Nuts (Hudson Valley #1) by Alice Clayton - ARC Review

Released: 20th October 2015.

Blurb:

From New York Times bestselling author Alice Clayton, the first in a brand-new romance series telling the humorously sexy tale of Roxie, a private chef who gets a taste of love—but is it to stay, or to go?

After losing almost all of her clients in one fell swoop following an accident involving whipped cream, private chef to Hollywood’s elite Roxie Callahan gets a call from her flighty mother, saying she’s needed home in upstate New York to run the family diner. Once she's back in the Hudson Valley, local organic farmer Leo delivers Roxie a lovely bunch of walnuts, and soon sparks—and clothing—begin to fly. Leo believes that everything worth doing is worth doing slowly…and how! But will Roxie stay upstate, or will the lure of West Coast redemption tempt her back to Tinseltown?

Purchase Links:

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1WmzkWz
Amazon paperback: http://amzn.to/1KGliaF
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1PAUyf8
Amazon AUS: http://bit.ly/1LazIp9
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/1MtREbA

 

Kristine's Review:

Reviewed: September 2015.

Alice Clayton has fast become an automatic #1click author for me, her Cocktail series ensured that, Wallbanger left me in a fit of giggles the first time I read it, and every time since I'm left smiling and giggling my way through the book, Clayton cemented herself as an author who absolutely pulled off perfectly timed comedic romance, but what I adore so much about her, is that she proved her emotional depth in Last Call and the Red Head series. Clayton proved without a doubt she isn't a one show pony, in saying that I was excited to dive into NUTS, but I'll admit I was just a smidge concerned that I wouldn't love these new characters as much as I loved Nighty Girl, Wallbanger, George and Gracie...I shouldn't have doubted it, I clearly had no reason for concern.

From the very first page when we meet Roxie Callahan, she's spritely, incredibly passionate about her work, but not so much about her clients, she's run far far away from small time life to create a brand new and improved Roxie, one that isn't defined by her flakey mother or  rural life where the town gossips know every detail about your existence. The new Roxie is single and successfully building the life she's always dreamt of, but when things snowball in her professional life and her mother asks her to return home to the family business, Roxie is left with few options, plus there's a time frame to protect the new Roxie from slipping back into the old Roxie.

When Roxie returns to Bailey Falls, she's something of an enigma, she's gone off and conquered her dream, cooking for the rich and famous, for the first time Roxie might just be standing outside of the shadow of her past, all of a sudden she's not hiding in the corner, trying desperately to fade in the background. When she unceremoniously falls on local farmer Leo, her luck couldn't be worse....or could it...Bailey Falls seems to have some lovely new additions since she left, Leo rocking the hipster scruff, all man, not afraid to get his hands dirty...small town life might just have some advantages that she hadn't thought of.

Leo is sexy as sin, he's smart and just as feisty as Roxie, giving back as good as he gets, passionate about organic growing and the farming of local and sustainable produce, he is essentially Bailey Falls most eligible bachelor and he seems to be showing interest in Roxie, she has three months back home and Leo might be just what she needs to make it a fun trip.

There's so much I love here, Nuts in true Clayton style is funny as hell, witty banter, sexual chemistry and enough heat to sizzle in even the hottest of kitchens, Nuts is part romance, part coming of age in an odd kind of way, part comedy, like every one of her books, I was instantly invested, I wanted to know more about Roxie, I wanted her to be challenged by her old town, I wanted her boundaries to be pushed and I wanted her to live an authentic life without the constraints she seemed to place on herself. Leo intrigued me, because he's definitely got alpha male qualities but he also seemed to have more depth than just standard issue hot guy, his passion for his work, his commitment to sustainable farming, his swoony worthy looks, and his snappy come back...he gave Mr Wallbanger a run for his money...and that's really saying something.

There's all the wit I'd come to expect from an Alice Clayton book, snappy one liners, sneaky comebacks, sexy glances and fun filled adventures, Roxie and Leo are hard not to love, and the entire rag tag bunch of locals make for a rollicking journey, one that I loved every second of, whenever I'm in doubt about what to read when I'm in a book funk, when I'm down and need to laugh or when I want to go back and spend sometime with my favourite book friends Clayton's Nuts (hehe see what I did there) will definitely jump to the top of the list.

About the author:

ALICE CLAYTON worked in the cosmetics industry for over a decade before picking up a pen (read laptop).

She enjoys gardening but not weeding, baking but not cleaning up, and finally convinced her long-time boyfriend to marry her.

Now, about that Bernese Mountain dog.

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