“Now that is how you write a good book”!

My review of Nichelle Gregory’s “Soul Sweet”

(By Yema Nelson)

The key ingredients to a perfect book are imagination, realistic storytelling and good grammar. Let’s just say, Ms. Nichelle Gregory must be the “Perfect Literary Chef” because she cooked up a masterpiece with “Soul Sweet”.

An engaging story from start to finish about an aspiring young female chef, who longs to open her own brand of fusion-inspired restaurants, is intriguing and could easily become a “Hallmark” or “Life Time” channel movie. Misha Ryan is a talented Chef whose love for cooking sumptuous dishes, longs to branch out on her own. She finds herself in a dead-end job by being in the shadow of her former boss-turned lover-turned-ex-lover. She dreams of creating unique dishes and combinations and someday owning her own restaurant. With the help and support of her sister and best friends, the perfect opportunity comes along for her to compete in a national Chef’s competition.

All she was looking for was a fair shot at the coveted title of “Celeb Chef” and the means to open up her own restaurant. What she didn’t bargain for was meeting a sexy, nationally-recognized master chef, Cameron Banner.

Each page written by Ms. Gregory is deliciously filled with a story that the reader can imagine and even relate to. The synopsis of this book had the right bait and an even more tempting storyline that fuses in the very popular past-time of many food-lovers enthralled in the numerous reality-television cooking shows today.

I must admit, that I am not a fan of reality-television shows of ANY KIND. Sorry, but I have enough drama going on in my life as it is thank you! But “Soul Sweet”, made me a food fused with romance addict, of the literary kind. Ms. Gregory takes the time to develop her characters by giving the reader a clear vision that is almost life-like, of who and what role the character plays. Her depiction of Cameron Banner, Misha Ryan’s unlikely love interest was spot on and her development of their interaction and their subsequent relationship left me smiling, rooting for them and wanting more. Not one for all things peachy-keen and flowery, Ms. Gregory throws in some surprising and heart-wrenching measurements of the realities of innocence, notoriety and deception. Key ingredients in the world of fame and glory.

One of the things I look for in a really good book is the Author’s ability to make me “see”, “feel” and “become” the character. Nichelle Gregory hits an “Out of Ball Park” home run with this book. The grammar and tenses were on point and the use of vocabulary was synonymous with the subject matter of cooking, competitiveness and the realities of entrepreneurship. What especially impressed me was Ms. Gregory’s deliberate exploration of interracial relationships on a professional level, where neither the hero, nor the heroine had any experience crossing racial relationship lines.

I would have loved to see more development of Misha and Cameron’s story, especially because of their novice interracial relationship and how that impacts the interaction and reception from her parents, whom she expressed “had never seen her with a white man before” and indicated that there could perhaps be some hurdles if not down-right challenges up ahead for her and Cameron. The same applies to Cameron, who is viewed as the “black sheep” of the family for choosing to be a culinary chef and restaurateur instead of joining the family business, also known as his powerful father’s hotel empire.

Perhaps Ms. Gregory is giving us an “amuse bouche” (as the French say) or a “teasing taste” of a Part-Two to Misha and Cameron’s story.

Either way, as a foodie myself and a fine cuisine enthusiast, this “Soul Sweet” made my mouth water in literary delight and anticipation as I read it. This is one of those books that you want to sit back, relax and pair with a nice Bordeaux Wine or Chateau St. Michelle Chardonnay or Riesling! Trust me you will get the FULL effect of this book.

Not to be foreshadowed, are the spicy and delicious sweet romance and sex interludes between Misha and Cameron. I must caution you though….You will begin to feel the effects of your wine as you read the deep, intense and sexy love scenes!

Ms. Gregory! WOW!

Now I am by NO MEANS A PRUDE (God forbid, ugh), but I found myself, shall we say, in need of a change of undergarments a few times while reading this book. I LOVED how Ms. Gregory used the idea of fine cuisine, delicate tastes of the palette and just the intimate love of food in facilitating a steady seduction by an Alpha Male that has the reader imagining dining in the finest restaurant while being romanced tantalized by a sexy handsome Chef!

Nichelle Gregory gets a standing ovation on this book and demonstrated her knowledge of the culinary terms by developing a realistic story around the subject matter.

I would love to see a part two to this book that takes the reader on a fantastic and sexy voyage to love and “La Gastronomie”!

You can purchase here: https://www.totallybound.com/soul-sweet