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bookloverchelle's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve been reading a lot of Bella Andre recently and I’m loving it. Candy Store is an eBook novella I found very hard to put down. Callie is a candy store owner that is almost on her last fudge bar. Her store is popular and her candy is famous, but unfortunately only locally. She needs the help of the Candy King to try and turn her store around before she loses everything thing. She doesn’t realize that the Candy King is none other than the man she hooked up with over the weekend, Derek. Derek is refreshed but the attraction he has towards Callie and he doesn’t mind mixing a little pleasure with his business. But can two people who love candy so much find a way to rescue each other? Great, quick, steamy read. This novella was actually a lot sexier than anything else I’ve read from Ms. Andre and in fact, it’s what I was expecting from her other books so it was a nice surprise. Great read!
tsukikomew's review against another edition
3.0
This review was posted at Tsuki’s Book Blog on Thursday May 2, 2013
For months I've been hearing good things about Bella Andre and especially her Sullivan Family series. This one popped up as a freebie for the Kindle and I snapped it up. Sometimes novellas help me get interested in an author or they turn me away completely. This one left me somewhere in the middle. I enjoyed it enough to finish it but I didn't want to keep reading through meals. Trust me, when I love a book I read constantly even through meals with the family or television (except Once Upon a Time...).
This novella features Callie, a baker, whose business is struggling. While catering a wedding she has a one-night stand with Tobey. Tobey ends up being the consultant she hired to help fix her business. While a little embarassing, Tobey quickly tries to take friends now while working together, more later. Callie goes for it for the most part as they fall in love pretty quickly.
Tobey, of course, has family issues and reveals his intent to become an accountant and sell his business. Callie is surprised since he loves his job and is so good at it. Conflicts abound before everything is righted in the end.
I was a little disappointed by how short this novella really was. I tend to be fine with novellas and will suspend my disbelief over how quickly they fall in love. This one was definitely way too short to get the story across in a realistic fashion but at the same time the characters weren't super likeable/relatable so it didn't matter.
Callie was extremely two-dimensional and I had trouble believing her. She seemed dreadfully naive when it came to her business in this day and age. She didn't have a website, social media, or pretty much anything to help her business out. While she might have been bad at it, I would have preferred at least some sort of attempt at it to make her seem realistic.
At the same time Tobey was more interesting but not by much. He was embarrassed by his job as a consultant to candy makers. I'm not sure where he was living but do people watch cooking shows at all anymore. Some of the biggest names in bakeries and chefs are men. They are highly sought after and incredibly good at their job. He seemed to face an unrealistic situation where no one accepted his career.
I enjoyed it enough to finish it but I think I'll hold off reading the first book in the Sullivan series for awhile. I'm not turned off by Ms. Andre's work but it didn't grab me like I expected. Sometimes the hype is too much.
3 Stars
Published by Ellora's Cave
January 1, 2007
120 Pages
Provided by--Me
For months I've been hearing good things about Bella Andre and especially her Sullivan Family series. This one popped up as a freebie for the Kindle and I snapped it up. Sometimes novellas help me get interested in an author or they turn me away completely. This one left me somewhere in the middle. I enjoyed it enough to finish it but I didn't want to keep reading through meals. Trust me, when I love a book I read constantly even through meals with the family or television (except Once Upon a Time...).
This novella features Callie, a baker, whose business is struggling. While catering a wedding she has a one-night stand with Tobey. Tobey ends up being the consultant she hired to help fix her business. While a little embarassing, Tobey quickly tries to take friends now while working together, more later. Callie goes for it for the most part as they fall in love pretty quickly.
Tobey, of course, has family issues and reveals his intent to become an accountant and sell his business. Callie is surprised since he loves his job and is so good at it. Conflicts abound before everything is righted in the end.
I was a little disappointed by how short this novella really was. I tend to be fine with novellas and will suspend my disbelief over how quickly they fall in love. This one was definitely way too short to get the story across in a realistic fashion but at the same time the characters weren't super likeable/relatable so it didn't matter.
Callie was extremely two-dimensional and I had trouble believing her. She seemed dreadfully naive when it came to her business in this day and age. She didn't have a website, social media, or pretty much anything to help her business out. While she might have been bad at it, I would have preferred at least some sort of attempt at it to make her seem realistic.
