Spiced Right is book 1 in the Spiced Right Series by Gigi Templeton.
A wonderfully written second-chance romance.
I don’t think I read a cowboy romance that fast before. I enjoyed everything about this story.
Jillian and Jack had the absolute best banter and chemistry. They were real and so relateable.
The storyline was incredible and sucked me in almost immediately. The story was well-written and well-developed. I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait till June to get my hands on book 2 Fired Up.

Thank You NetGalley and Montlake for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Title: Spiced Right
Author: Gigi Templeton

Genre: RomanceTropes: Second Chance Love, Forced Proximity, Love at First Sight

Review:

Positive Aspects:

• “Spiced Right” offers an immersive narrative with characters exhibiting distinct personality quirks that remain consistent throughout.
• The physical portrayal of Jack, the cowboy, is detailed and compelling. The author skillfully conveys Jillian’s attraction to him, making even non-cowboy enthusiasts feel the pull.
• The effort to add depth by having the main characters confront and overcome their internal struggles is commendable.

Areas for Improvement:

• The frequent use of pepper-related lingo felt overly cheesy and detracted from the story’s realism.
• Certain scenes, like Jack’s sister reacting suggestively around her family, felt out of place and uncomfortable.
• The connection with the characters lacked depth. Jack, in particular, came across as unconvincingly overdone, reminiscent of a wannabe McConaughey rather than a real person.
• The repeated use of the phrase “None’ll be the wiser” by various characters disrupted the narrative flow, feeling unnatural and jarring.
• The relationship between the characters felt superficial, focusing mainly on physical attraction without exploring deeper emotional or intellectual connections.
• The predictability of the ending and the juvenile nature of certain spicy descriptions, such as the reference to “flame emojis,” lessened the impact of these scenes.
• The internal monologues during intimate moments were overly analytical, detracting from the authenticity and intensity of the experience. For example: ““Jack,” she repeated, not having anything else to say, other than screaming please don’t ever stop! Which she refrained from doing. She didn’t need to traumatize the man with the way her body so vehemently responded to his, how she wanted to claw at him, how impossible it was not to drag her nails down his back or raise her hips higher to take him in deeper. She wasn’t an animal, for Christ’s sake.“
If Jillian was so turned on and in the moment, why is she overthinking what she is doing?

Overall Impression:While “Spiced Right” has its strengths in setting and consistency, the story struggles with believability and depth. The focus on physical attraction without substantial emotional development, along with some awkward narrative choices, makes the romance feel somewhat superficial. A more nuanced exploration of the characters’ internal lives and a toned-down use of quirky lingo could enhance the overall impact of the story.

Gigi Templeton is a new author for me, and since I love to cook, I found the blurb about this novel intriguing--a second chance romance between a barbecue master (Jack), and a hot pepper horticulturist (Jillian/Jill/Jilly), and yes, it was just a tad too cute with their names. The two shared a brief, friends-to-one-time-lovers night as college freshmen, before the sudden death of Jack's father had him heading back to run the large family ranch. I love a good, sexy, second-chance romance but Spiced Right had the wrong kind of spice for this reader. 3 stars.

Ten years later, Jack is still running his family ranch, along with his siblings and the rest of his family, and Jack's grilling skills have made him rather famous in barbecue circles, winning awards and having his own regular podcasts.

Jillian, hasn't been quite so fortunate. After college she'd met and become engaged to a man, and while they were attending a concert, the stage caught fire and Jill, trying to help a fallen teenager, was badly trampled and nearly died. She also lost the 6-week old fetus she didn't know she was carrying, and her injuries were so severe, her fiance dumped her. As a result, she's become a recluse in Seattle, practically agoraphobic, rarely leaving her home and terrified of more than one or two people at a time. She's started an online website, sharing her love of all things guaranteed to scorch your stomach lining, growing new hybrid peppers in her home greenhouse, making and selling her spices and sauces to the public, and she's just self-published her first cookbook.

Jillian's agent presents her with an opportunity to increase her audience, her market, and her sale profits. Go to Texas for one week and join the barbecue master on his podcasts. While she's hesitant about leaving the safety of her home, her agent talks her into it, and, as romance readers, we already know that the barbecue master is her long-lost, one-night lover, Jack. Naturally, the man is a totally hot hunk, with charm, swoon-worthy, gentlemanly manners, a few too many "darlin's," and he's never forgotten his Jilly. So far, so good.

