ARC Review: Nuts by Alice Clayton

Book Title: Nuts
Author: Alice Clayton
Series: The Hudson Valley #1
Release Date: October 20th, 2015
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Humor

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?

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{READ MORE FOR ALLISON'S REVIEW!}

Holy mother of hilarity, I loved this book! Alice Clayton has a niche with her writing that's like a balm to my jaded soul heart with her witty humor, endearing characters, and just simple, real-life plotlines that just feel like...coming home. Like-able secondary characters and realistic relationships just bring it all together. When I read a book by Alice Clayton, I feel as if I'm living happily within her pages, in this quaint little town of Bailey Falls in upstate New York where everybody knows your name.

NUTS is chock full of the most adorable everything. A heroine that's dreading moving back to her hometown to once again, bail out her hippie mother by running her family-owned diner, as she joins some reality TV show. Moving back to a town full of gossip mongers, too smoking-hot-to-live though-now-gay high school heart throbs, rogue asshole bees, and hot farmers with massive walnuts and cucumbers. Wait...hot farmers? Yes, that would be none other than our hero Leo Maxwell.

I found myself smiling like an idiot through this entire book and I may or may not have caught strange looks at the gym while laughing out loud while reading on the stepper. I don't read a ton of RomCom books and when I get to sample a sliver every now and then, it's like having a piece of Roxie's famous coconut cake- so stinking sweet, I ate it up. Okay, enough of the corny food puns. Obviously this book rubbed off on me (though I can't seem to pull it off the way our resident author can, obviously). Though Ms. Clayton is the Queen of food sexual innuendo here- I could've highlighted this entire book! I'll never look at walnuts and massive cucumbers again without flashbacks to a certain sandy-blonde hair, green-eyed farmer.

Speaking of food, it's everywhere in this book so don't go diving in on an empty stomach. You've been warned. The cakes! Gah! But I digress...Alice Clayton gifted us with the cutest slice of American pie country living here. Where, with each season, farmers markets prevail, sharing the fruits of their labors with the town residents. Where everyone knows everyone- so when the high-society big-city chef Roxie Callahan moves from LA back to her sleepy little hometown, it's quite abuzz with some serious asshole bees. Just for the summer was the plan until she sets eyes on the nicest set of nuts green eyes she'd ever seen.

The eyes and the hair were a package deal, the hair was falling across his eyes in a careless way that said “Hey, girl. I’ve got peas on my shoes, but who cares, because I’ve got these eyes and this hair, and it’s pretty fucking great.

Suddenly her home town didn't seem so bad and day by day, everything that used to annoy her she finds is what makes her want to tie roots here. Most importantly, this hot farmer tests her no-relationship rule.

And holy mother of ceremonial bong-toting hippie-mothers! Roxie and her mother cracked me the hell up. Not a whole lot in this book didn't make me laugh but I loved the mother/daughter banter we got here between two very different people who come together for a mutual love of their family diner...and food.

Anywho, Nuts was just an all-around enjoyable, light-hearted read that delivered a perfect combination of ingredients- hilarity, endearing characters, quaint town setting, sweet love story, and a nice dose of steamy times. I'm anxiously looking forward to the next book, Cream that stars the town's almost-mute in his quietness- hot dairy farmer, Oscar!

Advanced copy received by author in exchange for my honest, yet food-pun riddled, review. 

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.