Bed, Breakfast and You by Maddie James

Old-time values may still rule in Legend, TN, but the gossips are running the small town right now. Suzie is just trying to get on with her life. But is has been a year since her husband ran off and it seems that’s all anyone is talking about. Even her B&B is now her Bed, Breakfast and You without anyone else in her life.

Suzie Schul has it all. A booming business, a wonderful town to live in, and, well, food. Yeah, she loves to cook and she’s the best darned cook in Legend, Tennessee. Everybody says so. She runs her own B&B, has published a cookbook, conducts cooking classes on Saturdays, and caters for special events and holidays.
What more could she want, really?
Nothing that she will admit, anyway. And let's not even think about that brief escape to Gatlinburg several months back when she had separated from her then-husband, Cliff. Or the fact that the man ran off with her little sister while they were, um, estranged. And let's definitely not bring to light that she'd never really revealed to anyone in the small town of Legend what exactly had happened between her and Cliff.
Or the fact that while she was off "finding herself" and "losing her husband" at the same time, she sort of, well, had a fling. But never mind about that, because "the fling" is long gone and likely doesn't even know where to find her. Besides, he was trouble.
And just when Suzie thinks all is well, Mr. Trouble rides up to her B&B doorstep on a bad-ass Harley and tosses her perfect little world into some kind of big, bad tumble.

Brad Matthews has a plan. He has inherited money from his grandmother with the instructions to follow his dream. His dream is to own his own business and get back the woman who ran out on him just when things were getting serious. Suzie had been his sous chef at the time, so he was able to look up her info in her records and follow her back to Legend, TN. He has bought the old Lake Lodge, planning to tear it down and build a new resort and spa. He knows that Suzie is now divorced and with her cooking school training and how well they worked together in the past, both in the kitchen and the bedroom, they will be a perfect team. He just has to convince her; that’s his plan.

Suzie Schul finally has her life back on track. She owns Legend’s Landing Bed and Breakfast, is working on another cookbook, and even has her cooking class on Saturdays. Now if the town could just get over her ex-husband running off with her little sister, life would be perfect. The last thing she needs, or even expects, is Brad showing up on her B&B doorstep. She had gone to Gatlinburg for a job, needing extra money. She didn’t think her husband really knew they were ‘separated’ at the time (not knowing he was ‘seeing’ her sister). That was why she had problems with her relationship with Brad; she was still married. Coming home to her husband leaving with her sister was the last thing she could have guessed to happen, but she can’t even be that upset about it.

Now Brad is causing her new, bigger problems. He wants to tear down a town landmark! And open a business directly across the lake from her that will be in direct competition with, and even outdo, her B&B that she has poured her heart and soul into for the past year!!! All this after declaring he has come to town looking for her, because he loves her, wants to be with her! She has to convince him that the old lodge really can be restored. Even if she does, there is a bigger secret/problem than just their age difference that will keep them apart, she just can’t figure out how to tell him. She is falling for him, may already love him, but how can she tell him?

After reading Claiming The Legend (my review here), I was drawn to Suzie already and hoped she would get her own story. I must say I am impressed that two different authors in two different stories managed to convey Suzie’s character/personality consistently and so well. She had a fairly big part in the first story and, while more serious here because of the background, she is still the same person in both. Nice job ladies!

Bed, Breakfast and You may be my favorite Legend story so far. Of course, I can relate to Suzie in some ways (small town, gardening, cooking, and housewife before her divorce). I like that Suzie is feisty and not afraid to stand up to Brad or the town council when she feels her business is threatened. And I love Brad. He knows what he wants and goes after it! A little blind about the lodge, and stuck on “his plan” but have to love a guy with sincerity and passion. Oh, and there is something about a good guy on a Harley, just yummy.

Bed, Breakfast and You is what we’ve come to expect from Maddie. Fast paced, steamy, and romantic, Bed, Breakfast and You is perfect in this anthology, yet still works great as a stand alone story too!