What then turned this overwise interesting read to a just-meh novel for me was the insta-love that followed. Ten years is a long time to be away from someone, yet these two hit it off in bed and out as though they'd never been apart. Additionally, after driving for days to reach Jack's ranch, since planes carried passengers, the rest of the novel went way overboard on the spicy menus they created and demonstrated, and non-stop talk of Jill's peppers, products, and her imaginative recipes, all featuring Jill's fiery concoctions. Although their sassy banter was charming at first, for this reader, one who isn't in love with super-spicy foods, who is deathly allergic to avocados, and who couldn't care less about Tex-Mex cuisine, none of this banter took the place of character development and true storytelling. If they weren't cooking and filming, they were in bed, and as a reader, I wanted more to their story than that. Aside from being attracted to each others' good looks, and their love of spicy food, what did they have in common? What kept their love alive after a 10-year, no contact separation? Where were the answers to these questions? Nowhere.

The ending, which I think was supposed to come as a surprise simply wasn't one. All in all, it wasn't a bad read, Ms. Templeton clearly is skilled at writing dialogue, but I wish she'd spent more time on developing her characters rather than their recipes, but as a result, this novel just didn't do it for me.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of his novel. The opinions stated are my own.

Honestly devoured this book I could not put it down. Only downside is chapters are extremely long would prefer shorter chapters but amazing writing will be reading more from this author.

I was excited to read this book. It seemed like a fun romance between a spice maker and a pit-roaster, which is something I've never seen in a romance. So, bonus points for the innovative setup. Jillian and Jack felt fleshed out, which is always a positive in my book. But something just didn't work for me, and it burned in the back of my head until I could finally put my finger on it. The romance just fell flat.

We're told in the beginning that Jillian and Jack used to date back in college, but their romance was cut short after Jack had to go back to his family's ranch for a family emergency. They continuously refer to the time gap as "ten years," so it's been a literal decade since they saw each other. They both note how they've changed as people in that time, with Jack in some way (I literally could not tell you) and Jillian having been in an accident that left her afraid of crowds, with scars from all the surgeries she had, without an emotional support system.

Because of this, Jillian had become a recluse. And while she mentions that she has her phobias in big crowds and that she doesn't want to participate in the big Reed family gatherings (Jack's family) he's like, "OK, but like, we're good people." Sir, phobias are phobias. They aren't necessarily rational.

Not to mention that even though they haven't seen or talked to each other in TEN YEARS, from the get-go, they are just all over each other and kissing and flirting like nothing has changed. While it has, not just for Jillian but for Jack, too. I'm not the same person I was 10 years ago, and if I saw someone I knew 10 years ago, I could guarantee you that things would go as if nothing had changed.

To add, the ending was predictable at least for me, and while it was well-written, the chapters felt very similar to one another, which made it feel like a chore to read rather than the fun way it should be. It wasn't the best or worst book I'd ever read, and I'd be interested to read another Gigi Templeton book again.

Thank you to NetGalley, Gigi Templeton & Montlake for the opportunity to read this ARC of "Spiced Right." This is my honest and unpaid review of the book.
First I'd like to start with my compliment's to the author for the title of this book and the gorgeous man on it's cover. The title is perfect and the photo looks just like the character described. This book was entertaining to read, made me crave BBQ and want to book a flight to Texas ASAP. I definitely learned more about what it takes to have your own company, social media presence and about peppers! This book is sweet, spicy and saucy making it the perfect recipe for a Texan romance, and for its BBQ! One very small complaint (if I can call it that) is that the story seemed rushed at the end and ended too quickly. But otherwise I loved it!
I'll keep an eye out for more books by this author as it seems the other characters in this book might have their own stories to tell as well.

Jillian was beautifully written. I enjoyed her journey from free-spirited college girl to social recluse. I loved the steam Jack brought and it included barbeque. Win-Win romance!

Insta love. Traumatic past. He falls first.
3 spice scenes

Things I liked: complex feelings brought on by past experiences, family role fulfillment
Jack's family- they were all so supportive of each other and open, very accepting of Jillian and treating her feelings as real but not judging them
Jack's openness with his feelings
Jack!
The cooking fun and banter.

Things I didn't love: the insta love, they rekindled a college friendship with a night of romance and in a week were in love and making life choices
A little less times he says darlin' and honey. He could have had a more intimate nickname with Jillian

Just a note- I know Jack was all uplifting, understanding, and sweet, but I felt like he could have had a little more in the bedroom

**Spoiler alert**


I also don't know that Jillian would have ended up trying more new things or going back to Jack if it weren't for the baby



**End spoiler alert**

Overall a sweet, mid spice, story about second chances and over coming past traumas and expectations.

This is a cute little romance. I enjoyed the chemistry between the couple and could appreciate the spice not being overly done (ironically!). I will say, even to someone who is British, the Texas side of things felt unauthentic/exaggerated and took me out of the story every so often especially at the beginning. Very much a personal preference but I didn’t enjoy the cooking scenes, they went into a bit too much details and I ended up skimming these. However, if I knew someone who loved the Cooking Channel and romance, I would recommend them this book.

