Nuts
Series: Hudson Valley #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Alice Clayton
Release Day: October 20, 2015
The New York Times bestselling author of Wallbanger and Rusty Nailed is back with Nuts, the first in a brand new series set in New York’s beautiful Hudson Valley.
Roxie Callahan is a private chef to some of Hollywood’s wealthiest, and nastiest, calorie-counting wives. After a dairy disaster implodes her carefully crafted career in one fell ploop, she finds herself back home in upstate New York, bailing out her hippie mother and running the family diner.
When gorgeous local farmer Leo Maxwell delivers her a lovely bunch of organic walnuts, Roxie wonders if a summer back home isn’t such a bad idea after all. Leo is heavily involved in the sustainable slow food movement, and he likes to take his time. In all things. Roxie is determined to head back to the west coast as soon as summer ends, but will the pull of lazy fireflies and her very own Almanzo Wilder be enough to keep her home for good?
Salty. Spicy. Sweet. Nuts. Go on, grab a handful.
I’ll see you around, I’m sure.”
“It’s a small town. Maybe you’ll show up at my backdoor with your nuts again.”
Adorably quirky, laugh out loud funny, and deliciously sexy, Nuts was the perfect escape read I’ve had in quite a while. Alice Clayton just gets better and better with each new book, but she simply outdid herself with this one. If the Nuts is anything to go by, we have quite a bit to look forward to in Alice’s new Hudson Valley series.
Roxie Callahan is a celbrity chef in hollywood catering to the rich, famous and the entitled. She loves to cook…dealing with some of her clients? Not so much. So when an unfortunate butter incident costs her almost most of her clients, suddenly her kooky mother’s request for her to come back to the town she grew up in and run the restaurant while she’s away doesn’t sound so bad. Then a certain bearded farmer changes her outlook on the small town entirely…
“I did,” he murmured, his thumbs sliding underneath my T-shirt the tiniest bit. “I brought mad beets.”
“Oh man…Did you bring me anything else?”
He brought his face back to mine, tinged with the slightest of blush. “I hesitate to say it now.”
“What did you bring?” I asked, shaking his shoulders.
He buried his head once again into my neck. “A really big zucchini…”
And you know what the best part is? The entire book is filled with witty humorous dialogue like that. I must have read the entire book with a goofy smile on my face. My cheeks hurt I was grinning so much. Leo and Roxie together was pure gold. There’s enough sexual tension to truly make things sizzle. Alice Clayton definitely gives some good sexual tension. There’s just enough sexy to appease even the biggest pervies like me, but without being so much that it takes away from the book. It was the perfect balance of romance and humor.
It was also a refreshing change to get a heroine that’s the commitment phobe instead. Roxie is a strong, career oriented woman that’s not afraid to admit what she wants without any shame.
Pin 2. Enjoy the penis. Engage no other organ,
Pin 3. Attachments are for suckers. See also Mom.
Pin 4. Falling in love sucks.
In addition to the fantastic secondary characters, the wit and the humor, the setting of the book is what really hooked me. The author did such a fabulous job truly engrossing the reader in this wonderful town. I couldn’t help but be transported there myself as I was reading it.
Rocie is probably one of my favorite heroines I’ve read in quite a while. And it has nothing to do with the fact that she shares my unreasonable fear of bees. They really are assholes. But everything to do with her quirky personality. All the characters in this book were so well developed that even the secondary characters jumped out at you in vivid clarity. The writing was simply luscious.
In a shell, this book was fantastic! If you’ve loved any of this author’s previous titles, you’re pretty much guaranteed a win with this one. I can’t wait for the next one in this series. Fingers crossed it’ll be the grouchy Oscar.
“Both.”
Ella Frank is a chameleon of genres. The woman is a damn genius is what she is. Whether it be contemporary, MM, Urban Fantasy, and now PNR, it seems like she really cannot do any wrong. I had no idea what to expect when I picked this book up, but I knew two things for sure:
Truth be told, I’m always hesitant with the first book in a PNR series because almost always it will suffer what I refer to as a case of the firsts. What I mean is, between the introduction of all the characters, the world building, and everything in between, I often find myself taking a while to get into the story and wrap my mind around everything. I was beyond thrilled and not a little surprised that that wasn’t the case here. I was sucked into the book immediately. The character development, the rich world building, the unbelievably sizzling sexual tension is what made this book the unputdownable read that it was.
Alasdair is a first sired; one of the most powerful vampires in existence second only to his sire; Vasilios. Ruthless, unapologetic, and with a magnetic sexual appeal there’s not much in life that Alasdair doesn’t have. His face has lured plenty a human to their death while experiencing a pleasure unlike any they’ve ever experienced. But he’s also a vampire of particular tastes. Being alive for centuries has ensured that not just anyone experiences the pleasure of receiving his carnal attentions. But then one human changes everything…
You know how sometimes you read a book by a new author and you just know that this is someone that you’re going to be hooked on for a long time? Exposed by Ivy Stone was that book for me. It was a page turner I never wanted to set down. The writing was complex, enthralling, with a touch of grit and incredibly sexy. The characters were well developed and multi-layered. What truly hooked me was the author’s voice and writing style. I simply couldn’t get enough of it. If this book is anything to go by, Miss Stone has quite the career ahead of her and she certainly got herself a huge fan in me.
