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Review

“Summer lovin’, had me a blast….”

4 stars

Oh Alice Clayton, you are the master of romantic comedy! This is a smart, sweet, sexy and funny read, and I loved it!

Roxie is a chef to the LA elite. She has worked hard to move on from her country-girl roots and the difficult life she had with her flighty, hippy-ish mother. Strong and sassy, she has created her own business and has completely reinvented herself from the shy, awkward girl that she was. When one mistake costs her the majority of her clients, she finds herself headed towards disaster until her mother contacts her, begging her to come home and run the family diner while she is away travelling for the summer. With few other options, Roxie soon finds herself returning to the home that she has tried so hard to forget, and it is there that she meets local organic farmer, Leo Maxwell.

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.”

Leo is smart, handsome and infinitely charming. He and Roxie share an immediate spark, and Roxie sets about seducing him to be her summer fling – because Roxie prefers her relationships without any emotional ties, as long as there’s lots of sexy time to be had. There is eye fucking and teasing grins, the quips fly hard and fast, and the banter is fantastic.

“You didn’t really bring me beets, did you?”…
“I did,” he murmured, his thumbs sliding underneath my T-shirt the tiniest bit. “I brought mad beets.”
“Oh man,” I snorted … “Did you bring me anything else?”
He brought his face back to mine, tinged with the slightest of blush. “I hesitate to say it now.”
“What did you bring?” I asked his shaking shoulders.
He buried his head once again into my neck. “A really big zucchini…”

The chemistry between these two is electric! Every little moment is simmering with sexual tension, and things between them progress brilliantly into some explosively hot sexy times (two words – porch sex. PHEW!!!). Roxie is up front with what she wants, and while initially Leo seems a little taken back, he seems happy enough to go along with it. But the more time they spend together, the emotion between them deepens – it’s fun, it’s sexy, and it’s so, so easy – and Roxie soon finds herself in an actual relationship.

“You sure about this, Sugar Snap?”…
“I’m all in, Farmer Boy.”

But what happens when the summer is over? Is Roxie prepared to give up all that she’s dreamt of and stay in the town that she was once so desperate to escape? And what happens when she discovers that there is more to Leo than she could ever have imagined?

With humour, heart, and only a little bit of angst, Alice Clayton brings us another wonderfully entertaining story. I love both Roxie and Leo, and lapped up every moment of their sweet and sexy romance. The writing is smart, well paced and beautifully descriptive – especially the setting and the food and farming elements, it’s such a huge part of who Roxie and Leo are, and you can really feel their passion for what they do. There’s a fantastic bunch of side characters introduced (love, love, love The Chad!) and future books are set up beautifully – I can’t wait for Oscar’s story.

While, for me, this didn’t read the height of epicness that is Wallbanger and The Unidentified Redhead, this book is so much fun and a great start to a new series I’m sure I’m going to love.

Loved it – 4 stars.