Adrianne Lee

4.5 stars.

Delectable by Adrianne Lee is a positively charming romance that is incredibly heartwarming. This first installment in the Big Sky Pie series is a fast-paced and engaging novel that is sure to delight anyone who enjoys homespun love stories.

While his four week fishing trip to Alaska helps Quint McCoy deal with his grief over his father's sudden death, he still has to face the mess the he left behind. Determined to resurrect his neglected real estate business, he is shocked to show more discover his mom Molly has turned his office into a pie shop, Big Sky Pie. But Quint's biggest regret is the damage his behavior inflicted on his two year marriage to Callee. Before he left town, a heated argument with Callee ended with him telling her to file for divorce. When Quint runs into Callee at Big Sky Pie, he is stunned to learn their divorce is not yet final. When circumstances throw them together, will Quint convince Callee to give their marriage a second chance?

Quint and Callee are wonderful characters and the chemistry between them is sizzling hot. Quint is definitely the more flawed of the two and at first, his actions paint him a pretty unflattering light. What redeems him for me is his regret over the damage his actions have caused and his ability to admit that he made mistakes. While Quint runs away just when his mom and Callee need him most, the time and distance provides him the opportunity to reflect on his life. He reaches a few startling conclusions about himself and his marriage and Quint is determined to make some long overdue changes to his life when he returns home.

Although Callee is still in love with Quint, she has no intention of reuniting with him. During their separation, she realized that neither she nor their marriage was a priority for Quint. But the most shocking and hurtful realization for Callee is how little she and Quint really know one another.

Callee and Quint's relationship is definitely uneasy as they set aside their personal problems when they are needed to help launch Big Sky Pie. Callie tries to maintain a physical and emotional distance from Quint, but their simmering passion is pretty hard to resist. Just as their romance heats up, Callie's doubts soon put their reconciliation in jeopardy.

Fully rounding out Callee and Quint's story is a warm and loving cast of secondary characters. Although Quint's father is deceased, his presence is keenly felt and I felt his loss just as deeply as Molly, Quint and Callee. Molly is off screen for much of the novel, but she manages to play a huge role in bringing Quint and Callee together. Supporting both Quint and Callee is their close friend and office manager Andrea Lovette. Will this single mom find love in a future novel? I certainly hope so!

If you are looking a light read that is sweet, sexy and angst free then I highly recommend Delectable. It is a fun first installment in the Big Sky Pie series and Adrianne Lee's brief but intriguing introductions of Quint's friend Nick Tanziano and pastry chef Jane Wilson will leave readers eagerly anticipating the release of their book, Delicious, later this year. show less

Wash your hands and sit down, ladies, for the sweetest book you've ever read! One taste from it can make you swoon - reading all of it is bound to make you fall in love!

Andrea Lovette, manager of Big Sky Pie, sure knows how to pick men. Mother of two sons, the business-like blondette always goes for the bad boys, the ones who are not interested in anything more than a roll in the hay. But no more. Andrea is now out for a husband, someone who can be a good father for her boys. And Ice show more Erickksen is not such a man... Ice, the TV producer responsible for the Big Sky Pie reality show, would be eager to agree. His own parents showed him that there's no such thing as a successful marriage, and he's not willing to personally experience it anytime soon. Casual flings is all he can offer, and he knows that Andrea is not the kind of woman to accept these terms. Both of them know they're wrong for each other. So then why can't they get their bodies - and hearts - to get the hint?

Though Delightful was the third book to a series - and I haven't read the other two, yet - it wasn't hard to grasp what was going on or love the many characters and background. Admittedly, Kalispell is a really homey place, and the main cast - with Molly McCoy being the shining star! - is a definite keeper. Not to mention there's pie - and lots of it! Who doesn't love pie? Mix it with scorching hot and sweet romance, and you have the best recipe for success!

(oh, it really was, darlin', trust me! served on Ice's pants made it worth double extra!)

Now, what confused me a lot with this book was the fact that, while I found Ice to be a wonderful example of the male species - physically speaking -, I found Andrea even better. I usually have this thing where I cheer for one main character - or both, though it's rare - and the one who wins me over is almost always the guy. I know, I know, there's no excuse. I can't resist. (or it could be the fact that I'm thinking the same way guys do 90% of the time, so I sort of get what they have to live through when the heroines start bitching)
But in this case, I was an Andrea fan. Right from the very start. She's used in making the wrong choice when it comes to picking lovers - though I think that there was too much emphasis on that trait of hers, to the point of getting tiring after some part of the story - , yet she tries to learn from her mistakes. Not that it's easy, or that she's succeeding. Apparently, the woman has enough self-knowlege to admit that only bad boys can do the trick "lose your clothes in the blink of an eye" and not fail. She knows that, which is good, and she at least gives it her best shot in trying to find a father for her boys. Here's a mother who doesn't care if she will never get sexually satisfied again, as long as her sons are happy and loved. That's an act of true self-sacrifice, people, if I ever saw one. Her instant attraction to Ice sort of bothered me, because it didn't feel real, but hey, this is a romance novel, we can't have them dancing around each other, otehrwise there would be no story, right? I also enjoyed seeing a fictional woman REALLY put her foot down and be strong against her own desires for the sake of her kids. To deny the man that makes her tingle inside - the man she may have fallen in love with - because of her parental duty, because she knows he's not right - as he is at first - for Lucas and Logan. And holy crap, yes, FINALLY a woman who doesn't try to make excuses for the way her lover's parents treated him! Every main heroine always had to be this good Samaritan, pure and kind, who would tell the main hero that he needs to forgive the parent(s) who made his childhood a living hell, to be the better person. Nope, not Andrea! She all but snaps when Ice tells her about his younger years, and she's positively feral at what his parents did to him. *sighs* I think I'm gonna faint for the much-needed realistic dose given through Andrea here!!!

