Customer Reviews

Delicious

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Cal Buchanan is summoned back to the family business when the family's flagship restaurant, The Waterfront is in dire straights. He agrees to sign up for four months to turn things around, and turns to his ex-wife to become the executive chef. Penny and Cal have not seen each other in three years, but the sparks are still there. She negotiates the terms, in hopes that after this gig she will have enough to open her own restaurant. She also neglects to mention that she is currently four months pregnant.

When the restaurant re-opens, it becomes a hit thanks to Penny's culinary talents - she even makes fish and chips seem gourmet! But the biggest snag for success is Cal's witch of a grandmother who is constantly scheming to keep her grandchildren in line, including making life a living hell for Penny.

Penny still loves Cal, but has never forgiven him for bailing on her when she lost their child. Unknown to her, Cal fathered a child when he was a teen, and while he has kept abreast of his daughter, he has never met her, and has kept her a secret from everyone but his conniving grandmother. He is not sure he has enough love to give another child, but rather than admit this to Penny, he let her leave him.

"Delicious" is an addictive second chance at romance dramedy. This is the first in a series of four books about the Buchanan siblings, spending a lot of time laying the foundation for the other siblings, and if the rest can be judged by this one, it will be a delicious series!

The Buchanan family is an old Seattle family who has a number of restaurants that have built the family empire. Reid is managing the bar, sister Dani manager the hamburger joint, Walker has bucked the tradition and is in the Marines and Cal once ran the steakhouse but went out on his own to open what has become a coffee emporium. All of these and the kids are ruled with an iron fist by the rude obnoxious Grandmother.

Cal has been enticed back into the fold for 6 months to take the dead Fish House and make it back into one of the biggest restaurants in the area. They only way he can see that happening is to hire the best chef in town, unfortunately it happens to be his ex-wife Penny. Penny has a grand time watching and making Cal grovel. In the end she gets what she wants, including vacation time at the end of summer. What she doesn't tell Cal is this is for her baby's birth. When she and cal Divorced years ago it was mainly due to her wanting children and him not wanting them. But, what Penny doesn't know is that he already has one he had to give up. What he doesn't know is that Penny got pregnant from Invetro and never stopped loving him.

As Penny and Cal fall back in love you get to see their day to day interactions and how they both work on running the restaurant. I addition you also get glimpses into the lives of the other Buchanan siblings with minor story lines. Walker resigns the Marines, Dani finds out her husband is cheating etc.

You will want to smack the Grandmother by midway through the book but other than that the characters seem to work well together and the interactions are believable.

Cal Buchanan is in a bind. He needs the best chef money can buy to help him turn around his family's declining restaurant. The Waterfront is in such bad shape it has been temporarily closed until major changes can be made. Affording the best money can buy isn't an issue. The issue is that the best chef for the job in none other than Cal's ex-wife, Penny Jackson.

Penny is very interested in the opportunity The Waterfront offers. By taking this job, she will be able to save enough money to buy her own restaurant. And now that she is pregnant, at least one of her dreams is coming true. If Penny takes this job, she will be well on her way to achieving another of her long held dreams.

Soon things between Cal and Penny start to heat up. Just when it starts to look like they might have another chance at happiness together, a secret from Cal's past threatens their fragile bond.

I've been a fan of Susan Mallery for quite some time. But I will admit, Delicious just blew me away. I started reading it after work and stayed up until dawn to finish it. Cal and Penny's story really captured me. I am a fan of second chances, and Cal and Penny satisfied my hunger for another try at happily ever after.

Although, Cal made me want to take a baseball bat to him a few times, I could easily see Penny's love for him and her unconscious desire to reunite. Not that I don't adore Cal, I do. Ms. Mallery wrote him, and all her characters in this novel, quite wonderfully, realistically, and humanly flawed. I feel like I know them all and already miss hanging out with them!

Of course, I am eager for the other three books in this series. I want happiness for little sister Dani. I think the handsome, tomcat brother, Reid, needs his comeuppance. I want to be around to see that! And the former marine brother, Walker, well... he touched my heart and I am salivating for his book! If you are a fan of contemporary romance, The Buchanans is a series NOT to be missed! I made a glutton out of myself and devoured Delicious!

Annabelle

Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

"Delicious" this was not; it's not horrible, but it's not very good, either -- just blah. I liked Penny a lot: ambitious, spunky, passionate -- but the story behind Cal's lack of love in their previous marriage was just not appealing. I, too, wondered how, after he had so broken her heart, that she would immediately jump into bed with him and fall all over again. I did not, for a minute, think that he had changed so much that he really loved Penny.

