Book Description:
What if the legend of Santa Claus is in fact, true? What if Santa has five big strapping sons who help him run his empire? Five single, sexy sons looking for romance...
Nicholas Klaus is a master pastry chef, a strict disciplinarian, and the eldest son of the legendary Santa Claus. One look at cafe owner Lucy Brewster sends him into an unexpected tailspin of lusty desires. When Lucy is injured, Nicholas makes a decision that catapults their lives into turmoil...
Lucy Brewster, the free-spirited proprietor of Sweet Inspiration, has a flair for concocting sugary confections but no time for adventure. She gets more than she bargained for when she awakens in the North Pole...rambunctious elves, a fitness-obsessed Santa, and the man of her dreams. Does she have what it takes to become the next Mrs. Klaus?
Now that Thanksgiving is over and we're officially into the Christmas season, amidst the hectic craziness of shopping, decorating, party going and party planning, there's nothing I love better than to take a break from the holiday frenzy and snuggle up before a roaring fire with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book - or rather - a good romance. I thoroughly enjoyed this sinfully delicous, fantasy romance by debut author Penny Watson that was original, sexy, well written and ... inspiring in more ways than one! ;)
This is the story of Nicholas Sebastian Klaus, the eldest son of the Santa Claus, who will one day take over the "family business" as tradition dictates. But, not only is Nicholas the heir to his father's vast enterprises, he is an exceptional baker, who spends his time overseeing Klaus Küchen, the extraordinary North Pole bakery under the domain of magical elves and Santa. He travels the world searching out the best ingredients, recipes and food from all over. Will he be able to set aside his love for baking and assume the mantel of his father and become the next Santa Claus?
His travels bring him to Eston, New York, a small upstate town that has a small cafe, Sweet Inspiration. Following up on a tip that the cafe's sugar cookies are the best to be had, he goes to sample them. As soon as he meets the owner and chief baker of the cafe, Lucy Anne Brewster his world is turned upside down. Lucy, a petite redhead with a heart of gold and a loyal following is unexplainably drawn to Nicholas as well. Erotic thoughts of him pop into her head and she wonders who this quiet, good looking, large man with a beard is, and why has he been frequenting her store every day for the past two weeks? Little does she know that he's been having erotic dreams of her as well: pastry cream, red lacy bras and, erm, sugar cookies crumbled over her ... well you get the idea!
She and Nicholas eventually meet and he comes to her aid and helps her with a huge order of cookies that need to be made overnight. That's not all he does. He is falling for her hard and goes out of his way to endear himself to her. They lose no time in getting their first kiss out of the way - Nicholas knows what he wants.
“My God, you are a delectable treat. I want to eat you up.”
Aptly put.
I loved this scene, one of my favorites. Ms. Watson is adept at conveying her hero and heroine's loneliness, neither one has a special someone, they've been too busy with their lives. This is a great lead up to their kiss and discovery of each other - wham! Suddenly the dam has broken, this is what they've both been waiting for and they can't keep their hands off each other! After a delicious first kiss, amidst a kitchen full of apples, I loved it how they blurt out the fact that they've both been dreaming of each other for weeks! When she's too tired to barely stand on her own two feet from working most of the night on the cookie order, Nicholas makes her a sumptuous gourmet dinner and then sweeps her off those tired feet ending in a sizzling night of passion together. But, things don't exactly end up being happily ever after. The next morning, due to a series of unexpected events that befall Lucy, Nicholas has no choice and disobeys the cardinal rules of where he lives by using magic on her. She wakes up at the North Pole in his hometown of Glasdorf to find elves, four other strapping and good lookng Klaus brothers, an unexpectedly buff Santa Klaus and his hip wife, Alena. Will Lucy run away screaming or embrace this magical life that is both foreign and welcoming?
Not only was this story fun to read with it's whimsical touches of fantasy interspersed with reality, it left me craving Christmas cookies and pastries nonstop due to all the luscious descriptions throughout the story of Lucy and Nicholas' confections. They all sounded delicious and made my mouth water - it definitely got me in the mood to make some Chrismas cookies of my own! The story and background of Glasforf was endearing and the legend of Santa with it's German influences and elfin theme was both interesting and gave it an air of authenticity - although of course, we all know there's no such thing as Santa Claus in real life - don't we? Or do we... ;)
Give this heartwarming story a try, a quick read, it's available in ebook format through The Wild Rose Press here and is released today, just in time for the holidays! This is the first in a series in which each one of the five Klaus brothers get their own stories. Ms. Watson is already working on Oskar Klaus' story, Sweet Magik, which I can't wait to read, though Gregor is my favorite of the bunch (besides Nicholas, of course!) I'll also be interested in seeing what the covers look like - this one was to die for!
4/5
Click here to purchase Sweet Inspiration
Penelope's Blog
Penny's Website
4 comments:
Julie, What an awesome review! Thank you, thank you, thank you! :) I am so glad you liked my story. I think it's hilarious that Gregor is your favorite brother. You are the first person who has said that. You must like your men buttoned-up! (By the way, Gregor has some hidden artistic talents!)
Penny, you're welcome! Gregor is a man after my own heart, my own DH happens to work on Wall Street, so maybe that's the reason! I like those buttoned up types who dress well and make money! LOL!
This book sounds both sexy and sweet. Nice review - congrats Penny!
Patti - give it a try, it's great for this time of year and alot of fun to read!
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