Candy Store by Bella Andre

On the verge of losing her candy store, Callie Moore decides to blot out her troubles with a tall, dark, handsome stranger. Derek McNear isn't about to turn down a cute, curvy woman at his best friend's wedding reception. But the next day, when Callie discovers that Derek is the consultant she has hired to save her store, they find it difficult to concentrate on business...

CANDY STORE, by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Bella Andre, is a 25,000 word / 150 page sexy contemporary romance novella.

Romance and chocolate. It doesn't get cuter than that. A good quick read, nothing that I got too attached to but made for a nice distraction.  While it would have been nice for the story to have been fleshed out a little more and for there to have been more substance than sex, it's still another great book by Bella Andre.

The Look of Love by Bella Andre

Chloe Peterson is having a bad night. A really bad night. The large bruise on her cheek can attest to that. And when her car skids off the side of a wet country road straight into a ditch, she’s convinced even the gorgeous guy who rescues her in the middle of the rain storm must be too good to be true. Or is he?

As a successful photographer who frequently travels around the world, Chase Sullivan has his pick of beautiful women, and whenever he’s home in San Francisco, one of his seven siblings is usually up for causing a little fun trouble. Chase thinks his life is great just as it is—until the night he finds Chloe and her totaled car on the side of the road in Napa Valley. Not only has he never met anyone so lovely, both inside and out, but he quickly realizes she has much bigger problems than her damaged car. Soon, he is willing to move mountains to love—and protect—her, but will she let him?

Chloe vows never to make the mistake of trusting a man again. Only, with every loving look Chase gives her—and every sinfully sweet caress—as the attraction between them sparks and sizzles, she can’t help but wonder if she’s met the only exception. And although Chase didn’t realize his life was going to change forever in an instant, amazingly, he isn’t the least bit interested in fighting that change. Instead, he’s gearing up for a different fight altogether…for Chloe’s heart.

This is book one in Bella Andre's The Sullivan's series and I think this has it off to a great start.  They are a likable family with down-to-earth personalities even though with eight siblings, they range from a librarian to a world-famous actor.

In this story of Chloe and Chase, their attraction is instant and she is coming into this with a lot of baggage.  While the story only takes place over the course of about a week, I wish that there had been a little more of a realistic time frame.  While we all enjoy a love at first site story, when you have a complex character like Chloe, you need to give it a little more time. 

This was a wonderful story and kept me thoroughly engaged,however, there came a point where the story stopped and it was just sex. I find it a little hard to believe that Chloe went from a battered wife/victim to someone who is just that over the top sexually with a a virtual stranger within a span of four days. The story was good on its own without so much sex thrown in.