Falling in love is surely meant to be a sweet sensation and one to be fondly remembered. When Lucy Kendall returns from her trip to Europe with her Aunt and Uncle, she learns that her father has failed ill from a heart attack. Feeling neglected by her mother to notify her of his health, she also learns that her mother plans on selling the family business, City Confectionery. It's something her mother feels has cost them notoriety among the social circles and is a complete waste of time. Now that the company has been struggling to stay ahead their competition, Standard Manufacturing, she makes plans to find a way to keep the business going. Since Standard Manufacturing had stolen the recipe from her father to manufacture Royal Taffy, City Confectionery has been unable to create anything to outsell the rival brand. This is where Lucy intends to use all her creativity and talents to come up with some that will be unrivaled. Something that everyone would want to eat. If she didn't, her dreams for not only her future but also her father's might be forever lost in a sea of uncertainty. Her mother isn't about to do anything to help her achieve that, and has plans for Lucy to marry and make a name for herself and move her family up the social ladder.
When she makes preparations for Lucy to attend the Veiled Prophet ball being named the Queen of Love and Beauty, she does just enough to satisfy her mothers whims while she works with her trust friend Sam to dream up a confectionery wonder. The night of the Ball, Lucy finds herself enchanted by a man she only bumped into while walking the streets of Missouri one afternoon. While they remain strangers for now, she can't stop dreaming that he may in fact be the only man she is interested in, but it would seem their families are determined to keep them apart.
When Charlie Clarke is offered a chance to work for his father he is less than receptive at the request from his mother. This is the same man that left him when he was seven and abandoned not only his mother but all his siblings as well. It has taken Charlie some creative ways to make a living just to keep a roof over his mother's head and off the streets. But it is those choices that will lead him down the wrong path and the very reason his mother encourages him to take the job. Charlie agrees and soon finds out that his father is now one of the wealthiest families in town. He finds it difficult to make amends with his father after knowing how hard it has been to support his mother, while his father has remarried and is now a successful businessman. He vows he will only stay long enough to make enough money to help his mother and then leave his father much like he had been left.
In the novel, Unrivaled by Siri Mitchell, the reader is transported to St. Louis, Missouri in 1906. Two rival companies are in competition to put one another out of business, Standard Manufacturing and City Confectionery. Standard has been making Royal Taffy, a recipe once owned by City Confectionery and has set out to keep Fancy Crunch from moving ahead of Royal Taffy. Standard has been making sure that production remains at an all time high and places their advertising posters over the existing Fancy Crunch ones to keep Royal Taffy on the minds of the consumers. Now Standard Manufacturing will stop at nothing to ensure the City Confectionery is finished in the candy making business. However will Lucy and Charlie be the catalyst needed to make amends between the two companies and families or will they remain star-cross lovers that must never rival their feuding families? You'll have to pick this one up to find out.
I received Unrivaled by Siri Mitchell compliments of Bethany House Publishers and Litfuse Publicity for my honest review and have not received any monetary compensation for a favorable review. I was so excited to be able to review this book. Not only do I have a huge love of historical romance but adding the blend of sweet candy making to stir things up a bit. Both the characters of Lucy and Charlie are caught in a situation neither of them is comfortable with. Lucy has been groomed to be the proper lady of her family, even though she would much rather spend time in the kitchen working on new recipes and work alongside her father. But much to her mother's insistence that a woman's role is in finding a suitable marriage, she feels caught in the middle by what she should do and what she wants to do. Charlie is very much the same. Brought up in a impoverish childhood, he has a difficult time fitting in among his father's wealth and status. This is the very reason that Lucy and Charlie are so attracted to one another and at the same time, feel at odds with what their families have done to one another and will risk stay apart for the sake of defending their businesses. I love how eloquently Siri Mitchell played out all the crossroads at which Lucy and Charlie meet and kept each of them from learning who they really were until much later in the book. I rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars and found this one a delightful and enjoyable romance from beginning to end!
For more information about Unrivaled, Siri Mitchell, or where you can pick up a copy of Unrivaled, please click on the links below:
You can follow Siri Mitchell on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest novels.
To read more reviews about Unrivaled from the Litfuse Publicity Book Tour, please click here.
Celebrate Unrivaled with Siri Mitchell by entering to win a Kindle Fire and joining her on April 18th for a Facebook Author Chat Party!
One "swooning" winner will receive:
- A Kindle Fire
- Vintage Candy Kit
- Unrivaled by Siri Mitchell (one for you and one for a friend!)
So grab your copy of Unrivaled and join Siri on the evening of the April 18th for a chance to connect with Siri and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the book - don't let that stop you from coming!)
I loved this book too! Such a "sweet" love story! ;)
ReplyDelete