The Devil Served Desire

The Devil Served Desire
Author: Shirley Jump
Series: Sweet and Savory Romance Series, Book 2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: TKA Distribution
Publication Year: May 23, 2012
ASIN: B0087Q5DBU

Maria Pagliano is a woman on a diet mission. Desperate to drop a dress size before her reunion, she joins the Chubby Chums. But waiting next door is sexy, tempting chef and restaurateur Dante Del Rosso.

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About the Book

“This is a compelling and very smoothly written story with funny, sympathetic characters and a terrific Boston setting. And as the second book in a trilogy, it stands alone successfully and is a delightful read.” — Marilyn Weigel, Romantic Times Magazine

“Take some plain old fashioned fun, add some romantic love, sprinkle it with platitudes and serve it on a bed of wisdom and you have Shirley Jump’s The Devil Served Tortellini. With excellent recipes scattered throughout, Shirley Jump is sure to have a winner with this book.
“Maria Pagliano has been watching her weight steadily increase. With her 10 year reunion coming, Maria joins Chubby Chums to lose weight. After all, she doesn’t want to be shown up by Mary Louis Zipparetto, Uncomfortable with the Chubby Chums enthusiasm, Maria sneaks out and runs into Dante Del Rosso. Dante is not having the best day either. His chance to get a great review for his restaurant just literally went up in smoke. Dante is, therefore, delighted to meet Maria. When she saves the day with the food critic, he is amazed. Wanting to get to know her better, Dante is thwarted every step of the way. Maria is not sure what she wants in life but is sure she does not want what her parents have. Doe she want her old boyfriend, someone who is not predictable? Or is Dante the answer to what she wants? She thinks not. How can it be someone who smells like pasta? After all, pasta can kill a diet. But Dante is not discouraged that easily.
“The Devil Served Tortellini is great fun to read but Shirley Jump also has an excellent message to give to us all. In some ways, this book does for the Italian culture what My Big Fat Greek Wedding did for the Greek culture. Maria’s parents and grandparents remind me exactly of my best friend’s Italian family. But this book is so much more. It is the story of growing up and looking at the world with grown up eyes. It is also the story of leaving behind those high school insecurities and moving beyond those childish competitions. Kudos to Shirley Jump for a great job!!” — Debby Guyette, CataRomance Reviews

“This is the second hilarious book in Jump’s planned trilogy, following The Bride Wore Chocolate [BKL S 1 04], and it similarly contains yummy recipes accompanied by imaginative and amusing directions.” –Booklist

“Starving ourself for the perfect man….we’ve probably all done that a time or two over the course of our lives. In this book Maria does just that and why not kill two birds with one stone and impress the size two skirts of a longtime rival. But what happens when she meets the one man that accepts and desperately wants her just as she is… she runs or she tries to!”
“I was hooked from the first chapter. Maria is a character that I just simply wanted to whack with the nearst object to knock sense into her. And Dante is one of those temptations that simply cannot be resisted and needs to be tasted at all costs!”
“I love how the author incorporates various mouth-watering recipes into a tale of ‘Out there is the one man that will love you for who you are, even if you don’t’.”
“Maria’s family are absolutely hilarious and had me laughing out loud at their sour n’ sweet antics. I love how the author made the book almost personal as if trying to tell the reader home is where the heart is…”
“The Devil Served Desire has passion and even a sleazy character or two, which adds to the spice of romance. It is a fun and romantic comedy that left me feeling much like Maria twisted and twined around food for thought.”
“If you have never read the authors books before you are in for a real treat — go grab a copy of The Devil Served Tortellini before the restaurant is fully booked I mean the book stores sell out!” — Harlequin Junkie, 5 Heart Review

“Maria is fun, a bit neurotic, Dante is one sexy chef, and the diet group is hilarious.”
“Maria Pagliano has her 10-year high school reunion coming up, and she’s sworn off both carbs and men until she can fit into her new sexy dress. Enter temptation on a platter – Dante Del Rosso, the handsome chef who is more delectable than linguini and whose objective is to get Maria to throw away every resolution. Whose determination will prove stronger?
“… Finally we have the new Shirley Jump, (Zebra). Maria Pagliano is ready to change herself. Her high school reunion is coming up, and she’s going to lose some weight before she goesafter all, former football captain Antonio Lombardi will be there, and she’d rather he was interested in her than one of her classmates. Dante Del Rosso’s restaurant serves some delicious foods, though they’re not on the diet plan. Maria is fun, a bit neurotic, Dante is one sexy chef, and the diet group is hilarious. Just what I needed to read after that last book. I’m giving this one three and a half arrows.” — Elizabeth Darrach, BellaOnline’s Romance Novels Editor

