Review - A Cook's Tale by J. Alan Veerkamp

Erron is really down on his luck. His boyfriend broke up with him to marry a woman, got him fired from the restaurant where they both worked, and had him evicted from his apartment. He's running out of money and really needs a new job. Fortunately, the Santa Claus is advertising for a new cook, and not only does it sound like a good ship, his old father figure, Gamin, is the chef he'd be working for. It turns out to be quite an adventure, although not quite the one he imagined.

This story takes place after the events of the previous book, The Luxorian Fugitive. However, the spotlight is on different characters this time around, so you can conceivably read this installment without having read the previous volume of the series. It would still be better if you read that first book, since you'll be missing a lot of background about the Santa Claus and her crew.

“A Cook’s Tale” takes a significant departure from the typical arc of romance stories. Usually, it's clear almost from the start which character the hero will find his happily ever after with. It's just a matter of what they have to go through to get there. But in this book, the author quite successfully muddies the waters when it comes to who Erron will, or can, end up with.

Erron is an easy character to like. It's not hard to sympathize with being dumped and feeling like you'll never find someone who will love you the same way you feel for them. His “detour” on the way to finding the right man is quite understandable. For a while there, I thought Erron might really be going to be happy in a menage with James and Barrus. The twists and turns of Erron's love life definitely make this a cut above the typical romance.

“A Cook’s Tale” is available from Amazon.