Friday, April 14, 2006

Delicious by Susan Mallery - was it?

I really like Susan Mallery’s books. I really do. She is an author who doesn’t get very much buzz at all and I’m not quite sure why. She’s written some wonderful little gems for Harlequin although I admit I haven’t read any lately. Unfortunately they come with some rather bad titles (The Sheik and the Virgin Secretary – blecchh, The Prince and the Pregnant Princess – another blecchh – good grief – I’m looking at some of the other titles here. Who comes up with these titles and who in their right mind wants to read about sheik’s? But I digress) Her earlier Harlequins – before the title names got ridiculous were pretty good. She also wrote some westerns I enjoyed under the name Susan Maccias. So – with a history of good books I’ve enjoyed under her belt, I read Delicious.
I loved it. I thought this was a great book, one of her best ones yet.
This is the story of Penny Jackson and Cal Buchanan. Cal has agreed to take on the task of saving his family’s restaurant. In order to do this, he needs a master chef. The one who is the best and the one he wants to hire just happens to be his ex-wife. This is a wonderful second chance at love stories. Both Cal and Penny are great characters. The reason for their failed marriage rests solely on Cals’ feet – but he realizes this and is very regretful of the fact that he hurt Penny so much in the past. But he thought he had his reasons……. Added to the complications is the fact that Penny is now pregnant. After her marriage to Cal failed, and no one else on the horizon, but wanting desperately to be a mother, she decides to go the artificial insemination route.
I loved both Cal and Penny. They were both fun and very likeable. It was very fun watching them work their way back together again. And I loved the secondary characters, Cal’s younger brothers and sister. Even the evil grandmother was an interesting character, a bit clichéd, but she certainly added to the story. I only had one quibble with the whole book and that was the character of Penny’s best friend Naomi.
Slight spoiler and a chance to use the hide feature

She “does” both brothers and then decides to go back to her husband – her character just made me squirmy.

Unfortunately I disliked her so much the book the grade get’s knocked down a peg.
I found myself thinking about this book at work and wishing I was home reading. It’s been a while since I felt that way.

What’s neat for us Susan Mallery fans is she has her next book – The Marcelli Bride (the brother’s story from a previous series) out in May and the next Buchannan brother out in July. I like that – not having to wait long.

Grade: Grade: 4 ¾ out of 5


(And it looks like I’m back reading again since I still managed to read this one despite my hectic work schedule- Yeah!)


'til later

9 comments:

ReneeW said...

I just bought this last weekend at HPB. I was worried there for a sec you weren't going to like it... Yay, she liked it!!! Whew.

Kristie (J) said...

Renee: Have you read many by her before because I don't think I've read one of hers I didn't like?

Anonymous said...

Is it the story of the brother, the prodigal son who was put up for adoption back when the parents were teenagers and appeared later on? I liked him as a secondary character in the earlier Marcelli book that I read, but IIRC he was a Navy SEAL. Is Mallery starting to write romantic suspense now, or will this be a straight contemporary romance?

I could (and will) to go find this info myself, instead of expecting you to provide answers ;) I'm just lazy.

Tara Marie said...

I used to read her, but I got "sheik"ed out several years ago, I guess that's not real fair. Maybe I'll give her another try.

Kristie (J) said...

jmc: yes I think it is the brother's story. I'm not sure what it's about but I'm planning on reading it anyways :) She also has one planned for the youngest sister too - remember her?

Tara: I haven't read any of the sheik's books. I mainly stick with her single title books now.

ReneeW said...

I have only read The Sparkling One and enjoyed it (a B) and I have been meaning to try the rest in this series (The Sassy One, and The Seductive One) But I haven't got around to it yet.

erika said...

Mallory's Sheikh books used to be an autobuy but a couple of years ago they began to get too bland so I stopped buying them. I've tried a few of SM's non-catagory romances but they didn't work for me. But I will keep a look out for Mallory's future books. One might grab my attention *g*.

Anonymous said...

Happy Easter, Kristie!

I did like the Crazy books. My one main complaint is that for the most part, the men all sound the same. Maybe I thought that because I read the books back-to-back, but there were too many similarities amongst all the guys.

I thought she did a good job at the sexual tension and I have to say, I can't wait for Skeeter's story. I just love that name...Skeeter Bang. I can only imagine the teasing she would have gone thru if she wasn't so tough. :)

Have great Easter weekend!!! *wave*

Anonymous said...

I had the same reaction to several characters in Falling for Gracie as you did Naomi, which is one reason I haven't picked up her most recent books. I might have to look for the Harlequins, though, because in the shorter format, I'm hoping she doesn't have room for that.

On the whole, I did enjoy her voice, so maybe I should give her another try.