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Jul 22, 2011

new_user rated it:

Every character in Delicious effects a subterfuge, every one wearing a mask, Verity Durante's the most literal. Readers may grow weary of the hide-and-seek between Verity and Stuart Somerset. Stuart inherits his brother's cook and lover after that man's death, but Verity and Stuart have history and, she's decided, a doomed relationship, so she hides. He falls in love with her through her culinary delights-- and later, her afternoon delights. Hyuk, hyuk, hyuk.

I can't complain about th More...

28 comments like (17 people liked it)

Aug 30, 2009

♡KarLynP♡ rated it:

I debated between 2 and 3 stars on this one as the story itself was utterly absurd. I can stretch my beliefs only so far, but this one pushed passed my limits on many occasions. But in the end the annoying and absurd faded away and we got a decent ending. And I liked Stuart and Verity’s characters enough to stick with the story to learn more about her past. And without a doubt Sherry Thomas can write. I just wish she told a better story and didn’t jar us with flashbacks.

SPOILER More...

14 comments like (18 people liked it)

Nov 20, 2008

Christa rated it:

Delicious takes place during a time period that is not typical for the historical romances I usually read - the 1890's. It is also different in that the heroine is a chef. While both of these aspects of the novel seemed rather unusual, I recently read a Laura Lee Guhrke novel which shared both characteristics. While I enjoyed Delicious, I have to say that I liked the similar Laura Lee Guhrke book better. The characters in Delicious were likeable, but I didn't find them quite as appealing as More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Aug 28, 2010

FlibBityFLooB rated it:

The author had me, to the end... and then the story got convenient. In fact, way too convenient. This is another Sherry Thomas book where I wished for a different ending.

Half the book is set in 1892 and it alternates with scenes from 1882, set as flashback chapters. This is a similar style to Private Arrangements where it switches between past/present.

The book itself reminded me of THE DUCHESS OF DUKE STREET. The heroine is a belowstairs chef. The descriptions of th More...

5 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 27, 2010

KarenH rated it:

With so much controversy over Sherry Thomas' debut novel, Private Arrangements, I don't think Delicious has ever received the recognition it deserves. This was a delightful, Cinderella-inspired love story about a gentleman of means who falls head over heels in love with a mysterious beauty whom he engages in a "one-night stand". Come morning his new "love" has vanished and the hero is left with nothing but her muddy galoshes (and an overwhelming desire to find her and retur More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jun 17, 2009

Barbara M. rated it:

Delicious?...Ummm....Heck No!

Contains Some Spoilers

This author pushes your imagination to the limits and you still can't wrap your mind around the things she's expecting you to process. A book like "Lover Avenged" by J.R Ward reads like fiction compared to "Delicious".

Verity is a world renowned chief, but she's working in a common house. Her employer met his maker in an untimely manner and his brother takes over his estates....Verity and St More...

5 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jan 09, 2009

Terry rated it:

Delicious by Sherry Thomas is just as the title says. Actually it was mouthwatering delicious and I will never look at a Madeline again in the same way. Whew......who knew food could be so erotic.

Verity Durant has a reputation of not only having the love life of the century but she is the most re known cook that the most elite of families would give their right arm for. She is also somewhat of a mystery since she keeps herself secreted away whenever she is not in the kitchen cooking. More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Mar 25, 2009

Kimmy rated it:

I waited a while to read this book, because I wanted a large span of time where I would not be interrupted. I predicted it would be one that I could not put down, even to take a shower, and I was right! (I took the shower before I started reading, ha-ha). I was not disappointed, and at 2 am, with sniffles, I closed the cover on this quite excellent read. Ms. Thomas breaks so many of the "rules" of romance writing again. But she delivers a wonderful, creative tale unlike the carbo More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Jul 22, 2011

Moss rated it:

I've started to think of Sherry Thomas' books as value-for-money kind of deals. Food analogies, politics, masquerade games, identity confusion, family feuds, class warfare, it's all in here. All that plus - apparently - a sizzling romance with eye-watering sex, and the kind of structured prose writing that makes believers out of heretics.

