Page 265: Every time she stood near him she heated up like bread in a toaster.
Special of the Day by Elaine Fox is a charming and witty story with an interesting male character named Steve Serrano. Steve isn’t just a handsome, charismatic bartender; he is also a smart guy and a regular at the Library of Congress!
The pub where Steve works has been bought out by a lady, and he knows where she lives: in the same building as his. With good intentions to welcome his new neighbour, he visits her at her apartment with a very good bottle of wine. That is where things go wrong, right at the start.
Roxanne Rayeaux is a stunning ex-Sports Illustrated model turned restaurant owner and pastry chef. She keeps her former modelling profession a secret when she returns home to Virginia to start her own business.
So both Steve and Roxanne get off to a bad start, but they soon learn to play nice, albeit rather unwillingly. I was entertained throughout, and it has been a while since I read something that made me smile and laugh. I loved the tension between Roxanne and Steve.
Throw Steve’s good pal, P.B. (Peter Baron a.k.a. Pretty Boy), into the picture and you get added tension. P.B., the cop, is determined to woo the exquisite Roxanne, but I disliked him from the start. He is chauvinistic and even bets with Steve to see who “gets” Roxanne first. Steve, of course, does not want to play P.B.’s game.
The plot is enhanced with the possibility that a lost copy of the Declaration of Independence may be hidden in the building that was once the home to Thomas Jefferson’s cousin. Steve is doing a lot of research for his book. Although he tells Roxanne about this, he doesn’t disclose his aspiration to become a published author. Roxanne bought the entire building, so she’s also Steve’s landlord.
Soon, her restaurant is hit by break-ins. Misunderstandings happen between Roxanne and Steve. Guess who the break-in culprit is.
The verdict? I enjoyed it very much. There are some steamy adult scenes, but they are very nicely done. The secondary characters such as Roxanne’s friends and Steve’s co-workers are an interesting lot. I have also read all of Elaine Fox’s dog series (Guys and Dogs, Beware of Doug, Hello, Doggy!, and Bedtime for Bonsai) and loved them all. If you haven’t read her books, I recommend giving Elaine Fox a try.
