Delicious Start to a new series!

Review of Delicious by Susan Mallery



This book begins the four book saga of the Buchanans, a wealthy family who made their fortune in the restaurant industry, and their search for love. Delicious features the story of Cal and Penny, ex-spouses who find themselves pushed together for the sake of the Buchanan's family restaurant.

The Good:

The writing is excellent. This is my first Susan Mallery book and I can definitely see why she's popular. The story had a natural flow with enough comedy and sweetness to get you through the typical push and pull of a romance. Cal and Penny's relationship had just enough of everything. There were some funny parts and they balanced well with sad beats as well as the span of their love story. I really enjoyed the secondary characters like Walker, Reid, Dani, but especially Naomi. Naomi was a nice balance to Penny's independent but often cautious nature. I enjoyed Cal's brothers' relationships with Penny and Penny's friendships with about all of the other characters.

The Not So Good:

I liked the secondary characters more than Cal by far.  I didn't get the reasoning behind their original break up. The story about Cal's mystery child, Penny's miscarriage, and that mysterious' child's cancer battle was a bit too heavy.  And when you add in Gloria, Cal's overly domineering Grandmother, it was just too much.  Cal didn't seem like a very heroic or even likable character.

The Verdict:

Overall I liked the story (just not Cal as much) and am interested in finding out about the love stories for the rest of the Buchanans. It was a sweet start for the series.