Sub-Genre
Fong Brothers, Book #2
Heat Factor: Lotsa handjobs and blowjobs, but we’re not without a penetration scene, too
Character Chemistry: My insides kept flip-flopping all over the place with these two
Plot: Cedric might be the one person who actually sees Brian. Brian finally finds some personal direction as he supports Cedric in achieving his goals.
Overall: I’m really hungry, but also I’m a heart eyes emoji
Palace Insiders, #1
Heat Factor: A little bit of spice to go with all those sweets
Character Chemistry: The way she makes his eye twitch
Plot: Rival bakery owners compete on bid for royal wedding cake (plus a bunch of other stuff)
Overall: I feel very emotionally manipulated right now; this is not *necessarily* a bad thing
The Graciella Series, Book #3
Heat Factor: It’s kind of an instant, angry, heated clash and then it burns but in a more friendly and less publicly appropriate way
Character Chemistry: This is absolutely a case of matching wounds meeting matching wounds but it actually made sense to me…THIS TIME.
Plot: Cass is on the tail end of a deeply traumatic experience—so traumatic she loses her sense of smell, and unfortunately she’s a food writer. She regains it when a really attractive farmer accidentally throws manure all over her, and then they get in a really rude argument, and afterwards they pretty much start matching themselves right up in ways that are understandable and steamy.
Overall: This was a really sweet read and it did surprise me in a lot of lovely ways.
Lively St. Lemeston, Book 4
Heat Factor: There are 9 chapters and they have sex 7 times
Character Chemistry: They are both making sacrifices for the other, “Gift of the Magi” style.
Plot: Betsy decides to seduce her boss, because it’s time for something to happen.
Overall: This was exactly the book I needed in the moment I read it. It’s short, sexy, fun, and thoughtful.
To celebrate Women’s History Month, every Saturday in March we’ve prepared a Saturday Smutty Six list of some of our favorite heroines.
This week: Chefs and Bakers and purveyors of delicious things
Lesbian. Dueling. Chefs. Need I say more?
Ok I’ll say more. This small-town Maine romance is beautifully gentle AND has great food writing.
Elizabeth owns a chocolate shop, where she sells handmade bonbons and other delicious confections. Yum. She also loves her body, prefers to take the lead in a relationship (both in and out of the bedroom), and shows people she cares for them by literally caring for them. Of course Sidney is absolutely smitten! Now he just needs to overcome his complex about not being good enough for her.
In this delicious Christmas tale, Noelle is desperate to successfully run her bakery business and ignore the endlessly funny and mouthwateringly gorgeous Marine who keeps helping her sort out these inexplicable messes she finds herself in. Instead, they attempt a little holiday friends-with-benefits scenario that is both charming and hot, hot, HOT.
Emily inherits her grandmother’s old home and ends up on a fixer-upper show with the incredibly talented and very foxy Zorn brothers in an effort to turn it into a location for her new soup-making business. Michael Zorn is desperately trying to forget a traumatizing experience and is utterly failing at it. Between the two of them, they sift through experiences and memories and find a new way forward together.
Ashna is an extremely talented chef who can’t cook unless she’s following her father’s recipes exactly. Which is a problem, since she’s running an Indian restaurant that could really use makeover – and some new menu items. And is an even bigger problem when she gets talked into participating in a cooking competition show, where she’s paired with none other than her ex-boyfriend. Expect lots of angst and drama.
Sarah owns a pie shop. Josh wants to throw a pi day party to impress his estranged father. Ok, so his motivations are a little wack, but it does mean that we get lots of scenes of Sarah developing delicious-sounding pie recipes and then eating them with Josh. Especially recommended for pie enthusiasts and math nerds.
The Smut Report 