant-Park and Susan Conant's STEAMED the moment I saw it sitting on the shelf at Barnes & Noble. Chloe Carter is a girl whom many will find themselves relating to. A mix between Rachael Ray and "Sex and the City's" Carrie Bradshaw, Chloe's love of

I was a fan of the mother's dog mysteries back in the day, so when I saw she had teamed with her daughter for a culinary-tinged mystery, I was game. The thought of a mother and daughter writing the sexy scenes together made me a bit uncomfortable, but that's probably just me...if they can write it together, more power to them. The tasty morsels in this book: the plot: kept my interest and wasn't overly tedious or convoluted the hunky boyfriend: loved him the food: always a welcome element The not-so-scrumptious: The portrayal of touchy-feely do-gooders was cliched and needlessly mean, I thought. I figure this was just the authors' way of trying to show us the heroine's snarky, independent streak, but it felt cold and unnecessary to me. "Braids," for instance, wasn't funny, and wasn't necessary to the plot at all. Also, sharing your most personal info and the details of a murder in group therapy class? That felt totally unrealistic. Why not have the character hash out all of those "who could have done it" conversations with her sister or another known-to-her character? Overall, I'm giving it 4.5 stars. If you like plucky young libidinized characters and food, give it a try!

I can't help but agree with the two previous reviewers, this mother-daughter team has written a wonderfully fun, interesting and original book which had me laughing out loud one minute and salivating for a gourmet meal the next! Chloe Carter is a complex and quirky character who struggles to bridge the gap between her poor taste in men with her love of superior food before she falls for the hottie chef Josh Driscoll. With a group of equally strange and loveable friends and neighbors, the authors of this gourmet mystery have created the beginning of a great new series. I can't wait for the next book...or the movies that follow!

To receive her inheritance, Chloe Cantor must receive a graduate degree and chooses sociology as her major. Her passions are excellent food and Mr. Right and even though she knows her downstairs neighbor Noah doesn't want a steady relationship. She is hurt when she sees a beautiful blonde leaving his apartment early one morning. She registers with an internet dating service as Gourmet Girl and meets DinnerDude. He tells her he is thinking of investing in a new restaurant in town, Essence and invites her to be his date that evening. She agrees to meet him there as they exchange real names. His is Eric and he throws his weight around at the place as he knows all the staff but when he disappears after getting a phone call, Chloe find him dead in the men's room. At the funeral reception she meets Josh the head chef of The Magellan restaurant. It is lust at first sight but before they exchange addresses and phone numbers he tells her he is a suspect in Eric's death because the knife was his and he has no real alibi. As Chloe spends more time with Josh, she is convinced he is no murderer and may be her "Mr. Right" so she sets out to clear his name ignoring the warnings of the detective and Josh's desire to keep her safe. Famous writer of mysteries involving cats and dogs Susan Conant teams up with her daughter to write a refreshingly charming chick-lit mystery. The heroine has a strength of character that allows her to do what she thinks is right and the support cast, made of her friends, care deeply for her, just as readers will because she leaves herself open to get hurt. There's no doubt about it this is the start of a great new series. Harriet Klausner