Buns (The Hudson Valley, #3)

by Alice Clayton

The third in the hilarious yet sizzling hot Hudson Valley series from New York Time and USA TODAY bestselling author Alice Clayton.
    Clara Morgan is living the dream, if you can call running a marathon and rebranding hotels that are desperate for a new life a dream. Which she does. But the career she loves and the endurance races that keep her adrenaline pumping have kept her too busy to put down any roots. Growing up in foster care, she’s never been able to establish traditions of her own, which may be why she’s fascinated by the rituals that generations-old family resorts are known for. She’s especially interested in the Bryant Mountain House, and not just for their secret recipe for the yummy, gooey, can’t-get-enough-of Hot Cross Buns….
    Archie Bryant, the man with the Buns, is fifth generation and one-day-owner of the Bryant Mountain House in Bailey Falls, New York. He’s determined to save his family’s legacy from the wrecking ball the old-fashioned way—by gritting his teeth and doing what needs to be done. There’s no way Archie will be influenced by the new hotel branding expert his father brought in to turn one hundred and fifty years of tradition on its head just to attract a faster, younger, slicker crowd. But when some of Clara’s ideas start bringing in new, paying customers, Archie can’t deny that she may have just given him a shot at keeping his resort open.
    It’s sticky, it’s messy, it’s sweet, it’s Buns.

• ISBN10: 150111817X
• ISBN13: 9781501118173
• Publish Date: 1 June 2017 (first published 23 May 2017)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 8 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Gallery
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[EBookObsessed]

Alice Clayton takes us for one last ride through her Hudson Valley town of Bailey Falls and I, for one, will miss it.

Alice Clayton has created a Town and family you need to be part of. I hate to see the end of Bailey Falls.

She based the Bryant Mountain House off of a real place in the Hudson Valley, New York known as the Mohonk Mountain House. Take a look and it will help you picture the hotel a little better.

Clara Morgan has come to Bryant Mountain House to help assess where the Bryant Mountain House needs to be revamped in order to draw more clientele. While she was hired by Jonathan Bryant, Bryant Sr. will be retiring soon. Clara needs to focus on convincing Archie Bryant, who would soon be taking the reigns of the old hotel. That being the problem. It was an old hotel and all Clara hears is how this is a tradition and how this is how we have always done it. And if she can’t get Archie to listen to her, he would be the only one left doing things the old Bryant way.

While the hotel itself was gorgeous, and you could see it was built with love, it was also built at the turn of the century, and the rooms still reflected that. They were dated. They were drafty and the heating system was old and failing.

Clara needs to figure out how to merge the past with the future and present it to Archie in a way where he will finally be on board and stop fighting her with every recommendation.

Archie is a bit of a pill. Ever since the death of his wife, all of his focus has been on the hotel. His anger at Clara for trying to upset decades of Bryant Mountain House traditions relights a fire in him. There is a spark between Clara and Archie which Clara tries to fight; first because Archie is her boss on this project and also, as a former foster kid, Clara knows not to get too attached to anything that includes a wonderful man like Archie.

Most of the staff have been there longer than Archie and they are glad to see changes both to the hotel they love and the man who leads them.

I didn’t feel that I laughed as much as I usually do with an Alice Clayton story, and I was saddened that it took so much to get Clara to accept what Archie offered. I loved watching Clara bring Archie back to life and they were a fabulous couple but Clara kept refusing to accept them and go public and it was as frustrating to me as it was to Archie.

The Mountain House gives us a great backdrop for a romance and as it sits right above Bailey Falls, we get to spend time with the friends we have made over the prior books.

It was sad to say goodbye, but a great way to say goodbye and included special guest appearances from certain Wallbangers and crazy redheads just for fun.