Quick Pick book review: Cream of the Crop, by Alice Clayton

• Opening lines: "Can you raise the blinds a little bit? The sun is setting; it makes for a nice view," I directed.
  
  "While you reel them in?" Liz teased, letting the soft atfernoon sun up into the conference room.
  
  Forty-seven floors up, you got a helluva nice sunset across the Hudson River. It made the room seem warm and inviting, and with the powerful backdrop of Manhattan behind me, what client would dream of saying no?
• Reason I picked up the book: I'm a fan of Alice Clayton's books, and this is book #2 in the Hudson Valley series; book #1 is called Nuts, and I reviewed that one too. The characters from that book are also recurring characters in this installment.
• And what's this book about?
Manhattan’s It Girl, Natalie Grayson, has it all: she’s a hot exec at a leading advertising firm, known industry-wide for her challenging and edgy campaigns. She’s got a large circle of friends, a family that loves her dearly, and her dance card is always full with handsome eligible bachelors. What else could a modern gal-about-town wish for? The answer, of course, is... cheese.

Natalie’s favorite part of each week is spending Saturday morning at the Union Square Farmer’s Market, where she indulges her love of all things triple cream. Her favorite booth also indulges her love of all things handsome. Oscar Mendoza, owner of the Bailey Falls Creamery and purveyor of the finest artisanal cheeses the Hudson Valley has to offer, is tall, dark, mysterious, and a bit oblivious. Or so she thinks. But that doesn’t stop Natalie from fantasizing about the size of his, ahem, milk can.

Romance is churning, passion is burning, and something incredible is rising to the top. Could it be... love?
• Recommended for: Anyone who likes a fun romance story, with a bit of small-town Americana woven in. 
• Favorite paragraph: Size-eighteen women weren't supposed to show off their legs, which I did. They weren't supposed to show off their cleavage, which I did. Size-eighteen women were supposed to wear trench coats in the winter, long sleeves in the summer, and somebody better cancel Christmas if they wore a dress that showed off some cleavage. Size-eighteen women were supposed to dress like they were apologizing for taking up too much space. Fuck that noise. I took up space. I took up space in a city where space was at a premium, and I never apologized for it. And right now, I knew exactly how much space I was taking up, strutting down Fourteenth Street to the song playing in my head, with a bag full of delicious and already fantasizing about my favorite pastime.
  
  Oscar the Dairy Farmer. 
• Something to know: I LOVED that the main character, Natalie, was a size 18, and that the author mentions it (see above paragraph). Finally a romance novel featuring a curvy girl like myself!
• What I would have changed: Nothing that I can think of.
• Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
• Where can I find this book? Click here to order on Amazon.

*Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for reviewing purposes. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.