At the same time Tobey was more interesting but not by much. He was embarrassed by his job as a consultant to candy makers. I'm not sure where he was living but do people watch cooking shows at all anymore. Some of the biggest names in bakeries and chefs are men. They are highly sought after and incredibly good at their job. He seemed to face an unrealistic situation where no one accepted his career.
I enjoyed it enough to finish it but I think I'll hold off reading the first book in the Sullivan series for awhile. I'm not turned off by Ms. Andre's work but it didn't grab me like I expected. Sometimes the hype is too much.
3 Stars
Published by Ellora's Cave
January 1, 2007
120 Pages
Provided by--Me
sandylovesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Such a sweet romance. I love both of the characters and that the story revolves around candy. I have loved every story by Bella Andre. She writes the kind of romance stories that I love to read.
asmushy's review against another edition
4.0
A cute story and the chemsirty was sizzling between Toby and Callie. I liked it a lot.
amyiw's review against another edition
2.0
I really want to give this a 3 star but I can't.
So it is an Ellora's Cave erotica, reprinted. It is a short story/novella, not 120 pages like stated but more like 80. I give novella and short a lot of leeway on the love at first site and sex to love scenarios and being erotica you will do that here.
It starts right off with titillation and then sex, and it was hot. They clicked, and when they see each other again, they have the chemistry again. So... what is wrong you say? Hot sex, sex to love, chemistry... sounds like good erotica. Well, not so much since that was only have the story.
The other half is dedicated to a little sex but mostly two insecure people playing on each others insecurities and not talking, more him than her. Love is not having to say your sorry... right, well, that is the opposite here, and they are saying sorry to one another at first. Then he is needing to do it again. And when they figure it out, his first reaction makes me wonder and believe that he might end up being abusive over his insecurities and she would let him. Maybe if I knew them more and the story was longer, she could flesh them out more and I wouldn't feel that way.
With the little story that there was, I was left thinking that this couple either would be hurting one another or not make it at all. Hmm... still the sex in the beginning, hot. It is why I wanted to bump it up to 3 but I just can't with the flavor I'm left with in the end. Not bad and partially good but mostly OK, erotic short.
So it is an Ellora's Cave erotica, reprinted. It is a short story/novella, not 120 pages like stated but more like 80. I give novella and short a lot of leeway on the love at first site and sex to love scenarios and being erotica you will do that here.
It starts right off with titillation and then sex, and it was hot. They clicked, and when they see each other again, they have the chemistry again. So... what is wrong you say? Hot sex, sex to love, chemistry... sounds like good erotica. Well, not so much since that was only have the story.
The other half is dedicated to a little sex but mostly two insecure people playing on each others insecurities and not talking, more him than her. Love is not having to say your sorry... right, well, that is the opposite here, and they are saying sorry to one another at first. Then he is needing to do it again. And when they figure it out, his first reaction makes me wonder and believe that he might end up being abusive over his insecurities and she would let him. Maybe if I knew them more and the story was longer, she could flesh them out more and I wouldn't feel that way.
With the little story that there was, I was left thinking that this couple either would be hurting one another or not make it at all. Hmm... still the sex in the beginning, hot. It is why I wanted to bump it up to 3 but I just can't with the flavor I'm left with in the end. Not bad and partially good but mostly OK, erotic short.
xakyr's review against another edition
3.0
This book was all right...but not really great either. It seemed to be focused more on the sex than on the actual plot, though what there was of the plot saved the story from being a one star read for me. Now, I'm not exactly a prude, and I understand the instant lust pull, but constantly jumping into bed every encounter was a bit excessive for me. The struggle with the candy store was highly believable and the love that the character had for it showed with only a few well placed scenes. I loved the hero's struggle with his chosen profession. I just wish that this had been more about those character struggles and less about jumping into bed with one another.
quinn_0611's review against another edition
3.0
After finishing Be My Love by Bella Andre (writing as Lucy Kevin), I grabbed up the audio of the novella Candy Store because I'm reading all of Bella Andre's books for a challenge. It was interesting because in Be My Love, the sexy times were completely skipped over, but in Candy Store, a novella quite a bit shorter than Be My Love, was FULL of sexy times.