You'd think something would have to give, and you'd be right.

I came to this book fresh from another of her offerings, His at Night. T More...

7 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 24, 2008

Mia rated it:

I'm still reading DELICIOUS (perhaps I should say 'devouring' this totally delectable story), but I have to gush about Sherry Thomas' amazing talent.

Her characters are so fully formed, so achingly human. I am in love with them all. The story is luxuriously told, erotic, a feast for the heart and the senses.

Her use of language is exquisite. She doesn't write down to her readers, peppering her prose with words like 'sybaritic' and 'soigne.' But it is her metaphors that make More...

4 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2009

Kris rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 22, 2010

Jane rated it:

A couple is miserable and apart for most of the book. Too many lies and secrets for illogical reasons.

STORY BRIEF:
Verity is a lady who for unknown reasons has run away from her family. She keeps her identity a secret and works as a cook for Bertie. Her cooking skills are famous in England. She and Bertie have a brief love affair which ends. She goes to London to meet Bertie’s brother Stuart. She does not tell Stuart her name or connection to Bertie. She leaves the next d More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 27, 2010

Shannon rated it:

Wanting to read something a bit on the lighter side, I discovered Delicious, by Sherry Thomas. I don’t seem to read romance novels too often, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them. This historical romance can be described as a Cinderella story with a culinary element.

Verity Durant is well-known for her skills in the kitchen. She’s been the cook at Fairleigh Park, for Bertie Somerset, for many years. She had also been his lover once upon a time as well. Upon Bertie’s sudden death, More...

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Jun 10, 2010

Catherine rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

4 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 04, 2010

Kat rated it:

Sherry Thomas has an amazing way with words, especially surprising (and enviable) because she speaks English as a second language (her first being Chinese). She also is fantastically knowledgeable about the historical era her books are set in (Victorian... I believe. But I'm probably wrong) and peppers such details without her stories that readers, or at least me, can't help but be fascinated.

And the sex is A-MAZ-ING.

I think part of what I like about the two books I've More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Sep 20, 2009

Gem H rated it:

Well finihsed this book today and to use food as an analogy, my overall review for the book is that it was like a meal that although left me a bit satisfied and had many highlights, it left me mostly underwhelmed.

***SPOILERS AHEAD8888

The main characters were so 'blah'. I had no real empthay or sympathy for their plight. The hero was so 'beige. There was no motivation and I found the fact he had stayed chaste for ten years since his one night with 'Cinderella' laughable More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 23, 2008

Alaya rated it:

Not as good as Private Arrangements, but still an excellently executed romance novel. The excuses the heroine gives not to show her face/wear a mask become vastly more contrived as the novel goes on, as does the hero's reaction to her eventual unmasking. Also, I wish that the food in this were more...food-like, and less magical-realism "how does this make people feel!" But that's just a personal quirk. I like people to struggle in the kitchen :)

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 22, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

My least favorite of Thomas' books so far. This story relied more on a plot device - the Cinderella type story... in a romance book, I don't enjoy so much when the leads are subject to such "whims of fate"... where external forces dictate so much of their story. It feels a little immature to me. I prefer Thomas' other 2 books because the evolution of the story is only about the interactions and feelings of the characters, as opposed to some external force sweeping in and either destroy More...

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Apr 09, 2010

notyourmonkey rated it:

I think this may be the book that puts me off romances for quite some time, because it'll be a damn sight for another book to be so eminently well-suited to my tastes as this one. There's lavish descriptions of food! It's all framed by a wink-and-a-nod to fairy tales! The heroine is actually quite sensible, and the hero is not entirely a lunkhead!

I also enjoy the work Thomas has done with the man who by all rights should be the villain in this book - the hero's half brother and the More...

0 comments like

Sep 29, 2011

Sandra rated it:

I am so on the fence on this one I'm having trouble articulating it. I enjoyed the story, it was extremely in depth and the characters (even minor) were very well developed. But it just went on and on and on. And on. And on.