Very sweet, emotional, cute second chance romance. The banter was funny and entertaining and the secondary characters were all fun. I will say, as if you’re from Texas, like myself, the dialogue at the beginning feels more Gone With the Wind than anyone from east or south texas but it does ease up a bit as the story progresses. I’d definitely recommend if you want a very sweet and feel good read that breaks your heart a little bit over and over again before giving you your HEA.


Also, the nittiest of nitpicks but some of the anachronisms can sometimes take you out of it if you’re from Texas. If you’re driving 3 hours past austin, there are no hills. It’s the flattest of flatlands that ever did flat. Additionally, no way in hell that you would leave in the afternoon to be in Odessa by 7am unless you wanted to be dead on your feet. The drive alone without traffic is 8 hours. It something most people won’t even think twice about but kept ruining my immersion in the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Montlake for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

If you are looking for a dreamy cowboy who also moonlights as a grill master, you are going to eat this book right on up. (Pun intended.) Spiced Right's third protagonist is the food, and man, is it meaty. (Pun intended.)

Author Gigi Templeton paints a vivid picture in her text, and creates one heck of a conflict between the female and male protagonists. Their connection and chemistry are palpable, but the reason(s) why they can’t be together seem truly insurmountable. The story lost me a bit in the back third, and (without spoiling the plot) there is a particular narrative choice the author makes that I just didn’t agree with. Sure, it tied up the story, but it felt sort of like a cop out to me. But I think that readers who like this kind of plot element will enjoy the conclusion.

Overall, there’s a swoon-worthy hero and a heroine who has been through IT and fights to reclaim her life, and that’s pretty interesting to read.

Thank you to Montlake and NetGalley for generously providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Yes yes yes!! I love me a good cowboy romance and this book was everything i needed. I loved how the author went into detail about the cooking and recipes within the storyline and it all sounded to delicious i was hungry reading the entire time

This book was a fun read. The characters bounced off each other and the story keeps the reader interested.

Thank you to Gigi Templeton and NetGalley for the ARC i n exchange for an honest review.

I loved Jack and Jillian's banter. I truly appreciate the chemistry building between two characters, as opposed to finding the protagonists together and thinking, how the hell did that happen?
It was a really cute and interesting story and it had me hooked from the first few pages, so that's a plus!
The spice was not super intense, which is good for this kind of story (although you would expect otherwise), but it just made the story more heartfelt and sweet.
I'm reaaaally impressed.

🍳🍖🤠🍴🩷

Thank you Montlake & netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

All the cooking in this book made me hungry LOL. This book had me craving BBQ at midnight 😂 This was a good read. I enjoyed Jack and Jillian's dynamic, their history, how they so comfortably fell back into each others lives. I just wish there was less cooking! I wanted more tension, more spice. This book is very plot focused and the detail the cooking went into was a bit too much for me at times. However, i'd still recommend this book for anyone who would like to give it a try!

Spiced Right: ★★★☆☆ (3)

Pub date: Jan 23, 2024 - preorder your copy now!

I tried for this on a whim and was left pleasantly surprised. I liked the writing style and everything flowed quite well.

This one is a tearjerker! It's in a good way. Jillian is smart and driven and working on her issues that stem from a horrible incident in her .past. I love her strength and her self knowledge. I love seeing her triumph and get her happy. I love her career and how she copes with inventing herself and reinventing herself and making her life work for her. I love Jack. I love his sense of family and how he takes care.of everyone and how he is able to have something for himself as well. I love his protective nature and his nurturing heart. I love seeing that he will get his happy. The writing is well thought and executed exceptionally well. Each character is drawn in three dimensions and is likeable and shows strength ls and flaws. I love the ranch and the people who live there. I love the banter between Jack and Jilly. I love their insights and their depth.

"You sure about this?" - Jack
"I'm sure about you." - Jillian

I was literally shouting when I read that line above, haha.
Feels so right! Spiced Right!
The banter between Jack and Jillian is so natural, I love their chemistry.
The smut and the plot are so balanced and I love it. The story flows well and I totally enjoyed reading this.

“Thank you NetGalley and Montlake for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.”

I found this book really hard to get through. The main problem was the writing style. I found it very difficult stay in the story. While there were some parts that I liked, overall it didn’t compensate for the parts I disliked.

This was a cute read with some not so cute topics. I think the novel, overall, was a pretty standard romcom. I will not lie though: I wanted more from it regarding her trauma. It almost seemed like there was effort into developing the trauma and then a little less attention to it in favor of the insta love. Yes I know the characters had history, but I wanted more build up. It was almost like her fears were staged feeling to me.

I did really enjoy the writing style and the spice though. I thought it was well-balanced in that sense. I would also like one Jack Reed, please. For me lol. I do think some of the cooking parts dragged for me but that is likely because it felt really in depth and I just wanted the characters and their history. However, those parts were essential. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon.