Delicious

Written by Sherry Thomas

Narrated by Virginia Leishman

In a starred review, Publishers Weekly praised Sherry Thomas for her "steamy and smart" prose featuring "deft plotting and sparkling characters." Delicious presents Verity Durant, an irresistible woman of a more elegant age. Verity is renowned from London to Paris for her succulent cuisine-and for her rapacious carnal appetite. And she's determined to tempt prim and proper politician Stuart Somerset with forbidden fruits he's never tasted.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 24, 2009
• ISBN: 9781440709326

Sherry Thomas

Sherry Thomas is the author of The Burning Sky and The Perilous Sea, the first two books in the Elemental Trilogy. Sherry immigrated to the United States from China when she was thirteen and taught herself English in part by devouring science fiction and romance novels. She is the author of several acclaimed romance novels and is the recipient of two RITA Awards. Sherry lives with her family in Austin, Texas.

Reviews for Delicious

[Kaori · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Never read romance with historical theme and old english verbage before. It delighted me very much to have discovered this genre and heard of their phrasing. It made me laugh cause of how all the words they used were so novel to me such as felicitations and shagging.

[marcella1717 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What can I say more that others have already said. It is a wonderful book. Go and read it.

[samnreader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What did I think, Goodreads?

That this book was weird. But I really really respected it. I did find it a bit contrived the parallel relationships and both happily falling in love sadly too convenient. But also, we're pretty much warned it's a fairy tale so I guess whose fault is that?

There's so much I liked: the writing, the intensity, the food, the secondary relationships.

But most of all the writing. And I will always, always appreciate that Thomas does something different. That something always feels quite romantic.

[ladypembroke · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

More like 3.5 stars. The story starts out slow and does a lot of flashback chapters to piece parts of the backstory together. Once the OTP meets in the backstory, though, things pick up speed and improve. At the end, I liked the book, but to be honest, I thought the chemistry between the side couple was better. I kept waiting for their chapters.

[cranberrytarts · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to read this. It's been in my TBR pile since it released, but I kept skipping over it. What an excellent read! I loved the writing - Thomas really draws the reader in with bold descriptions and beautiful prose.

The characters were unconventional and lovely - a cook and a barrister in a historical novel? Wonderful. I can't wait to pick up another Thomas book.

[kcoleman428 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

what a fun book. This was a great weekend read, made me laugh out loud...the golashas!!

[mschweer432 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was my second book by Sherry Thomas. She is one of my new favorite authors!! I really enjoyed this book!! It was a fun read with plenty of tension and suspense. I loved Verity's spunk! The story did feel a little forced and unbelievable at times. But, I'm reading a historical romance, so who cares, right?!?!? I can't say I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed Private Arrangements, but it was still good book! I can't wait to read another by Sherry Thomas!!

[doxiemomx2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not a great a "Not Quite a Husband," but another good book from Sherry Thomas. The theme of separated lovers that have difficulty reuniting is well done, but some incredible culinary descriptions. Didn't make me cry like some of her others, but I liked it a lot.

[frostkitty · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This one was a disappointment. If it had been written by someone else I would have given it a higher rating but Sherry Thomas is an amazing writer and this book wasn't on par with her other work.

[theepicrat · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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 toward the end.

