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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
3.5
Easy romance that was very funny and entertaining. And the food! The foodies will definitely enjoy this one :0)
Easy romance that was very funny and entertaining. And the food! The foodies will definitely enjoy this one :0)
So Roxie gets fired from her personal chef job in L.A. because of ....butter. And she gets shanghaied by her 80's hippie mother to come back to small, upstate New York town to run the family diner-- something Roxie has spent her whole life trying to escape.
But then she runs into her high school crush ("The Chad ") and his spouse and finds she didn't automatically revert to her tongue-tied, shy high school self. And then there's the farmer she keeps running into and spilling his nuts all over the floor (or giving her his giant zuchinni-- I kid you not, the jokes fly between multiple characters about zuchinnis and cucumbers, not to mention one-liners like "I can't believe you brought nuts to a potato fight" etc), and then there's a burgeoning cake business (this is an author who loves her food, the descriptions of the cakes themselves are worth reading this book for) and we end up with a romantic comedy that brings on the heat between the farmer and the chef.
There's also a slight case of Hudson River Valley and sustainable/organic farming proselytizing in here which was fun to read.
But mostly you'll just have fun. Because Roxie is a hoot, and Roxie and her farmer like to tease eachother, and basically you just wish you were in Roxie's diner eating her Black Walnut cake or taking Zombie Pickle lessons from her with The Chad.
Off I go to check out the next in the series, which features a tall, dark, taciturn dairy farmer with great, big......cheeses.
But then she runs into her high school crush ("The Chad ") and his spouse and finds she didn't automatically revert to her tongue-tied, shy high school self. And then there's the farmer she keeps running into and spilling his nuts all over the floor (or giving her his giant zuchinni-- I kid you not, the jokes fly between multiple characters about zuchinnis and cucumbers, not to mention one-liners like "I can't believe you brought nuts to a potato fight" etc), and then there's a burgeoning cake business (this is an author who loves her food, the descriptions of the cakes themselves are worth reading this book for) and we end up with a romantic comedy that brings on the heat between the farmer and the chef.
There's also a slight case of Hudson River Valley and sustainable/organic farming proselytizing in here which was fun to read.
But mostly you'll just have fun. Because Roxie is a hoot, and Roxie and her farmer like to tease eachother, and basically you just wish you were in Roxie's diner eating her Black Walnut cake or taking Zombie Pickle lessons from her with The Chad.
Off I go to check out the next in the series, which features a tall, dark, taciturn dairy farmer with great, big......cheeses.
I received a copy of this book at the Romance Times Booklover's convention.
First off, I'm giving this book a very charitable three stars. It barely qualifies.
Nuts is the story of Roxie, a private chef, whose mother is going on The Amazing Race and wants Roxie to take over the family diner. Roxie doesn't want to do it, but she's just (unfairly) lost most of her clients so she goes back to her hometown. Roxie left it at 18 to go to culinary school and has lived in Los Angeles ever since. Almost immediately after her arrival she meets Logan, a super hot local organic farmer. I swear, if there's any aspect of the organic, non-gmo, clean eating, slow food, natural food movement that Logan isn't involved with I'll be very surprised. His house is probably packed full of mason jars. Despite never dating, Logan immediately shows his interest in Roxie. He's impossibly perfect and as a secondary benefit, filthy rich. I thought his perfection was pretty boring. Roxie is ok. She's amazingly sure of herself and has a quick comeback or suggestive comment for any situation. There is a fairly big plot hole at the end, which may or may not bother other readers. I was annoyed.
This is a very familiar story. Girl who left small town has to go back because of family emergency. Her family runs a diner she now has to run/work at. There is the crusty guy running the grill. She goes against her mother's advice and revamps the menu. Everyone loves the new food and start buying her baked goods (they always bake). The local hottie immediately falls for her so there's plenty of summer left for the romance. There are mean girls and there's a precocious seven year old. The only thing I can think of that's missing is the grandma. There's usually a grandma.