Lindsey Jenkins has been to hell and back. She’s lost everything and had to pick up the pieces not only for herself but her younger sister when she was just a kid herself. Now she’s older, stronger, and with enough secrets that may very well bury her.
There were a few things that left me with questions about both Mason and Lindsey. Things that I wished were fleshed out a little bit more. Things about Lindsey’s past and how she got into the life that she did that I wish we got more development on. I also found myself questioning a few decisions that Mason made as a cop that I had difficulty suspending my disbelief on.
You know when you spend months (or years) waiting for a book for a certain character that you build up in your head and you start to think that no way will the actual book live up to the expectations you built up? But then you read it and not only does it meet each and every single one of your expectations but it blows it out of the water? That was what Seduction Game was for me. This book was everything I’ve come to love about this author’s writing and even more so about this series. I’ve been a huge fan of the I-Team since I first read 
Heart-pounding action, nail-biting suspense and sizzling hot BDSM romance, it just doesn’t get any better than that. Shayla Black delivers yet another winner in her 10th book of her Wicked Lovers series. Sinfully sexy and filled with enough action to keep you at the edge of your seat, Wicked For You definitely delivered on the promise of it’s title.
Mystery Mullins is the daughter to one of the most renowned hollywood directors, who’s reputation as a womanizer is just as infamous. She’s used to media attention, but the only attention she truly craves is from a man that turned her down after saving her life six years ago.
I love that the author takes you back in time to show the reader exactly what happened between these two all those years ago. It only serves to strengthen the connection to both the characters as well as the connection between them. I love me a sexy Dom that can kick some ass and then spank it. What? I’m being honest here. Axel is a hero that you’ll definitely fall for. Mystery was a great heroine in her own right. She may be inexperienced in the brand of kink that Axel likes, but she’s no blushing virgin. If you’re not a fan of hardcore BDSM, rest easy, there’s no whips or chains in this one. Axel is kinky, but it’s light on the BDSM. A little spanking here, a little bondage there. Mix, repeat, end with orgasms.
How do you review a book where even the slightest detail can be a major spoiler? I’ve been struggling with writing this for days now because of this. I write something, then change my mind and delete it. Quite the conundrum I have myself here. If I can give you one piece of advice with this book? Go in absolutely blind. Don’t read reviews. Any reviews. Even mine (though I will keep it absolutely spoiler free). But this is just one of those books where what makes it good is the not knowing. You guess a detail here and there but you just never know exactly where it will go.
Aurora Rose Reynolds books always have been and will continue to be my guilty pleasure. A little fluffy, a lot steamy and with a dose of insta love, I don’t know any other author that can pull all that off in one book and actually make me enjoy it. Something about this boys and their “booms”. I can’t even explain it. But I like it.
Lauren Layne is my go-to author whenever I’m in the mood for a light-hearted, sexy and witty romance, and this book is exactly why. There’s one thing that’s guaranteed when I read one of her books; I’ll read it with a happy smile on my face the entire time. While I haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading her Sex, Love & Stiletto series, of which this is the spin-off, I had absolutely no problems keeping up with all the wonderful secondary characters or the story itself.
All the secondary characters add to the story while the main focus remains on Penelope and Cole and their budding romance. We still get a taste for past characters, as well as Lincoln who I was clearly intrigued by (because I do so love me the broken manwhorish ones) but it never takes away from the story, only adds to it. It read like the perfect romantic comedy.
Know what I love? When a book manages to catch me by complete surprise, pleasantly so, and end up being so much more than I had thought it would be. Suite 269 was that book for me. Witty, laugh out loud hilarious, and sexy as all hell, I read it in practically one sitting with a goofy smile on my face for the entire time (And some ice for my ovaries on standby) It’s not often that I’ll tell you that my favorite thing about a book was the heroine. And by that, I mean it almost never freaking happens. Unless the heroine manages to channel my inner sarcastic pervert. I mean the woman’s favorite cartoon was Pinky and The Brain for the love of god! We need to be besties here! And if you don’t know what that cartoon is, shame on you, and don’t speak to me again until you watch it, mkay?!
What if you met a man that promised to make all your deepest, darkest fantasies come true? No questions, no judgement. That’s precisely the chance that Lexa Novak gets. But this book is so much more than just that. So let’s set the scene, shall we?
Enter stage right, Jameson Holt. The son of the man that owns the magazine she works as a lowly fact checker for, and her boss. Did I happen to mention that he makes her ovaries scream in delight with his mere present alone?
Because the man is pure sex on a stick. But that’s all the detail you’ll be getting from because what’s the fun in that? The best part of the reading experience here is to find out how all these puzzle pieces click together.
I’ve read and loved this author’s PNR titles, (Mad World) but this was my first contemporary romance from her and it sure as hell will not be my last. Clearly I’ve been missing out and I need to go check out the woman’s entire backlist. If you’re looking for a fun, witty, and uber sexy read, you really can’t go wrong with this one.