[theshadowknows_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Would it be too easy/awful of a pun to say that I devoured this book? It is, but I did - or at least most of it. With a title like Delicious and a prefatory quote from M. F. K. Fisher about hunger and love, I should have realized what the book would be like. But even if I had anticipated food to be the theme of this romance, nothing could have quite prepared me for how Sherry Thomas writes about food, love, desire, and hunger - all mixed up in a sensual, sensuous concoction in which I was delighted to indulge. I love how Thomas writes, and when such technical skill is paired with a story that surpasses her debut effort, I'm a very happy customer. Now for the "but's". Even though I liked this story better than Private Arrangements, I still found the construction and execution of the plot here awkward, particularly near the end, when false notes start clanging everywhere. The hero, Stuart Somerset, is engaged to another woman, a Lizzy Bessler, for much of the story. I thought this obstacle between Stuart and the heroine Verity Duran, what with all the other things that stand between them, was superfluous. Stuart's anguished resistance to Verity on the grounds of his promise to Lizzy seemed exaggerated and unconvincing. When he suddenly gives up on his excuse of "honor," and returns to Verity after angrily and dramatically tossing her to the curb a mere few pages earlier, he sounds trite and wooden in his easy declarations of love and devotion, and I wasn't as excited to see them finally together as I should have been. Nor was I all that interested in the secondary romance between Lizzy and Stuart’s secretary Will Marsden. But the plot really stumbled in the final pages of the book, when we're treated to a lengthy and awkward exposition on the mystery (that wasn't really that mysterious) concerning Verity's past and identity. At this point the pace was brought to a staggering halt. I thought this aspect of the book could have been handled a lot more smoothly and gone that extra length to really get at the heart of Stuart and Verity’s love for each other. As it stood, though, I felt something lacking in their romance.Besides these complaints, it was still a very well written book. I've got to love an author who can come up with a line like: "what was the taste of falling off a cliff?" (93) If you just go with how important food is in this book, its artistry and eroticism, then you’ll mostly likely enjoy Delicious. And I really liked the characters. This book returns to the format of Private Arrangements, jumping back and forth in time, building up a sense of history and character development infused with lyric, fairy tale cadences that are enthralling - the opening sentence sets you up for a Cinderella story that plays with the familiar tropes without being derivative in the least. Thomas recreates late Victorian society so vividly here. Verity and Stuart are products of their time and circumstances as much as they are individuals who have suffered and/or been punished for their nonconformity, be it inherited stigmas or more active transgressions. Not the stuff of fairy tales, surely. I just wish Delicious could have maintained its momentum in the end and fulfilled its promise. The author provides a couple of very interesting characters, but the way in which she brings them together could have used some fleshing out. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.

[amf0001 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Difficult book to follow, I suspect I might like it better on second reading, but on first reading it really didnt' work - and yet, I finished it, didn't I...Set in 1892, so victorian rather than Regency, it tells the tale of Verity, a woman who 3 times loved when she shouldn't. At 16 she loved a stable boy (who frankly wasn't given enough story or personality for her to have done what she did) and fell pregnant. At 22 she fell in love iwth an earl who rejects her and forces/permits (? wasn't clear which) to remain as his cook once the affair was over. Adn she also fell in love with her lover's hated cousin. We meet at the second lovers death when the hated cousin inherits everything, including the cook. They have this game where he doesn't see her for nearly 2/3 of the book, she's in shadow or with a mask on, but when he does see her, he still doesn't recognize her.Not very explcit though with one great bath scene, I liked the lovers but I never could suspend my disbelief and sink into the book, too many jarring things kept happening. The book was very disjointed to start, but got better, but the end was just ridiculous - the duchess completely changed character for no reason at all.

[crashingwaves38 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book has a somewhat convoluted novel--there are twists in relationships everywhere, and unexpected things happen and people have unexpected motives frequently. Toss that in with the hero not knowing that the woman he's falling in love with is the woman he fell in love with years ago, and it's drama-rific.Despite all that, it's a well-written novel. Thomas has a good writing style, and her writing is such that it brings you in to the immediate presence. She handles the plot twists and turns adroitly, never getting so mired in them that the reader can longer find her way out. Dialogue stays true to character, for the most part, and the details and descriptions are enough to pull you in without making your eyes glaze over from too much information.I greatly enjoyed reading this novel. The only thing that keeps it from getting a full 5 stars is that the food aspect of things is just ridiculous. If this were a fantasy novel with magic, it would fit in just fine. But it's not; this is a romance novel without magic, and a cook is not able to really imbue her food with such feelings as longing and despair and new love. Everytime I came to another passage about Verity's food, I mentally rolled my eyes and moved on. It just didn't pass the suspension of disbelief test.Despite that, however, I love this novel and would definitely recommend it to romance lovers, particularly those who also love their food or have a penchant for Cinderella-type stories.

[ankhet_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Verity Durant is a good cook - the best, second only (possibly) to Escoffier - with a secret. Her employer (and former lover) Bertie Somerset recently passed away, leaving her in the employ of his half-brother Stuart. What Stuart doesn't know is that his new cook is the same Cinderella he had a one-night love affair with ten years ago and has yearned for ever since.Delicious is put forward as a Cinderella story of sorts. It starts out framed as a Cinderella story, and the author as well as the characters themselves reference the famous fairy tale throughout the novel. This not only works, but adds tremendously to the romance building between Stuart and Verity.I loved the entire thing. Not only was I intrigued by the Victorian setting, I wanted to know if Cinderella got her prince, and what happened to the prince's fiancee. And what of Cinderella's stepmother? The prince's family? Delicious answers all of these questions, all the while drawing you into not only the romance between the characters, but into a new love affair with food - for that is how much of Verity's passion is shown: through her food.Anyone looking to read a romance novel: I highly recommend this! It's delightful, satisfying, and all-around lovely. I know I gush, but I think, in this case, the work deserves the praise.