Sweet Success

I started reading Susan Mallery with the Marcelli family series and loved each book so of course, I had to get more of her books. Sweet Success was just as good. It's the story of Ali, who owns her own chocolate shop and Matt, a loner with a past. The story of Ali and Matt moves at a nice pace. Ali's mother, Charlotte Elizabeth, a former movie star, adds humor with her pet pig, Miss Sylvie. I enjoyed the way the characters were all introduced and the way they interacted with each other. For me, it was one of those books that I hated to see end. I am now going to start reading her series of Irresistible, Delicious, etc. and I'm sure they'll be just as good as her others. I hope she keeps writing these wonderful stories! It's a joy to find a new author to read that writes such wonderful books!

Ever since reading the Marcelli Family series (The Sassy One, The Marcelli Bride, etc...) I have become a huge Susan Mallery fan. I've gone back and started reading some of Susan's other work and when I came across 'Sweet Success', I didn't think it sounded like an especially good book. Was I wrong! I found this book very funny, the characters were colorful and likeable. The scenes where the characters become intimate were extremely well written and highly sensual. I don't want to give too much away because the plot isn't particularly deep or complex, however I strongly recommend this book. It was a pleasure to read!

I loved the heroine in this sweet romance novel. She was sweet but not sugary sweet. She wasn't real sure of what she wanted in life and she had messed up in the past at finding a great guy. I loved how she wouldn't let the hero come in and run her life for her even though he tried to several times. It was a great romance!

At thirty, all that Allison Thomas can claim is a gourmet chocolate shop and a cat, even if she is a great rescuer of people and pets. Further, she's not sure which is worse, her mother's frequent desire for grandchildren speech or the makeover speech. When the new handyman Matt Baker shows up to install shelves in her shop, he's not terribly amused by either Allison or her mother. Then he learns that Ali's food is more than sustenance, it's an experience. A single truffle leads to his downfall as Matt sees Ali handling challenges the same way she handles chocolate-delicately but with command.Ali tells Matt that he doesn't eat her food, doesn't talk much, and doesn't play well with others. When she offers him food twice in one day, Matt simply pegs her for a meddler. But then, Matt's a mass of contradictions. Well spoken and well educated, Matt's something of a mystery. He carefully keeps to himself; worried Ali might learn his secrets. Despite that fact that he doesn't want rescuing, Matt finds himself falling into a comfortable routine as he becomes part of Ali's small town. Too bad he believes that there's no way to make peace with what he's done. Author Susan Mallery brings her customary verve to SWEET SUCCESS. She sweetly captures the contradictions of living in a delightful microcosm of life: small town mentality, cosmopolitan troubles, and a cast of characters straight from everyone's backyard. In addition to zany primary characters, the secondary characters are a riot, especially the flawless, perfectly coifed mother who has a rather large pig as pet - a pig that likes a treat with her morning coffee. The kind of mother, that is, that flat out declares to Matt, "You're not happy material," after confiding secrets of her love life from thirty years before. Rick, Ali's gay brother is also great for a load of laughs and quaint observations. A lovely, light read guaranteed to bring the satisfaction of really great chocolate, Mallery's latest offering is a SWEET SUCCESS. Very highly recommended.

I had almost passed this novel by when I read the small blurb at the top of the cover - "an irrestible novel of love and chocolate." Well, I was hooked, and delightfully so.This is a delicious novel filled with sweet milk-chocolate romance between the heroine and her prince-charming, a little dark chocolate suspense in the form of the past life he is running from, a touch of bittersweet chocolate manipulating in the former of the heroine's noisy mother and, of course, a whole lot of warm, wonderful chocolate. Sweet Success is the perfect book for summer time reading, or just when you have those incredible chocolate cravings. Three cheers for Susan Mallery! Now, when does she dish up her next novel? I can't wait. Sharon Galligar Chance, Times Record News