Anyway, Candy Store is about Callie Moore who owns a candy shop in Upstate New York. Her rent for the shop has skyrocketed, and now she's barely making ends meet. When she's at a wedding (she made the desserts) she meets Derek McNear and they hook up. I mean, like hook up. At the wedding (in a giant restaurant-sized, walk-in refrigerator). Callie is feeling pretty badly about it afterwords, and she's not pleasantly surprised when Derek turns out to be the consultant that is going to help her save her business.
Candy Story is a novella, so a lot happens in a very few number of pages. It's a bit insta-love-y, but not terribly so. I will say that insta-attraction is pretty common in a Bella Andre novel. Both Callie and Derek were characters that I liked and rooted for. I did feel their chemistry and I wanted them to be together.
Derek's occupation as a consultant to candy stories specifically was a little hard to believe (he's literally called The Candy King), but it didn't really bother me. I was willing to go with it. I was pretty much willing to go with the whole story because I liked Callie and Derek so much.
As a note on the narrator,: Eva Christensen, I believe is also Eva Kaminsky who narrators nearly all of Bella Andre's books these days. I love her narration and she's just perfect for Bella Andre.
Candy Store was a fun novella full of sexy times and has that Bella Andre feeling. It's certainly not a perfect novella, but it was pleasant and I absolutely enjoyed it.This review was originally posted on Quinn's Book Nook
Anyway, Candy Store is about Callie Moore who owns a candy shop in Upstate New York. Her rent for the shop has skyrocketed, and now she's barely making ends meet. When she's at a wedding (she made the desserts) she meets Derek McNear and they hook up. I mean, like hook up. At the wedding (in a giant restaurant-sized, walk-in refrigerator). Callie is feeling pretty badly about it afterwords, and she's not pleasantly surprised when Derek turns out to be the consultant that is going to help her save her business.
Candy Story is a novella, so a lot happens in a very few number of pages. It's a bit insta-love-y, but not terribly so. I will say that insta-attraction is pretty common in a Bella Andre novel. Both Callie and Derek were characters that I liked and rooted for. I did feel their chemistry and I wanted them to be together.
Derek's occupation as a consultant to candy stories specifically was a little hard to believe (he's literally called The Candy King), but it didn't really bother me. I was willing to go with it. I was pretty much willing to go with the whole story because I liked Callie and Derek so much.
As a note on the narrator,: Eva Christensen, I believe is also Eva Kaminsky who narrators nearly all of Bella Andre's books these days. I love her narration and she's just perfect for Bella Andre.
Candy Store was a fun novella full of sexy times and has that Bella Andre feeling. It's certainly not a perfect novella, but it was pleasant and I absolutely enjoyed it.This review was originally posted on Quinn's Book Nook
paddlefoot55's review against another edition
4.0
Candy Store is a sweet (see what I did there!!) sexy romance, a quick read that I enjoyed very much. In fact, I seemed to walk away after reading it craving chocolate truffles!!!
I am not a fan of the insta-love romance, but with only 120 pages I had expected as much to occur.
Love the attraction between Callie and Derek, that instant attraction has the air around the crackling with sexual tension (which they certainly had a way of breaking, anywhere, anytime. And I do mean ANYWHERE!!) And
Although everything happens in fast forward in this novella, I did love the progression of their relationship, but it did feel just a little bit rushed at the end.
I have read a lot of Ms Andre's work and have enjoyed it all, and Candy Store was no different.
I am not a fan of the insta-love romance, but with only 120 pages I had expected as much to occur.
Love the attraction between Callie and Derek, that instant attraction has the air around the crackling with sexual tension (which they certainly had a way of breaking, anywhere, anytime. And I do mean ANYWHERE!!) And
Although everything happens in fast forward in this novella, I did love the progression of their relationship, but it did feel just a little bit rushed at the end.
I have read a lot of Ms Andre's work and have enjoyed it all, and Candy Store was no different.
the_cheesiest_slytherin's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. I don't know if it was just the copy I was reading or what, but there were a few flaws in the story, like Derek putting on a condom twice in one scene and then the age of Callie's niece was kind of weird; at one point it was said that she was 12 and then Callie said a little bit later that she looked much older than 13 and she called her a teenager. Also, I thought the conflict was pretty weak, but this is a fairly short romance, so I don't know what I was expecting. The only thing I really liked was the candy element, but then who doesn't like candy?