They reference Pride and Prejudice a lot re: Mr Darcy, and it was appropriate in the overly detailed prose about etiquette and food and pretty much everything. The best decision I made was to turn the audio up to double speed because it was going nowhere fa More...

0 comments like

May 12, 2011

Lesley rated it:

This book did not pull me in at all. There was just way too much going on. And, for a romance book, that's usually a good thing when the author tries to actually have a plot and a storyline. However, it just didn't fly with me. I find it unplausible that at no time near the beginning of tasting Verity's food did Stuart think, 'You know what? I'm going to order my cook to show me her face. I want to meet the person who is creating these delicious meals!" No. He just eats her food and she hid More...

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Sep 04, 2009

K. rated it:

[“Delicious” by Sherry Thomas (audiobook: Virginia Leishman/Reader = 3.5*)]

Actual rating 2.5* 1892 England
Verity and Stuart

“Cinderella story” huh?? Uh . . . I suppose if you squint your eyes REALLY hard and tilt your head to one side! A Cinderella story is definitely not the first fairytale that comes to mind here for me. In fact, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t reference this story to any “fairytale” whatsoever, unless your talking about the “less than likely” defin More...

12 comments like (8 people liked it)

Dec 30, 2008

Jennifer rated it:

I can't believe I read another romance -- very odd for me. Anyway, this one wasn't bad; there was a running theme of sensualness, especially in terms of food, flavor, and taste in this one. A young "lady" is disowned by her family after she becomes pregnant, and becomes a well-renowned cook. She has a one-night stand with the brother of the man she works for, and when he inherits his brother's estate, she comes along. I found myself enjoying the secondary story (the man's fiancee and h More...

0 comments like

Aug 08, 2009

cecilia rated it:

Sherry again delights (maybe shocks) us by breaking from the mold of run-of-the-mill historical romance novels with Delicious. Verity and Stuart brought forward some toe-curling tension as they played cat-and-mouse with each other, although Stuart has been otherwise spoken-for. I enjoyed watching Verity bring some color into Stuart's monotonous life. While the main story is not quite the fairy tale that opens the Delicious, it falls into play when the secret of Verity's past was finally revealed More...

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Jun 23, 2010

Rose rated it:

My first Sherry Thomas, and she is brilliant! I was sucked in from page one and finished the book in two days, unusual for me these days. I think my very favorite part of the book actually ended up being the adorable secondary romance, although one reveal there somewhat disappointed me. Which is good because the secondary hero's family appears to be the linking device between the books. I have Private Arrangements around somewhere and will be starting on it next! More...

2 comments like

Sep 09, 2010

Eastofoz rated it:

Sherry Thomas’ second book may not be the strongest in the romance department but the writing itself is still very good. This different take on the Cinderella story is not really believable (big stretches needed here) and the characters are missing that passionate connection that she had in her first book, however it still has you reading to the end to see how it all pans out.

Basically the story is about a woman named Verity Durant who’s leading a double life as a French chef for an More...

4 comments like (7 people liked it)

Mar 15, 2011

Marilyn rated it:

This is hard to review. Ms. Thomas writes well, very well, but the plot was not compelling. Portions of it were simply unbelievable, the end is one example. Too many lies, too many false assumptions, plot devices that went on far too long.

Still. I finished it and at my age I don't finish a book that's unbearable. The period detail was excellent and as far as I know accurate. It was good to read something set in the Victorian era rather than the Regencies that seem to be everywhere. More...

0 comments like

Nov 03, 2008

Sheryl rated it:

not as good as her last.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 08, 2011

Punya H. rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Apr 30, 2011

Kimberly rated it:

I'll go ahead and admit that while I love all subgenres of romance, historical is sometimes the hardest for me to read. It took me three days to read the first hundred pages of this book (which is a long time for me)-- some of the details, especially those relevant to the time period of the late 1800's, were almost too thick for me to get through.

But then the heart of the story came out and took me by so much surprise with its richness and sensuality that I could NOT put this book do More...

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