Raising the Bar (Big Love in the Big Easy)

Having met Gus and Moxie in previous books, it was fun to follow their beginnings and developments. Light and enjoyable read.

Wasn’t to sure about this book in the beginning. I kept reading and really enjoyed the banter back and forth. Hope you enjoy it too

So I love the aspect. She is a hard worker and basically comes in and makes sure bar openings succeed. He was born with a silver spoon and his parents gave him a bar to manage. They open on the same day. The competition begins. But is it about the bar or about them? I also love that she feeds the homeless and has a secret. And he has surprises of his own. Very sweet read. Check it out!

Loved this book. I didn't always love Moxie (glad her real name was given) but I LOVED GUS EVERY TIME!!!! Its a great read. I enjoyed it enough to leave a review and check out other books by this author!

Set in New Orleans amidst the night life this book charts the connection of 2 neighbouring bar managers. The pace is a little slow but the relationship develops with some banter. A little lacking in chemistry between the 2 lead characters. However not a very long book. There was stuff unique to New Orleans like a voodoo shop. However the atmosphere seemed lively.

I'm not trying to be over critical with this review, but I felt misled by the other reviews. This book was very difficult to finish and I forced myself to keep reading, because of all the good reviews. I kept assuming it was going to get better and it really didn't. There are a few key things that made this book hard to read and here's why:1. The Abel character is so unprofessional and critical of his boss, Moxie, it was actually shocking. He insults her constantly, from the very beginning of the book, and calls her inappropriate names like "tight-assed". He gets overly involved in her dating life and then when he causes an issue by forcing her to go on a date with a guy, I think we are supposed to love how he tries to protect her. None of it worked for me. I found myself skimming any section with his name in it, because his dialogue was beyond anything that would ever happen between a bartender and restaurant manager. Any employee who acted that way would be fired on the spot.2. I think we are supposed to find it endearing that Gus stalks Moxie. He shows up wherever she is and pops out of nowhere whether she's getting breakfast, going for a run, leaving work, etc. She repeatedly tells him, very strongly, that she does not like his company, yet he persists. When they do end up dating, he tells her they were dating before she knew it. I'm sorry, in the real world, everyone would be telling this girl to get a restraining order from an obvious stalker. We need to stop normalizing this kind of psycho behavior. It's not cute. It doesn't deserve a happy ending.3. The amount of detailed information her roommate has on Gus's family could only possibly be known by someone deep inside the family unit, or maybe even the family themselves. Nobody, not even a close aunt, could possibly have that kind of knowledge. It felt like a very forced effort for the author to relay this information to us and felt inauthentic.4. There are some descriptions in this book that are very odd. I've read a lot of books and never seen some of these descriptions, yet they are used multiple times. For example, "I stilled" is one of them. Huh? Or, "bite back anger". There are quite a few emotions they "bite back" actually and I really tried to visualize what that might look like. Later in the book, there is this gem of a line, "my stomach constricting and my nipples pinching." Hmm, don't know about your nipples, but mine don't pinch involuntarily.5. The characters are very concerned about Moxie's fake name. It came up repeatedly. People had very strong opinions about it. I think it was supposed to make us care about what her real name was, but I didn't care. I guess where I live, it's just more common for people to have a variety of names. Maybe in New Orleans people get very worked up about an odd name, but it felt like another forced effort from the author to make us connect or care about a part of the plot and it just didn't work. When he finds out her name, he does so without it coming from her, even though she repeatedly says she does not want to give her birth name. Yet again, it felt like a lack of consent on her part and we are supposed to swoon from this forced romantic gesture from Gus.I felt like there were some parts that were written well and I enjoyed learning more about areas of New Orleans. There was real potential here for a grumpy/sunshine story (one of my favorite tropes) that was competitive and cute, but these issues are what held me back from truly enjoying the story.

WhitJohnHappy birthday tim40days in yours and my dad would do this with

Raising the Bar by Avery Kane is a fun story with some serious undertones. Focusing on rival New Orleans bars, the clever, often humorous dialogue advances a classic battle of the sexes as Moxie and Gus bet against each other to be able to claim the most successful establishment…while dealing with private family issues…and denying their attraction. Readers will feel like they are walking the streets and visiting the city as well. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book. Highly recommend.

What a lovely change! The hero is not a muscle bound, dominant angry man! Nope, he’s kind, funny and patient. The heroine isn’t the normal type either, she has her quirks! Their story is heart warming and very funny without being at one end of the scale, overly explicit or at the other end too twee and sickly sweet.This book is well written with a charming plot, it’s clever and funny and I am off now to read some more of this authors books, because it’s raining outside and I could do with cheering up.

The setting in NOLA dragged me in and I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it thoroughly. Light, but appealed to the romantic in me. Cries out for a sequel though, IMHO.