Buns by Alice Clayton Series: Hudson Valley #3
Published by Gallery Books Publication Date: May 23rd 2017
Also in this series: Nuts, Cream of the Crop
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Clara Morgan is living the dream, if you can call rebranding hotels that are desperate for a new life and running any kind of marathon a dream. Which she does. But the career she loves and the endurance races that keep her adrenaline pumping have kept her too busy to put down any roots. Growing up in foster care, she’s never been able to establish traditions of her own, which may be why she’s fascinated by the rituals that generations-old family resorts are known for. She’s especially interested in the Bryant Mountain House, and not just for their secret recipe for the yummy, gooey, can’t-get-enough-of Hot Cross Buns….
Archie Bryant, the man with the Buns, is fifth generation and one-day-owner of the charming yet run-down Bryant Mountain House in Bailey Falls, New York. He’s determined to save his family’s legacy from the wrecking ball the old-fashioned way—by gritting his teeth and doing what needs to be done. There’s no way Archie will be influenced by the new hotel branding expert his father brought in to turn one hundred and fifty years of tradition on its head just to attract a faster, younger, slicker crowd. But when some of Clara’s ideas start bringing in new, paying customers, Archie can’t deny that she may have just given him a shot at keeping his resort open.
It’s sticky, it’s messy, it’s sweet, it’s Buns.
Cocktails and Books received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
This is the third book in the Hudson Valley series and each one is a standalone. I love Alice Clayton’s writing style and enjoy reading everything she writes. Her stories are well written, funny and witty. BUNS is another fun romance, with lots of banter between the characters. In this story we have two people who are total opposites and they start out disliking each other and end up falling in love.
Bryant Mountain house has been in Archie’s family for generations. The beautiful old hotel sits on a breathtakingly beautiful piece of land with cliffs, lakes and hiking trails in the Catskills in upstate New York. Archie Bryant loves everything about Bryant Mountain House and enjoys upholding all the traditions that have been going on for generations. It’s all he has ever known and he is upset when his father hires an outsider to come in and suggest changes to the hotel.
Clara grew up in foster care and she doesn’t have any traditions. She is a workaholic and is constantly traveling with her job. She and Archie have lived very different lives and have little in common. She works for a branding agency. It is Clara’s job to make suggestions to improve the sales and image of a hotel.
Archie and Clara argue and fight over everything. Until they meet, they are both just existing and when they are together, they both finally come alive. They know they shouldn’t pursue a relationship but they can’t seem to resist each other. I was pulling for them and wanted everything to work out between them. They have a passionate, fun relationship with plenty of chemistry. Archie is reserved and set in his ways and Clara is mouthy, rude and tells it like it is. It shouldn’t work between them, but somehow, it does.
There are some fun secondary characters that add even more hilarity to the story. Clara’s two best friends also live in the small town where she is currently working and they were each featured in the first two Hudson Valley books.
About Alice Clayton
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
