Sherry Thomas "Delicious' and "Not Quite A Husband'

I really enjoyed Private Arrangements for it's non traditional twists on the historical romance and it's clever yet tortured characters; so I was eager to read her other books. I wasn't disappointed. Delicious is the story of a master cook who inspires lust with her cooking. I liked the fact that the hero was more developed in this story. Both the hero and heroine are people you wished you knew, who have lost true love and struggle to find a way to bring it back into their lives. Wonderfully written.

When I picked up Not Quite A Husband two days later I was worried I was overindulging but well, that's never stopped me before. Bryony is a woman doctor, Leo is a mathematical genius and an intrepid explorer. But Bryony is brittle and when something goes wrong in their marriage it shatters her. This is the story of their recovery. Again, two wonderful characters who are smart, fully developed and tortured. But what actually improves this book is the addition of some suspenseful plot. Normally I'm complaining about too much plot and not enough character, this book pointed out to me again that it's a balance. A bunch of character and relationship exploration (done well) is great but breaking it up with a little plot made this book rise above the first two.

Overall, Sherry Thomas is terrific. Auto buy for sure.

Historical Romance 2008 Delicious: 4.5 of 5 madeleines. Historical Romance 2009 Not Quite: 5 of 5 emergency cesareans.