Nuts had many, many boring passages listing all the ingredients and techniques used in each meal, which is ok for one thing, but Roxie's meals tend to have more than one dish. About two thirds of the way I started skimming those passages and the book improved considerably. Ms. Clayton also over-introduced a few of the characters. After trying for a while, I eventually skipped pages of description of minor characters. I'm guessing Roxie's friends will have their own books so if you read them I'm sure any info you need will be recapped there.
For me, a familiar story - frequent boring passages = a very low three star rating.
First off, I'm giving this book a very charitable three stars. It barely qualifies.
Nuts is the story of Roxie, a private chef, whose mother is going on The Amazing Race and wants Roxie to take over the family diner. Roxie doesn't want to do it, but she's just (unfairly) lost most of her clients so she goes back to her hometown. Roxie left it at 18 to go to culinary school and has lived in Los Angeles ever since. Almost immediately after her arrival she meets Logan, a super hot local organic farmer. I swear, if there's any aspect of the organic, non-gmo, clean eating, slow food, natural food movement that Logan isn't involved with I'll be very surprised. His house is probably packed full of mason jars. Despite never dating, Logan immediately shows his interest in Roxie. He's impossibly perfect and as a secondary benefit, filthy rich. I thought his perfection was pretty boring. Roxie is ok. She's amazingly sure of herself and has a quick comeback or suggestive comment for any situation. There is a fairly big plot hole at the end, which may or may not bother other readers. I was annoyed.
Spoiler
Logan has a little girl and keeps her existence secret from Roxie. Now, the entire town loves this little girl and yet no one ever asks Logan about her in Roxie's hearing. They never mention her or ask Roxie if she's met her yet. Logan and Roxie's relationship isn't a secret so it makes no sense that no one would mention the daughter.This is a very familiar story. Girl who left small town has to go back because of family emergency. Her family runs a diner she now has to run/work at. There is the crusty guy running the grill. She goes against her mother's advice and revamps the menu. Everyone loves the new food and start buying her baked goods (they always bake). The local hottie immediately falls for her so there's plenty of summer left for the romance. There are mean girls and there's a precocious seven year old. The only thing I can think of that's missing is the grandma. There's usually a grandma.
Nuts had many, many boring passages listing all the ingredients and techniques used in each meal, which is ok for one thing, but Roxie's meals tend to have more than one dish. About two thirds of the way I started skimming those passages and the book improved considerably. Ms. Clayton also over-introduced a few of the characters. After trying for a while, I eventually skipped pages of description of minor characters. I'm guessing Roxie's friends will have their own books so if you read them I'm sure any info you need will be recapped there.
For me, a familiar story - frequent boring passages = a very low three star rating.
This book was fun and funny, but for some reason it was not a huge hit for me. I kept finding myself wanting to do other things instead of finishing it which means that it took me way longer than normal to finish it. I just didn't connect with Roxie or Leo. I would recommend it, but it wasn't a five star read for me.
This reawakening my crush on almanzo from the. Little House on the Prairie books.
A little fast on the resolution but overall pretty decent
Edit: forgot to comment on the bees. Honestly the weirdest part of the book ... Theya re just bees
A little fast on the resolution but overall pretty decent
Edit: forgot to comment on the bees. Honestly the weirdest part of the book ... Theya re just bees
This book was ok.... the characterization was very good and the vocab used was good. It was funny and entertaining but at the same time it still felt a little dry in the story.
You can see my full review here: https://readinaflash.wordpress.com/2015/11/11/nuts-by-alice-clayton-hudson-valley-1/
Overall rating: 4 stars
Genre: Farmer Romance
Plot: 9/10
Ending: 8/10
Writing: 9/10
Hero: 9/10
Heroine: 8/10
Humour: 9/10
Steaminess: 7/10
Feels: 8/10
Nicknames: Sugar Snap
HEA:
Extra Details/Thoughts:
Genre: Farmer Romance
Plot: 9/10
Ending: 8/10
Writing: 9/10
Hero: 9/10
Heroine: 8/10
Humour: 9/10
Steaminess: 7/10
Feels: 8/10
Nicknames: Sugar Snap
HEA:
Spoiler
Extra Details/Thoughts: