Delicious

Title: Delicious
Author: Sherry Thomas
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Verity Durant is a good cook - the best, second only (possibly) to Escoffier - with a secret. Her employer (and former lover) Bertie Somerset recently passed away, leaving her in the employ of his half-brother Stuart. What Stuart doesn't know is that his new cook is the same Cinderella he had a one-night love affair with ten years ago and has yearned for ever since.

Delicious is put forward as a Cinderella story of sorts. It starts out framed as a Cinderella story, and the author as well as the characters themselves reference the famous fairy tale throughout the novel. This not only works, but adds tremendously to the romance building between Stuart and Verity.

I loved the entire thing. Not only was I intrigued by the Victorian setting, I wanted to know if Cinderella got her prince, and what happened to the prince's fiancee. And what of Cinderella's stepmother? The prince's family? Delicious answers all of these questions, all the while drawing you into not only the romance between the characters, but into a new love affair with food - for that is how much of Verity's passion is shown: through her food.

Anyone looking to read a romance novel: I highly recommend this! It's delightful, satisfying, and all-around lovely. I know I gush, but I think, in this case, the work deserves the praise.

Seducing a S.E.A.L.

Title: Seducing a S.E.A.L.
Author: Jamie Sobrato
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.5 stars (almost 4)

So, before the review, a little personal blurb: I must admit, I had some snobbery going on. A year ago, I would not have touched a romance for anything. Obviously, I discovered I was wrong and really do like romances - but I still had a bit of snob left for Harlequins. I decided to do something about that, and it helped that
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books endorsed them - some, at least. Yes, my friends, I like them. Below I shall share with you why.

Following a workplace tragedy, Lieutenant Commander Kylie Thomas finds her rigid world collapsing. Suddenly she is incapable of controlling her thoughts, her emotions - both at and outside of work - and, most worryingly, her impulses and fantasies regarding her subordinate, Ensign Drew MacLeod. They find themselves in bed and then in Hawaii (and in bed) together, forcing Kylie to re-think her position in life - and the Navy.

Alright. So, I went and bought not only a Harlequin, but a Harlequin Blaze. Hey, I like to read steamy romance! I was not disappointed. I used to think Harlequins (especially the intentionally sexy ones) were all about the sex. Yeah, I was wrong. Contained in Seducing a S.E.A.L.'s 215 pages are a story, two fully developed characters, a romance, a tragedy, healing from said tragedy, and a decent amount of hot sex. I really really enjoyed it.

Even though Harlequin's short format leaves me wanting more story, more background, that's okay. I can get that with longer romances - the ones which are 400+ pages long. These are quickies - no pun intended. They're short, quick, fun books to which I can see myself quickly becoming addicted. Heck, I already have a second Blaze waiting for my reading *ahem* pleasure, and have a quickly growing wishlist of soon-to-be-released Harlequins (not to mention the backlist!). Thank God I have a local used bookstore which pretty much specializes in romance!