Served Hot
Ratings6
Average rating3.2
First in the gay romance series that delivers passion in Portland. “Tremendously charming and sexy, Served Hot is a knockout!” —RT Book Reviews In Portland, Oregon, the only thing hotter than the coffee shops, restaurants, and bakeries are the hard-working men who serve it up—hot, fresh, and ready to go—with no reservations . . . Robby is a self-employed barista with a busy coffee cart, a warm smile, and a major crush on one of his customers. David is a handsome finance director who works nearby, eats lunch by himself, and expects nothing but “the usual”—small vanilla latte—from the cute guy in the cart. But when David shows up for his first Portland Pride festival, Robby works up the nerve to take their slow-brewing relationship to the next level. David, however, is newly out and single, still grieving the loss of his longtime lover, and unsure if he’s ready to date again. Yet with every fresh latte, sweet exchange—and near hook-up—David and Robby go from simmering to steaming to piping hot. The question is: Will someone get burned? Praise for the Portland Heat series “A charming read, a warm, feel-good story with just the right amount of angst (and steam!) featuring two likeable characters.” —All About Romance on Served Hot “A really enjoyable story.” —Joyfully Jay on Baked Fresh “Sometimes an author just gets everything right . . . Absolutely perfect.” —Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews on Delivered Fast
Series
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6 primary booksPortland Heat
Portland Heat is a 6-book series with 6 primary works first released in 2015 with contributions by Annabeth Albert.
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I was looking forward to reading this because it sounded like some of my favourite fanfiction (the “coffee shop AU” is a favourite trope) but the characters themselves left me disappointed. I just didn't care about either of these people and they didn't seem compatible at all. When you force a fluffy romance between two characters with zero chemistry, it just reads very uncomfortable and somewhat one-sided. In this case, Robby seemed domineering and internally used his controlling ex-boyfriend as a comparison in this new relationship constantly. The reader isn't given really any background information on that relationship though besides that the ex was also a customer and was in the closet. Robby doesn't want a relationship like that again where he feels he's a dirty secret so he kind of forces David's hand. David seems like a wet towel, is very self-conscious with low self esteem with a lot of trauma and abuse in his past, so he lets Robby take the lead but because he's so uncomfortable with it, withdrawals and Robby feels he has to confront him publicly and make an ultimatum. Basically, it's not a healthy relationship and these two are not good together. If this is your idea of a good relationship, you might need to reassess things.
Overall, while I did finish the entire story, I have no interest in reading more from this series or author.
3.5 Stars. Annabeth Albert is one of my go to authors. I liked this book. Not as long as I might have liked but a nice quick read. I feel like the grief/anger was so real. It was a counter point to “At Attention” Which she did an amazing job at writing. Losing a loved one and living a life you had planned to live with them, without them. But I digress. This book was a good start to a new short novel series. I am looking forward to reading more.
