Star Cruise: Chef’s Kiss by Veronica Scott @vscotttheauthor @veronicascott.bsky.social @sophiarose1816

Five star chef Stephanie Clemmons has a contract to cater a Halloweenlike party on the planet where her cruise ship the Nebula Zephyr orbits. Little does she know the dangers of a night where alien demons walk among humans and never expects the deadliest demon of all to offer her a bargain. She has to cook a special dinner to satisfy him or spend the rest of eternity laboring in his hellscape kitchens.
But as the night and the meal progress, Stephanie and the demon lord discover they both may be getting more than they bargained for, as undeniable attraction grows between them. Can an ancient Lord of the Underworld and a human chef find a way to make a new bargain for love?

A starship five-star chef is forced into a bargain with a demon lord and experiences an extra spicy Halloween night for the ages.  Veronica Scott’s latest entry in her Star Cruise-The Sectors series is a novella-length tale blending paranormal and sci-fi romance in a far future holiday-themed tale that I was eager to read.

Chef’s Kiss is the twelfth entry (well 13^th if you count the Captain’s prequel) in an exciting far-future space sci-fi series.  The Star Cruise books are a sub-series of the larger world of The Sectors and work best in order, but can be read standalone.

Chef’s Kiss gives the Nebula Dream’s premier culinary magician her own exciting Halloween night adventure.  Chef Stephanie and her cooking team often take on planet-side event contracts with the ship goes into orbit at various stops.  This time, they are contracted to cook for a hotel’s Halloween party event.  Stephanie’s cuisine is famous and even in her latest mood of feeling like her life needs a bit of an adventurous pick-me-up, she still delivers a galaxy-class food event that everyone at the party appreciated.

While working the event and circulating now and then in the event center space, Stephanie is aware of the smoldering gaze of a dark, well-built cloaked and mask stranger and she finds her interest and growing attraction needs to be squelched so she can get the job done and get back to the ship.  She’s just finished cleaning up and the last person out when suddenly she’s in some sort of exotic, erotic dream where the handsome stranger turns out to be a demon lord who insists on a bargain that she must fulfill if she is to be released from his clutched- cook him the best meal he’s ever eating and, oh, by the way, he’s old and not much can impress him these days.

Chef’s Kiss was once part of an older out of print anthology, Celestial Seductions, but has been expanded slightly and with an additional epilogue.  I don’t mind the shorter and quick-read novellas written for anthologies and, in fact, that was how I came to discover this very series which I love.  Knowing this, I was aware of what I was getting when the story established the setting and situation and main players and then rushed forward to the finish.

Much of the story is satisfyingly developed particularly Chef Stephanie’s menus and cooking triumphs as well as her current mood funk and also Demon Lord Mark’s brief narration moments to know how jaded and uninteresting he finds life until he spots the unique talented woman chef.  I liked both characters and loved the long scene of their time together in Mark’s demon realm during her cooking challenge to fulfill the bargain.  Their personal attraction heated up as the courses kept coming and that was fun.  I did feel that it went to the commitment stage quickly and would have felt less than satisfied without that crucial epilogue that showed how they reunited and what they hoped to do for their future.

So, all in all, the latest Star Cruise entry was delectable and left me crossing my fingers there will be more Star Cruise spicy romantic adventures.

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Sophia

Reviewer at Books of My Heart

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening.Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing.Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators.Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance.Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.

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Latest posts by Sophia (see all)

• Belle Lisette by Jan Hahn #JanHahn #KindleUnlimited @sophiarose1816 - May 21, 2025
• American Werewolf in Space by Alisha Sunderland @authoralishasundy.bsky.social #KindleUnlimited@sophiarose1816 - May 18, 2025
• Grass Isn’t Greener by Danae Wolf @chasingbugs.com #DanaeWolf @timberpress.bsky.social@sophiarose1816 - May 14, 2025

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