“I want to keep things anything but professional,” he said, voice low. It thrummed somewhere deep in my stomach. “I mean, unless you want to keep things professional.”
I traced my own thumbs over his palms. They curled reflexively up into my hands. “I want you to stop saying the word professional. And thinking it.” I swallowed hard. Once I said this, there was no going back.
But I didn’t want to go back. “I don’t want to keep things professional. At all.”
“Then we’re in agreement,” he said gravely. “To be unprofessional. Together.”
― Amanda Elliot, Best Served Hot
CBR16 Bingo: Tech
Julie is a restaurant reviewer with a small but dedicated following on Instagram. In her free time, and with whatever funds she can spare, she tries new restaurants and shares videos, photos, and reaction shots of her enjoying what the New York City culinary scene has to offer. Although she doesn’t particularly enjoy her day job as an assistant to a millionaire, she does appreciate the flexibility it allows for her to research restaurants and fellow foodie influencers.
When she learns she was passed over as the new restaurant critic for The Scroll, she is deeply, deeply jealous. She is convinced that Bennett, the man who got it, is a nepotism hire. As his first review is of an expensive French white tablecloth restaurant, Julie comes to the conclusion that he is a wealthy snob.
When she runs into him at a food festival the following weekend, she gives him a piece of her mind. Their argument is recorded, shared, and it increases Julie’s follower count. It also boosts Bennett’s The Scroll Instagram account. The paper is trying to increase their social media presence and connect with younger readers. The editors propose that Bennett and Julie review the same restaurant and publish their reviews at the same time. Despite her suspicions, Julie agrees to collaborate with Bennett.
Julie doesn’t want to work with him but she cannot pass up an easy way to acquire more followers in only a matter of weeks. Until she can fully support herself with her food reviews, she views this as a small sacrifice while pursuing her dream.
I really, REALLY hate Julie. She is painfully insecure and willfully blind to what is actually happening around her. She always jumps to the wrong conclusion, which makes it incredibly difficult for me to root for her. She assumes from the beginning that Bennett is out to get her, and she does some childish things to “teach him a lesson.” Her rival and love interest, Bennett, is as bland as a stale slice of Wonderbread. The only personality he gets over the course of the book is that he likes good food (don’t we all?) and that he enjoys playing video games. He is extremely into Julie, presumably because he likes messy women who yell at him.
The best part of this book is how the author lovingly describes the meals. I could clearly picture each delectable, appetizing dish in my head.
There are a few scenes where Julie and Bennett eat almost to the point of pain and then go home and bang. I would need a nap and a few hours to let my food baby gestate before moving onto sexy times.
For this year’s CBR16 Book Bingo Reading Challenge I’m choosing albums from the 1970s that helped raise me. When I think of Tech, I think of the old versus the new, the digital versus analog worlds in which Julie and Bennett are trying to make their marks. I also think of the heavy keyboard and synth soundtrack of The Cars first album “The Cars” (1978) and of the resigned yearning in “Just What I Needed.”
