Lucy Kendall returns from a tour of the Continent, her luggage filled with the latest fashions and a mind fired by inspiration. After tasting Europe’s best confections, she’s sure she’ll come up with a recipe that will save her father’s struggling candy business and reverse their fortunes. But she soon discovers that their biggest competitor, the cheat who swindled her father out of his prize recipe, has now hired a promotions manager–a cocky, handsome out-of-towner who gets under Lucy’s skin.
Charlie Clarke’s new role at Standard Manufacturing is the chance of a lifetime. He can put some rough times behind him and reconnect with the father he’s never known. The one thing he never counted on, however, was tenacious Lucy Kendall. She’s making his work life miserable…and making herself impossible for him to forget.
Siri Mitchell graduated from the University of Washington with a business degree and worked in various levels of government. As a military spouse, she has lived all over the world, including Paris and Tokyo. Siri enjoys observing and learning from different cultures. She is fluent in French and loves sushi.
But she is also a member of a strange breed of people called novelists. When they’re listening to a speaker and taking notes, chances are, they’ve just had a great idea for a plot or a dialogue. If they nod in response to a really profound statement, they’re probably thinking, “Yes. Right. That’s exactly what my character needs to hear.” When they edit their manuscripts, they laugh at the funny parts. And cry at the sad parts. Sometimes they even talk to their characters.
Siri wrote 4 books and accumulated 153 rejections before signing with a publisher. In the process, she saw the bottoms of more pints of Ben & Jerry’s than she cares to admit. At various times she has vowed never to write another word again. Ever. She has gone on writing strikes and even stooped to threatening her manuscripts with the shredder.
My Impressions:
Siri Mitchell consistently creates well-researched and beautifully told historical novels. Unrivaled is another winner from this talented author. If you like historically accurate books with realistic characters and a story like no other, then you need to check out this book. The romance is a sweet addition too!
The world of St. Louis in the early 1900s comes to life in Unrivaled. There is so much change occuring — new modes of transportation and innovation in manufacturing. Yet some things need never change, like faith and love and family. Told from the first person perspective of the two main characters, Unrivaled explores the world of candy making and the sometimes shady business practices of the day. It is also a wonderful and sometimes humorous love story between two endearingly flawed characters. Charlie and Lucy have grown up in two very different worlds, yet have the same insecurity — not knowing just where they fit in among high society, business and their families. They also have a faulty perception of God and their standing with Him. And although candy is the subject at hand, their is nothing fluffy or insubstantial in Mitchell’s message.
For the history buff, Mitchell’s afterword sheds a lot of light on what is fiction and what is factual in Unrivaled — a not to be missed part of this book. I am always amazed at how much research goes into the writing of historical fiction, and Mitchell is a pro!
Recommended.
(Thanks to Bethany House for a review copy. The opinions expressed are mine alone.)
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I have never read this author but from your review I will have to add her to my list!
You will love her books. My favorite by far is She Walks in Beauty. My review –http://rbclibrary.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/she-walks-in-beauty-by-siri-mitchell/