Now, Ice, on the other hand (and btw, what's with the name? why change such a wonderful name into something like THAT?!)... I didn't like him. Not one bit. It's rare, because, physically, he sounded exactly like my type. But on the inside... The guy came off as a jerk from line one. It didn't help that he thought of Andrea as a mere piece of ass. I understand and completely accept that a player might not be thinking of church bells when he sees a woman, but even so he doesn't go around being such a pig - at least not in the romance genre. While it was realistic, it ruined his image long before he managed to make it look good for us. It wasn't so much because of his thoughts - OK, not all of it, at least. It was the fact he was ruthless in the way he treated the whole world, too. When you see a womanizer in a book, you will either hate him or love him - hate him if he's one of the "bad guys" and love him if he's one of the "good guys" who just likes jumping from bed to bed. Because then you know that, at least on some level, he has morals. But Ice showed a completely douche-like side from the beginning! It made it hard to sympathize with him, and, despite the hot lovemaking he and Andrea got into, had me shamelessly happy every time she would do or say something that would hurt him. Every time she told him she was looking for a husband and then immediately reassured that he wasn't in her list of choices, I got a sick thrill of satisfaction watching him get offended or squirm. Served him right. I get where he's coming from, but his past still didn't make me like him one bit. I guess my judgemental bitchy side came out to play again...
Still, I admit that I felt sorry for him as a boy. And cursed that damn school counselor to hell and back - what a fool, honestly!

However, no matter my instant dislike for Ice, I couldn't help but be dragged into the story. Going with its flow, worrying about those blueberries, and all sorts of things that the characters did, it was hard to put it down - proven by the fact that I managed to finish reading it in a couple of hours! Sweet as Molly's caramel apple pie and as hot as said pie fresh from the oven, Delightful is sure to make you crave some pie and sexy lovemaking! The way it ends has you wishing for seconds, because who doesn't love it when the main couple gets to repeat their catastrophe of a first meeting with better results?

So, bring your appetite with you and come have a taste! You won't be disappointed!

***I was given an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated in this review is solely mine, and no compensation was given or taken to alter it.*** show less

Callee McCoy is just making a quick stop in Kalispell, Montana, picking up her remaining belongings, saying good-bye to her beloved mother-in-law, Molly McCoy, and filing the final papers for her divorce from Quint McCoy. Quint's workaholic ways had put a strain on their marriage from the beginning; it broke apart entirely after the death of Quint's father Jim, as Quint refused to share their grief and disappeared for weeks at a time on fishing trips, letting both his marriage and his show more business fail.

Callee finds Molly in her new shop, Big Sky Pie, due to open in a couple of weeks. The surprise is that Molly has taken over, not just the part of the building Quint wasn't using for his real estate business, but the whole thing.

Quint is surprised, too, when he gets back from his latest fishing trip, finally ready to get back to work and revive his business before it's dead entirely. He's not happy; in fact, he feels betrayed.

When Molly has a heart attack in the midst of the three-way confrontation, between Quint and Molly and Quint and Callee, the two feuding soon-to-be-ex spouses are trapped by their mutual love for Molly, and her distress and agitation at the prospect of her new business not getting launched on time and missing out on the promotional events she'd committed to. Quint and Callee will have to work together to keep Big Sky Pie on track, at least until they can hire a pastry chef.

This is a fun little romance that nevertheless grapples with some serious issues of communication, mutual respect, and pursuing your dreams. Callee and Quint are both essentially likable, and they both have buried dreams they've hidden for years because of the mockery of others. And in the emotionally difficult situation they find themselves in, Lee does not fall into the trap of subjecting them to slapstick and "let's both be idiots" contrived misunderstandings. Their issues are real, and dealt with in as adult a manner as most real human beings manage when their emotions are running wild on them.

It's an enjoyable, mildly thoughtful, satisfying read.

Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley from the publisher via NetGalley. show less

Jane Wilson is enjoying her new job as pastry chef at Big Sky Pie, and life seems to be on an even keel, until she gets two unpleasant surprises.

First, her mother is getting married again--and not to just anyone. She's remarrying Romeo Taziano, the man who broke up her parents' marriage, and then broke her mother's heart.

Second, Romeo's hateful son Nick, the Tazmanian Devil, has just been hired by Quint McCoy to develop an advertising campaign for Big Sky Pie. She's going to be seeing way show more too much of her ex-stepbrother.

If that weren't trial enough, having the Tazianos back in their lives brings up uncomfortable questions and uncovers long-buried family secrets. Jane is forced to rethink what she has always believed about her parents, their marriages--and even herself.

This is a very well-done follow-up to the first book in the series, Delectable. Jane's and Nick's challenges, both personal and professional, are nicely developed and handled. It's especially nice that Jane's professional challenges relate more to growing into being a manager who can handle a difficult subordinate, and not a supposed baking difficulty for someone who's been baking seriously since she was a pre-teen.

Lee gives us a gentle but well-done romance, with good and thoughtful character development.

Recommended. show less