I enjoyed this sweet romance story. I wasn't ready for all the angst that threw me for a loop. Straightforward communication would have helped David and Robby but they lacked the skills after having been in awful closeted relationships. Well fleshed out damaged characters who took one step forward and two steps back. ( )

2,5 stars

A plain, unremarkable romance.. Nothing bad, nothing particularly good. ( )

Served Hot is the first book in the ‘Portland Heat’ series. It stars Robby a self-employed barista with his own coffee cart stationed in a mall, and David a finance director. This story is told in first person through Robby’s eyes.



If you’re looking for a fast, angst-filled plotline, you won’t find it here. Some people probably won’t like the slower pace of this book, but I did. I liked that this wasn’t an instant love story; instead, Robby and David’s relationship grew over months. Robby and David have quite similar personalities and past issues with boyfriends who were hiding in the closet. Those exes expected Robby and David to hide in there with them and both men did. Both of their relationships ended in vastly different ways, and even though Robby and David are attracted to each other, they hesitate taking the first step. Robby isn’t usually the aggressor but he pursues David who is quite skittish. Once they’re together, Robby makes the choice to squash his voice and doubts about how the relationship is progressing and lets David control the speed, even though it’s making Robby unhappy. David’s reluctance to acknowledge that they’re a couple eventually takes its toll on their relationship and things come to a head.

I normally don’t like first person povs, and there’s a lot of introspection by Robby, which leads to lots of monologue. I don’t like monologue, but the author was able to keep my interest because of the way the author described people, events and feelings through Robby’s pov. I loved the way the author put her sentences together, there wasn’t too much or too little description. As to the characters, Robby was more willing to take chances and progressed in his personal growth faster than David. Of course, David had a longer history of having to hide. The author did a good job of making the MCs personalities distinct.

One issue I think needs improving is the author’s reluctance to put dividers or extra line breaks when there is a change of scene. I distinctly remember two places in particular where this happened and it had me quite confused. I had to re-read the page until I figured out that the characters were no longer in the original scene, but a span of time had passed, even a whole location had changed. One scene near the end of the story is quite confusing with its transition and needs fixing. It begins with Robby and David at David’s parents’ home for Easter:

After the greetings, we headed into the house, David’s mom leading the way.
“So tell me, Robby,” she said over her shoulder, “How do you feel about venison?”
“I’m sorry,” David whispered next to me.
“It’ll be fine,” I whispered back, leaning toward him a little. “But I’ll let you make it up to me later, if it makes you feel any better.”
“You sure I’ll like this?”
“Of course, I am,” I lied.
“Well, I suppose I do owe you.”
“You do,” I grinned up at him, all teeth and sass. It was good to be home.

Between “If it makes you feel better.”, and “You sure I’ll like this?” there is no divider or extra lines. There is nothing that tells the reader that Robby and David have changed location, and time. Not until Robby says, they’re home. It would’ve been easy to give the readers a clue to the time and place change. Instead, it read as a continuing scene and threw me completely out of the story when Robby explained where they were, when only a few paragraphs back they were at David’s home. This book was so entertaining, but then to neglect something as simple and helpful as a divider or extra blank lines in between scenes, I consider either lazy or sloppy. The author needs to consider how it totally throws the reader out of the book, and this wasn’t the only place it happened.

I liked the slow pace of Served Hot and Robby and David’s gradual buildup to love. However, I really disliked the fact the author didn’t make the effort to do something as simple as create scene breaks with either dividers or blank lines, which because the author didn’t, threw me out of a story that I was immersed in. This diminished my enjoyment so I have to remove a star and give this 4 Stars.



( )

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. ( )

4.5 stars

Served Hot is the first installment in Annabeth Albert's Portland Heat series. This wonderful novella is a super sweet and steamy romance between two men who are a little hesitant to take a chance on love. This fast-paced and engaging read is delightfully heartwarming and I highly recommend it to fans of the genre.

Robert "Robby" Edwards owns a successful coffee cart business and the high point of his day is seeing one of his regular customers, David Gregory. There is something about the handsome, preppy businessman that Robby is drawn to, but since their interactions are strictly business, he is not sure if David is gay. When the two run into one another at the Portland Pride Festival, Robby finally works up the nerve to take their relationship in a more personal direction. The two begin dating, but the baggage from their respective pasts threatens to destroy their chance at happiness.

Both Robby and David's previous relationships were with closeted men, so their romance is new territory for both of them. Robby is not usually the aggressor in a relationship and it was a big move on his part to take the first step with David. Robby is a little shy and timid and while he has a definite idea of what he does and does not want in a relationship, he is mostly content to follow where the rock solid and dependable David leads.

While Robby becomes a little discouraged with the slow pace of their romance, he does overlook some of his frustration with David's inability to fully let him into his life. Robby is sometimes reluctant to voice his dissatisfaction and this leads to misunderstandings that could have been avoided if the two men were better at communicating their needs and desires. Thankfully Robby does finally stand up for himself, but will this be the nudge that David needs to leave the dysfunction of his previous relationship behind him once and for all?

Served Hot by Annabeth Albert is an entertaining and heartfelt love story between two realistic and appealing protagonists. The romance is slow growing but believable and the sex scenes are delectably steamy. All in all, it is an excellent beginning to the Portland Heat series! ( )