I was chatting with a friend a few weeks ago and she recommended that I read Ruby by Jeffe Kennedy, saying it was a well-written, steamy novel.  Normally, I’m all for that, but this book had one big strike against it – it’s BDSM.  Don’t get me wrong, I am very fond of my riding crops, and have always enjoyed  a lively cuff-em-and-have-your-way-with-them erotica.  It’s just that nowadays it’s Fifty Shades Of Everything But The Kitchen Sink and I’m burned out.  I want something else.  Or at the very least a good switch tale or one with a dominant female. After all, it’s such a lovely view from the top.

I gave in though when my friend told me there was a smoking hot, sex-in-the-kitchen scene. So I put Ruby up on my Kindle and settled in for a good raunchy read.

Ruby’s real name is Danielle.  She’s a driven career girl in the fashion industry who’s one fashion shoot away from her dream job in Paris. She just needs to make a success of this New Orleans shoot and off she goes.  But the locations/weather/models and everything else aren’t falling easily into place, and then she gets booted from a five star, swank restaurant by the Cajun chef who doesn’t want to custom make food to her low calorie specifications.  Did I mention the chef, Bobby Prejean, is gorgeous, and actually owns the restaurant?  He may have tossed her out of his place, but that doesn’t mean Danielle didn’t feel some sparks fly between them.

On the way back to her hotel, in the pouring rain, she passes the restaurant and meets the temperamental chef yet again.  Their attraction and the shelter of a large umbrella help them get past a rocky beginning, and Danielle is intrigued when Bobby suggests dinner (his way) and a whole lot more (also his way).

At first I was a little uncomfortable with the heroine’s decision to take Bobby up on his very tempting offer.  She’s in a strange city, and there’s a lot of risk to accepting an invitation to “come back to his place