CREAM OF THE CROP is book two in the Hudson Valley series by the funny Alice Clayton. Clayton's books are always silly fun, with irreverent humor and a feeling that the story is a little over-the-top. This is the perfect frothy book to reach for when you want to make yourself laugh out loud. Quirky characters spring off the page larger than life in the Big Apple and in nearby idyllic small town Bailey Falls.

This is a charming and light-hearted RomCom with plenty of s of sizzle. Natalie Grayson is a top executive at a leading Manh Manhattan advertising firm. She's a size 16 who loves her body body and her life. It's refreshingly lovely to have a heroine who is so comfortable with her body and her sexuality, and a hero who accepts both too! Natalie is a successful Manhattanite with a power circle of friends and a very heavy social life. Natalie harbors a secret yearning to live a life in the country, although until she meets Oscar, it's just a pipe dream.

Oscar Mendoza is laconic, tattooed behemoth of a man who owns Bailey Falls Creamery. Cool and confident Natalie turns into a flustered, shy woman every Saturday when she buys her beloved Brie from Oscar, which is so endearing (to me as well as to Oscar)! When Bailey Falls hires Natalie to rebrand their town to bring in tourism, Natalie has the perfect reason to enter Oscar's orbit. The panties and the double entendres then begin to fly, bringing a gleam to my eye and a smile to my face. I adore Oscar and Natalie's quick slide into love. Smoking bedroom scenes, funny conversations, and some mild angst pepper these pages and make Clayton's CREAM OF THE CROP a well-seasoned delight.