Ironically, the best thing about this book was the descriptions of the restaurant business and the hustle and bustle of working daily in such a fast-paced environment.

The next book in this series, "Irresistible" is even less compelling than this one. Yawn. I don't even care to finish Book 3 and 4. After slogging through the first three Marcelli Sisters trilogy, I'm pretty much finished with Susan Mallery. I just don't find her writing very interesting.

Mallery writes with flair and humor. Her dialogue is funny, witty, and very readable. The restaurant business is the background for this story and she hits it dead on. Very accurate. Her secondary characters -the brothers, the best friend, the sister, the kitchen staff, are great.

The main characters however leave alot to be desired. Cal is a mess. He is self-focused, confused, guilt-ridden, and the way he acted in his marriage - unworthy of a hero. The problems that the author gave him - there wasn't a way to make it all better. His realization that he could love everyone- not just a child he gave up for adoption -was lame. It did not work. Not for me at least.

The storyline - in regards to Cal and Penny's relationship was weird. Motivations were weak. I did not buy in to her sleeping with him - when the issues between them were so large. And when he stated that he had never really loved her - through their whole marriage -and how he was relieved when she lost thier baby - I was totally turned off.

Why would she go back to him? Penny was a great character except for her relationship with Cal. She made something of herself, planned a family by herself, was tough and respected...yet a doormat when it came to Cal. Yuck.

I gave this book three stars because other people might actually like it, also I havent read it all so I figured it might be a little unfair to rate it a 1 or 2...

Some people might actually like this book. But I am on the other side of the fence. I couldnt get past Naomi... She is a regular Slutty Sally in my opinion and I just couldnt like her so that had me skipping around in the book. Although I didnt like her I would have liked a little epilogue or something so we found out a litttle something about what happened when she went back home. And thats another thing, obviously I havent read the other books so maybe this is covered in the others but, this book or what I read from it, Shes pregnant from a donor, they are divorced after a miscarriage when she thinks he was glad she miscarried, he claims he doesnt want a family.......yada, yada, yada. So why would the book just end where it did? I would have liked a little something about the birth or something like that. Doesnt even have to be an epilogue but maybe just a couple chapters...

Personally, I wouldnt recommend this to my friends and luckily this was a library book. Like I said some people might like it though.

Delicious, well it's an incredible read is all I can say. I must admit I reside in the city where this book begins.....Seattle. Here we're not only known for Microsoft but for coffee and wonderful restaurants. That's where the Buchanan family lives, in Seattle. A Grandmother who heads the family and rules with an iron fist. A business close to failing until the oldest Buchanan grandson, Cal, steps in to try to save the business. All Cal can think of is hiring his ex-wife to be the head chef. From that moment, sparks, lust and everything else flies.

The Buchanan's are an interesting family....full of secrets, lies and I sincerely believe this book series could be made into a TV series, it's that good.

Susan Mallery has yet done it again. She never fails her readers with her sensual stores also full of interest and humor. I can't wait for the next in this incredible series.

What a treat this book was. I love the witty dialouge and the fabulous characters. This book has secondary characters more developed than primary characters in some other novels. A very complex story. Picked up the book to read a chapter before going to bed and was up until 1 a.m. reading to the last page. I feel like I know the Buchanan family. The writing, whether concerning emotions or the restaurant business, is 100% authentic. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is hungering for a great romance.

Great Dialogue and storyline. Ex husband, Cal hires his ex wife,, Penny as head chef in family restaurant to bring it back to life. Cal is only there for 4 mos to get the restaurant profitable and reputable again. He is a millionaire in his own right with his own restaurant. Penny keeps the fact that she is pregnant via IVF to insure that she gets the job. (She wants to make enuf money to open up her own restaurant.) There are feelings still between them. You will learn the heartbreaking demon that broke up their marriage. Supporting cast includes Cal's sister, 2 hunky brothers, his evil manipulating Grandmother and Penny's fun loving friend with a secret of her own. Humor only adds to this great book and the best part of all is there are 3 more books in the series. "Delicious" is truly delicious!! A Must Read.

I love Susan Mallery's work and looked forward reading her latest. Cal and Penny's second chance at love was an immediate draw for me. However, as I read their story I experienced their reconnection through the "telling" of their story but had a hard time "feeling" the connection. Even their love scenes were missing the special "afterglow" elements. I enjoyed the secondary characters and will give Ms. Mallery another chance by reading another Buchanan story. This one just left me wanting. Even the ending was less than satisfying.