“To those readers who missed my review of Ms. Jump’s previous Zebra Books release, THE BRIDE WORE CHOCOLATE, I can say only one thing—you might have missed out on the five pounds that I gained reading the book, but you also missed out on one heck of a story. This time around, with THE DEVIL SERVED TORTELLINI, Ms. Jump has lowered the calorie count, upped the carbs considerably, and delivered another steaming-hot dish of devilishly-inspired romance to your doorstep.
“For Maria Pagliano, there is one word that’s conspicuously missing from her vocabulary, and that word is “no.” She can’t say no to Twinkies, she can’t say no to cheese in all of its marvelous, heavenly, fat-thigh-inducing forms—and she definitely can not say no to a good-looking, sweet-talking man. This time, however, Maria is determined to do the impossible. In eight weeks, eight very short weeks, she will say no to fat, no to carbs, no to pasta and potatoes and—God help her—cheese, even if it kills her. For her ten-year high school reunion, Maria is determined that she will lose those unwanted pounds, even if she has to join the Chubby Chums support group to do it.
“It shouldn’t have been that difficult. After all, this time she was determined. This time, she would not submit herself to the pain and torture of the starve yourself to thinness diet. This time, she had a reason for getting thin beyond buying that gorgeous dress on sale in Macy’s window. This time, it was for a good cause—letting the heartthrob of high school see her as the cute, rambunctious, thin cheerleader that she once was. All she had to do was avoid anything smothered in tomato sauce and cheese. How hard could that possibly be?
“If Dante Del Rosso, owner of La Vita Deliziosa, has anything to say about it, Maria’s not going to be able to resist anything on his menu. Manicotti, frittata, or how about a helping of “Dante’s Taste-of-Heaven Tortellini Temptation”? Of course, Dante wouldn’t mind if Maria went ahead and skipped the main course, and jumped right into dessert—which, being the sensible, romantic, totally hot Italian that he is, would be him in a chef’s hat and not much else.
“THE DEVIL SERVED TORTELLINI is a delicious romp through love, passion, learning to like the person you are, and scrumptious food. You can not, I repeat not, read this book and skip over the recipes. Remember those five pounds from my last review? This time around, I gorged on carbs until I think I gained a pants size or two.”
“But please, don’t let that cruel scale keep you from reading this warm-hearted romance. There’s no may you want to miss the steam that develops between Maria and Dante, the crispy edges of the old high school flame, Antonio, and the added dashings of sugar and spice that are the supporting characters of this book. I’m certainly glad that I didn’t skip it—even though I might have to look into that starve yourself into thinness diet now that I’m finished.” — Jennifer Wardrip, writing as Alayne Warren & Jen Nicholas, Romance Junkies

“The Devil Served Tortellini is a fun romp in how what you think you don’t want is exactly what you need. Maria has been burned once and she doesn’t want it to happen again. What happens is Maria is so busy running way from Dante because she thinks he will be the traditional Italian male that she doesn’t stop to really look at him. Dante on the other hand knows a good thing when he sees it and will not let it go for nothing. I really enjoyed this story. It kept my attention, and gave me some great recipes. So get some pasta and a copy of this story and sit back and enjoy The Devil Served Tortellini.” — Lydia Funneman, Writers Unlimited Reviewer

The Devil Served Desire

Maria Pagliano is a woman on a diet mission. Desperate to drop a dress size before her reunion, she joins the Chubby Chums. But waiting next door is sexy, tempting chef and restaurateur Dante Del Rosso.

Dante is all wrong for Maria. He tastes and smells like all the foods she has stricken from her diet. But Maria’s love for her singing grandfather, cantankerous grandmother, and matchmaking mother all fill a long-empty spot in Dante’s heart. He sets out to win her, using every weapon he has, including his tortellini. He’s offering her the very thing she’s got no will power to resist–desire on a plate.

Special bonus material: Recipes written by the characters inside!

The original version of this eBook was published in 2005, and titled as The Devil Served Tortellini.

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