Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Beth Ciotta.. the Next Robyn Carr

I'm sorry, Ms Carr, you know I love and adore you. But I think Beth Ciotta is an awesome new voice in the contemporary series romance. Her Sugar Creek series. I prefer to call the the Cupcake ladies, are soooo coool!

A Fool for Love by Beth Ciotta
Description from Amazon.com:


SHE’S CRAVING A SWEET NEW LIFE…
Call her a fool, but chef-in-training Chloe Madison wants to have her cake and eat it too. So when her boyfriend dumps her for some French tart, she decides to start over from scratch—with a new life and job in Sugar Creek, Vermont. What could be sweeter than cooking for an eccentric lady who’s crazy for desserts? What could be more tempting than joining a club called the Cupcake Lovers? Just one thing: local business-hunk Devlin Monroe…

AND HE’S THE ICING ON THE CUPCAKE
Although he’s  the grandson of Chloe’s fun-loving boss, Devlin Monroe is all work and no play. Micro-managing the family business, he doesn’t have time to indulge in life’s  sweetest pleasures—until he meets Chloe. How can he resist such a vibrant, beautiful woman who brings so much passion to the table? But when old grudges and secrets threaten to destroy the Cupcake Lovers, Devlin must decide if his feelings for Chloe are a recipe for disaster—or a sinfully delicious ever-after…

So, after a horrendous breakup with her live in boyfriend, Chloe's friend Monica talks her into coming to Sugar Creek to interview to be a live in companion of sorts for Daisy Monroe.. old, crotchety, hilarious.. she reminded me of Grandma Mazur from Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series!  Dev, the handsome rich grandson is opposed to the idea, but Chloe and Daisy hit it off very quickly.

Chloe is supposed to keep an eye on Daisy, who seems to be very forgetful lately, and also is becoming extremely adventurous. Chloe is supposed to talk Daisy out of seeking out her thrills, but instead ends up getting talked into doing them (tubing down the river in their underwear... there's also an arrest involved in another thrill seeking adventure!)

The cupcake ladies are awesome. The women of Sugar Creek have a club that bakes cupcakes, which they send overseas to soldiers and also sell to donate to charities.  The club started in the 1940's when the original founders were all women with brothers, husbands, etc in World War II.  The town continued the tradition. It's so cool! And you are going to want to strangle the club president, Tasha Burke. She makes a good villian. 

My only issue is it seems Chloe and Dev fall in love in about 2 days, which isn't very realistic.. Contemporary romance to me is supposed to be somewhat realistic. But, oh well, this book was amazing!! I loved and am currently halfway through book two, "The Trouble With Love" and I am anxiously awaiting book 3 out this fall!

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